You can't be sucessful without great friends!

As many of you know, I have been working long hours trying to get " The Linnda Durre' Show" off the road. Well this past weekend I finally got to take a break and was so greatful. 

Friday night was one of my best girlfriend's birthday's and we went swing and blues dancing. Swing is alright, blues is better but it's not hip-hop : ) I don't like structured dancing with a partner. I just want to do what I wanna do, so I ended up dancing with my girlfriends most of the night. 

This was probably for the best, so you don't lead on any creepos. 

Then Saturday morning, I headed over to Arnold Palmer's Block Party to go see one of my good friend's perform in this new band called Nigels11? (he's gonna kill me if I get that wrong).... Chris Kirkpatrick from N'sysnc is in the band and it was pretty good (Not my kind of music, but the talent is obviously there). The weird thing is their band was just signed with Wright Entertainment (who is is the label for Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson etc) and my ex boyfriend is the executive assistant to the President of the company( which is headquarted in LA).  I don't talk to him anymore but it's funny that one of my close friends is now in a band with the company he works for. All these little girls wanted autographs from my friend and his lead singer for a different band called Oh Romeo? (Oh man he is really gonna kill me for not remembering names lol). I think I am going to see him tomorrow night for one of their concerts. I am seriously am the worst media person ever! I don't know who anyone is but I think that is why I am successful in this business because to me they are just people not an "idol". I don't have cable, I don't watch the news (even though I worked in it for years). What I do is massive research before I talk to anyone. It's smart to be knowledge about a person but not the best idea to act like a " fan".

Then I met one of my friends at this place called Drunken Monkey. Well I was pulling in, there was this boy, who kept looking at me, we kept smiling at each other as he walked over to another place. I found myself blushing and looked at the ground...just that boy smiling at me and keep looking at me made my day. I probably will never see him again and even if I did I probably wouldn't realize it was the same guy ( I don't even know his name), but it's not the point. The point is that you can make someone's day by just smiling at them. 

Then it was off to Olympia for my friend's b-day dinner. If you've never been to Olympia it is amazing, they have the best greek food in the area, belly dancing and they even play the cha-cha slide and the owner loves us and gives us free wine : ) Of course out of all the people in the resuarant the belly dancer, picks me to go up there and dance with her first. So I danced with the belly dancer on the floor and had a blast.

Then it was off to downtown. It's different now when I go downtown. My heart isn't there. I notice, I don't look around for which cute guy is around or try to find someone to dance with. I just dance and am goofy with my friends. I pray to God, that I won't be attracted to anyone he doesn't want me to be attractive too and it normally works. It's almost scary how well it works. I find I am barely attracted to anyone, which is good..so when I am supposed to date someone it will be easier to know.

It started to get late and I remember I had a party I was supposed to be at so I rushed over there...oops..the party was over and I woke up the host. My bad! Oh well I was the only one who got him a birthday present! Seriously? Do people not buy presents anymore?

Then Sunday= rest day! This is something I make sure I do every week to keep my sanity. I refuse to do any work. It talks in the bible about this (it is one of the ten commandments!). No, I was not raised to do this. Just trying to follow God.

Monday after the show, I went to the doctor and the chiropractor. I have also been eating mostly organic food. For those of you reading this who know me personally, you are probably very impressed.  For most my life I never cared about what I ate or exercise or anything and was always sick. I was so shocked when the doctor said my immune system was excellent and it was just my hormones and blood sugar is out of whack.  I may be pre-diabetic. But I'm not taking that, I'm a fighter. She also SHOCKED me, when she said my allergies and asthma, weren't showing up in her tests! I had stopped taking my allergic and asthma medications 9 months ago and said " God you are my healer" and since then, I have only had one allergy issue for a few hours from a dirty cat.  God is amazing.

I have become good friends with one of our previous guests and she helped me get the guest for Tuesday. It is so important to have good friends, they are there to help you get through the times, enjoy the fun times and help you problem solve. If she would have not helped me get that guest, who knows if I would have had a guest Tuesday. I said to my friends "I am going to the top and I'm taking you with me" and he was like "really?" and I said " Of course, it's lonely at the top". 

One of my goals in life is to take everyone with me to the top. I truly believe everyone has something to offer and I will find a way to help them use their talents! We all deserve to be successful and people are most successful when they are doing what they love. So tell me what you love and I will help you do it one day! This is my mission and I promise if you put God first, work hard and are reliable...God will find a place for you in this world!

Being Patient and Having Pure Intentions

American Idol Winner Ruben Studdard was on the show today! He was so humble and such a Godly man. Ruben had been trying for years to "make it" in the music business. And then he went to American Idol tryouts to support a friend who was trying out, his intent wasn't even to try out. Now why did Ruben get so " lucky"? ( Well I don't believe in luck but rather God's timing) It was because his intent was to help out a friend, his reason for being there wasn't to pursue his own dreams or be famous. He was being a Godly man by being there for his friend and God rewarded him for this. 

This is also how his wife met him. She was going to Wal Mart to have Ruben sign a CD for a friend and she told Ruben this. He was like " What about you?" And she was like "you're alright". Ruben got her number that day and they become great friends and then Got married. Once again, someone was helping out a friend when God gave them something amazing. 

Now don't go trying to help people to get what you want but just make sure your intents are always pure and God will reward you. 

I get caught up in this with doing things to try to " win a man over" but then I really think about it and I want them to be interested in me for my character, not because of what I do for them. There has been so many times in my life, where I have gone out of my way, comprised my morals or done something bad just to please a guy. 

In the process I hurt myself and I hurt God. I pray that I make my life about pleasing God and serving others without wanting something in return. The second you think someone " owes" you something, things start going bad. When you serve my friends, serve for God and the person you are serving, when you get caught up in pleasing yourself, you lose the value of what you did.

However, Don't be a doormat and do whatever people want you to do. I had to set boundaries with my new job by telling my boss I don't work Sundays. By setting boundaries, it lets people know what you will and will not tolerate, you will be happier and they will respect you for it. 

A good rule, I was taught is if you wouldn't do it for your best friend, don't do it to please the opposite sex. 

This stuff is a fine line, when I get confused about the line, I try to pray for God to let me see things through his eyes...It's amazing how this works and how different things are through God's eyes. 

So to sum up: What is your intent in doing what you do? Is it the money? Is it the Success? Fame? relationship? Or is it truly selfless? 

Think About it! It will change your life...just this one thought!  

Disaster turns into opportunity

As many of you know Ruben Studdard was supposed to be on Friday's show. Those of you who listened obviously know that wasn't the case. 3 minutes before Ruben was slotted to go on I get a phone call from his personal assistant saying he had a "personal emergency " and could not go on. 

Now what? Time for the back up plan: Linnda talks about her book. So Linnda talks about her book for 15 minutes and I realize at the break that we could not just have Linnda pitch her book for a half an hour, people would probably turn the dial. So I offer to interview her about the book. She said "Yes" and for the next 10 minutes that's what we did. 

Isn't God amazing? Turning a disaster into a victory for me? I actually got to talk on live radio! The only other time, I got to do this was when WDBO interviewed me about being a college grad and looking for a job. 

That night I headed over to " One Homeless Night", what an awesome night! Hundreds gathered and slept under the I-4 overpass to raise awareness for the homeless. Now I 'll be honest I didn't sleep there, I wanted to but I knew if I did I would probably get sick, I was already lacking sleep and trying to sleep on a piece of cardboard would probably not be good for me. I give mad props to the people who stuck it out all night.

I helped out by working with a documentary film crew, that was pretty cool. I also ran into some WESHers. They asked me if I missed them. I said "yes of course I do, but I don't miss my old job". I have no regrets. I know I made the right choice. Here's how you know when God wants you to do something, your Gut/the Holy Spirit and he says "yes". Now what does this sound like? Well it's just a matter of God opening certain doors for you. I often pray God will not offer me a job he doesn't want me to take or to give me the discernment to know what is an offer from him and offer from the world.

Saturday morning Linnda took me to the Chiropractor...I went there to just get a well check up and turns out I actually have a pretty messed up back and some serious health issues. The problems I deal with on a day to day basis I thought was normal. The doctor starred at me like I was crazy. It probably has a lot to do with my bad diet, lack of sleep and stress. I need to start eating better. Linnda was really worried and took me to whole foods and she bought me some organic foods...was I actually shopping in Whole Foods? Who am I? The more I try to follow God, the more I am losing myself....but I know it's for the best. 

Then I went and saw "Tyler Perry's I can do bad all by myself" with my girlfriend. We cried and laughed so hard! I totally recommend it! And you know me I'm such a TP fan I'll go see it with you! I cried a lot afterward too, the movie really hit home with me about some of the things I have done to people in the past, I still carry the guilt with me a lot of times. It's easier to forgive people than forgive yourself.

Someone brought up a good point today at The Sabbath at my house (The Sabbath is a small bible study at my house, we eat, talk about God, right now we are reading "Boundaries in Dating). He said " God forgives me, who I am I to question and disagree with God?". If God forgives me... why can I not forgive myself? Pray for me in this please. I often worry that my own hypocrisy has lead people away from God and this is one of those thoughts that keeps me awake at night. But when I really think about it, each person is responsible for their own actions...you can't let what other people are doing affect who you are. If I did something stupid, and someone is not going to follow God because of it, then their faith isn't that strong to begin with and that is something they have to go and deal with God with. However this isn't an excuse to do whatever and not worry what people think.

Try to be the best example of Christ you can, but if you fall don't beat yourself up about it.We all do. Mistakes are good...if you learn from them. Think about what went wrong, why it went wrong and learn but DON'T DWELL. This is easy said then done, because we are all are own worst critics. Also now you can use those mistakes to teach others...turn disaster into an opportunity to tell people about God's forgiveness....yes you are going to have to be vulnerable here but I gurantee you it's worth it. Your friends will be closer and more meaningful.

God forgives you everyday and everyday you start with a clean slate. Isn't his love amazing? And if God can forgive me, I can forgive me. You don't have to clean yourself up for God for him to love you, he always does. Just come to him, he'll fix you up : ) and come to him every day because I don't know about you but everyday there is something I can work on.

Confrontation Confirmation

Well I was walking into the radio station yesterday I was confronted by one of the on air personalities in the parking lot ( I won't name drop to protect their privacy). They said the following " I don't like you, I think you are a liar, a manipulator, and  if you think you are going to be someone in this business...you're not! I know everyone and I will ruin you. Don't mess with me Kristen, I am not a person to be messed with". Then they stormed off and got in their car. 

I stood their shocked. What had I done? I have never really even talked to this person. And isn't this a Christian radio station? Aren't we supposed to be kind to one another and talk things out when there is a problem?

I tried to keep it together, but started to tear up in the office. Here I was talking about tears of joy in my last post and now tears of hurt. I realized once I talked to a few trusted people around the station, that I didn't do anything wrong and that some people are just intimadated by people they think are going to be successful.

I'm glad I didn't say anything back, I just smiled and nodded my head. By the end of the day I was actually laughing at the whole thing. I feel like evil is trying to take down the wonderful things Linnda and I are doing for God and I am not going to let them get to me and my work for God. Back it up devil! This will be a great story to put in my book about how someone told me I couldn't make it and how I didn't listen and was successful. 

Our show is taking off and very quickly may I add! Today we had the casting directors from " Recount" on the show. Look up Rita Manyette and Lori Wyman. They are such wonderful women and gave great advice on how to get into the acting business. Step one take acting classes (If you want to know more leave me a comment and I'll send you the info on how to find a legitimate school).

Tomorrow we are interviewing Peter Cetera (he wrote and performed the theme song for Baywatch and Karate Kid II and the song " One Good Women" ) and Ruben Studdard ( the season 2 winner of American Idol)! I am so proud of myself, I booked Ruben all by myself. No one gave me any contact info, I just did it. It shows how if you really trust God, follow your heart and honestly give everything your best effort, those efforts will pay off : )

I also am working with some guys in Tampa on getting our website up and rolling.  Then one of them told me he used to work at Rainsoft. Dave ( My step father that died two weeks ago) used to work there. I mentioned this and he is like " oh yeah, I know him". Is it not a small world? The fact that they knew Dave put me at such ease that I am working with the right guys. They also told me their friend owns a small Christian TV station in Tampa and that they could put me in contact with them. Sweet! 

I also had an interview today at a media company. One of my former co-workers at WESH is leaving and called me to see if I wanted to try and fill her spot. We will see how that goes. I really am not sure what has planned here, we will see.

My thoughts for today: Make friends. If you want to be successful, talk to everyone you know, I don't care what they do, if they are successful at anything, chances are they know some people that could help you on your path. One of our guests Wednesday, Choreographer Karol Desort is going to try and put me in contact with people to start up a step team.

All your dreams can come true, you just have to tell people what they are, trust God and take action! Oh and have fun! People don't want to talk about business, they want to laugh! ***The picture is of me laughing with WESH 2 Anchors Scott Walker and Syan Rhodes ( Scott is now in New Orleans), we always had fun and so with them it never felt like I was working. 

Find a job you love and you'll never work another day.

Surrond yourself around the best people you can find, so you can help each other become successful. Don't waste your time with people who aren't doing things or you won't do anything either...just pray for them and move on.

Tears of Joy

On Friday I began to tear up during one of our radio shows.  I sat there wondering why tears would be filling my eyes? Was it because it was September 11th? The more I thought about it, I realized it was that I was truly happy. 

Earlier that day we interviewed " Thomas Jefferson" (played by Dale Reynolds). Linnda and I had decided to have the show as if we were interviewing Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson is such an amazing man. He wrote the Declaration of Independence in just 17 days. In less then three weeks he would write a document so amazing, that it would change a country. It made me think...what had I done in the past three weeks? Well I took a leap of faith and left my job, I started helping the Orlando Union Rescue Mission out in their media department, I started taking Kung Fu, I went from volunteering, to interning, to being a show assistant, to being the Associate Producer of the Linnda Durre' show. In the course of a week, I am writing press releases and helping boo interviews ( something, I've never done...fake it till you make it!).  Maybe I am not changing the country in three weeks but I have changed my life. Like Thomas Jefferson, I truly believe in doing what's best for people and try to always see the bigger picture. However, Jefferson and I do disagree on one thing. He doesn't believe in miracles, he was only a Christian because he believed Jesus had the best approach on how a life should be lived. So Jefferson literally cut out all of the miracles in the bible. 

I believe in miracles. You may not be parting the red sea or walking on water now a days but simply being in the right place at the right time is miracle enough. I also believe in the power of prayer and healing ( twice in my life prayer has cured a disease I've had!) Can I get an Amen?

After our interview with Jefferson ( Reynolds), Bob Allen ( who's card I saw on the front desk and was at my party ) walked in. He was just as shocked to see me as I was to see him. I sat in on their show " Jihad Watch" and loved it, it was so informative and so funny, it was just great. After the show we talked and they said I could be a reporter for their show, I would go with them to controversial events and ask the tough questions. They would use the audio on their show and I get to use it for my tape. Sweet gig! 

Then the third show, " Power Hour" came on and I sat in the booth and they started talking about me on air. They said they had this awesome intern Kristen and how I did Kung Fu and that they were just so thankful to have me there. That's when I started tearing up. For so long, it my life I wanted to be noticed in front of a large audience. For years I had wrote stories on other people...always wanting to be the topic of a story and here they were actually talking about me. I  had only been there four days and they already had deemed me valuable enough to talk about on air. I felt so overwhelmed about how I was getting to do everything I want to do ,that I started to cry. 

I have only had a few of these moments in my life, where I cry because I am happy. But I have a feeling this will not be the last time.

They also told me, that my mic was open and I could have talked of I wanted to. For two years I had tried everything in my power to let people let me talk live on air. And over and over again, I was told " no". But now, I didn't even ask and was honestly just sitting in to learn. I almost started tearing up again, but was able to keep it together. 

I know this is where I am supposed to be right now. 

That night, a friend and I went to Night of Joy. What amazing concerts! At the end of the night I was so touched by a Newsboys song where they talked about how God gives his brides away. I had always wondered who would ever give me away if God wills me to get married (seeing as my  Dad and step Dad are both in heaven now). But I realized in that moment, I need not worry about these things because God is my true father and he will give me away to the man he sees fit. Once again I teared up in the comfort of this thought.

To tell you, I did not cry tears of sadness this weekend as well would be a huge thing to leave out. I cried over how my family has made me felt over the years, I cried because I came to the realization that I just didn't trust God with relationships (romantic or family), I cried because I worry about the salvation of my younger sister and whether or not her and my mother will have a place to live.

Following God hasn't been a walk in the park. In fact it is truly the hardest thing I have ever done but I see my hard work paying off quicker, because I am doing it for the right reasons and the people around me realize that. 

The times I think I want to give up, I just remember this

"....it’s only the world I’m living in
It’s only today I’ve been given
There ain’t no way I’m giving in
Oh Cause it’s only the world
I know the best is still yet to come
Cause even when my days in the world are done
There’s gonna be so much more than only the world for me....
Heaven is a place where the tears on every face will be wiped away
Oh And I can’t wait to go, but for now it’s enough to know
This is only temporary" - Mandisa"

Every Day is a battle when you don't where to turn look up and you'll be surprised how often you find the answer you need ( however it may not always be the answer you want). 

Taking Risks and Following Your Dreams

Thanks to staying up way too late last night, I cannot sleep tonight. Most things that happen to you in life is from the choices you make. If you think about some of the best and worst times in your life, did you not get there because of some really good or really bad choices? Either way you learned something right? But what is worst than a bad choice? Doing the same old thing over and over again. 

Today we talked to Hitman David Foster. Foster is known for making legendary records, winning 15 grammys (he was nominated 45 times!) and has worked with pretty much everyone in the music business...ranging from Madonna to Michael Jackson.

But Foster didn't get there over night. When he was 16 he dropped out of  high school in Canada and moved to London ( surprisingly his parents were okay with this). But London wasn't for him, so he moved to Vancoeuver. But he still didn't feel at home. So he moved to L.A. In his first hour there all of his stuff was stolen! At this point, most of us would have probably have moved back in with our parents? But Foster pressed on and started a band with a couple of friends and ended up with a Top 10 hit! The rest is history!

I really believe the most successful people in life took huge risks to get were they are. If you give up everything and follow the desires of your heart, it is then you will find true happiness. Check out how cool this is---God has put those desires in your heart for a reason! He wants you to persue those dreams! Whether your dream is to become an actor, starting your own business or becoming a doctor. Don't give up on your dream! 

I know what you're thinking: " I'm too old to change it around now" or " My career is pretty good: I have good benefits, I finally get to work the shift I want and the pay is good".

Let me tell you something that I have learned over the years, If you take a job for the money...it will never satisfy you. Why? Because your intentions are wrong. Same goes for taking a job for success, fame, security, benefits.

Well what else is there? Take a job because you believe in the mission! How is your job making the world a better place to live in ? How is it helping people? Would you work there for free? If you can't answer these questions or said "No" to the last one, you may need to get another job! 

That's what I am doing and so far I'm loving it. Maybe I'll be broke living in my car but at least I'll be happy. Tyler Perry (who is over 6 feet tall) lived in his car for a week, eating a box of cookies because he believed that his plays helped people and wasn't willing to give up on his dream.

Here's your homework for tonight! Make a list of all the things you want to do and then go in your prayer closet ( don't prayer in your bed, you'll fall asleep!) and ask God to take the desires out of your heart for the things that are not of his will. Then trust God and start following your dreams. If you don't know how to start, start by just sending a letter (or e-mail) to the place you really want to work and ask to come in for a tour or volunteer. Never look back except when you are educating someone else. 

Good Night and God Bless you my friends. 

Thomas Jefferson on the show for September 11th! www.weus.com listen to us live streaming on the internet.

  

God's Timing

Tuesday was my first day interning at WEUS. When I walked in I noticed a new stack of business cards sitting on the table. When I glanced closer ( because I am nosey) it was from the President of ACT! ( the exclamation point is part of the name). I thought this was interesting, seeing as he was just at my house for my WESH farewell party. I had met him that day covering the religous runaway case.

As I walked in one of the show hosts was standing there. I had written her an e-mail asking if I could sit in on her show and she had said "No". But I wasn't going to let her stop me from volunteering at WEUS. So I e-mailed the station manager. My grandma always says if you want to get something done, go straight to the top.

She looked at me and said " Are you the girl that sent me an e-mail?". I nodded. " I truly admire your ambition" she said. I was thrilled! Even though she had said "No", she still thought what I was an awesome person. Don't take things personal when people say "No", it's not always you, most of the time it's them. Come to find out later she gets nervous when people are in the booth with her, which is totally understandable.

The next hour I sat in on The Gueztloe Report. Which is a conservative news show. We talked about how Obama was going to be speaking in the classrooms. This was interesting but the next hour would change my life.

In walks this short woman named Linnda Durre' (that's not a typo her name is spelt with two "n's"). I had no idea who this woman was but I immediately liked her when she started dancing during her show open. Come to find out Linnda has a 64 page resume involving her media work ( I am not exaggerating). She sold her first TV series to Aaaron Spelling when she was 22 and the rest is history. She is also a psychotheraphist.

I listened as she interviewed Lydia Cornell (From " Too Close for Comfort" or more recently on " Curb Your Enthusiam"). Lydia told an amazing story about how she became an alocholic when Ted Knight died and how God helped her out of it. One thing that hit home is when she talked about when she gave men and finances up to God. 

I often find myself worrying about when it will be my turn to meet " Mr. Right" or my turn to being rolling in the money. But worrying is not of God. In fact if anything it's a sin ...worry is. When you worry, you don't trust. It has been said if you don't have trust in a relationship, there is no point. If you don't trust God, what is the point in believing or praying? 

I thought it was interesting enough that I had seen Alan's card at the door, but now the Celebirty guest was talking about the two things that I worry about? Then I hear a familar voice come on the radio, it's Dick Batchelor. For those of you who don't know Dick, he is the go to Democratic political analyst in the area. I would help tape his segments when I worked at WESH. He also owns a consulting company  (which my ex-boyfriend used to be the Vice President for...small world). So when I heard his voice I chuckled. Linnda looked at me. I apolgized and told her Dick was a friend of mine and it was funny to hear his voice. She told me Dick was one of her sponsors. You can tell she felt a lot more at ease.

When the show was over. Linnda and I debreifed about what went right and what went wrong. She said she needs a clock with a second hand for the wall. I told her I had one and would bring it on Wednesday. Turns out, my clock didn't have a second hand and I had to go buy one at Walmart. Well I was pulling in a man who doesn't speak any English backs up into my car. I told him to " Just go, it's a piece of junk anyways". This took 15 minutes to get across. Side note: 2 months ago I totalled a completely paid off 2007 car, I had a friend lower the car insurance payment and they took off collision coverage, hence the junk car. Lesson: Always have full coverage!

This morning, I brought in the clock. It needs a battery! I searched frantically for 20 minutes and finally got one. Just in time for today's show with Ed Donovan. What a great man! 

After today's show debriefing, Linnda asked me to do tomorrow's press release for 15-time Grammy Award Winner David Foster, if you don't know who he is look it up, his songs will blow you away.

I had to wait till 8pm tonight to start because I was babysitting one of my former anchor's children. Linnda and I sat on the phone for several hours perfecting the press release. She decided I am going to do all the press releases and book guests. Somehow in the course of 24 hours I am now Linnda's personal asssistant.

I know this is going to be a lot of work and right now it's unpaid. But I trust God and know his timing is perfect. I never believed in coincidences and have always said it's God's timing. It is in these moments that you know you are in the right place, at the right time and nothing...I mean nothing can stand in your way, because you have the backing of the Lord himself. How cool is that?

Seek and You Shall Find

The last post I told you about how not to just DREAM big but ACT big. Well some of my little actions paid off this week. This morning I meet with the media relations rep. for the Orlando Union Rescue Mission. For those of you who haven't heard of O.U.R , it's a Christian housing mission for people that find themselves homeless. This isn't just a shelter; O.U.R helps people get jobs, go back to school, and even gives them a spiritual and physical makeover. We talked about how I would help O.U.R come up with creative ideas to attract media attention and use my media connections to promote events.

After about two hours of talking, I felt pretty comfortable and pitched one of my shows to her. Essentially we would follow a person from the day they started the program till they left the program and started their new life. Then in a few months we would do a follow up interview. 

She surprisingly said " YES!". 

Now the next project: get the funding and the equipment to do this!

After this I rushed over to WEUS 810, The Orlando Christian News Radio Station. I spoke with the Station Manager about volunteering/interning ( remember be humble! I already have a degree in Radio/TV Broadcast and have worked in TV but I'm interning again).  I will be volunteering every Tuesday and Thursday in the afternoons. They are starting a new live show Tuesday, so I will be there from the shows start, which is awesome!

In one day I accomplished so much. It is said if you seek, you will find when you seek God with all your heart. But you can't just talk about seeking God! You have to go do it! I'm telling you, it's not easy, it's scary! I'm not exactly sure how I am going to pay my bills next month, seeing as my roommate moved out and the only definite income I have is babysitting once a week. 

However, you have to check your fears at the door when you walk into the house of the LORD. But I promise it will be worth it! So first thing in the morning ask yourself  " What am I doing today that will bring me closer to God?" If you can't think of anything, you might want to re-plan your day or bust out a bible.

Putting the DREAM into ACTION

After talking with one of my good friends last night she said one thing that frustrates her about me is I have all these great ideas but I don't go through with a lot of them.  She asked me why I don't? 

I thought about this for a while and I guess the simple answer is fear. Fear that I will fail and let everyone I told down.  Fear that I don't have enough information to do the best job possible. Fear that I will become attached to people and they will let me down.

When I started at the NBC affiliate in Orlando, I didn't know much about TV. I didn't even know there was such thing as TV markets. In the U.S. there are 212 TV markets. Big cities like New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles are in the top 10, whereas a small town in Montana would be in the 200s. The lower the number the harder it is to get a job. 

Somehow without even knowing this, I landed a job in the 19th market. Not bad right? So why did I get the job over candidates who probably knew more about TV than me? Because I was willing to put in the time! I was willingly to work for free and do small tasks, just to learn about the business. So when the job opened up the manager came to me and asked me if I wanted the job. I didn't even fill out an application till after I was already hired.

It is time to start at the bottom again.

Today I E-mailed a local Christian radio station to ask to volunteer there. I also E-mailed 102 JAMZ (I interned there back in the summer of 06) to see if I could help out with their new Gospel online station. Then I e-mailed some of my media contacts about the Religous Runaway case, as the arraignment is Thursday and I still need a press pass. 

In the midst of this I got a phone call from the Orlando Union Rescue Mission. I had called them last week to see if they need any help doing media releases and the woman in charge was so thankful I called,  she said they are very understaffed right now and can use all the help they can get. I will be touring the shelter on Friday morning. One of my dreams is to help get a Christian homeless shelter up and running. All it took was one phone call and now I am meeting with the marketing director.

So what to take from all this?

If you have a dream, don't sit there in fear! Take action! Go after it and tackle it! Be Humble! Don't be afraid to do small tasks and work for free for a while. Life is too short to sit around and talk about what you are going to do. I felt that all too much this week after Dave passed away (for those of you that don't know Dave was basically my father figure after my father died, they died on the same day of the year...too weird, obviously a God thing). 

If you trust God, know that he will carry you through the times you feel you just want to give up.

If you feel there is something God wants you to do and you haven't done it pray this prayer in Psalms to God right now:

" Send fourth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell." Psalm 43:3 

You can only get closer to God by being obedient.

And Remember what Joshua told his army "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous" You are part of God's army and God will guide you in your battles, you just have to listen to him. If you fail, get right back up and continue fighting. 

God Bless!

***The picture on the side was taken when I was interning at 102 JAMZ in 2006. We didn't get paid and we worked in the hot summer heat, but the knowledge we learned was the reward.