05/18/2013 early morning thinking

Cue My King by JJ Hairston & Youthful Praise. If you haven’t got that After This album, what are you waiting for?


I got a question. Missed opportunities. What do you do when missed opportunities happen? Eminem said some years ago, you only get one shot do not miss your chance to blow cause opportunity only comes once in a lifetime…is that true? So when you miss that so called one shot, do you just give up on life at that point? Or do you move on and say ok, I messed that up. On to the next adventure, and I won’t make the same mistakes I made last time.

I’m not asking all this to sound depressed. I was watching this dude do his thing at a church and I played drums behind this dude for about 6 months while he was on the organ. As I was watching him sing on stage, I had to fight back tears thinking back on how I messed things up during my six months up there. So to not cry I had to stop watching the video and get to this blog. As y’all know this is where I let my thoughts out because I don’t talk to anybody. I have numbers I can call on my phone but I don’t call them out of fear of the reaction. I’ve painted myself as a black sheep. Notice I said I’ve painted myself as a black sheep. So with that pressure I’ve put on myself, I think nobody cares. Even when I know for a fact that is false. Anyway, so missed opportunities. What did I do after I messed up the Midwest trip? Not a thing. I didn’t do a thing. Nothing to move life forward. I took the low road. I beat myself up. Which lead to situations that I never thought in my life I would be in.

What am I saying? It’s your choice on how you handle missed opportunities in life. You can take the low road like I did, or you can keep you head up, realize you’re breathing, and work hard toward the next one. So Celebrate by Hezekiah Walker just came up on iTunes. A song that was sung where I wasted 6 months. I had to skip it. When you know your state of mind is not where it should be, you can’t give place to encourage it to get worse. You got to skip that track, change the channel, put the phone down, etc. What you feed will grow. You feed into the habit, it will grow into something worse. You feed into your faith, your faith will grow. My mom would say this often, “You eat fat greasy food, and you’ll be a fat greasy dude.” Watch who you hang around with. I know that for a fact. Here’s a story that I don’t think I’ve told yet. When I was in high school, I would hang around with a friend of mine that I’ve known since 3rd grade. And one year, he got saved. He and a couple of other friends in the same group I was hanging with got saved. So as they’re mindsets changed, my mind changed. My mannerisms changed. I know for a fact that who you hang with will influence your choices and your mindset. I don’t how I got on this subject, but I’m just saying be careful. My old pastor once said that everyone needs about 4 people around them. This going to the story in the Bible, where the lame man was outside and wanted to get in where Jesus was, so 4 other men got him to the roof of the building and dropped him through the ceiling.

So let me try to get back on topic. What do you do when you miss a chance? My opinion, again this is the opposite of what I did, but I say that you brush your shoulders off and move on. Don’t dwell on it. Keep smiling. Keep pushing. Learn from your mistakes and keep working hard. Don’t be afraid to work. Don’t be afraid. Even if you are afraid, push yourself out of that chair, couch, or bed and go on. A song I love says, “I’m going on in the name of the Lord/Reaching for my goal/my eternal life reward/God is a mighty fortress in the time of storm.” Got to take the good with the bad. I’ve heard it said with no dirt, there’s no growth.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Facebook.com/bigdusty

Twitter.com/big_dusty

WHAT IS KEEPING YOUR ROOTS ALIVE?

Cue I’m Going On by Commissioned. Thanks for all the continued support.

What happens to plants if the roots die? The whole plant dies right? The most important part of a plant is the roots. The roots keep the plant alive and functioning. Some of us get rooted in the right direction but don’t water the roots. Dreams die because the roots are not watered. We got dreams and aspirations. We get planted and rooted and a stem pokes out of the ground. Here’s the issue. When’s the last time you got an apple from a stem sticking out the ground? We get satisfied that we’ve grown out of the soil but for some strange reason we refuse to grow. Some of it has to do with fear. Some of it has to do with what people say or what you think people say about you. Some of it has to do with your mind set. Some of it is that you are getting watered, but you’re not drinking the water. It’s getting you wet, but it’s not getting inside you.

How many dreams have died because of lack of nutrients? Believe or not, I got a YouTube channel. The channel is basically just sitting there doing nothing for the most part. Why? Because I haven’t posted anything, yet I dream of some day entertaining masses, whether it’s by singing, comedy, or whatever. So with dreams like that, I can‘t even keep a YouTube channel alive to put myself out there showing what I am capable of. Now is it YouTube’s fault that I’m doing nothing with it? No. It’s mainly the soil that is being used to make dreams come true, and I’m using it wanting to make my dreams come true, but don’t want to water it. Don’t want to let it get some sunlight.

Which leads me to another thing. Sunlight is a very very important source for a plant to survive. What’s your source? What’s your source of getting growth? What are you depending on? There’s probably not a choir anywhere that hasn’t sang Total Praise by Richard Smallwood. The song says, “You are the source of my strength. You are the strength of my life.” Really? Then why are our dreams and aspirations dying at a high rate? Why not let God be the source of your strength so your dream can get some growth. Some use the wrong light and wonder why depression sets in. Here’s a theory. Maybe it’s not just the life or dream that’s causing the depression. Maybe it’s what you’re using for nutrients for that dream. God is not the source. Not necessarily saying that it’s the devil either. Maybe it’s that agent. Maybe it’s that friend. Maybe it’s that family member. Maybe it’s that church member. You’re depending on people killing you with junk, where there’s a God that’s ruler of everything with His arms open waiting for you to let Him in. Keep God first is not just a good saying to say when trying to motivate someone. It’s actually a good thing to do believe it or not.

Imagine how much further some of us would be if we really put God first and really pursued our dreams? Probably more happy than we are now. Probably more financially stable to pursue our dreams. I keep hearing that this financial struggle that most of us is going through will soon be over. Please believe that I’m not questioning any one’s Holy Ghost, and I’m a firm believer that a God is about to drop a financial boom on some of us. I just think there’s a step some of us are missing. The Bible says to seek ye first the what? Kingdom of God. And then what? All these things shall be added. Keep God first. Also please believe that I’m not just typing this to try and preach or motivate you. I’m not throwing stones. I’m motivating myself as well. I know I need to do better in certain areas of my life, and as soon as I do better, I believe God will bless me better. I think we’re all fortunate that God loves us so much that He keeps on making ways out of no ways in our lives. We don’t deserve it. You know what you did and are doing. I know what I did and am doing. Yet He keeps on making ways for us. Song writer says, “He keeps on doing great things for me.”

Follow your dreams. Pursue your dreams. Put some water on your dreams. Don’t take a break, because that will stagger the growth of the dream, and at sometimes kill it. Keep going. Keep pursuing. Keep God first. Pray about any and everything. Follow God’s lead. Now, let me say this. Following God’s lead does not mean that you sit and do nothing. You can still follow God’s lead and continue to pursue. We get told to be patient and wait, then with that we do nothing. No. While you’re waiting, water your craft. Practice your craft. Perfect your craft. Perfect your dream.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson
@Big_Dusty
Facebook.com/bigdusty