Rainy Days and Sundays

Today was not the usual Sunday morning. Time advanced one hour and I should have felt like I lost an hour of sleep. That was not the case. I was excited and full of happiness. I guess because it was a Sunday and that meant I would be able to go to the House of Worship and get my worship on. After yesterday's traveling ordeal I had some lifting of Jesus to get on. I have learned here recently that calling on the name of Jesus is all you need to do sometimes. Life's circumstances will force you to get your act together and lay prostrate and call on his name. As I continue to grow and fix my foundation nothing can separate me from giving God my all! Worship was so great today...you felt the Spirit move all over the place.

Now I had to drive alone today because Mommy and C.J. remained home today. I prayed with them before I left and prayed for them when I got to church and all the way down the road as I prepared myself for worship. Driving alone through the pouring rain and wild winds, and getting to and from my destinations without incident or accident again, just showed God's grace and mercy. God reminded me that I need not worry because he created all of what was occurring.

Today was also different because I came home immediately after church really. I stopped and made some plates to go and I came home directly to my ladies. When I got home C.J. received a good report from Mommy, which is also rare, lol! We played a bit and relaxed, and it is almost nine o'clock and we are all ready for bed. C.J. is whining (no tears) and Daddy is twitching from wanting to go get her but we have to help her understand that when it is bedtime she must lay down without episodes.

So now is the second attempt to put her down. As Mommy took her away C.J. actually kissed me on her own. You all know a huge smile came upon my face. She has also been dadadadadadada-ing it up lately too. Soon she will look me in the face and say Daddy! So as we get ready to call it a night, Daddy is still in Worship asking the Spirit to Fall Down on me. This was the song that we ended church with today. We had to have a praise break! So make sure you pray because prayer changes things, people, and situations.

Rainy Days and Sundays always get me up! Contrary to what the Carpenters sing about rainy days and Mondays.

NOTE TO C.J.: Here are the two links to the songs mentioned today. They both can get you through a day.

Spirit Fall Down - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rel2jMeLuDs
Rainy Days and Mondays - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPmbT5XC-q0

Love you much, be blessed!

IS IT A HURRICANE?

First let me apologize for yesterday. I do not even have a respectable reason for not posting. I had the page up, I planned to post but when I woke up this morning the computer was sitting idle.

Now on to today. When it rains it pours. All morning, all day, and all night the rain poured upon everywhere I went today. To my meeting, my training, my casing out of a joint and all the way home. My truck swayed from side to side as the winds became more and more ferocious. I was alone because I had to leave my Princess and Queen earlier in the day. I do not think they knew the severity of the weather until I arrived home because they usually would call to check on me. I know they love me anyway.

So when I was home, out of my wet clothes and rested I realized that C.J. needed water for her bottles. (Now I will admit that Mommy told me not to do it.) So Daddy put his clothes back on and trudged through the high waters and the howling winds to make sure that his Princess had everything she needed to make it through the night and the next few days. I got soaked but it was for my baby girl. While I was out I heard a mother tell her son that this was a hurricane. Actually it has been labeled as a Nor' Easter to be correct, meteorology wise. Luckily C.J. and Mommy did not have to go out in this messy weather. She stayed at home with Mommy and and the only thing that got wet on her was her pamper.

We lose an hour of sleep tonight so that should be interesting. I wonder how C.J. will react? Will her sleeping change? Will she have a difficult time adjusting to the longer days? We shall see very soon and as usual I guess Daddy will have to make adjustments to her patterns. So as I get settled a little early to make my adjustment smooth you all remember to pray. Even as lights go out, the wind blows, and the rain continues to pour, prayer changes things, people, and situations.

What Is The Problem?

Ok people we have to talk tonight. Recently C.J. has been undoing everything she has done so well since birth. I have talked with people and they say she is in a stage now where she is trying to manipulate every situation to fit what she wants. So when for seven months Daddy could lay her in her crib, turn out the lights and call it a night, C.J. now has figured she wants to do things differently, and begins to yell and scream harshly as soon as a hair touches the crib.

Folks, this is a problem. One, because Daddy or Mommy, after a long day at work, does not want to hear her screaming like she does. We also had become accustomed to her routine. Now I understand that she is a baby and will break plenty routines. This one, however, we wanted her to keep because it allowed Mommy and Daddy to get the proper rest they both needed.

Another problem this causes is between Daddy and Mommy. Mommy wants to teach C.J. a lesson and break her out of this pronto. Now Daddy agrees with Mommy that she needs to be broken, however, his method would be a little different. Now you all know that C.J. is Daddy's girl, his Princess, his Baby girl, and his partner in crime against Mommy. So he naturally would want to comfort his baby whenever she calls. I mean who cares if she is crying wolf or not? Who cares if she stops when I pick her up? Who cares if she cracks a smile at Mommy when I am holding her? Daddy does not care, lol! I understand all the psychological and behavioral issues it may cause. I think I got an "A" in that class. I understand all of the technical stuff but when it gets right down to it, Daddy loves his baby girl and that is no problem for him.

So the jury is still out on what we will do. Tonight has been easy thus far. She is actually asleep now. We had a great Daddy bath night and she cooperated while getting dressed. Since I bathed her a little early we watched some ball games tonight too, the Big East and ACC tournament are in full swing. Let's Go Duke! Oh yeah I almost forgot to mention, she sat in her high chair today and tomorrow will be her first feeding in it. She likes sitting in it so let the messes begin.

So as I get ready to catch a movie with the Mrs. you all remember to pray tonight. Prayer changes things, people and situation. Also pray for Haiti and Chile tonight, we must never stop the efforts.

NOTE TO C.J.: Always work to develop solutions to problems. Before you try to work it out, seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and you will be alright!

Let The Church Say Amen!

Tonight C.J. went to Lenten Service with Daddy and Mommy. Usually Mommy keeps C.J. home because it is a long day for her. You have to remember C.J. is up at quarter to six in the morning. Today was different because there was a dynamic preacher that Mommy wanted to hear.

Once we arrived at the church Daddy went in the study like he usually does and CJ and Mommy went towards their usual area. They sit close to the door so if CJ needs to be fed or changes they can make their exit quickly without fuss. Tonight Daddy helped the Worship Team lead Praise and Worship. CJ is use to Daddy talking from up front bu this was her first time hearing him sing some of his favorite songs. She is familiar with these songs because we listen to them all the time at home.

Now the Amen's come in here. I was sitting in the front row of the church feasting off of the word. Suddenly I started to hear a baby. The first sound was not mine because I can recognize her voice from miles away so I did not even turn around I stayed in tune with the preacher. The second time the sound I heard came from someone familiar that was CJ, so I shifted a little. Then I heard it again and had to turn around and low and behold it was my Princess making noise in church. I figure she was saying AMEN in her own way. Everyone else was because the word was good and CJ who is use to good preaching decided to join in! All I could do was shake my head and turn around.

So my baby girl loves church and good preaching. What more could a preaching Daddy ask for? I am going to be sure to listen to the tape from when Daddy preaches next to see if she lets out as many Amen's as she did tonight! We all enjoyed Worship tonight, CJ is sleep and Daddy and Mommy are headed that way. We prayed in church but as always pray some more because prayer changes things, people and situations.

What Shots? No Problem!

Tonight I will be brief. We had the quickest doctor's appointment ever, literally 10 minutes. The doctor came in, he administered two shots and we were out of there. We then went to IHOP on the wrong night. It was Senior night complete with an air tank on the table. Then we came home and C.J.'s high chair met us at the door. Tonight she is being a little difficult with going to bed so I have to go rescue her from Mommy who is not pleased with her bed behavior. So she started off well tonight but she is not ending in a positive way.

So as you pray keep her in prayer because she might need it a lot. Besides we know that prayer changes things, people and situations so your prayers can change her bedtime behavior!

Young, Black, and Fabulous

Today was the first pretty day we have had in a long time. The sun shined all day long, not a cloud was anywhere in sight and the temperature tickled around 60 degrees. So what does C.J. do? I guess she is going to gauge her temperament from the weather. This girl seems to just be warming up.

When we went to go pick her up today Mommy told me that she did not sleep a lot today. The only thing was that she looked like she did not want to go to sleep anytime soon. When we got home we took her out and she went right on the floor. We spend a lot of time on the floor these days. So much so that Daddy and Mommy fell asleep on the floor last night. She was all good until she wanted to flip on her diva switch. It all went down hill from there.

When C.J. is in her young, black, and fabulous mood she wants attention at the 150%. She wants it from Daddy, Mommy and anything else that has life in her presence. She refuses to sit alone, she refuses to play with her toys and she refuses to be quiet. I am doing laundry today so I had to go outside and I could hear C.J. yelling at the top of her lungs. All I could do was shake my head.

One thing that I am learning to do is how to calm her down. She likes to be talked down. Since Daddy has to try and not always give in to her I have had to devise another mechanism. So when she flips the diva switch on, I will deepen my voice but talk calmly to her. I will sit with her or lie down next to her and just talk to her. I will ask her what is wrong? Why she feels the need to make so much noise? Also, what does she want? She usually will connect eyes with me and then I will either kiss her on the head or rub her belly. Then she seems to calm down a bit.

This DIVA switch seems to be very potent. The problem is that C.J. has the remote control. So Daddy is creating the circuit breaker for her. Discipline from Daddy will be rough because C.J. is my baby girl. However it is clear to me that discipline must be in place.

Missing You!

OK, OK, OK, Daddy missed his Baby Girl a whole lotta bunch today! On most Sundays the Johnsons of Old Bridge worship together. Today, however, we parted ways. Now when we are in church, I am not with C.J. because I am in the pulpit leading service. C.J. and I make contact though and I hear her throughout the few hours we are in church, but at least we are together. Then you have to be reminded of the fact that we are apart because everyone is going to ask where she is or how she is doing. I think I should have created a sign to wear around my neck with a message so I did not have to say the same thing over and over.

So I may be over the top but I really miss C.J. when I am not with her. Most of the time no matter where we are, we are together. Whether it is shopping, driving, relaxing, or just hanging out C.J. is in Daddy's presence. I have to admit the little girl is cute and I never want to miss out on anything she may do.

So now that we are home we are back together. We played on the floor a little bit and now she is getting ready for bed. She also played with the cookie her Pop made her for Black History Month. He put all of his grandchildren on a cookie. She will not get to eat any of it...OK, maybe a smidgen. So that is it for today. I missed her a bunch but we have to work on being apart from each other. When you're dealing with a King and a Princess, that concept is hard for us to grasp.

So in parting, always remember to pray. We all know and have faith that prayer changes things, people and situations.