Fatherhood honor roll

My church asked me to write a little dedication to my father and they read it last week when they had their "father's day honor roll" ceremony and presentations.  Here's what I had to say about my dad - I hope you enjoy it!

Protector, Encourager and an example of living his purpose…these are the areas that my father excels and earns his place on the ‘honor roll’ of fatherhood. 

Protector

When I was a young girl, I’ll never forget one of my biggest wishes was to get a t-shirt with my name on the back of it.  At the time, I never understood why my dad wouldn’t allow it, but my mom had to explain to me, that my dad was doing it for my own protection.  You see, he didn’t want me to be fooled by kidnappers who might have enticed me into their cars because they could call me by my name.  This protection from my ‘natural father’ is similar to the protection that my heavenly father offers me as well.  Even now, he sends me e-mails with warnings and continues to pray for my safety when I’ve ventured out to explore the world on my own. 

Encourager

My Dad is a man of few words with me as a daughter.  Like me, he’s much more comfortable saying the important things by the written word.  Often he’ll send me e-mail messages with inspirational stories of encouragement or texts from “The Upper Room.”  The other day he sent me an e-mail expressing how proud he was of me.  Although I don’t consider myself to be an overly emotional person, his note brought tears to my eyes and it was the encouragement I needed to hear in that moment.  My dad, knows the right times to offer me encouragement, much like my heavenly father does. 

An example of living his purpose

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always associated music with my Dad.  When we were kids we’d go to see the bands he was directing in concert or even sometimes get to see him play the saxophone or other instruments.  In fact, he forced encouraged both my sister and I to take piano lessons and music lessons as kids.  I thought for a while that I wanted to make music my career and even went as far as majoring in it in undergrad for a couple of years, before I realized my talents were better used elsewhere. 

My Dad is one of those rare persons who was blessed to recognize his purpose and anointing early on in life.  He made a career out of music and also uses his gifts to serve the Lord.   For me, that’s why he’s an example of living his purpose.

I’m thankful for the fact that God has blessed me with two fantastic parents, but I’m especially proud of my Dad, El Douglas Albritton, Jr. and I believe he deserves his place on the ‘Fatherhood Honor Roll”.


Mwuah,


Georgia Peach

The benefits of unemployment

Hello my faithful readers:

It has been a while since I've posted a blog.  I've been quiet because I things have been quiet for me - I'm still working on finding a the right job for me.  Not working full-time has given me lots of time for self reflection and although it took me a lot longer than it should have while to realize it, having all of this unexpected time off is allowing me to cross off most of the non-work related goals I'd written for myself back in July 2010.

Rather than focusing on how terrible it is that I'm not working full-time, I thought I'd share with you some of the benefits I'm currently experiencing as a result of my unemployment.

1)  I have more time to focus on my spiritual side.  Since I've been home I've felt the need to strengthen my relationship with God.  I'm praying more and attending church more than the every once in a while I did when I lived in NYC.  I didn't make the time before, but now that excuse (no time) has been removed.

2)  I have plenty of time to spend working out and as a result I've lost 22 lbs. (and going) since I first realized I was gaining weight at an alarming rate (for me). Working out is also a great stress reliever for me and it does wonders for my mood.  I have about 8 more lbs. to lose before I reach my target weight and it's been great to have people notice all of the hard work(outs) I've been putting in.

3)  I'm getting to know my family much better.  I'm sure most of you are scratching your head and thinking - "get to know her family better what does that mean?"  Although I saw them at holidays and talked to them on the phone (and later by Skype), there was an awful lot going on that I missed in ten years away simply because I wasn't here.  It's been nice for me to allow myself to catch up with the circles of life happening right here in my own family and getting to know them as an adult.

4)  My friends, former co-workers and acquaintances have been great about sending me job listings, hooking me up with freelance projects, connecting me with volunteer opportunities, introducing me to their network for informational calls/meetings and offering me places to stay when I need to come to town for a visit.  It's a really great feeling when people are willing to lend a helping hand.  There have been a few friends who have really kept me going throughout this period and I'm eternally grateful for their help and support.  Never underestimate the power of encouragement - it really does make a difference on a bad day!

5) I'm also still continuing to learn Spanish - although I'll admit I haven't spent nearly as much time with my grammar books as I should recently.  I do make sure to squeeze in at least an hour per day of Spanish language programming and I'm happy to say that I comprehend (with captions) about 65-70% of the language without looking up the words as much in my dictionary.  I still need to work in my grammar books a lot more though.

Now this isn't to say that I don't have bad days, hours and weeks, but I think the most important thing for me in getting through this time of unemployment intact is my attitude.  I've had to make sure that I really focus on surrounding myself with positive people and positive energy.  It's really easy (for me) to get into a funk of self doubt and self pity, so I have really tried to make sure I don't spend a lot of time talking to people who help me to get to those places quickly (even if it's family).   It's nothing personal, just something I have to do in order to preserve my mental health and sanity.

This period of unemployment has also taught me more about my capacity for persistence and patience.  Some of the informational calls and meetings took me months to set up, but they finally happened - I'm still waiting on a few more to happen.   The fact that they are happening makes me more optimistic than I've been in a long time.  I can't give up! Good things come to those who wait right?

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

PS - if you've heard of partnership, lifestyle or entertainment marketing openings please do feel free to check out my  Linkedin profile.


PPS - if you're on twitter follow me!