11:59 On the brink of a…

(Reposted for your pleasure...since first publishing this poem in 2007 this poem has inspired many other writers and event organisers across the world)

We all experience it, we all dread it
Buzzing with excitement or caged by fear
Change birth stress and
Stress forces change

A change is looming at eleven fifty-nine
For we all experience change in our lives, at some time
A change of day, a change of month or year
We lose or gain something, someone dear

You could love it
You could hate it
One thing is natural
We all must have it

If your clock doesn’t stop ticking
You are bound to be changing
For even when your clock stops
Change even in death you must

But why we say eleven fifty nine?
By no means maligned
A lot you can buy with dollar and dime
But not much can be given in exchange for time

Change is neither certain nor constant
For only time changes change
And change changes time.
Whatever your story, things never remain the same
After Eleven fifty-nine

Copyright (c) 2007 J D Gordon All Rights Reserved.

God loves me anyways

My lips have uttered many lies and deceit, yet He loved me anyways…

My eyes wandered and lusted at the world, the human body, the jewelry and the glimmering life, yet God loved me anyways…

I am hurting, and I have hurt others too, feeling abused and even heartbroken I have broken a few hearts too…yet God loves me anyways…

My mind struggles to remain pure, to remain clean, yet He loves me anyways…

I steal, I cheat, I hate, I grudge and I judge, But God still loves me anyways…

I have messed up, not once, not twice but so many times, yet He loves me anyways…

God loves me anyways…

Oh, so many times I think to myself I just don’t deserve this, it seems oh too good to be true…but He loves me anyways…

I am not without flaws, oh no, I am not without my issues, yet God loves me anyways…

I become proud and feel as if I know it all and I have got all the answers, but He loves me anyways…

Many nights when I become weary of life I cry and cry and cry some more…But still God loves me anyways…

I said I will never let this happen to me again and surely it does, yet He loves me anyways…

I have wasted so much of the time he has given me living selfishly and being swallowed up in self-centered desires and wants, but God loves me anyways…

He loves me just as I am; He waits for me just as I am…

He still loves me, He still loves you anyways.

This time is for you

This time is for you
He knew you had fallen and there was no way you could climb yourself back up into heaven and so he sent His Only Son to get you instead.

St. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that if you should believe in him you shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This time is for you
He knew you would have been battered and beaten by life, surrounded by misery and longing for peace. He knew you would be hurt and wounded and in need of healing so he allowed the whipping of His Son.
Every flogging he received paid your medical and health bill to secure your healing.

Isaiah 53:5 “But he was pierced for your transgressions, he was crushed for your iniquities; the punishment that brought you peace was upon him, and by his wounds you are healed.”


St. John 16:33 “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world."

This time is for you
But though you have eyes you will not see it unless you look
And though you look, what you see won’t make sense until you open your heart to Jesus
Then when you see as Jesus does it makes a whole world of difference. You want to find your way…You want the truth…

St. John 14: 6 “I am the Way the Truth and the Life. You cannot come to the Father except through me.

This time is for you
Some call it Christmas, others call it yuletide etc.
All over the world people are looking forward to this time, they want hope; they want escape from the ills of life, they want light. This is your time. Make this festival a Christian festival. This time is really for you…he did it for you

St. John 1: 10 – 11 “He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.”

This time is for you
This time is for you, It may seem too good to be true…a great God did such a marvelous thing for you…but he did…yes He did…will you receive it?

St. John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,”

Economic Crisis and cost cutting

The shortsighted and unimaginative managers of our time again and again

interpret cost cutting to connote human resource reduction.

She looks for love…

She looks for love...

She looks for love from a guy who she feel will make her complete
She looks for love from a guy who tells her she is so sweet

Daddy you weren’t there to tell her what she needed to hear
“My darling you are so beautiful and so dear”
“My darling you are my precious jewel, your father’s heartfelt cheer”

She never had that love she needed
Though her soul begged and pleaded

So she gives in to the voice of the first pretender
Her entire heart she surrendered

Daddy if you only knew how much she needed you
The hugs, kisses and tender words she needed too

She looks for love, but not sure what are men made of and who are they

So she hurt herself in the process
Grieving that her life is a mess

So now she is confused, feeling violated and used
She learns to distrust men, hate them and resent a few too

She looks for love from a real man, a man who will protect and provide
A man who is good enough to make her his bride

Finally her heart one day finds love
Oh but all that hurt and pain has made her a divided soul
Who has grown bitter and ice cold
A soul of quiet shouts and tearless cries,

She defines love by her reality, though far from the truth
A fate of early love that torments the mature and our youth

She looks for love yet still,
But a wise heart knows The Heavenly Father’s will

She looks for love...

(This is true for our world today, please feel free to share with a girl, a woman, a boy or a man – Someone really needs to hear)


~~HELP~~HER~~FIND~~LOVE~~

The brilliance of a 15 month old baby boy

The family had just returned from church and I went into the bedroom to change when our fifteen month old son Joshua followed sharply behind me. He took my white pair of sneakers and went into the living room.

Shortly afterwards I heard my wife in the living room calling out to him not to put the shoes in the settee..."take it to daddy" she told him

He marched back into the bedroom and returned the white sneakers and took up a pair of brown dressing shoes this time...oh by the way, there are four different types of brown shoes where he toke the pair from...anyway...

I heard my wife once again calling out to him not to put the shoes in the settee...to bring it to an end I then I approached him and thank him for the shoes....I turned to my wife and said...you are missing it...you are too concern over the settee and as such you are missing the most important lesson in this...

I said to her, he is demonstrating his ability to select shoes of the same color and style which is far more valuable than a dirty settee, we can always clean it, re-wrap it or even throw it out...who cares?
I told her there are many grown men who still put their socks or shoes in the wrong places and of course my wife agreed and smiled. I also told her that Joshua is thinking that it is the wrong pair of shoes, and as such he returned each time and changed the shoes.

This was my little Ah! Ah! Moment on the weekend…sheer brilliance

Why students fail?

I know you would have liked for me to tell you the single most important reason why students fail.

But failure isn’t something you bumped into or it just happened; it is a process. In a similar way winning and being successful can become a habit, so too is failing.

Understanding where you have gone wrong is one of the first steps in moving from a state of failing to being successful. I have outlined six main areas that I believe will help you better prepare for your upcoming exams. Just how well you apply the tools below could actually determine which side of the fence you end up on.

 Lack of adequate planning

I have always heard the saying, if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.Planning for your exams include from preparing your pen, ruler and geometry set days before the exam, to planning your answers while in the examination room.

Failing to plan properly will make you more anxious and doubtful of your ability.
Don’t just rush into things.

Stop! Take a deep breath and spend a little time to plan your study and revision schedule.This could go a long way in helping you to manage your time efficiently.
Planning to read over your notes each day is a good habit to develop.

Tip: Always do the most important things first. Plan before you start, and don’t leave the more important things at the mercy of the less important stuff.

 Poor time management

Students often times postpone learning. This is often done especially when the topic is either difficult or we just don’t seem to grasp it immediately. This will have the effect of students using their study time to learn something that should have already been covered.
If this is you, don’t panic.

Just as you would plan your study and revision times, you must also set aside time for learning new materials that you either did not previously cover or wasn’t grasping too well.

Some subjects require more attention than others and it is usually good to split subjects into weak and strong areas. If you do fairly well at Chemistry and poor at Mathematics, then you would want to spend a little more time practicing math.

Practice, Practice, Practice
Do a lot of past papers and practice often. I found that sometimes questions are repeated in future exams with just minor changes.

Study guides and books with worked answers in the back are great, but only if you use them for help and not as an easy way to get your assignment done. Don't let a book or classmates do your work for you. Do not copy someone else’s work either. They won't be available during the tests, which usually count for a big portion of your grade.

Notice I said practice, not cram.
Caution! Don’t fall into the trap of devoting all your time to a subject you love and enjoy doing.
Share your time based on where the need is greater.

Focus – Put your heart and mind into it
A part of managing your time properly is to ensure that your heart and mind is into what you are doing.
Find the right place and time that will make you be at your best. Here are a few simple and effective steps you can take to better manage your study time:

 Turn off the TV.
 Tell your friends you are studying and that you will not be accessible during certain hours.
 Get rid of all possible distractions.

As a teenager I have always found it difficult to switch off the TV while studying. But, I later on told myself that the Movie Makers already knew just how they were going to earn their living. Therefore I needed to take a conscious decision to pass my CXC. This I knew would have given me a head start in life. Find something to motivate you.

Tip: Be discipline, get use to it, you will need it throughout your entire life.

 Procrastinating

You should never do today what you can put off until tomorrow, right? Wrong!
“I will look at this tomorrow”, is always the easy thing to say.
Remember we said earlier that failing is a process? Get into the habit of passing exams and studying properly. I need not say anymore.

Tip: Stop procrastinating – Yesterday you said you would have done it tomorrow and tomorrow you wish you had done it yesterday.

 Poor eating and sleeping habits

Develop good eating and sleeping habits. You will do yourself more harm than good trying to study when you are tired and exhausted. Know your body and how it responds to certain foods. An empty stomach in the exam room may be just as bad as having too much to eat.

Doing regular physical exercises helps with the flow of blood in the body and mind.

Tip: Always have a good meal, not too heavy and not too light. Also taking sweets to chew on during the exam is a good way of replenishing your energy.

 Quitting too quickly

Never give up while the exam is in progress. If you keep worrying over what you cannot do, you might end up doing poorly on areas that you thought you could have done well.
Things to always do in an exam:

 Write clear and easily understood answers.
 Review your answers.
 Make sure your handwriting is legible for written papers.
 Corrections should be neat.

Tip: There are many times I believed I failed an exam only to get the results showing that I not only passed but got a good grade too. Don’t fail yourself, keep going, you can do it.

 Fear of exams
The sixth and final reason why students fail is due to the crippling effect of fear on the mind.
If you are like me, then you never really get to like exams. In high school I was always afraid of exams and this was evident in my many trips to the bathroom. I have since changed my attitude.

I have now adapted the “I can approach”.
Your attitude towards your exam could determine if you have a mind block during the exam.
RELAX!
Things are never as bad as we imagine them to be. I have always found that praying help me to focus and relax, especially just before I begin writing my exam paper, you can try it.

Tip: Be calm, be cool and always do something to relax your mind before and during the exam.

This very minute

This very minute a woman is giving birth...
This very minute another soul is departing the earth...

This very minute a girl is finding love...
This very minute someone is angry at love...

This very minute, an achievement someone is proud of...
This very minute, some action someone is disappointed of...

This very minute there’s a man giving up...
This very minute there’s a child wising up...

This very minute someone is grieving...
This very minute someone is believing...

This very minute a girl is feeling lonely...
This very minute someone special is thinking of you, their one and only...

This very minute a family is having a fight...
This very minute a couple is getting it right...

This very minute may not count much to you...
But this is all the time someone has left to make it through...

This very minute may be your final and only chance...
To share hope, to love or even to dance...

This very minute wont last...
It will soon become your precious past...

Make this very minute count...
This very minute may seem like forever...

Let your memories be pleasing to remember...
Be thankful for this very minute, before it is over...