Reflections: Part 1

Reflections: Part 1 (To be continued I forgot to post this. )

As I went to work today, I smiled being paid to sit in traffic as I traveled to Santa Monica from downtown Long Beach. The more I began thinking, the more I realized how drastic my life has changed in just three years. Three years ago I was 21 years old depressed, isolated, and just unhappy. The year of 21 was a 360 world wind. A few weeks before my 21st birthday, I moved into my first apartment without a room mate.

Throughout my life, I always felt like everything was taken from me suddenly with no warning. I never would've thought growing up that I'd have a signature in the Guardian section of my permission slips by the age of 15 and yet I found myself parentless. My mom, dad, and I were the Compton Cosbys with a twist. A Christian household filled with art.

I always admired my daddy because he was so gifted with his hands. He'd paint the most beautiful pictures and I could remember him even making custom Christmas decorations for our house. Hand made candy canes lined our front yard and the snow man was carved out of wood painted to perfection.

My father was a man of few words- the gentle giant and my mom was the social butterfly with her vibrant personality. He painted with his hands and she painted with her spirit. Growing up they were on our church praise team and heavily involved in ministry.

On Christmas, we'd sit around the tree making care packages full of necessities to give to girls at Dorothy Kirby Juvenile detention center. I never believed in Santa clause, but my parents made sure I knew Jesus. Although I didn't know what being saved really meant when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I did know I needed to have whatever it was that I heard people talking about.

I'll always remember the day I got saved. I was five years old. Me and my mom drove home after church while my dad stayed after to help(told y'all they were super involved). My heart felt heavy and I looked at my mom with inquisitive eyes asking her what I had to do to be saved. She told me all I had to do was accept Jesus in my heart. Sure I wasn't sure of the specifics at the time, but I knew I needed God even when I didn't fully understand who God was. Now that I'm older I thank God for the provisions made because I was given the perfect parents for me and through their love of God I grew up knowing what it was to be free.