Just Keep Swimming!
Have you ever seen the movie Finding Nemo? As an adult, I am ashamed to admit that I’ve seen this movie 1 trillion ka-billion times. I don’t know what it is? Maybe the awesome way the animators brought the ocean and it’s inhabitants to life? How about the roller coaster of the emotions that take you from being overwhelmed with suspense to rushes of uncontrollable laughter filled with tears? Or what about the sappy tale of the family who lost the mother, and the father is desperately looking for the son he’s been feverishly over-protecting after he finally allowed his son to venture out into the world? I know what it is! It’s the blue fish, named Dory, played by Ellen Degeneres. that’s schizophrenic and has short term memory loss. Schizophrenia, Ellen, and memory loss make for a HILARIOUS combination!
So, why am I talking about a fish in a 10 year old children’s movie with a bunch of adults? Well, because like all great children movies, it has a great lesson in it for all of us. Actually, it has a few. My absolute favorite lesson comes from the scene when Marlin, Nemo’s father, had just lost the one thing that could help locate him. He was completely dismayed when, all of a sudden, Dory breaks out into one of her impromptu songs. She sings “just keep swimming” over and over again. For years and years I would reference this movie whenever I needed a good laugh. But, just the other day, I started singing that song to myself when I felt my world start to cave in.
Here’s a little about me that you might not know: Dallas is a fighter. No not the physical fighter like the girls in Basketball Wives. I’m talking about the ‘when the going gets tough, the tough gets going’ type of fighter. A few years back I decided to record a song and the producer I found to record me was a bit pricey for my budget at the time. I love to sing and it had always been a child hood dream of mine to become a recording artist. I was going to go for it. Low and behold, whenever you’re on a path towards a dream/ goal, the Devil always wants to side track you. Out of no where I started receiving doctor bills from an injury that was supposed to be taken care of by the insurance company. I was put in a bad spot because I wasn’t made aware until the bills were 90 days past due. Not only that, my brand new car had been damaged in a store parking lot, so I had to take care of that too. I didn’t allow that to deter me. Even though I had leg pain from the previous injury, I decided to pick up a waitressing job so that I could pay for everything.
The first couple of weeks were brutal. I went from working 40 hours per week at my regular job to working an additional 30+ to cover things. Looking back, I had never worked so much and at the same time been so broke. The minute I got money it was going into someone else’s pocket. I also had a few bad nights with customers not leaving tips for reasons I had no control over. I was expecting to walk out with so much money and would walk out with scraps. Sometimes I had to walk into the back of the kitchen and cry to get through the shift. But guess what? By the grace of God I just kept swimming. I would keep my head up like nobody’s business. When God saw my faith, and the fact that I was going to keep going come what may, He began to open up the flood gates. There were days when I would have to work the ‘To Go’ station on a Sunday morning. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, knew that the ‘To Go’ station was a guaranteed walk out of $10 on a stellar day. I would say to myself that God was going to provide and wait at my station for hours without an order. Then the phone would ring and the person on the other end would be ordering for a large party and leave me a tip for well over $100 dollars. All the servers couldn’t stand me because I walked out with more than them.
My poor car. I didn’t have enough to cover my deductible so I decided to drive with my car damaged until I could pay for it. If you knew me, and how much I love my car, you’d understand how large of a sacrifice that was. I would have fixed it myself if I knew how to get that dent out. Thankfully a gentleman, at one of the shops I worked with, buffed out the scratches so I didn’t have to ride around looking too bad. After a couple of months, once things were paid off, I was able to take care of the damages. But not without God showing me how good and sovereign He is. I ended up getting an ear infection during the holiday season. Anyone who knows the restaurant industry knows that the holiday season is prime time to make the most money. I was counting on that money to pay for my car and presents. Unfortunately, the ear infection won out and I had to take off from both jobs for roughly 2 weeks. It took so long because I had worked so much that my immune system shut down. My saving grace was unexpected money that came in right on time that allowed for me to not work for 2 weeks. I was able to pay for everything, including my car, and then some. Thank God for provision!
The Devil knows that there’s a record that plays in our head all the time. Whatever that record is saying is what steers our thoughts in the direction our situations will tend to go in. He will constantly bombarded us with things that try to deter us off our paths. We get hit with setbacks and trials left and right. There are times when we are waiting for a bad situation to turn around and it seems like the sun is taking forever to rise. We get so bogged down that keeping the faith is last on the list. In these times of struggle we must keep ourselves strong so that we may persevere through whatever tries to knock us down. If the thoughts playing in your mind or negative, the Devil has already won the battle.
All you have to do is think to yourself ‘Just keep swimming’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxB_TemN1pc
Come follow me on Twitter @fabulusmsdallas... Toodles!!!!
Written by: Dallas Jackson
Author of: Until You Love You, No One Else Will - - coming in September 2012
Happy Birthday to my sister Marshae!!!!
INSPIRATIONAL VIDEO OF THE DAY
Have you ever seen the movie Finding Nemo? As an adult, I am ashamed to admit that I’ve seen this movie 1 trillion ka-billion times. I don’t know what it is? Maybe the awesome way the animators brought the ocean and it’s inhabitants to life? How about the roller coaster of the emotions that take you from being overwhelmed with suspense to rushes of uncontrollable laughter filled with tears? Or what about the sappy tale of the family who lost the mother, and the father is desperately looking for the son he’s been feverishly over-protecting after he finally allowed his son to venture out into the world? I know what it is! It’s the blue fish, named Dory, played by Ellen Degeneres. that’s schizophrenic and has short term memory loss. Schizophrenia, Ellen, and memory loss make for a HILARIOUS combination!So, why am I talking about a fish in a 10 year old children’s movie with a bunch of adults? Well, because like all great children movies, it has a great lesson in it for all of us. Actually, it has a few. My absolute favorite lesson comes from the scene when Marlin, Nemo’s father, had just lost the one thing that could help locate him. He was completely dismayed when, all of a sudden, Dory breaks out into one of her impromptu songs. She sings “just keep swimming” over and over again. For years and years I would reference this movie whenever I needed a good laugh. But, just the other day, I started singing that song to myself when I felt my world start to cave in.
Here’s a little about me that you might not know: Dallas is a fighter. No not the physical fighter like the girls in Basketball Wives. I’m talking about the ‘when the going gets tough, the tough gets going’ type of fighter. A few years back I decided to record a song and the producer I found to record me was a bit pricey for my budget at the time. I love to sing and it had always been a child hood dream of mine to become a recording artist. I was going to go for it. Low and behold, whenever you’re on a path towards a dream/ goal, the Devil always wants to side track you. Out of no where I started receiving doctor bills from an injury that was supposed to be taken care of by the insurance company. I was put in a bad spot because I wasn’t made aware until the bills were 90 days past due. Not only that, my brand new car had been damaged in a store parking lot, so I had to take care of that too. I didn’t allow that to deter me. Even though I had leg pain from the previous injury, I decided to pick up a waitressing job so that I could pay for everything.
The first couple of weeks were brutal. I went from working 40 hours per week at my regular job to working an additional 30+ to cover things. Looking back, I had never worked so much and at the same time been so broke. The minute I got money it was going into someone else’s pocket. I also had a few bad nights with customers not leaving tips for reasons I had no control over. I was expecting to walk out with so much money and would walk out with scraps. Sometimes I had to walk into the back of the kitchen and cry to get through the shift. But guess what? By the grace of God I just kept swimming. I would keep my head up like nobody’s business. When God saw my faith, and the fact that I was going to keep going come what may, He began to open up the flood gates. There were days when I would have to work the ‘To Go’ station on a Sunday morning. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, knew that the ‘To Go’ station was a guaranteed walk out of $10 on a stellar day. I would say to myself that God was going to provide and wait at my station for hours without an order. Then the phone would ring and the person on the other end would be ordering for a large party and leave me a tip for well over $100 dollars. All the servers couldn’t stand me because I walked out with more than them.
My poor car. I didn’t have enough to cover my deductible so I decided to drive with my car damaged until I could pay for it. If you knew me, and how much I love my car, you’d understand how large of a sacrifice that was. I would have fixed it myself if I knew how to get that dent out. Thankfully a gentleman, at one of the shops I worked with, buffed out the scratches so I didn’t have to ride around looking too bad. After a couple of months, once things were paid off, I was able to take care of the damages. But not without God showing me how good and sovereign He is. I ended up getting an ear infection during the holiday season. Anyone who knows the restaurant industry knows that the holiday season is prime time to make the most money. I was counting on that money to pay for my car and presents. Unfortunately, the ear infection won out and I had to take off from both jobs for roughly 2 weeks. It took so long because I had worked so much that my immune system shut down. My saving grace was unexpected money that came in right on time that allowed for me to not work for 2 weeks. I was able to pay for everything, including my car, and then some. Thank God for provision!
The Devil knows that there’s a record that plays in our head all the time. Whatever that record is saying is what steers our thoughts in the direction our situations will tend to go in. He will constantly bombarded us with things that try to deter us off our paths. We get hit with setbacks and trials left and right. There are times when we are waiting for a bad situation to turn around and it seems like the sun is taking forever to rise. We get so bogged down that keeping the faith is last on the list. In these times of struggle we must keep ourselves strong so that we may persevere through whatever tries to knock us down. If the thoughts playing in your mind or negative, the Devil has already won the battle.
All you have to do is think to yourself ‘Just keep swimming’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxB_TemN1pc
Come follow me on Twitter @fabulusmsdallas... Toodles!!!!
Written by: Dallas Jackson
Author of: Until You Love You, No One Else Will - - coming in September 2012
Happy Birthday to my sister Marshae!!!!
INSPIRATIONAL VIDEO OF THE DAY
I was having a tough week and this has really given me something to think about. Thanks for this!
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