Now I lay me down to sleep…

I pray to the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray to the Lord my soul to take. These are the words to the first prayer my mother taught me almost 30 years ago. I also can recall my very first Easter speech and I vividly remember the time my mother made me get in front of the church to pray on Youth Sunday with no warning or preparation. There I was dressed in all white, looking perplexed, asking her what was I supposed to say? She simply replied “Just pray like you do at home.” With no other choice, because mama didn’t take no for an answer, I went to the front of the church and recited the Lord’s Prayer on bended knee, followed by “God bless my mama and my daddy, my sisters and brothers…” These memories will always be with me and I’m thankful to God for my mother laying the spiritual foundation on which my faith stands today. At the time, I was grudgingly doing what I was told, but my mother was sowing seeds. She was, and still is, a steadfast believer in the Word of God; and she held firm to Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

As a parent of two, I have followed suit with teaching my children how to say their prayers and how to say grace before eating. My son is a stickler too. Everyone has to be at the table at the same time before we say grace, and if someone decides to join us later, we have to say it all over again. Plus, we have to bless every item including the juice, milk and ketchup. My daughter is not even two and she already chimes in at night when saying prayers and she is a huge fan of “This Little Light of Mine.” She sings the song and does an interpretive praise dance all at the same time. As a father, it makes my heart glad to see my children learning the way of the Lord at such a young age and I plan to continue to nurture their growth until they are old enough to make their own decisions.

For me, teaching my children about the Lord is a no brainer. My faith is the foundation of my morals, values and beliefs, and I want my children to have the same set of values when faced with the wiles of this world. What is perplexing to me though, is how those who say they were brought up in the church, those who say they know the Lord and that they pray, like it is a badge of honor, do not go to church as an adult, and even worse, they deprive their children from developing a relationship with the Lord.

I continue to be fascinated at how people can have their children involved in Jack and Jill, little league, ballet, ice skating, gymnastics and AAU Sports, but yet they neglect to teach their children to have a relationship with the Lord. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great to have children involved in these extracurricular activities, but without a spiritual foundation, it’s all for not. If the parents are unbelievers, case closed, I have no beef. However, if the parents claim to be believers, if they value the faith that was once instilled in them, the faith that they revert back to in times of trouble, why wouldn’t they cultivate their children to have their own relationship? The world in which we live is tough, and I could not imagine trying to face these obstacles and stresses without being able to go to the Rock of my salvation.

If you are a believer, I challenge you today to rekindle your own relationship with the Lord and to foster your children to develop one of their own. I guarantee that it is an investment that will pay off an eternal reward.

There's no place like home... or is it?

As the February 24 NBA trade deadline nears, Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony remains untraded, but at the top of most team’s wish list. The deal to the New Jersey Nets seemed all but done a month ago, but Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov decided that he was not going to continue to let the inmates run the asylum, so he pulled the plug on the potential deal. My beloved Chicago Bulls were even in the hunt this summer, a move that would have surely solidified our spot in the Eastern Conference finals at the very least, but the Denver Nuggets were asking the Bulls to mortgage their entire future for a rental player, no dice. The most recent rumors have the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks as the two front runners, although the Knicks have been the undercurrent driving this deal all season long.

While Anthony has not said much publicly during this mini saga, he still remains the leading character in “As the Melo Turns.” Sometimes silence and diplomacy can be deadlier than the obnoxious loud mouth… at least you can see him coming. Anthony has not publicly stated he wants out of Denver, but his refusal to sign a three-year $65 million extension with the Nuggets speaks volumes… must be nice.

Word on the street has it that Anthony wants to play for the Knicks because he is from New York. I guess the idea of playing for New Jersey was not close enough to home, even though they are supposed to move to Brooklyn N.Y. within the next season. Where Anthony lands makes no difference to me, although I think he would look sweet in a Bulls uniform. They have the third best record in the East and an MVP candidate in Derek Rose… but I digress. The point I want to make is, sometimes going home ain’t all what it’s cracked up to be. You have to go where your opportunities lead you. Look at the last NBA star who eagerly wanted to go back to play in his home city, which also happened to be New York; this fool ended up buried on the bench and then was found crying and eating Vaseline on YouTube. Now he’s playing ball in China… I guess I can't knock him too hard, he still has a job. And not to say that Anthony will suffer the same fate as “Starbury,” but then again, who saw that coming?

The NBA will be entering into a new collective bargaining agreement this summer. There is a strong likelihood that Anthony will not be able to make as much money under the new agreement should he opt out of his current contract to become a free agent to sign with the Knicks. One thing is for sure, Denver is not going to get burned ala Cleveland and Toronto. They plan to get something in return for the super star other than memories. I think we can expect Anthony to get traded to a team without signing an extension and Denver will have to come down on their asking price. Once in a new environment, perhaps the team will be able to woo him, and perhaps Anthony will realize $22 million a year isn't so bad for a black man in the United States.