Filed under: Uncategorized
I, being somewhat (understatement) of a perfectionist, have changed up my new blog yet again. It’s not a serious change, but it has a bit of a new look to it. And I’m in love with it! Come check it out over at — STUARTBMCDONALD.COM
What that means is that I won’t be blogging over here any more. For all those who use readers to check me out, make sure you subscribe to the new RSS feed here.
Also, take time to check out information about my upcoming trip to Haiti. I’d love for you to partner with me by making a donation towards the trip! Thanks!
Thanks for your support!
Filed under: My Life...
I know that some of you might be thinking that it’s been a while since I posted a new blog. And you’re half right. It’s been a while since I posted a new blog here. I have finally upgraded myself into the world of real bloggers and got my own domain and customized site! I cannot tell you how excited I am! I’ve included a screenshot below, so you can see how cool it really is!
YOU CAN NOW FIND MY BLOG HERE — STUARTBMCDONALD.COM
(For all those who use readers to check me out, make sure you subscribe to the new RSS feed here.)
Filed under: Relationships
Over the weekend I was privy to an interesting conversation among some people whose opinions were, to say the least, different from mine. Any time I can hear another perspective or point of view, I take it. You never know what you might learn.
In this instance, the conversation, as it often tends to do when you have more than two single people in the same place, moved to relationships and sex. Different people spoke their pieces and some disagreed with others — the usual. What stuck out was one gentleman’s perspective when it came to sex and pleasing his partner.
(Sidebar: If you know me or have been reading my stuff for any length of time, you should know that I don’t condone sex outside of marriage. It’s because of this that I didn’t have, well, anything to contribute to the conversation.)
This man believed that, during sex, his orgasm was his responsibility and hers was hers. Continue reading
Filed under: Ministry, Stories, Think About It | Tags: church, live, Ministry, personal, prayer, twitter
The other night, after having a great brunch with a friend, and doing some homework, I got a little overwhelmed with life, even to the point of becoming a tad depressed. Then I talked to my dad. Both of them. My dad called me on the phone and we had a wonderful conversation just about all that’s going on in both our lives. It was nice to know that we were struggling with some of the same things. We were open, honest, and vulnerable about our lives. And it felt great.
Then we prayed and talked to our Heavenly Father. It was just what we both needed. I don’t know about him, but I was crying so hard by the time we finished — I mean that ugly cry too — that I couldn’t even breathe out of my nose. But I felt so much better. Like a weight had been lifted off my shoulder. There was little doubt in my mind that my Twitter family needed to hear what I had just received. Below is what I shared. (If you’d like the high-res photo, click here)
Filed under: race, Think About It | Tags: education, New York, Plessy, race, school, segregation, Students
In America, race and class are inextricably linked. Whether by chance, or more likely, by purpose, that is the reality that we must live with. Most of the children who attend New York’s Lower Laboratory School for Gifted Education and Straus School, and their parents, know this all too well.
Straus and Lower Lab inhabit the same building in New York’s Upper East Side—P.S. 198—yet the two schools couldn’t be more different. The only thing they share is the building. While they utilize the same halls and bathrooms, the two schools never interact, even during lunch or recess. There’s an even more striking area they don’t share—the front door. Lower Lab, along with its student and teachers, gets to use the front door while the Straus students are forced to go around the side of the building to use the back door.
In Steven Thrasher’s article, “Inside a Divided Upper East Side Public School,” published in New York’s Village Voice, he describes the scene at P.S. 198 by saying, “If you’re a white student and you arrive at the public elementary school building on 95th Street and Third Avenue, you’ll probably walk through the front door. If you’re a black student, you’ll probably come in through the back.” Continue reading
A few days out of the week I volunteer at an elementary school in Southwest Atlanta. 
It’s different from the area where I grew up and went to school in almost every way I could imagine — student demographic, parental involvement, median family income, housing situations, etc. Needless to say, over the past few months I’ve learned quite a lot from the kids and the teachers. In fact, probably more than they’ve learned from me.
Yesterday, I had a chance to work with a fifth grader; we’ll call him Bobby. He is struggling in a lot of areas — reading comprehension and math primarily — and is definitely not on par with his grade level, and is nowhere near ready to enter middle school in the fall.
That morning, our focus was math. Me and math have never been the best of friends. I understood it and had little problem doing it, but it was by far my least favorite subject. So, when the teacher said multiplication and simplifying fractions, I couldn’t help but groan a little on the inside. But, I didn’t let it show. Continue reading
Filed under: Relationships | Tags: church, dating, men, Relationships, singles, women
So you’ve heard that one of the best places to find a nice guy or girl for you to spend the rest of your life with is in the church, huh? Or perhaps you’ve heard that’s where you find the biggest freaks. Either way, you want to date a Christian, but you’re just not sure how to go about it. After all, Christian culture can be a bit strange sometimes. But you’re right to think that most Christians are great people. They’re very accepting, welcoming, and open to exploring new things. For the most part, they’re good people to be in a relationship with, given that you don’t mind adhering to a few (mostly unspoken) “rules.” In order to help you out, I’ve listed a few of those rules and the best ways to navigate them. Enjoy.
Act saved. Being a Christian is all about maintaining appearances. Try not to yell at people in public or listen to any non-worship music (when other people are around) or dress to scantily because people won’t think that you know Jesus. Please make sure you remember your manners. And the more ways you can find to use Scripture in your daily life, the better. Continue reading
Filed under: My Life...
God is such an amazing orchestrator sometimes — actually, all the time. We tend to forget this until His plan manifests. And today was one of those days.
Tired, real tired, and heading home from school, I got on the wrong train. I was still heading the right direction, but the lines split at a certain point and I was on the wrong line. Of course, I didn’t figure this out until after the split, so I wasted a good 15 minutes of my time. Normally I wouldn’t be too upset about this (after all, I’m half embarrassed to say that this isn’t the first time it’s happened) but I had somewhere to be. Somewhere I was already late getting to. So, I did the only thing I could do; I got off at the next stop and hopped on the southbound train back to Lindbergh so I could catch the right train.
While I’m sitting on the bench at the Lindbergh station, the next northbound train arrives. It’s not mine. I have to wait longer. The train arrives, doors open, and, being the nosy, people watcher I am, I watch as the people file off the train. Wait. A face I know. I haven’t seen Kelly in quite a while. Because of my hair, I look a bit different than I did last time we chatted. She almost didn’t recognize me. Continue reading
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