I thank You for this opportunity to praise You and to acknowledge Your role in my life. I thank You for the many blessings that I enjoy because of Your grace and Your mercy. You are an awesome and mighty God. Lord I thank You for watching over my family and so many others as we navigate the challenges before us. It is my hope that we will emerge stronger than before.
Father, I ask that You comfort the hearts, souls and spirits of those who are hurting and who have
experienced loss. Be with them in their time of great need. Although the future is filled with uncertainties, You are the one certainty we can count on. You are our bridge over truly troubled waters. You are our light in the darkness. Father, You are our hope to dispel any signs of hopelessness. You, are worthy to be praised. --AMEN
PUBLISHER
Sandy Walker
Publisher’s Prayer
Sandy Walker
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Sommer W. Davis
EDITOR
Jamil Rivers
CIRCULATION MANAGER
Robert Walker
My Father, My God:
Father, in the Name of Jesus:
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Moderator Johnny L. Barber
Anika Madison
All is well with my soul as I focus my attention solely on You. I am thankful as I breathe the air You so graciously provide to me each day. How wonderful it is to be Your child. How wonderful it is to know that You are in charge. I am thankful Dear Lord for the blessings You continue to bestow. Father I know that I am in no way worthy of all that You give to me. You give me peace and love. You give me food to nourish my body. You give me all that I need to survive. Your blessings are so much appreciated as You place the right people in my life and in my path each day. I know Father that You are also placing me in the path of others so that I might do Your will in being a blessing as well. Keep my eyes open, Dear Lord, so that I might see those in need.
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I am eternally grateful for the love You continue to bestow upon me. You love me unconditionally with all of my issues and all of my faults. You love me, Father, in spite of myself. I thank You for being with me always. I am comforted by the knowledge that You are with me every moment of my life.
Lord as I navigate this wonderful journey called life I am eternally thankful for the love you continue to surround me with. I am thankful for the love and support of my amazing family. There is nothing I have done or could ever do to earn the blessings You continue to bestow upon me. Father I pray to be a blessing to others as you so generously bless me. You, my Lord are so worthy to be praised.
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Father I pray for all of Your children who are feeling
Father I pray for peace during these uncertain times. As much as we try to figure it all out, Lord You already know. When I find myself pondering the circumstances of the day I take comfort in the fact that You are in charge!
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Vaccine Delivered to all 50 States; Woman Receives First Injection
The first doses of an FDA-authorized Covid-19 vaccine have been delivered to all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, a little after a year the disease was first discovered in China, officials reported on Monday. It’s been a little under a year since the disease hit U.S. shores, but the effect has been devastating, creating an urgency for a solution.
Operation Warp Speed (OWS), a public-private effort, has been working with shipping companies FedEx and UPS to transfer the newly developed Pfizer vaccine in less than a year. The delivery started transport on Sunday, December 13th and completed
all first-day vaccine deliveries. Operation Warp Speed’s goal is to produce and deliver 300 million doses of safe and effective vaccines with the initial doses available by January 2021, as part of a broader strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics (collectively known as countermeasures).
This is news many have been waiting for, especially after the death toll in the U.S. tops 300,000. The US also recorded 110,549 current Covid-19 hospitalizations on December 14th, setting a new record high since the pandemic began, according to the Covid
Tracking Project.
The first person also received one of the first doses of the vaccine on Monday. US Surgeon General Jerome Adams called the rollout of the vaccine “tremendous.”
“This is just tremendous and I’m smiling bigger than I’ve smiled in a long time because it has been a hard year for so many people out there, including me personally,” Adams told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “Today we really did get a shot of hope.”
OWS is a partnership among components of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and the Department of Defense (DoD). OWS engages with private firms and other federal agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs. It will coordinate existing HHS-wide efforts, including the NIH’s Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) partnership, NIH’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative, and work by BARDA. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller oversee OWS, with Dr. Moncef Slaoui designated as chief advisor and General Gustave F. Perna confirmed as the chief operating officer of
OWS. To allow these OWS leaders to focus on operational work, in the near future the program will be announcing separate points of contact, with deep expertise and involvement in the program, for communication with Congress and the public.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned that Americans should not think the arrival of a vaccine means the end of the pandemic.
“I don’t believe we’re going to be able to throw the masks away and forget about physical separation in congregate settings for a while, probably likely until we get into the late fall and early next winter,” he said during a Center for Strategic and International Studies vir-
tual health event. “But I think we can do it.”
A critical care nurse was the first person in New York and among the first people in the country to get a first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
Sandra Lindsay, an ICU nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens was given the shot at 9:20 a.m. ET Monday. She said the shot didn’t feel any different than any other vaccine.”I’m feeling well. I would like to thank all the frontline workers and all my colleagues … doing their job during this pandemic all over the world,” she said.
Orginally posted on Blackdoctor. org
Danielle Cohen Higgins New Miami Dade Commissioner For District 8
Danielle Cohen Higgins was appointed as the District 8 Commissioner on the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners on Dec. 7, 2020.
Commissioner Cohen Higgins knows what it means to work hard and fight for a better future. Born at Jackson Memorial Hospital after her family immigrated from Jamaica to Miami, she began her life in South Dade living in what is now a Section 8 housing complex called Milton Manors. She lost her father at the age of 8 and was raised by a single mother who takes the Metromover and Metrorail to work every day. Despite these obstacles, she fought on. She studied hard and graduated Sunset Senior High School in the top 2 percent of her class. After receiving a scholarship to the University of Florida, she became the first person in her family to graduate from college. In 2006, she earned her Juris Doctorate from the Florida State University School of Law and was admitted as an attorney at the age of 24.
After spending the first part of her career at the prestigious law firm of Greenberg Traurig, Commissioner Cohen Higgins decided to branch out on her own and founded Cohen Law, a boutique practice with the mission and commitment of providing excellent and cost ef-
ficient legal services to small businesses and individuals in our community.
Commissioner Cohen Higgins never forgot where she came from, which is why she is so dedicated to giving back. She sits on the Board of Directors for the South Florida American Heart Association, serves as the Young Ambassador to the Miami Children’s Health Foundation and works as a mentor and board member with Take Stock in Children, a local nonprofit. She also serves on the statewide board of Ruth’s List and was elected to sit on the largest statewide board of trial attorneys, the Florida Justice Association.
Commissioner Cohen Higgins is ready to continue her service to our community by providing the leadership to get South Dade its fair share, ensure our community’s voice is well represented on the County Commission, and advocate for positive changes that will lift up our entire community for generations to come. Commissioner Cohen Higgins is married to the love of her life, Mark, whose support is unwavering. She has one charming and brilliant son, Ari and a new beautiful baby girl named Sloan.
Ingredients:
¼ cup butter, melted
2 tablespoon Montreal steak seasoning
2 tablespoon lemon-pepper seasoning
1 ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
1 ½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 ½ teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
3 (1 1/4- to 1 1/2-pounds each) Cornish game hens
Directions
Step 1
Preheat oven to 375°. In a small bowl, combine butter, Montreal steak seasoning, lemonpepper seasoning, rosemary, thyme, sage and granulated garlic.
Step 2
Brush seasoned butter under the breast skin of game hens, in the cavities and all over the outsides.
Step 3
Place hens, breast sides up, on a rack in a shallow baking pan.
Roast until hens reach 170° in a thigh, basting with pan juices occasionally, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.
Step 4
Tent lightly with foil and let rest 10 minutes. Cut each hen in half lengthwise to serve.
PREP TIP
To reheat, place cooked hens on a rack in a shallow roasting pan.
Bake in a 400° oven until heated through, 15 minutes.
As a sickle cell patient, the typically joyous holiday season can, at times, be mired in the fear of shorter, darker, and colder days.
The frigid temperatures mixed with holiday expectations and the emotional ghosts of lost loves, loved ones and memories of holiday interrupted by illnesses.
Every sickle cell disease (SCD) patient fears the unpredictable crisis and the colder winter temperatures because the colder weather leaves us more vulnerble and increases the likelihood of suffering longer and more severe crises.
And it dramatically complicates the logistical process of accessing emergency medical care.
It’s a dramatically different process of dressing, driving, parking and walking into a local hospital’s emergency room for immediate care in 70-degree weather than it is in 20-degree weather, not to mention the difficult process of navigating the possibility of rain, ice, sleet and snow.
And, despite the difficult complexity of navigating personal transporta-
Recognizing the Depression and Anxiety Challenges of the Holiday Season
tion to a local emergency room, it still beats the idea of trusting the staff of an emergency medical tech (EMT) who may have little, if any, knowledge of sickle cell disease.
Also, the emotional ghost of lost loves and loved ones always visit during the holiday season.
I’m not sure if it’s the smells of the season, the ritual of unpacking holiday ornaments, trimming the tree or the familiar music, but the skewed and sometimes unwanted memories flood in without explanation or apology.
And, at times, the good memories left me as devastated as much as the bad memories. And both make it difficult to be present in the many moments of my life which, is in many ways, connects to the definition of depression.
Despite my wife’s love, early, and accurate diagnosis, I, for years, tried to ignore my seasonal depression and anxiety by telling myself the holidays should feel and mean less special as we get older.
And, considering my experiences, my fears of, an untimely and disruptive SCD crisis were warranted.
But with the assistance of a trained professional, I finally acknowledged the emotions I was experiencing.
And I also learned how to discuss, unpack and come to terms with my past traumatic experiences and fears. I was taught how to process and understand these emotions and experiences differently.
As a result, I began to understand the importance of each experience and accept the reality of how the weight and impact of these experiences can change over time.
And I began to appreciate the gift of each experience as a gift despite its outcome.
I’ve learned love lost is still love experienced, and the voice, lessons and influence of lost loved ones remain in our hearts and minds forever.
And most importantly, I learned how to manage my mental, spiritual and emotional health, and that has prepared and empowered me to face any unpredictable SCD crisis that I may experience.
-Reprint from Blackdoctor.org
The Truth About Richard Montanez, The Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Founder
Chips, a spicy mix of eclectic flavors, and cheese. What could go wrong? Fla min’ Hot Cheetos are a cult favorite for a reason. According to Spoon Uni versity, these sources of wonder and magic have a very interesting backstory. They were invented by Richard Montañez, who was a janitor at Frito-Lay at the time. He was uber-confident about his idea and credited a Mexican dish called elote (Mexican corn) with chili powder as his inspiration for the idea.
It must be noted that Montañez did not have an easy start in life. According to Inc, he grew up in difficult circumstances but didn’t know that his fam ily wasn’t well off financially. They lived in a town called Guasti which was near Ontario, California. Growing up, Montañez didn’t have big dreams. Like many other children he knew, he simply wished to get a gig at a factory nearby. Eventually, he landed a job as a janitor at the Frito-Lay Rancho Cucamonga branch in California.
Things looked up for Montañez when his company’s president encouraged all the employees to think big and “act like an owner.” This was the turning point for him: “I looked around and didn’t see a lot of reaction from my co-workers, but for me it was the opportunity to do something different.”
He experimented with his spicy Cheetos recipe
According to Inc, Montañez got his chance when a machine malfunctioned and a few Cheetos weren’t dusted with the brand’s characteristic orange cheese powder. He experimented with the product at home, adding chili powder to them to see what he could come up with. This led to Montañez creating a spicy recipe for Cheetos that he shared with management through a presentation. Here’s where things get heartwarming (and not just from the spices): He didn’t know how to do a presentation, but he didn’t let that stop him. Montañez and his wife hit the local library and armed themselves with research. By the time the day of the presentation rolled around, he was prepared with a strategy, a tie, and a sample bag of his version of Cheetos. And that was enough.
Montañez found his superiors whole-heartedly embracing his idea and launched Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, which is considered the company’s most successful snack. As for Montañez? He was promoted for his hard work and he became the executive vice president of multicultural sales and community activation, PepsiCo, North America.
His advice for others? “Don’t take your position for granted, regardless of what that position may be,” Montañez said (via CNBC). “CEO or janitor, act like you own the company.”
5 Home Upgrades Buyers Want in the COVID-19 Era
By Lauren Sieben
If you imagined 2020 was the year you would finally list your house for sale, you may have hit the brakes on those plans when the coronavirus pandemic arrived.
But now, we’re more than six months into the COVID-19 era with no clear end in sight. As many people continue working and logging in to school from home, the real estate market is again heating up with buyers eager to upgrade to a new home.
So stop putting it off: Now is the time to step on the gas in preparing your home to sell. We talked with experts to learn which home improvements will hit the right note with buyers during the pandemic (and beyond).
1. Upgrade your outdoor space
Most of us are suffering from an acute case of cabin fever these days. It’s little wonder that outdoor space has become more important than ever to prospective buyers.
“Even pools are becoming more popular in areas where they weren’t before,” says Bill Walker, chief operating officer of Kukun, a web resource for home improvements.
That doesn’t mean you need to splurge on a new in-ground pool; even a minor landscaping refresh can make a big difference and increase curb appeal. Depending on your budget and your neighborhood, you might also consider adding an in-ground fire pit or outdoor kitchen to maximize your outdoor space.
If you live in a cooler climate, extending the usability of your outdoor space will be a big draw for buyers. “Get a low-cost outdoor heater and
area rug to stage the space as an outdoor living room,” says Francie Malina, a real estate agent in New York’s Westchester County.
2. Create a functional home office or classroom
Many workers aren’t heading back to the office until 2021 or even later, which means home office space is at a premium, along with space for kids to log in to their virtual classrooms.
“People need a dedicated space for multiple people to be able to be on calls at the same time,” says Walker, who currently works at home alongside his wife, and his kids attending school virtually. “It definitely creates challenges when we all need to be on calls and need space to work.
Even if you don’t need two home offices or a remote learning station for your own family, consider staging your home to show the possibilities for buyers.
“Staging a guest bedroom as a home office or classroom is a good idea,” Walker says. “The potential buyer can see the room being used in a versatile way and visualize it for themselves.”
Plus, most of us host guests in our guest rooms for less than a month per year, Walker says—and probably even less during the pandemic.
3. Add separation of space
“Open floor plans are losing a bit of luster,” Malina says. “Homeowners are looking for distinct spaces for family members to work or study.”
If your space isn’t well-segmented, you may want to create separate spaces by adding barn doors or pocket doors—
or even room dividers for a quick and easy solution.
Having distinct rooms helps to minimize volume from other people’s activities, and can also create a different feeling in each part of the house.
“As people are spending more time at home, they want room and different environments to not feel stuck inside,” Walker says.
4. Add space for a home gym
Many people are forgoing the gym during the pandemic, preferring to work up a sweat from home to minimize risks of coronavirus transmission. That means people are looking for space to house gym equipment, from yoga mats to treadmills and stationary bikes.
Your home may not have the space for a fully equipped home gym, but you can still carve out a corner where home buyers will be able to picture their future at-home HIIT workouts or yoga flows.
5. Give your in-law suite a makeover
If you have a guest house, this can be an attractive feature for buyers right now—especially those with multigenerational households, or people looking for a potential source of rental income.
“With people bringing elderly family members home, [additional dwelling units] are a good option, especially if there is a kitchen and bathroom,” Walker says. “Even if this space isn’t used for personal reasons, it can be an investment property.”
Enjoy a special holiday edition of Evening by the Bay, an after-hours experience at the Deering Estate on Wednesday, December 23rd from 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. Stroll the main grounds decorated with holiday lights and festive décor. Please note that entrance to the museum to view the Historic Holiday Décor: Vintage Florida is offered as an addon for an additional fee.
To ensure that all attendees can safely enjoy this event, guests must practice social distancing, wear face coverings, and not have gatherings of 10 or more people. Guests are all welcome to bring blankets, lawn chairs, and small picnic baskets, with food and refreshments, for a picnic under the stars. Drinks will also be available for purchase. Please note that the following items are not permitted: large coolers, open flames/candles, balloons, and pop-up tents/umbrellas.
Limited tickets available. General admission is $10 per person (ages 4 & older; members & non-members) and must be purchased in advance online. Entrance to the Historic Holiday Décor in the museum is offered as an add-on, onsite for an additional $5 (members & non-members).
Evening by the Bay, an after-hours experience at the Deering Estate, is offered on the 4th Wednesday each month and will feature a specialty program. For more information, please visit the Deering Estate website.
About the Deering Estate
The Deering Estate preserves the 1920s era Miami estate of Charles Deering, Chicago industrialist, early preservationist, environmentalist, art collector, philanthropist and
first chairman of the International Harvester Company. The Deering Estate is a 21st Century house museum, cultural and ecological field station, and a national landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places, owned by the State of Florida and managed by Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department. The Deering Estate is located at 16701 SW 72nd Ave. in Miami.
About the Deering Estate Foundation
For those who treasure the Deering Estate, who advocate for its preservation and wish to invest in its future, The Deering Estate Foundation provides opportunities for individuals and corporations alike to partake in membership, signature events, and one-of-a-kind experiences, all in service of providing vital funding and support to the Deering Estate. Through these efforts, the foundation fulfills its mission to uphold the legacy of Charles Deering’s cherished 1920s-era property, to provide funding for the cultural, educational and recreational experiences it offers, as well as its significant scientific and archaeological endeavors to conserve its diverse flora, fauna and the eight native ecosystems that thrive on its 450 acres, and to ensure its longevity as a prized American heritage site. Established in 1989, The Deering Estate Foundation, Inc. is a community-based charitable 501(c)3 Florida Corporation and the philanthropic partner of the Deering Estate. Celebrate Deering all year and gift a membership to family and friends this Holiday Season! Deering Estate Foundation Members enjoy year-round complimentary general admission to Deering Estate and more!
Compassionate.
A holiday spirit that lives all year long. This year, we’re extra grateful for the gifts we have. The gifts of health, kindness, and compassion. And at Jackson, our greatest gift is the ability to bring our patients back to health. Our care team’s compassion keeps our patients merry and bright through the holidays and beyond. Wishing you a healthy holiday season, from our Jackson family to yours.
Call 305-585-4JMG for a Jackson specialist near you.
DO YOUR PART. SAVE LIVES.
Help protect your family and our community against COVID-19.
Simple ways to be safe:
Wear a mask Wash your hands frequently Practice social distancing
Carry hand sanitizer when going out
Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit both your emotional well-being and your overall health. And these benefits don’t end when your meditation session ends. Meditation can help carry you more calmly through your day and may help you manage symptoms of certain medical conditions.
