Who's head?

Getting ahead gets in your head.
Hard to move forward when you can't measure the stride.

I'm alive but am I getting ahead.
Who owns the compass?

The body can move without the head.
If it moves forward, is it getting ahead without The Head?

My state of confusion is in my head.
One day I feel that I'm moving ahead but is it enough movement to celebrate?

Your words concentrate me and remind me that it's not too late.
I go backwards when I try to use my head instead of You being The Head.

But going backwards ain't really bad.
On your back you are still and can see others get ahead.
I'm a visual learner.
Your friends will come back for you.

I want to get ahead to bring others.
If I use my head we will all suffer.

Life is learning and moving is getting ahead when You are The Head.

On set for ESPN E:60 interview

The Ambassadors report before Christmas

It has been a while since I have blogged. The Ambassadors have done so much and I'm glad to be along the ride with them.

We've been practicing like crazy in the cages at D-BAT Atlanta this month. Super excited to have our Ambassador alums join us during their winter break from college. Coach Neiko Johnson and Coach Kevin Young continue to do an amazing job leading our Ambassadors to lead themselves. Believe it or not, the Ambassadors run their own practices which includes hitting drills as well as journaling and video blogging. They just also started reading Sean Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens.

On Friday, December 6th, Kelli and I loaded up the SUV and took our two daughters along with three Ambassadors to Savannah to see our 2nd L.E.A.D. Ambassador Jason Wynn graduate from college. Jason graduated from Savannah State University with a degree in Homeland Security. He is now employed by Ashbritt. Our Ambassadors were able to see the ocean for the first time while we were there as well. So many great things to see in our state.

On Friday, December 13th, we loaded up three vans and traveled over an hour to Roberta, GA for an Ambassador retreat at Camp Grace. The weekend was full of effective team building exercises that will reap benefits for Atlanta in due time.

We have had a blessed year and pray the same for you and your family. Merry Christmas!

My 6-Pack of Thanksgiving

The day after Thanksgiving, I slept in late and woke up by the grace of God next to an awesome wife and without children screaming and jumping in our bed.

There are six things that I am most thankful for.

1. Dynamic Church Family

I am a proud member of Elizabeth Baptist Church in Atlanta led by Dr. Craig L. Oliver. We are spiritually fed throughout the week with multiple services. It is a community of disciples that are intentional about serving one another. May God continue to bless us as well as all churches open in the name of Jesus.

2. Amazing Wife and Daughters

I adore my wife and daughters. They are my world. My purpose in life is to protect and provide for them. I can only do this by submitting my life to Christ. I'm not perfect but I'm striving for excellence everyday as a husband and father. My girls are worth my daily sacrifices.

3. Healthy Family

I can say with excitement that all of my family members to my knowledge are healthy. At least they were looking good yesterday! That is a huge blessing to have your health to serve others. We don't know what tomorrow will bring but as for today, we have our health, strength and sound mind and may God receive the glory for that.

4. Awesome Friends

I have always been fortunate to have great friends. Ones that exist to help and not hurt. I don't spend as much time with my friends as I would like but they are always there when I need them.

5. Thriving Businesses

Baseball has always been my love and passion and through my for profit Diamond Directors and non-profit L.E.A.D., I use the sport of baseball to empower others. I have some amazing partners and mentors that help me achieve excellence daily. We are going to raise the bar in 2014 so be ready.

6. The Falcons Will Receive A High Draft Pick In 2014

Shaking my head about my Falcons. We are having a rough year but we are getting a top pick in the draft. It's time to RISE UP and win the Super Bowl and we will in 2014!

If L.E.A.D. ceased to exist, Ambassador Reggie would...

When L.E.A.D. wins, Atlanta wins! That's exactly why I'm sharing this interview of L.E.A.D. Ambassador Reggie Traylor (Freshman, Benjamin E. Mays High School, Atlanta Public Schools). It's not about L.E.A.D., it's all about Atlanta.

By the thousands, African-American males are not engaged in school in Atlanta.  By the thousands, they are dropping out of school.  Ambassador Reggie was on track to doing the same thing before L.E.A.D.  I can say with confidence that he will be a difference maker in our country in due time.

C.J.: What's L.E.A.D.'s mission?

Ambassador Reggie: L.E.A.D.'s mission is to empower an at risk generation to lead and transform their city.

C.J.: What are L.E.A.D.'s core values?

Ambassador Reggie: Excellence, humility, integrity, loyalty, stewardship and teamwork.

C.J.: Which core value are you the best at?

Ambassador Reggie: Humility

C.J.: Which do you struggle with?

Ambassador Reggie: Excellence

C.J.: Describe yourself with one word before L.E.A.D.

Ambassador Reggie: Confused

C.J.: What's the one word that describes you now?

Ambassador Reggie: Patient

C.J.: In 10 years from today, what will you be doing in life?

Ambassador Reggie: Hopefully somewhere with my own business.

C.J.: Not hope. What will you be doing in 10 years?

Ambassador Reggie: In Puerto Rico with my own business.

C.J.: Cool. What type is business?

Ambassador Reggie: Sporting goods

C.J.: Who is the most important person in your life?

Ambassador Reggie: My sister

C.J.: Why?

Ambassador Reggie: Because if I get into any trouble or not feeling so well, I know that my sister is the first person I can call.

C.J.: If L.E.A.D. didn't exist tomorrow, you would...

Ambassador Reggie: Do what I need to do in school to make another L.E.A.D. possible.

C.J.: That is an awesome answer!

Ambassador Reggie: Thanks!

C.J.: Your school experience would be better if...

Ambassador Reggie: I focus more with 100% effort.

Left to right: Ambassador Reggie Traylor (Benjamin E. Mays High School), CJ Stewart and Ambassador Tyrelle Wilson (Booker T. Washington High School) at Elizabeth Baptist Church November 2013

The Atlanta Braves Are Moving Forward

So the Braves are moving to Cobb County in 2017? A very interesting move that is causing mixed emotions from fans and members of the Summerhill Community that have called The Braves neighbor for over 45 years.

As a fan and community partner, I have mixed emotions too. The fan side of me would love to have more options surrounding the stadium to add to the game day experience. The community partner side of me wonders how the residents of the Summerhill and surrounding communities will be affected short and long term. 

Then there is the leader in me that understands we don't always get to choose what happens, but we always have a choice in how we react. And here is what I plan to do as we move forward from this decision:

- Continue to work with my colleagues of L.E.A.D. and engage partners to provide opportunities for young people in Atlanta to recognize their future and own it,

- Continue to provide a Pathway To Empowerment so the youth we serve develop into invested, committed members of the Atlanta community, and

 - Continue to connect L.E.A.D. Ambassadors to the business community so they can earn positions in leadership where they have a voice at the table of development concerning what happens in their communities.

 That's how I'm deciding to move forward. I'm a son of this City; I love the Braves and I love Atlanta. 

How to kill three birds with one stone

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them. (Proverbs 11:3 ESV)

Why do people make good decisions? Why do people make bad decisions? I have accepted that strong core values precedes good behavior every time.

For the month of November, the core value that L.E.A.D. is studying is integrity. For our organization, integrity is a positive and consistent way of behaving. This is a simple definition to me that came from the mouths of our L.E.A.D. Ambassadors. It has to be a definition that they can own in order to uphold it.

In my opinion, there are three benefits to being a person with high integrity.

People will respect you
Do you enjoy spending time around people that you don't respect? Often times a lack of respect for someone is met with disrespect so it's best not to be in their presence. Respect is earned by positive and consistent behavior.

People will trust you
If I can't trust you, all that I can do is pray for you. For me, everyone starts with a clean slate of trust. Because we are humans, we will let each other down and I can live with that. It becomes a problem when your negative behavior is consistent and without conscience. If you want to be trusted, be consistent with your positive behavior.

People will follow you
If you have any desire to be a leader in your school, job, community or even in your own home, you have to be consistent with your positive behavior. An occasional crazy day of yours can be written off as you "having a bad day" but if you meet people most days with a bad attitude, late, full of complaints and excuses, know one will follow you because you are headed to destruction any way.

I'm not perfect but I am consistent with positive behavior and therefore I'm claiming to be a man of high integrity. I'm sure that means a lot to you if you are family member and/or friend of mine.

How skipping class today can negatively affect your future

I experienced a great lesson of humility today.  We are in the final days of the selection process of the 2014 class of L.E.A.D. Ambassadors.  One of our aspiring Ambassadors is now suspended from school for two days because he skipped one of his classes yesterday.  Since he can't attend school for the next two days, I asked his mother to bring him to me.  I had to make a choice to handle him with wrath or grace.  I prayed about it and chose grace and feel in my heart that he will be a better person for it.

He has been along for the ride with me today experiencing my life for a day. I'm proud of the position of service that God has me in. He uses me to make His appeal to others through some pretty cool activities. I'm prayerful that if I can show him what he will miss out on by making bad decisions, it will cause him to make the right decisions.  By no means am I perfect though.  I can guarantee that he will see me do several things wrong today. Today is about getting him back on the right path because his coach loves him and is willing to demonstrate it.  He will be charged to show grace and love to others in his household, school, team and community.  How about that?

Here is his blog detailing how skipping school today can negatively affect your future.  Feel free to make comments.

Skipping class can negatively affect my future because I can miss out on important lectures and advice from my teachers that could help me on something that I need help on in the future. If I'm not in class, I won't be able to hear those lectures and the advice.  If I don't hear them, I will make more mistakes in life than I would've if I was in class.

Skipping class is just like skipping breakfast. If you skip class you won't learn anything and won't gain any knowledge. In the future you will realize that you should have been in class so you can learn all the things that you can learn in that time period. If you skip breakfast you will be hungry for a long time then you will realize that you should have ate breakfast because now you will be hungry until you can get somewhere to eat.

Another example why you shouldn't skip class is because when you get older that's just like you skipping a business meeting that you should have attended so you can get all the information that you need for the next project you're working on or you might get the wrong information. Those are examples on how skipping class can negatively affect my future and why I shouldn't do it.

Ten years from today, I will be a major league baseball player. The team that I would like to play for is The Texas Rangers. I want to play for the Rangers because they always have a good team and mostly everybody on the team knows how to hit the ball well. I also want to play for that team because one of my favorite players Josh Hamilton plays for that them. Josh Hamilton is my favorite player because he makes good plays in the field and he also knows how to hit the ball far. Josh Hamilton made a lot of mistakes in his life like doing a lot of different drugs but he took it upon himself to stop and change his ways. Now he's clean and plays for the Rangers with a high batting average. I also admire Josh for the way that he supports his community through education.

L.E.A.D. Today...Change Tomorrow!