THREE (A Special Series of Thirteen) –

THREE (A Special Series of Thirteen) –

The third of thirteen poems,

I am a poet unlike anything you have ever seen.

I have a few love handles

And probably need to work on my abs so lean.

I cannot resist an occasional tasteful delight,

However my manners remain so fresh and so clean, clean.

I am original to focus on a blog for a year to gain a girl’s attention.

Did I mention that I am one who fell into the trap of like?

I heard a country song called Tim McGraw that spoke to the depths of my heart.

Like Gatorade all girls want to be like Taylor; guys want to be like Mike.

Give this Tennessee native the gentleman’s chance to have one single moment.

I love the outdoors. We should have a picnic. We should go for a hike.

I live my best to the maximum of what God has bestowed.

I see shades of white with a mixture of blacks but chose to live in the beauty of gray.

God presents a chance to those who pray, seek, and hope for opportunity.

Belief beyond the doubts I know I will meet you one day.

You cannot give up a dream based on what society will view.

And you will ask me to remain as I am in this life together in your presence I stay.

I realize in faith God has rewarded patience with persistence in the requests of prayer.

I think in the journey enough challenges plague the very depths of our foundation.

We must genuinely stand with eyes locked ignoring negativity around.

Morals must not change in the hope provided in your music for so many an inspiration.

Change occurs in good due time with inch by inch as one in unity that we walk.

Some have forgotten that long ago we worshipped God as under the symbol of one nation.

With the right partner to dance good embraces with good hands held to serve others.

JLC iii, 3/30/12

TWO (A Special Series of Thirteen) -

The second of thirteen poems,

More corny rhymes come that you can make into song.

One cannot ignore Cartee in the preciousness of kind words.

For that avoidance would truly be wrong.

I am extremely blessed by God in many talents and many ways.

I rhyme well, and a famous rapper perhaps I could be.

I am amazing. I am awesome. I am confident in who I am.

For those are traits I believe a significant other should see.

We are blessed with the best of personalities.

I listen to Jason Aldean, know my kinda party, and ride green tractors.

Tom Cruise: I cannot keep up. I think he is now a Christian Scientist whatever that means.

True to one another we could be the relational example beyond the celebrity actors.

I do not condone following what others think I should become.

That would not play into my paradigm of the mirror I see every day.

Following the image of others’ definition creates the observed definition of dumb.

A mission impossible to date a girl of my dreams they do not believe,

However if you never try, how can you turn into the accomplished of wishes

Where responsibilities are shared in the goals together we achieve?

I will write and write and write with the speaker and symbol I follow.     

I persist despite the odds because I have faced the depths of suicidal depression.

I strive never giving up, never quitting, and never listening closely to those who discourage.

Conceived in my own mind if given the opportunity I will make an outstanding impression.

JLC iii, 3/29/12

ONE (A Special Series of Thirteen) –

ONE (A Special Series of Thirteen) –

The first of thirteen poems,

Your favorite number no one can deny.

My name is James Cartee, the Third.

I am that number one stunner, that number one guy.

I throw the game up.

I praise my God with my hands held to the sky.

I believe even when no one else has the faith because I know my fate.

As the man with this plan, I cannot quit on this dream as I persist to try!

Change occurs in patience waiting on His due time.

I am no longer asking my God, “Why? Oh, why?”

I accept this mission to change thousands

Because I am a man of action who lives on angel wings as I fly.

I cannot help with confidence as a man who truly lives.

There is no complaining needed for any lame excuse or alibi.  

I am number one; you better remember my name.

No one can refuse the truth; I am not going to lie

Because with Cartee and Swift together this world will never be the same.

JLC iii, 3/28/12

A Not So Great Poem, Destiny

I am not a famous country music singer.

I do not drive down Rodeo drive in a bling-bling machine.

I like good attentions from all around but not for stupid reasons,

Unless for laughter’s sake to make others smile.

I am not yet a well-known Christian author and speaker.

I am not yet a well-known photographer.

Well-known for His sake I hope to be.

An honorable man of Christ I hope you see in me.  

I am the one and only James Cartee.

I am sincere.

I am original.

I am God’s Son.

I like you,

And I will continue to write on this blog until I have your attention

As I am,

As I come,

And as I am made in His image.

I am perfect because of He that lives within me.

Better am I because in Him I have become THAT GUY!

That guy whose joy is unexplained but still contagious,

A guy who cannot be denied

Because in unfathomable belief everything he has tried.

He knows that if joint together with faith and fate.

His life will be changed through blogged letters and a granted date.

My Struggles This Past Week

Taylor,

I decided while listening to your music through my IPOD as I usually do weekly that I am going to blow the world up with good intentions for Jesus. I am so tired of settling for less when I believe that in good due time God has so much in store for me, for you, and all those living to serve others and do good for the sake of just doing good. Just when you might have thought it could not get any bigger with your music, with your writing, and with your fans, it does!

For me it is extremely hard to stay focused on God when every time I swing to move forward I feel that I strike out. I have explored more employment opportunities in the past year than I care to count to only realize that individuals with less experience, education, and qualifications than myself got the same opportunities I pursued. While it should not, it rubs me the wrong way.

It might be similar to people automatically assuming that everything with celebrity life is absolutely amazing because of the simple reality of being known when that may not necessarily be true. Life is not necessarily fulfilling for one person because of a spotlight where more people want to know about their life.

I spoke with a potential nonprofit employer today who focuses on the publishing industry with Christian magazines for certain denominations and targeted faith groups who mentioned that “nothing was wrong with my resume, qualifications, background, or education but rather that I did not the exact right fit.” While the conversation was insightful, it was certainly still not much more encouraging because my circumstances remained the same – nothing changed with my current occupational position in life.

That is often frustrating when I see so many others around me flourishing with jobs doing exactly what they want to do. Like I asked the HR Director today, “what can I better do to make myself stand out?”

I often stand with my arms in prayer wide open, asking God those same questions.

What I like about country music is that it mirrors real life – the real struggles that most of us face day in and day out with each day that passes.

I just know that I am going to do my best to not give up, pushing forward to explore further opportunities to become great pursuing a career that I am passionately and deeply in love in, similar to the music that you write.

There are no pictures today of pretty babies or your humorous story-telling You Tube videos but instead just some of the mental struggles my analytical brains continually faces every day.

If you ever read these entries, thank you!

JLC iii

More Recent Thoughts on Family….what it means after all.

(My immediate family and those who supported me through it all - one of the best days of my life - graduation from AUBURN UNIVERSITY)

Dear Taylor,

As I write, I slowly do research in efforts to know you, although Wikipedia and Google can only provide so much biographical information about any person. Since I always write about my daily experiences, I am an open book as so many say. We never really know someone until we spend personal time with them.

This week I have taken time to enjoy my family – something my own misery in occupation has prevented me from doing recently. Funny how only on a break am I able to travel and see those who mean the most to me. Often you hear people say “I do not feel it.” Rarely do any of us feel like going to a workplace that never brings satisfaction, however sometimes to pursue a dream we must do something we do not enjoy to get to place where we can do something we do enjoy on an almost daily basis. Even in your career, I am sure there were days you disliked what you did to now be where you are even with your blessed quick rise to success. There were some days and still are I am sure you pay your dues.

Spending time with Brogan (my new nephew) and my Grandmother suffering from cancer have each been refreshing in their own right…..taking time to see someone who has touched my life in more ways than I can count with the blessing of a new arrival who will touch my life in many more ways to come.

I may have arrived to an active decision that having my own family may be a dream I undermined or at least saw more as a burden in the past rather than a blessing….that viewpoint has changed dramatically meaning I am very much looking forward to one day meeting that special person and seeing where God takes it from there.

It is very easy to let one bad thing in life sour everything else, however no matter what you cannot let the bad things sour the good things. They must distinctly be set apart.

It would after all in this world be easy to constantly be discouraged in an American society where complaining constantly overcomes positive speech and the commitments to marital relationships no longer takes meaning (hence all the staggering divorce rates).

I am not entirely sure those who have the most understand the blessing of a family because happiness this past week for me has hardly been measured by monetary gain. In fact, it has reminded me that I must not give up on the dreams I have and that the creation of my own immediate family could serve as the capstone for a beautiful life with a country singer named Taylor or perhaps not. No matter what we must continue to dream and reach for the stars.

Until the next entry,

James L. Cartee III

The Celebration of the Baby Boy Brogan

Taylor,

Today I felt a new kind of joy that words cannot begin to express even for as talented a writer as I am. You will have a real reason to write songs the day you start your own family with the arrival of your firstborn. Please realize and understand I know that I may never actually have a date with you that inevitably leads to something much more. This blog is beginning to grow wings in the form of letters as if really talking to you, maybe as if one day you might read these entries. A courageous man believes in leadership through God so that a family unit can then be created. My sister gave birth yesterday to my second nephew, Brogan Lyle. I tried to convince the family that Taylor would be a great middle name….Brogan Taylor….now that has the ring to a famous country singer to it. I figured it would be totally appropriate since he was after all born in Nashville.

When a child is born, you just want to rock back and forth for several hours staring at the creation that sits before you in your blessed lap. The Lord has truly looked well upon your life if you are able to give birth to a beautiful healthy baby. After witnessing the birth of my second nephew, I do not know how parents can even divorce. What some may not realize is that when you divorce not only do you give up on your marriage…you also give up on your children. Now I know that is a harsh statement, but quitting is the easy way out of any relationship or anything hard for that matter. I realize that exceptions exist if you are victim of an abusive relationship or perhaps your spouse continually cheats on you, but I get the feeling that most quit because it is far easier to do so than work things out.  

Whenever you meet a guy that you start writing nice songs about, ask a potent question to yourself, “Would this guy be a great father?” If you lack a clear answer, then perhaps you will also lack reason to continue dating that person.

Just a thought to end the night on….enjoy the few pictures I have included here.

JLC iii

Relationships – A Different Perspective

Dear Taylor,

I have speculated that the song Back to December could be an apology to Taylor Lautner, you recent boyfriend who starred as Jacob Black in the movie saga, Twilight, however my observation is not conclusive. We often take for granted what we have when it is no longer here, like possibly losing a job we hate because we no longer have the income it supplied. Sometimes the stress of not having a job can be more than the stress of having that job and thus not having the ability to pay bills which can then strain a relationship as well…

Some think that falling in love is enough to keep a relationship intact. I highly disagree. Love cannot be highlighted without service. If Christ-like love is to prevail, you must learn to serve one another. Putting your own ambitions, wants, and needs above the another person relationally will only last so long; eventually the ice will break towards the detriment of those standing then sinking into the water. “I married him because I fell in love.” That can be good if in human terms it is not the only reason to pursue a lifelong commitment that not many take seriously these days. I hope in relation to love for a person this assertion clicks with your own logic. Simply said one person cannot give 110% for the duration if the other person is not doing the same. If both flourish in a relationship with God, then service with one another tends to line up exactly where it should. Then falling in love engages its full fulfillment in one’s commitment to God.

You have a good heart. I strongly believe that, or I would not write a blog with entries such as this. I remember during country music week in Nashville during the 2010 season you hugged thousands of fans for sixteen hours providing autographs and photographs to all those in line until the very last one. That act of service is a display of how love in a relationship should work. You served your fans, and I believe when you meet the right one you will know how to serve him as well. God’s timing is resolute. It will come when you are ready, and it will come when God is ready to reveal himself.

You truly already change lives – just keep doing what you do….and when that guy shows up, just give him a hug and show yourself as the Taylor who serves thousands of fans for sixteen hours.

Mending while in the future tense,

James