21 August 2011
School Days
Aug/26/11
August means back to school. Some students are thrilled that the boring days of summer are over and they have a regular venue to connect with friends.
Others drag reluctantly through the crowded isles of school supplies at Walmart and plot ways to make school more exciting--like pestering teachers, stretching the rules, and finding new ways to barely get by.
Every parent needs to be vigilant regarding their school. There are always new rules and new policies. One school has instituted a ‘no hugs and no high fives’ policy. Yes, one girl was suspended for hugging her friend!
Take advantage of every way to connect with your school. Attend open houses, email teachers, read the online behavior policy. And, if your child has little to say, invite his or her friends over. You’ll learn much just listening.
Podcast
Others drag reluctantly through the crowded isles of school supplies at Walmart and plot ways to make school more exciting--like pestering teachers, stretching the rules, and finding new ways to barely get by.
Every parent needs to be vigilant regarding their school. There are always new rules and new policies. One school has instituted a ‘no hugs and no high fives’ policy. Yes, one girl was suspended for hugging her friend!
Take advantage of every way to connect with your school. Attend open houses, email teachers, read the online behavior policy. And, if your child has little to say, invite his or her friends over. You’ll learn much just listening.
Podcast
Power Out
Aug/25/11
My power is out for the third day. Being on well and septic means no water either. This has proved to be a God moment, a time for my Creator to refocus from my normal tendency to be annoyed, to His direction to give thanks in all things and at all times.
Just days before I walked through the Mathare Valley where one half million people live without bathrooms, electricity (if available to costly) water available in their homes, and any means to control the temperature where they live. Interviewing widows in their homes there, I discovered many had lived with those circumstances for decades. They have little hope of change--apart from a dramatic outside intervention.
My response? Kneel and thank God for his faithful reminder this is a good day--without power.
Podcast
Just days before I walked through the Mathare Valley where one half million people live without bathrooms, electricity (if available to costly) water available in their homes, and any means to control the temperature where they live. Interviewing widows in their homes there, I discovered many had lived with those circumstances for decades. They have little hope of change--apart from a dramatic outside intervention.
My response? Kneel and thank God for his faithful reminder this is a good day--without power.
Podcast
Spiders and Other New Words
Aug/24/11
Our dictionary needs to be rewritten. Words in my childhood vocabulary have morphed into new meanings.
Spiders are a complex stock market commodity mirroring a designated category, an investment opportunity.
An apple is a hot, gotta have it computer. Owning one and loving it makes one a special kind of geek.
A virus is an unseen pacman in your computer gobbling up your prized savings.
There’s nothing wrong with new definitions and new stuff. The challenge increases however, with the urge that we have to own more and attend more to the upkeep of our stuff.
Would you like to put all this in perspective? Save up your dollars, travel to a third world country, and volunteer in a church.
You may not have a new vocabulary, but you’ll have a renewed heart.
Podcast
Spiders are a complex stock market commodity mirroring a designated category, an investment opportunity.
An apple is a hot, gotta have it computer. Owning one and loving it makes one a special kind of geek.
A virus is an unseen pacman in your computer gobbling up your prized savings.
There’s nothing wrong with new definitions and new stuff. The challenge increases however, with the urge that we have to own more and attend more to the upkeep of our stuff.
Would you like to put all this in perspective? Save up your dollars, travel to a third world country, and volunteer in a church.
You may not have a new vocabulary, but you’ll have a renewed heart.
Podcast
Just Do Something # 2
Aug/23/11
My new email friend was leaving for Burma to help widows there. She asked, what should she bring? Her funds were limited. I suggested going to a Goodwill outlet where useable products are available for a few dollars. Spending $26.00 she had parts for three bicycles simply by adding a few items from a repair shop.
She emailed the delight of seeing the orphans of these widows assembling these bicycles!
Lacking large sums of money, there is still much good one can do with a little imagination, putting your shoulder to the project, and prayer for God to multiple the outcome as only He can.
Is easy to get caught up in the ‘it has to be something big’ syndrome. Few of us will start large organizations to impact widows and orphans. Few of us will launch megachurches. But all of us can Just Do Something.
Podcast
She emailed the delight of seeing the orphans of these widows assembling these bicycles!
Lacking large sums of money, there is still much good one can do with a little imagination, putting your shoulder to the project, and prayer for God to multiple the outcome as only He can.
Is easy to get caught up in the ‘it has to be something big’ syndrome. Few of us will start large organizations to impact widows and orphans. Few of us will launch megachurches. But all of us can Just Do Something.
Podcast
Just Do Something
Aug/22/11
Sometimes simple sayings inspire us to move from neutral to forward progress. My simple saying is JDS: Just Do Something.
I can’t provide hope for all the widows in Africa. But our ministry can train some as tailors. I recently attended the graduation of our first class in Mozambique. Women who shrugged in their chairs looking at me with doubt when I first explained the program have changed dramatically. They stand with their shoulders back. And they have plans for the future and their income. One priority is to repair their homes.
I visited their homes, saw the sagging thatch roofs and deteriorating reed walls. There are so many more. I yearn to start another project. But for the moment, I’m thankful. JDS. Just Do Something. Small beginning. But for those graduates, a large, fresh, new start.
Podcast
I can’t provide hope for all the widows in Africa. But our ministry can train some as tailors. I recently attended the graduation of our first class in Mozambique. Women who shrugged in their chairs looking at me with doubt when I first explained the program have changed dramatically. They stand with their shoulders back. And they have plans for the future and their income. One priority is to repair their homes.
I visited their homes, saw the sagging thatch roofs and deteriorating reed walls. There are so many more. I yearn to start another project. But for the moment, I’m thankful. JDS. Just Do Something. Small beginning. But for those graduates, a large, fresh, new start.
Podcast