Uphill idealist

This week, I had some time to catch up with some friends over dinner. We all are moms. we take care of people in our vocations and we all share faith in God. We talk about everything when we get together: work challenges, family stuff, health problems, joys, losses, the present, our pasts and our hopes for the future. It's always a lively time for conversation, laughter and a few tears. This time is precious to us. On my way home from our dinner, I caught a ride with my friend Sally to my office and was sat for another good hour and continued to talk about God, our work and how all that works with family. Sally and her family created and work in a ministry called 6 Baer Essentials. Here is Sally's excerpt from her website that better explains the work they do: ____________ 6BE has a heart for the impoverished community of Dahley Ethiopia-a rural area just outside the capital city of Addis Ababa.  We believe that working with the folks of Dahley through our after-school...

I was really little when I used to watch Bob Ross on PBS. My favorite TV shows at the time were Sesame Street, The Electric Company , Wonder Woman and The Joy of Painting . Bob's gentle voice and encouraging approach to painting mesmerized me. I was amazed at his ability to quickly create happy little streams, clouds, and trees. Gotta love the "happy little trees". One of the quotes that still sticks with me to this day is, "I believe every day is a good day when you paint.". He's right.   Now where did I put my oil paints? Have a good day!

First things first, we (local youth and adults who attended the 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering) would like to  thank our home churches and community for the financial and prayer support that helped get us to and  carried us throughout our trip to New Orleans from July 18-23. For five fast-paced days we were at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America's Youth Gathering in New  Orleans, LA. During our time there, we practiced peacemaking, justice and christian discipleship. We we  challenged by the human struggles still being dealt with by the people of New Orleans, were excited to hear  church and world leaders like Bishop Hanson ,  Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber and Shane Claiborne speak and dance and sing with the many amazing musicians that performed at the Super Dome. In the Convention Center we we challenged to seek out ways to peace in our communities, schools, families and churches by learning more  ways to serve others. We shared wonderful...