Uphill idealist

Image found at the blog Social Probiotic . When playing the game of hide and seek, it is important to be good at quietly hiding once you've hidden and switching up the places you hide, so that whoever is it won't know where to look for you on the next turn. If each time it's your turn to hide and you go to the same place, like say the hamper in your Mom and Dad's room with all the clothes piled on top of you, chances are your siblings are always going to find you first; no matter how many dirty clothes you hide under. Sometimes the church can think it has the corner on the market of faith. There are times when church-goes become so comfortable within the walls of the church, that they find it hard to comprehend finding any remains of faith outside the walls. From behind the church was, it can be difficult to see where God is at work in the world. If we the church and its members want to get a better glimpse of what God is up to, then maybe we should follow Jesus example...

Image found at How stuff works. As I sit on the living room floor, the Christmas music plays on the radio as I look to the already collected gifts sitting all around me. I begin the process of wrapping up each one carefully. I'd gather the gifts for each person, wrap them in shiny paper and then stack them one atop the other and finally tie them with curling ribbon that I'd take my scissors to and make piles of shimmering ribbon curls at the peak of the gift pyramid. With all that wrapping around the gifts, it usually was impossible to guess what was inside. It was only when the wrapping would be torn open, that the true identity of the gift would be made known. The process of shopping, organizing, and wrapping the gifts was always fun. Waiting for Christmas morning to give and have the gifts get opened was always difficult. I always want to give my gifts as soon as I wrap them, but somehow I manage to contain my excitement and wait until Christmas morning. In 1 Corinthians 12,...

When I was a kid, I recall my Mom saying to me at moments I was not behaving so gracefully - "Pretty is as pretty does." I used to pour over Seventeen and Young Miss Magazines to see the latest fashions, make-up tips, and trends. I'd read those magazines from cover to cover and back again. Everything inside of those pages seems controlled, fun, beautiful and well... the ideal. At that time I remember being frustrated by my big bone structure, because no matter how thin I'd wish and try to be, but with my German/Welsh/Irish/Native American heritage -I would never be the magazine ideal. Over the years, I've become much better about loving myself the way I am. It was not an easy or simple process, considering the pressure most women feel to become the ideal picture of western beauty, but it's better than it used to me. Sometimes I think as we get a little older, its a little easier to feel comfortable in the skin that you're in. However, it may not be the sa...

This last weekend I had the privilege of helping with a local community beautification and clean up projec t in Jamestown, NY. The group cleaned up debris and painted under a train bridge and then got to work on the start of a mural 12 feet high by 20 feet wide that will be fixed to a central area of the downtown. The mural is the first of what we hope to be many community art projects to help build home-town pride and to help dissuade the graffiti tagging that has been occurring at increasing rate recently. When the dump truck pulled away from the underpass on Saturday, it was filled to the brim with dirt, garbage and debris that had built up over time. This underpass is located close to our city's high school and many students pass through it each day. This morning, I wonder what their reaction was as they walked through a cleaner, freshly painted path in contrast to what it had looked like prior to the hard work of the volunteers on Saturday? Sometimes you have to see some dirt ...

This week, Jamestown area youth got busy making homemade Christmas cards for a young man that is going through the final stages of cancer. Upon hearing his story, we all wanted to find a way in participating in making his early-Christmas wishes come true. Here is his simple wish - to celebrate Christmas with his family and too receive some Christmas cards: Five year-old Noah Biorkman is in hospice and we need your help to make this the best Christmas ever by sending him Christmas cards! His family will be celebrating Christmas this weekend. Noah was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma in February 2007. He went into remission in August 2007. In September 2008, Noah relapsed with lesions in his right arm and right leg. After going through six different trials, the cancer continues to spread.Please help the fulfill the Biorkman family's wish to make this the best Christmas ever for Noah. You can send your Christmas cards to: Noah Biorkman c/o 99.5 WYCD 2201 Woodward Heights Blvd. F...

Forgot to charge my phone, forgot to bring my charger, forgot to ship a package, forgot to forget to push a little harder. I need to take moment, and restart the start of this day. Before it runs full-speed downhill and gets scott-free, out-of-reach, past-the-point-of-return-away. Sometimes instead of forgetting, I'd rather run far, far into yesterday. T.L. Eastman 09'

Have you ever worn a pair of sneakers that rub a certain uncomfortable way until you take the time to re-lace them and make sure they aren't too loose here or too tight there? For the last week, I felt as if I was constantly adjusting my shoelaces, as upon returning from a work trip I had a great deal of catching up to do in many areas. There is always housework, dishes and laundry to do and running of the vacuum as well, but throughout the week both of kids ended up needing some extra attention - one became ill with a sinus infection and the other had banged up their knee in a Halloween mishap and was hobbling all week on crutches. So in some places I had to SPEED UP and in others I had to SLOW WAAAYYYY DOWN and adjust what my normal pace is. You know what? Adjusting takes energy. However, after making some of those adjustments, the feeling of uncomfortableness gave way to settling into a better stride. One child is back to school and the other is back and off the crutches. Work s...