Blog Article – Page 110

November 4, 2008

Determined To Be Part Of Something Special

Our nation stands before the precipice of a shift in ways we can’t even see just yet. In these last hours before our nation’s leadership is determined I simply pray. The outcome of our world has been determined long ago and there is no mystery that what we know will all come to an end. The big question is when? Until that question is answered we are asked to do our best to make the most of our hours here and now.

Many people feel that no move at all is needed because the outcome has been predetermined. I can’t say I agree with this. We are all given choices and our individual outcome is only determined by our actions and in some cases our inactions. In this moment I think of a young boy who is not yet four years old. He means life to me, both his and mine. My actions will determine how he may spend his school years and God willing, his college years, perhaps even his future career.

I am a woman with a cause and that’s to make a difference in the lives of those I love. My votes may seem small to them but my determination to be a woman of action and conviction will speak volumes into the future of the young in my own family. I will not live my life as an armchair quarterback. I will live my life on the field being in the moment where changes happen; knowing I was part of something special.

November 4, 2008

Hands Offered In Love & Friendship

He was a man in a wheelchair I saw on a distant sidewalk early in the morning. He seemed to be with a friend and I wondered at his lack of warm clothing. He was wearing shorts and although it wasn’t extremely cold a chill was in the air and rain threatened to fall.

A couple hours later I saw a woman with others behind her push this man’s wheelchair into the tent. He looked to be sleeping and she could be heard telling those nearby at how he had been found sitting in the rain, his friend nowhere in sight. A few folks grabbed some of the blankets they had been giving away to those in need and tried to wrap the man up for warmth. He didn’t stir too much.

One woman was so moved by compassion for this unconscious man she reached out her hand to his shoulder and quietly began to pray. As if one in accord the hands of all who stood nearby joined her and gently touching him, praying with her. The man’s eyes began to twitch but still he did not open them.

A paramedic team came to our side of the park and this man was wheeled out to them. I lost track of him for a couple hours in the crowds as I took a break to meet up with my husband across the park.

Returning later, I found the man was once again sitting in the tent wrapped in a blanket. He was now very much awake so I walked over to chat with him. His blanket was starting to fall off the back of the wheelchair so I grabbed it and put it back on his shoulders. He thanked me and reached out his hand. I grabbed it in my own and he was so cold I used my other hand to wrap around his big paw. This is when I noticed he didn’t really have fingers, just stubs where his digits used to be. Looking at his other hand it was the same and he was also missing most of one leg.

Another young woman came up on the other side of him and he reached out his other deformed hand to her as well. She didn’t flinch and freely grabbed it. He apologized to her and said he wasn’t trying to grab her backside, he was just trying to lift his hand. She laughed and said she knew that. I watched them have a conversation and it was obvious this man enjoyed us holding his hands. I kept wondering how long it had been since someone had touched this man and showed him love and friendship?

November 3, 2008

Serving The Needs For A Future Generation

Tomorrow is the day of decision and it’s a big one. Let us put our personal feelings aside and vote the consciousness of what is right and good. This doesn’t always agree with our politics or our agendas but it’s time for us to mature and do what is right for our country and what is right for the next generations. It’s time we sacrificed our selfishness of wanting something to serve us now and look forward to serving the needs of those in our future.

November 1, 2008

SoS 813

You who dwell in the gardens,

The companions listen for your voice

Let me hear it!

Song Of Solomon 8:13

October 31, 2008

The Challenge Of Listening To…

The Challenge of listening to others…….

The asked question….

How can you ever forgive that person for what they did to you?

Their answer before you ever answered them….

I could never forgive someone for such a thing; you’d have to kill me first!

Their unsolicited opinion…..

If I were you, I’d sue their butts and put them in prison for the rest of their lives!

The Answer Not Often Received…

Mat 6:14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you

October 30, 2008

A Question For Our Generation

The news again. Full of liberal shifting agendas and a painting of Obama to be a hero to come. I cannot guess at what the future holds for us but there is something important to think upon. No matter who ascends to the highest office of this nation, without the people (that’s you and me folks) backing his or her play, we are a joke.

Can we talk? I confess I get tired of our spoiled attitudes where we want everything but will sacrifice nothing to get it. How far we have come away from the dreams of our forefathers? How many of us had grandparents and great grandparents who suffered through tedious jobs so we could have a better future? Now that we are living that future, what have we really done with it?

Did they really want us to waste our money and talent driving fancier cars, to have television sets in every room of our house, to text message our lives away rather than draw closer to our family members, to waste hours each day playing video games or watching mindless music videos? Is this really how we want to spend our time? What will be said of us at the end of our lives, the end of our generation? What are we contributing to society?

October 27, 2008

Righteousness For Tomorrow

We put our votes in the mail today and continue to hope truth will prevail upon the American public. At the end of the day will we vote for what the media has poured into our brains or will we take the time to really dig for the nuggets of facts? This has to be one of the most talked about elections I can remember. May our rule be righteousness for tomorrow.

October 25, 2008

Come To SF City Hall November 1st – I AM Love 360

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Getting out of the SUV I could smell urine everywhere with a pinesol odor trying to mask it. As my feet hit the watery asphalt I had a momentary thought that my hands were too small for this huge mess. These people needed more help than I could ever offer. Barely could I look around and meet the eyes of so many in need who passed me on the sidewalk. This was not the “homeless” problem I was used to. In my sprawling bedroom community suburb the “needy” people are rarely seen in my day to day living. Aside from the occasional “need help and work” sign, it is hard to discern where they even are.

Here in the Tenderloin of San Francisco, the homeless were everywhere and far outnumbered what I had envisioned. More noticeable were the persons who seemed to suffer some obvious mental problem beyond anything substance abuse. As I walked toward City Hall my nostrils were filled with the smells of unclean bodies and sewage intermingled with the occasional smoke from cannabis.

I had about a dozen cards in my pocket for food vouchers but I felt bad because the food wasn’t coming for another week. These people were hungry today. I made myself take mental notes. Today my notes were of the scents mostly. I want to remember that smell when I am sitting here in the comfort of my own home. I want to remember vividly how there are people sleeping on sidewalks where others have just urinated or worse. I want to remember these people get cold at night trying to find someplace to sleep.

When I go back next week I want to remember faces. I want to remember names. I want to remember people who were helped for more than an hour. I want to see them helped for a lifetime.

I AM Love 360…….November 1^st in San Francisco. Just come to City Hall, you can’t miss it.

October 24, 2008

Invite Somebody In And Rebuild Our Society

My husband and I have recently gone beyond the boundaries of what is comfortable for us. We have opened up our home for the past several weeks to new people for dinner and conversation. It’s funny how the simple act of sharing a meal and chatter can break down walls we can’t even see. So often we have met new people and although they seem nice, we do the two minute polite talk and walk away without any further commitment. Barely have we gotten to know their name before we move on, after all, the two minute stopwatch in our minds automatically rang, “times up”.

I love people really, but something about inviting them into our private world on a regular basis is stretching me into being more honest with my time and my ability to be hospitable for more than a few minutes.

When you invite people into your home with the intent to spend time with them, you are making a real step into a commitment of sorts. No walking away when the two minute buzzer goes off in your head. Now begins the endurance. For us, it’s been a pleasant surprise to realize how much we enjoy getting to know people beyond the point of shaking their hand and making quick pleasantries.

This is where we all need to come home to. In getting to know our neighbors we find places of commonality. In talking to them we begin to have the lights turn on upstairs, maybe we have something they could use or vice versa to help one another? If we pull together and share what each of us has to offer, perhaps our daily burdens wouldn’t seem so heavy?

I wonder if when I am thinking about someone who could use an encouraging word, how much more it would mean to speak it to their face and look in their eyes, rather than send a text message? Going beyond the boundaries of what we have become in this fast paced society is necessary. Not only is it necessary but it’s not an option to stay behind walls of comfort. Tear down the walls and invite somebody in. Make your homes places for all to be welcomed and rebuild our society into something that cares for more than itself.

October 23, 2008

Smart Investment

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Time it drawing near for our elections and the smear campaigns abound. While trying to be informed I find myself constantly wondering how people who have no rock of faith to stand upon are surviving in this charged atmosphere. My husband and I are buying our house and we also invest in a 401k retirement plan. Now if I were fearful I’d probably be checking on these investments but then I have to ask myself why? We don’t plan on moving from our home so regardless of what it’s worth we will still live in it. As for our retirement portfolio? No amount of moving money in this environment is going to make much sense so our only option is to hang onto it for the long haul. We hadn’t planned on cashing it out for decades anyway so let it do its usual fluctuating.

The only smart investment one can make in this day and age is the one for eternity. The portfolio for salvation is one I recommend whole heartedly.