God's Big Kids Helping His Little Ones

My friend Elysa was a missionary right after college and she lived in Swaziland in Africa for a couple of years.  She fell in love with the people and was able to go back for a short trip last year with her two oldest daughters.  This trip totally changed her life and now she devotes a lot of her time telling about the Swazi people...that's how I learned about this.

Even though Swaziland is a small country, it has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world.  There are thousands of orphaned children who just have to fend for themselves...little kids taking care of each other.  Mission groups like Children's Hopechest are trying to help by building Carepoints...safe places that the children walk for miles to come and get a meal once a day.  The missionaries play with the kids and show the love of Christ to them.  It is really a good thing.  The groups attempt to get corporate sponsorship for the Carepoints, but sometimes that falls through and they need people to help.  That's where we come in.  For $34 a month, you can sponsor a child to provide physical, spiritual and educational needs.  We can be God's "big kids" taking care of His little kids.

Mike and I have decided to sponsor a little girl who is 4 years old...just like BK.  This is a legit organization and all the money goes directly to helping these children.  I know that money is tight, but would you please pray about sharing your blessings with one of these children?  They have 70 more kids that need sponsors.  If you want to know more, just leave a comment with your email address and will send you the info.

Water or Coke?

A friend emailed me this info today.  I've read it before, but I still struggle with my cola "addiction"...and with getting enough water.  Maybe this reminder will help.

WATER 

#1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half the world population.) 

#2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger. 

#3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as 3%. 

#4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study. 

#5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue. 

#6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers. 

#7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page. 

#8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day? 

COKE 

#1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from 
the highway after a car accident. 

#2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days. 

#3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china. 

#4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola. 

#5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion. 

#6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes. 

#7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy. 

#8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield. 

FOR YOUR INFORMATION: 

#1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid.  It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis. 

#2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup! (the concentrate) the commercial trucks must use a hazardous Material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials. 

#3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean engines of the trucks for about 20 years! 

Now the question is, would you like a glass of water or a glass of Coke? 

Letting Out the Anger

I watched a powerful Oprah episode this afternoon. Her guests were some very overweight teenagers that had gone through some kind of workshop with their parents. A couple lead the workshop and it was dealing with getting to the root of why the teens are overweight....what they are hungry for that keeps them eating and eating and eating...

It broke my heart. 

They asked them how many had ever seriously thought about, or attempted, suicide...and many raised their hands.

They showed clips of the teens at the workshop.  One by one the teens stood in the middle of the room with the leader and she had them to yell as loud as they could "I'M ANGRY AT____!"  Over and over the teens filled in the blank, yelling and crying.  The anger and hurt that came pouring out had me in tears within just a few minutes...it was difficult to watch.  

Eventually, the leader stepped aside and a parent stepped up.  Each of the teens continued their litany of things they were angry about until they fell into their parents' arms.  When Oprah interviewed some of them on the show, one girl said that experience changed her life.

We all hold things inside.  Sometimes really bad things.  The anger can make us sick...and poison our relationships.  It can also cause us to make bad decisions...like eating ourselves to obesity...and eventually to the grave.   

People just want to be heard.  

Not judged...

Not "fixed"...

Just heard...and loved.

Favorite

Somewhere Over the Rainbow has to be one of my all-time favorite songs. I just LOVE this version.

Can Cans

I heard a great quote recently: "Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't...you are right."

There is much truth in that quote. Our actions follow our beliefs.

I've had the opportunity to hang around several people lately who are on a weight-loss journey, just as I am. It strikes me how many times I hear "I just can't _____" (fill in the blank). I even find myself saying or at least thinking it. Maybe it's getting up a little earlier to do a Bible study and spending some quiet time with God, eating some different kinds of vegetables that might not be a favorite, drinking more water, making time to add a little exercise in our busy lives, or walking away from the sugary desserts.

Whatever the "I can't" is, you can be sure that every time that phrase is uttered, that belief is lodged even deeper into us and the odds are greater that we never will.

I have to remind myself that as a Christian, the Word says that we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us.

Maybe we should take the advice of The Little Engine that Could. I'm going to make an effort to spend a lot more time saying "I think I can...I think I can...I think I can..." How about you?

P.S. Thanks to my sister Debbie for encouraging me to take time to wirte a new blog post. It's easy to get caught up in living life and neglect the things that I really enjoy. It is good to know that I was missed. : )

Free Book!

Through January 15th you can download a free copy of the book Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan - Keeping Your Money Safe and Sound.  Click here. 

Beautiful - From the Mountain

This came in my email this morning from MountainWings.com

You Are Beautiful
==================

You are beautiful. . .

It's a phrase that my mother uses a lot.

I used to wonder, "How in the world can Mother call them beautiful?"

I am a logical, statistical man.
I call things as I see them.
I didn't see beauty.

My mother would tell people this with an enthusiasm they could feel. She was genuine. She wasn't telling them they were beautiful to get something from them. Most of the time, they were trying to get something from her.

I wondered for years what was wrong with Mother's perception and vision. Couldn't she see that all of the people she called beautiful,weren't beautiful?

You were beautiful only if you had a certain figure and face that was classed as beautiful by the laws of the world and glamour. Yet when my mother spoke, people smiled as though Glamour magazine had listed them as one of the beautiful people of the year.

It took me years to finally understand my mother's vision and the phrase, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

My mother had a spirit that could see the beauty in a person.

Most only look on the outside and then compare what they see with the standards the world has given them.

That was what I was doing.

Today when you leave your house, carefully look at the first person whom you see and notice how beautiful they are.

They may be balding, fat, wrinkled, pimply, or any of the other things the world frowns upon as beauty.

Look at them closely and look for the beauty.

If you really look, you'll see it.

I didn't believe that at first until I tried it. Sure enough, as I stared and opened another set of eyes, I was able to see the beauty in every person. No matter how rough or worn a person looked, each pain etched line held a glimpse of beauty.

You just had to look for the beauty. It's there.

When you leave your home this morning, look hard at each person. You will start to see the beauty of every human who you didn't know existed. Trust me and try this. If you sincerely look, you will see it.

When you get home after seeing the beauty in faces you see, look in the mirror.

You are beautiful.

Thank you mama for all of the beauty that you have not only seen, but added.

~A MountainWings Original~

The Stethoscope

Veggie Wisdom

At our house, we love us some Veggie Tales.  I love the fact that no matter how silly the stories are, they always manage to speak truth in a way that even young children can understand. When The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything came out, we went to the theater to see it.  If you have little people at your house, this is a great movie to have.  BK got the DVD for her birthday.

As a short summary, the prince and princess are kidnapped while their father the king is away. Three unlikely "heroes" are chosen to be...well...heros.  At the end of the movie, the king comes back and saves the day.  As he is bestowing medals of bravery on the trio, one of them voices his concern that a mistake has been made because he doesn't believe they are heroes.  The king's response had a profound impact on me.

"There were no mistakes.  The help-seeker picked exactly whom I intended.  I made sure you had everything you needed to complete the task. The crab that showed you the way; the lever that saved your friends; the donkey from above.  The adventure I called you to may not be easy.  But you will never journey alone.  My help is always there.  When we were on the island, the ball said it was time to go home.  That was a test, which you passed with flying colors.  Sometimes a test helps us decide what matters most.  The hero isn't the strongest or the fastest or the smartest or the best looking.  The hero is the one who, no matter how hard, does what he knows is right."  

How good it is to know that we don't have to be the strongest, fastest, smartest or best looking in order to do our Father's will.  We just have to do the next right thing.

You can learn a lot from a veggie.

Bad Hair Day?

BK got a new Barbie for her birthay and it came with a little brush.  She decided to brush Barbie's hair this morning and found that there were tangles.  She brought it to me to see if I could help...then she said "Mommy, Barbie is having a really hairy day!"

Happy Birthday To My Special Girl!

I know that we all know that time flies, but...oh my gosh...how on earth did my baby girl get to be four years old?

We had her party at the local Pizza Hut today and everyone had fun.  The Dora birthday cake (made from 24 cupcakes) was a hit.  

I have been blessed for the last four years to be Mommy to this special little person.  She is so articulate and speaks her mind quite often.  She is incredibly loving and funny.  She is the sunshine of my life and never fails to put a smile on my face every day.

I love you sweet girl...Happy Birthday!