Give A Little, Get A Lot (And Win!)

If you can't tell, I'm obsessed with those little chip-in counters on the right side of my page.  I love to watch them grow!  Seriously.  I will bust the cache on my browser (sorry, I work on the internetz) just to see if there's an update and I'm not seeing it.

I noticed that it's been a little bit slow going and I can understand why!  It's Christmas time.  You've got presents to buy and people are coming over and everything is just so hectic.  It's a hard time of year.

But I'm hoping that I can sweeten the deal...


Earlier in the year, I gave away $50 in gift cards to anyone who donated to the chip-ins that I had on my page.

Well, guess what?!  My husband said I could do it again!!!  Though I wanted to do it before Christmas, but that seems a bit outrageous (and we're going to be out of town, so that would make it hard).

But then I noticed that most of those chip-ins have an expiration of January 1st.  So that's how long this is going to go!

You've got until January 1st to donate (whether it be $1 or $100) to one of the chip-ins on the right side of my counter OR to Livin' In A Fishbowl.

A random person will be chosen using random.org (of course!).  The first person chosen will be given a $50 gift card and the second person chosen will receive a $25 gift card.  The gift card will be one of those Mastercard/Visa ones that you can use like a credit card, that way you can use it for anything!  Even those Christmas credit card bills.

Once you've donated, comment on THIS post.  That way, I don't miss anyone.  I will choose the winners on January 1st.

So now that I've laid out the rules, let's meet everyone!

Chip-In #1:
Baby Be Blessed's Give A Blessing To Maria's House Of Hope
I love Baby Be Blessed!  They are some of the sweetest women I know.  Every other month, they try and raise $1,000 for someone who deserves it.  This month, they want to bless the orphans in China's Maria's House Of Hope.  With this $1,000, Baby Be Blessed is hoping to purchase medication, preemie diapers, teething gel, pajamas and more!

An added bonus with this one: if you donate for this one, you're in the running for my contest AND the winner at Baby Be Blessed will win a Cinderella doll!

Credit: Baby Be Blessed

Chip-In #2:
A water buffalo to India through Gospel For Asia
Sarah from Splashin' Glory has always wanted a water buffalo and this year, she's determined to get it!  All donations will go to the purchase of a water buffalo for a family in India. 

Chip-In #3:
Pass It Forward Adoption Fund
Building The Blocks received help with their adoptions and they want to pay it forward.  They've been able to give $10,000 to a family to help with their adoption and the want to be able to give another $10,000 more.  Help them raise that money through Chip-In #3!

Website Visit:
Livin' In A Fishbowl's Adoption Fund

Credit: Livin' In A Fishbowl

As you can see from Chip-In #3, adoptions are expensive.  Now, imagine that you have a contested adoption and the legal fees that go along with that.  I've been following Livin' In A Fishbowl since it was just the Rock Star.  Now the family of three is a family of four!  It's a fun and insightful blog and they deserve as much help as they can get.

There you have it!  So what do you need to do again?

1) Donate to one of the 4 places mentioned above.
2) Return to this site and comment on THIS post.
3) Return on January 1st (but late!  I get back to my home that day, so it might be a little bit late)

Best of luck!

Praying In Color

Prayer puts God’s work in His hands – and keeps it there.
~E.M. Bounds


I used to pray in our bathroom (since the rest of our apartment is simply in one room), in the dark.  Sometimes I would fall asleep.  Most times, the cat would scratch at the door and I couldn't concentrate.


Then, at church, we had a prayer station service.  I felt so close to God as I walked around to each station.  And each station was something I could touch and something I could hold onto.  After the service, I talked to the woman who had put it on and she told me about a book that she had just received called Praying In Color.


I decided to try it.  It's about singing a song without using the words and I love it!  


I was going to put up a picture of mine, but I decided not to.  Instead, here's a drawing by Sybil MacBeth, the woman who wrote the book about it:

 

Credit: Sybil MacBeth

Here are Sybil MacBeth's words about Praying In Color:
"If you are word-weary, stillness-challenged, easily distracted, or just in need of a new way to pray, give "praying in color" a try. Men do it, women do it; teenagers do it; and children do it. All you need: paper, a black pen, colored markers or colored pencils, and Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God.

1. Draw a shape.
2. Put the name of a person for whom you are praying inside the shape.
3. Add lines, squiggles, and dots.
4. Add color.
5. Think of each stroke of the pen and each daub of color as a moment of prayer.
No words are necessary; no artistic skill is necessary-only a desire and a longing for the presence of God."


If you would like to read more about it, please visit here.

My Day

This was my day :)

Do not wish to be anything but what you are.
~St. Francis de Sales

Why It Matters

I don't understand where all the ugliness comes from.  Sarah Palin is just mean, as well as Ann Coulter.  But please, it's on all sides, it's just that Michael Moore hasn't made a movie in awhile.  Why is everyone so mean?  Sure, we can say we're standing up for what's right, but does calling someone fat mean that you're defending what's right or being petty?  My mom always told me not to judge and she always said that adage that your mother, I'm sure, may have told you and it made you grit your teeth..."If you don't have anything nice to say..."

You know how it goes.

And sure, it takes all kinds, but...why are we all so mean?  Maybe it was worse when everyone just thought it instead of thinking it...or maybe not.

So here's Sara Groves lyrics to "Why It Matters."  There's enough meanness in the news without us adding to it (and believe me, I know that I've added to it).  So today, I'm going to try and focus on the beauty. 

Sit with me and tell me once again
Of the story that's been told us
Of the power that will hold us
Of the beauty, of the beauty
Why it matters

Speak to me until I understand
Why our thinking and creating
Why our efforts of narrating
About the beauty, of the beauty
And why it matters

Like the statue in the park
Of this war torn town
And it's protest of the darkness
And the chaos all around
With its beauty, how it matters
How it matters

Show me the love that never fails
The compassion and attention
Midst confusion and dissention
Like small ramparts for the soul
How it matters

Like a single cup of water
How it matters

Foodz

An Interesting Observation

Someone asked me for directions today while I was walking to work.  This led me to an interesting observation.

Before

This is my before picture.  People would often stop me and ask for directions.  I was actually walking with a friend from out of town and she couldn't believe how many people would stop me to ask for directions.  I'm somewhat small, I don't normally look mean and I'm female (Seriously).

After

Some of you may know that I shaved my head in June for St. Baldricks.  Once this happened, no one asked me for directions.  In fact, I walked into the pantry with my boss and she jumped - she said I looked like I would mug her.  People did stare.  A few asked if I had cancer.

Now

And I have hair again now!  And I've also had at least two people ask me for directions this week.

Love

I had to post this somewhere.  I asked my husband a question on gchat and he agreed to it like this:

Steven:  Okay

Since you's is cute

 

 Personally, I think he's pretty cute.  ;)

So Much!

So much is going on in my life right now that I haven't posted about!  So sorry.  I ate a two pound cheeseburger.  I got to meet a cousin and see my nieces for Thanksgiving.  Ate at MELT in Cleveland.  I just visited a culinary school and I'm going to try volunteering (if they'll let me!) at a bakery in Jersey City called Feed Your Soul.

I'm preparing to go to Los Angeles and Las Vegas to visit my parents, then to England to be the best man in my friend's wedding.

But, for now, all I want to ask is that you'll maybe watch this video:



(sorry this video is so big.  Boo.  I was trying to make it smaller, but it's okay)

And, if you could, vote for Covenant House for Pepsi Refresh.  They are in the running to win $250,000 and here's what they'd do with it:

Goals

• To provide food to 1000 infants & toddlers in our Mother/Child program
• To help homeless mothers build a future for themselves & their babies
• To stay open 24/7/365 to any kid who comes to our door

If you'd like to vote for them, please visit here.

And hopefully I'll be updating you with my Christmas cookies this week!

Missing the Music

I miss making music.

I haven't played a tuba in almost four years and it makes me a little sad. 

It's Tuba Christmas time and I think that makes it a bit sadder.  Have you ever heard of Tuba Christmas?  Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like.

                                           (credit: tlc.howstuffworks.com)

Tubas and euphoniums and baritones all over the place!  At the one in Akron, Ohio that I used to attend, there were Christmas lights on tubas. 


But tubas start at $6,000 and that is WAY out of the budget.

Laundry is the only thing that should be separated by color.
-Nietzsche

Obsession

I've always hated that word. Obsession.

Though I'm starting to think that, growing up, my mother was at least a little bit right. I know that I have always fixated on certain things for a time, but I always hated the word "obsession."

I might have to re-think it.

I could sleep last night because of this:

(Credit: Not Martha)

And I want to bake over 500 cookies for church.  Candy cane kiss cookies, chocolate truffle cookies, jeweled tree cut outs...

Maybe it's an obsession a fixation.

A Message From Covenant House

Last Friday one of the main buildings in our shelter for homeless kids in Mexico City burned.

No one was injured, thanks to the quick and remarkable response of our staff. But the building suffered serious damage from fire, smoke and water and we won’t be able to house kids there for at least a couple of months. Forty kids lost their homes.

For the time being, our kids are staying in a house lent to us. But it's a terrible thing when homeless kids finally find safety—and then their shelter burns down and leaves them homeless a second time!

One boy was sobbing uncontrollably outside the burning shelter, and when our staff went to comfort him he explained that his home had burned down before and that’s what had left him homeless on the street.


Please help us raise the estimated $250,000 we need to rebuild this shelter for homeless street kids in Mexico City. That would be a special Thanksgiving gift for all our kids.

Covenant House Mexico, known locally as Casa Alianza, not only helps homeless kids find their way off the dangerous streets. It also gives them the skills they need for a future filled with hope. Many of the kids we help are victims of human trafficking, sexual abuse, or have addiction problems. Many are HIV positive.

Your gift will enable us to repair the fire and water damage, fix the electrical wiring, replace the furniture, and fireproof the complex to make sure this can never happen again.

Christmas Gifts That Give Life

Sorry I've been absent. I had to make 50 cheesecakes last night and tonight I'm making 10 AND potatoes and I'm sick. Don't worry. I use gloves and face masks. :) But this is all an excuse that I'm not really going to write anything and just send you somewhere else.

If you're looking for Christmas gifts that do some good with your money, you should check out this post:
http://buildingtheblocks.blogspot.com/2010/11/its-that-time-of-year-again.html

Refresh Everything Project

Has anyone heard of the Pepsi Refresh Project? Pepsi is giving money to worthy ideas every month to help support projects that YOU vote on.

There is one that is very close to my heart and it's a place based in New York but all over the country called Covenant House.

Covenant House provides housing, therapy and love to homeless teens. They take in teenage girls with children, foster care runaways...anyone who needs God's love and an adult's love in their life.

If they win the $250,000 from Pepsi Refresh, Covenant House plans on completing these goals:

* To provide food to 1000 infants & toddlers in our Mother/Child program
* To help homeless mothers build a future for themselves & their babies
* To stay open 24/7/365 to any kid who comes to our door

You can vote every day for the month of November. It doesn't cost anything and, if you have a Facebook account, you can vote by logging in using your account.

If you'd like to vote for Covenant House, please visit here. But you can vote for anything! To see all of the projects that Pepsi Refresh has, please visit here.

Christmas Cookies!

My husband just asked me if I was an elf.

I want to know...what's your favorite holiday cookie? Do you have a holiday cookie? And...if you don't...what's your favorite everyday cookie?

A 17th Century Prayer

And definitely one I need to live by (parts I need to remember bolded):

Lord, Thou knowest better than I know myself, that I am growing older and will someday be old. Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion. Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs. Make me thoughtful but not moody; helpful but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all, but Thou knowest Lord that I want a few friends at the end. Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point. Seal my lips on my aches and pains. They are increasing, and love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by. I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of others' pains, but help me to endure them with patience. I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing humility and a lessening cocksureness when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken. Keep me reasonably sweet; I do not want to be a Saint – some of them are so hard to live with – but a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil. Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places, and talents in unexpected people. And, give me, O Lord, the grace to tell them so. AMEN.

Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
- Psalm 37:3-5

The Cost

I used to give to Mocha Club. Have you ever heard of it? It's the idea that $7 a month, the cost of two drinks from Starbucks, could change someone's world.

So I was thinking and Googling...

The average American spends $2,698 on entertainment, $6,133 on food and around $400 on cigarettes.

My church actually posted a really great study.

- For 10 cents, you can provide one feeding for a baby in a refugee camp
- For 50 cents, you can provide food for a baby in a refugee camp in Tanzania or Angola.
- For the price of the Sunday newspaper, you can provide food for a day for an AIDS orphan or street child in South America or Africa
- For $10, you can provide a small grove of trees to protect the soil from erosion in Zambia
- For the price of a baseball game ticket (but not in New York...like bleacher seats), you can provide enough maize, bean, and groundnut seeds for a Mozambiquan family to replant after floods

I mean, I could implore you guys to give or to give monthly, but I'm not going to (though does saying that still count?). I also don't want to make you feel guilty about how you spend your money (I always feel guilty and I don't want that for you!). I just want to lay it all out because my husband and I always feel that there's never enough in the bank account...but those pennies that we pick up on the street could do some real good.

YOUR Prayer Requests

Well, I've been asking for so much, I'd like to know what YOU need to be prayed over. :)

Prayer Request, Please?

Sorry! I know I freaking keep asking for these.

When God sends His blessings, it is CRAZY!

Yesterday, my husband had an interview in Boston.
Monday, my husband has a phone interview for Alaska.
Tuesday, my husband has a face-to-face interview in New Jersey.

If God were to say, "Danae, if you had any sort of choice in the matter, what would you want?'

I would say, 'You know, Father, if You were feeling gracious, I would ask you to please not let us stay in New Jersey. But if You're feeling the Jerz, that's cool too.'

So if you could please pray that 1) I do not drive my husband insane with my worrying (and what the hell can I do anyway?! Just give myself an ulcer, that's what) and 2) that God would be with Steve during all of this.

And thank you :) I really appreciate all of your support. I don't feel like I have a lot of people that I can talk to in New York, but I feel like I can here.

ALSO, super amazing blog post on how to help orphans when adoption isn't an option. Check it here.

"God is love. Therefore love. Without distinction, without calculation, without procrastination, love."

Henry Drummond

Mini Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Trying To Remember

That God and my husband love me no matter how big my butt is. They prefer a bigger heart.

A size "8" is okay. "Two sizes too small" is not.

Why It Matters

Sit with me and tell me once again
Of the story that's been told us
Of the power that will hold us
Of the beauty, of the beauty
Why it matters

Speak to me until I understand
Why our thinking and creating
Why our efforts of narrating
About the beauty, of the beauty
And why it matters

Like the statue in the park
Of this war torn town
And it's protest of the darkness
And the chaos all around
With its beauty, how it matters
How it matters

Show me the love that never fails
The compassion and attention
Midst confusion and dissention
Like small ramparts for the soul
How it matters

Like a single cup of water
How it matters

GPG 2009 - "Why It Matters" by Sara Groves from International Justice Mission on Vimeo.

"A Little Bit Fatter"

Our Albanian janitor (who I love to death) just told me that I got a little bit fatter.

Oops!

That's okay. I knew that.

Maybe I should skip the Five Guys tomorrow then?



NAH!

Woe To Those Who Are Rich

So I was reading Luke 6 last night and Luke 6 contains a slightly different version of the Beatitudes. And it says,
"Woe to those who are rich, for you have received your comfort."

And I went to my MAP book. It's a reference book that's also kinda funny and explains a lot and leaves things alone when we are uncertain.

The only comment is makes is that Luke's version speaks directly about the poor in stuff and Matthew's version speaks also of those who are poor in spirit.

And I just kept thinking...are we the rich?

I've looked at this before: http://www.globalrichlist.com/

Does anyone else have a take on this? Are we the rich? And, if so, what does that mean?

UPDATE: I was doing a Google search on it and here's something I've found: The woes also reflect prophetic tradition. A woe warns of condemnation. Here Jesus addresses the judgment of God to the callous rich and others who are comfortable with their state in life while being unconcerned about the needs of others. The lack of a genuine spiritual dimension in their life is seen in the comparison Jesus makes between them and the false prophets. For those who do not engage God on the divinity's terms there looms nothing but the terrible expectation of a day of reckoning. One of the dangers of wealth is that it can lead one to believe a life of independence is possible--a view that Jesus teaches is arrogant and misguided (12:13-21). The world's values are not God's values. The reversal portrayed in the beatitudes and woes reflects the idea that "the one with the most toys" often loses. God's blessing can be found in surprising places. It rests on those who rest in him.The Call to Exceptional Love and Mercy (6:27-36)

"Preach the gospel always, and if necessary, use words." ~ St. Francis of Assisi

If You Want Me To

I want to thank everyone for their prayers! My husband is in the first step of a multi-step process in a job interview. I really hope he gets it, but it would be a HUGE adjustment for us.

We'd be going from here:


to here:


It would be a major uprooting, but I'm kind of itching for an adventure. I figure that, wherever God wants us, He'll put us. My husband is kind of brushing off this interview, figuring that he's not going to get this job, but...you never know!

I'll keep you up-to-date on it. I'm going to be praying for weeks with this one! ;)

I'd like to leave you with a song I've been listening to a lot lately. I love it.

If You Want Me To by Ginny Owens

The pathway is broken
And The signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to

Chorus:
Cause I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone

ya oh oh no

So When the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through
And I will go through the valley If You want me to

PRAYERS PPPLLLEEEAAASSSEEEE!!

My husband has a big job interview in an hour! And I feel bad asking for a prayer request for this, but I'm trying to let go that God wouldn't want to help me when there are such big things.

So, to at least feel better, could you also pray about:

- My friend Jessica went into labor at 26 weeks, but the doctors have been able to stop it. If you could pray that God keeps that baby in her uterus for as long as possible, I would appreciate that!

- My friend is hoping for a baby and I've been praying for her for that.

Thank you!! We love you guys so much :)

Community Center Construction: Northern Iraq

My husband would call me a 'bleeding heart,' but I just can't help myself. I received a message on Facebook about the organization World Orphans. They are both helping restore the church in many places and reaching out to hurting communities.

I was really excited to see something happening in Iraq! So here's the information below:

Community Center Construction: Northern Iraq

Iraq has been torn apart by conflict and strife for decades. Sectarian violence and an international war have wreaked havoc on this land. Around two million Iraqis have been displaced just since the recent conflict and about 100,000 have died. In a place hostile to Christianity, the church is small yet surprisingly strong. In Northern Iraq, referred to as Kurdistan by the locals, the church is reaching out to a hurting community comprised mainly of widows and their children who lost their fathers fighting Saddam Hussein. This area is known as "The Freedom Martyr's Village" and is where the government gave World Orphans one acre of land for the building of the community center and playground facilities. The community center to be used as a vocational and counseling center. In order to provide a measure of sustainability to the project, they have decided to build a second floor that will house a celebration hall for weddings and other special events in the community. Construction of the community center will cost approximately $285,000 with $100,000 already raised.



If you would like to visit here, just click the link here.

Last Week In Pictures

I have a new found love for bingo


Red velvet pancakes!!


Double rainbow!! All the way across the sky. What does this mean?!

Dear God,

Please take care of Jessica and her child. Whether You want this child born tomorrow or in 3 months, please take care of her. Hold her hand and hold her heart.

With All My Love,
Danae

"I do it for the joy it brings, cause I'm a joyful girl. 'Cause the world owes us nothing, we owe each other the world."
- Ani Difranco

A Prayer Request, Please!

My husband is up for a job in Boston at the moment. It's with a MUCH bigger firm (#13 in the nation) with a job that's a little intimidating for him.

My husband JUST got a call from the #3 firm IN THE WORLD for a phone interview with a job that he would be much more comfortable with. BUT this job is in a place that would wildly displace us from friends and family (more so than we already have been).

I'm willing to go wherever. Could you just pray that, if God wants us to go, we'll go? And if God wants us to stay (even if it's here), that we stay?

I would really appreciate that :) Much love to all of you! I'm hoping to put up pictures of my red velvet pancakes soon.

While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.

~St. Francis of Assisi

My Week

Yes, Jesus loves...me?

I've been talking to a few people about God's love and God's love for me. I'm just going to throw this all out there so...that's the best introduction I can muster. :)

Growing up, my father had a strict religious upbringing, my mother's told me. To the point where, if my father came home and he was the only person there, he feared the Rapture had happened and that he had missed it. That he was, somehow, left behind. I think that fear has followed me my whole life.

It started, really, with going to my grandmother's church. She refused to come to ours because she said our faith was 'dead' and that she couldn't stand it. I remember a member of my extended family, someone I recognized, flailing on the ground and yelling. It scared me. Look, us Lutherans don't really put on a show. When we get hand-clapping, I always laugh because we appear awkward in our movement during service. You just don't DO that.

My friend in 4th grade would let me come to her house and we would watch videos on the Rapture. I remember these two girls who had missed it and I watched as they arrested one of them for believing in Christ and I remember her head being chopped off by a guillotine. The other girl received the Mark of the Beast. I would wake up in cold sweats after that. I would cry to my mother that I was afraid of the concept of 'forever' and what if God decided that He didn't love me? That I wasn't good enough for him?

When I was in middle school, I LOVED horror books. Loved to read Stephen King, even though my parents insisted on blacking out the curse words (this is how big of a dork I was, if I ran across any they missed, I blacked them out myself). I remember a friend of mine looking me straight in the eye and telling me I was going to hell for reading those books. We would go to her church lock-ins and I remember specifically being told that teenagers couldn't accept God and that we were all going to hell if we died at that very moment. Another friend of mine who came was so scared that she cried and re-committed herself to God that night. But she was terrified. What if God hated her?

I hear people say things and I stiffen. I know that they are about God and the love of God, but I can hear the voices of the people who influenced me when I'm younger and I rebel against them. Then I get guilty. Those words are about God, what if He thinks I don't love Him? Then what? I have never been able to look at myself at say that I will go to heaven. I can't say those things about myself. I feel that God will change His mind. I know that I am saved by grace. Just don't ask me where I'm going once I die.

I know that people will ask if I have forgiven these people. I assume that I have. I don't hold that bitterness anymore. Is that forgiveness? I can tell you that I didn't talk to my grandmother for two years, but I put it aside.

But I still feel like what Father Boyle describes in Tattoos On The Heart in the section 'God, I Guess': You concede "God loves us," and yet there is this lurking sense that perhaps you aren't fully part of the "us." The arms of God reach to embrace, and somehow you feel yourself just outside God's fingertips."

I'm trying to rip the clods of dirt off my heart. Trying to rip away all the things that I go back to (*cough* *cough* FEAR). I'm trying to look in the mirror and love myself. Because I feel like if I could love myself, that would help too. I could go into all the stories in high school...the 8th grade baseball team who called me a beached whale, but this is already getting long.

I'm hopeful that, if I could see what God sees, that I could love myself and accept that God would love me with all my cellulite, with my obsessions, with my want to help EVERYONE, whether or not I actually can. That I don't have to please EVERYONE and that God loves me even if I hate my haircut or think my arm fat flap in the wind. And that He doesn't want me to have the fear I have...the fear I have is not the good kind...it is the kind that will eventually kill me.

I Want To Make You Pancakes

I just had the sudden urge to make breakfast for everyone and anyone I know or don't know.

My friend sent me a recipe for red velvet pancakes and I just want to make everyone I can baked goods!

Nursing homes! The street! Hospitals! Office buildings! Baked goods for all!


me: I know
I have the sudden urge to make people pancakes
Steven: That's a strange urge
me: Well, not pancakes out of people or pancakes shaped like people
Sent at 2:44 PM on Wednesday
Steven: I know
;)
Sent at 2:45 PM on Wednesday
me: Just thought I'd specify
Sent at 2:52 PM on Wednesday
Steven: I appreciate it
I didn't see you as the type to hunt people down and turn them into pancakes

If You Could...

This is random. I was just thinking it...if you could model your life after a biblical character/person (and not Jesus, because, you know, that's the goal, but I know I am FAR from that) or a person who has ever lived, who would it be?

I would tell you the one biblical person I'm trying to live like this October, but I'm still trying to be a left-hand, right-hand person.

So, if it were a different person, it would be Father Gregory Boyle from Homeboy Industries. He has God in his heart and God certainly gave him both mercy and humor. I'm not very funny, but my husband would agree that I think I am. :)

It doesn't have to be all the characters of that person, but maybe an action or something that their known for. Who would yours be?

"Naturally the common people don't want war neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to
drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
- Herman Goering (1893-1946) Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, President of the Reichstag, Prime Minister of Prussia and, as Hitler's designated successor, the second man in the Third Reich. [Göring]

On Poverty

What is poverty?

I looked it up on Wikipedia and this is what it said:

"Poverty is the lack of basic human needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter, because of the inability to afford them."

I was feeling on Friday that I am the poor person.

Sure, I can eat and sit on the computer and have clothes, but do I value the flowers when I'm walking to work? Sometimes. But most times, I'm just thinking about ME getting to work. And if someone cuts me off, I'm indignant. How could they do that to ME?

Yeah, I have a job, but do I care about other people? Sometimes. I was not feeling very Christ-like at certain times this weekend. I could blame it on New York. I could blame it on the fact that I was exhausted and we were busy.

Or I could blame it on ME.

Ethiopian women with nothing gave me their only cooking pot because I came to visit them. Another woman called my husband and I family. People in South Africa invited us in their homes. Thai people were excited to see us. The Chinese want to talk to us because we've come to see their country (and sure, they've probably never seen a white person before). So willing to give and sure, we all have our bad days and I'm sure they're not entirely Christ-like either. But I feel like, maybe, they're on a more direct course then I am.

So maybe I'm the poor one, even with my money and my apartment.

Leave It Up To You

I've shown forgiving myself is something I can’t do
So I'll leave it up, leave it up to you
I'll leave it up to you...
The God of a million second chances
'Cause the chances are
That I'll return and take the wheel
A million times or more
-'Leave It Up To You' by Jill Phillips

Around - New York/New Jersey/Ohio

My in-laws...and me with more hair.





So helpful


Pillow cookies


Our church

My Pictures!

Some pictures from my trip to Africa were posted on Baby Be Blessed's website for Too Cute...Tuesday!

Take a look:
http://babybeblessed.blogspot.com/2010/09/too-cutetuesday.html

Do not commit the error, common among the young, of assuming that if you cannot save the whole of mankind you have failed.

~ Jan de Hartog

What A Weird Few Weeks

I know I haven't been posting much. Sorry. The Video Music Awards were this weekend and it'll probably take me a few weeks to readjust. But I've had some CRAZY stuff happen and I think I'll finally write all of it down. (And some not so crazy stuff, so bear with me!)

- A few weeks ago, we found a baggie of pot in our office hallway. A friend of mine said that, if that had happened at her office, they would have called the police. My husband said that we probably had a drum circle.

- A bird crapped squarely on the crown of my head this morning while I was partially covered by an overhang. I'm going to say that it was good luck because it chose me when there were quite a few people out walking around.

- My dad was in town! Hooray! He bought me some utensils for pie making and I left them in his hotel room. I felt like a spy, asking for the mail at the front desk, in my name so I could get my baking tools back.

- All of my coworkers came to our VMA rehearsal hungover. Really hungover.

- Our cat has taken to sleeping on my back certain mornings when we don't give her enough attention. She sprawls out to the point where her front paws are on my face.

- I met my niece! She's absolutely adorable. Both of them are. :)

Well, those have been the last few weeks. Between Lady Gaga's meat dress and my pie baking, it's been a bit busy. I'll close you out with a few pictures of my mini-pies!

In Honor Of Those Who Lost Their Lives