the seasons are....

"The seasons are what a symphony ought to be: 
four perfect movements in harmony with each other."

 ~Arthur Rubenstein

in others' words (Spring :)

 Playmaker just began her very first real job.

 She was hired at a plant nursery nearby.  

She and her co-workers should appreciate this....

via

sign me up! (Rachel's Challenge)

I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion then it will start a chain reaction of the same. 

Rachel Scott

via: Rachelschallenge.org

I attended Rachel's Challenge with Strike at her high school last night and was moved to tears and motivated to action. Not sure just yet what form that action may take but for starters I spoke with the Principal immediately after the presentation and in so many words I said Sign me up and just tell me what to do....I want to be involved in this. 

Rachel Scott was the first person killed at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Her acts of kindness and compassion coupled with the contents of her six diaries have become the foundation for one of the most life-changing school programs in America.

Rachel's Challenge attempts to minimize bullying and to change, for good, the culture within school communities by challenging students, administrators and parents to make positive/life changing commitments in five key areas:


- eliminate prejudice


- keep a journal/diary & set goals


- choose positive influences & role models


- identify specific people that mean the world to them personally and show them, within the next week, how much they appreciate them.  


- start a chain reaction by doing random acts of kindness for others within their school and their community - especially for new students, physically/mentally challenged students & others who just don't quite "fit in" - and, in so doing, begin to leave a positive legacy behind.  


Recently new rules and regulations and even laws have been established in an attempt to deal with the ever growing issue of bullying. I'm encouraged by this social shift and the heightened awareness of bullying and its negative repercussions - tho' I believe the potential for meaningful change is minimal in light of these measures. However, if indeed the hearts of bullies - and those who witness bullying in silence - are motivated to change, well - in that case I see incredibly powerful potential for real and positive transformation of not only bullies and those guilty by association or inaction, but of entire school communities. 


I believe Rachel's Challenge possesses the potential to change hearts. Without being a quote unquote "religious" program, the character traits this challenge encourages students to embrace are those that Jesus taught and exemplified ... encouragement, compassion, forgiveness, kindness, courage, etc...

I am passionate about the issue of bullying in schools. We lived near the Springfield, OR school shooting when it took place and my brother's family lived in Littleton, CO at the time of the Columbine massacre - and, even closer to home, my own daughter, Playmaker, was a victim of bullying (as have been two of her friends). It's not something I've shared with many people - but I'm ready to share it here now with whoever will listen. Stay tuned for more of her story, in her own words. 

To view an informative video presentation that shares more about both Rachel's story and Rachel's Challenge, click HERE.

People will never know how far a little kindness can go. 

Rachel Scott

The Simple Woman's Daybook

... where every day is blank page.

  

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

I am thankful...that my husband is home from Taiwan - and - that with the unseasonably warm weather we've had recently, I've been able to sit outside and recharge my batteries by soaking up some Vitamin D directly from the source/the sun! 


I am thinking...that my "little girl" (aka Playmaker) is growing up so fast. Yesterday she was filling out a college application, we looked at a prospective new/used car for her, the dentist recommended she have her wisdom teeth removed and she applied at several places for her first real job and already has two promising prospects in that regard. All this in one/the same day!

In the kitchen...I made THIS for dinner last night - and it really did taste like the chicken that you get at the "Chinese" places in food courts at the mall! I added green peppers to mine - and pineapple to the leftovers.


I am creating...well - nothing at the moment - but I'm hoping that this, about what it means to be creative,  is true:

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.

  ~Scott Adams

If indeed it is true - I am waaaay more creative than I realized ;)  

I am wondering...

"How do you live so that 
when your kids think of the Grace of the Gospel,
 they think of you?"

- Ann Voskampe - 

via

I am reading...

I am looking forward to...

Spring!

We were given a sneak peek of it earlier this week and now it just can't come soon enough as far as I'm concerned. 

I am learning ... about the life and times of Christ.

I am pondering...a post I read recently titled What if God called you to Fail? by Rick Dancer

A favorite quote for today...

“God did not call me to be successful.
 He called me to be faithful.”

- Mother Teresa - 

via

One of my favorite things...call me crazy but I enjoy ironing :)

when your lent stinks

Just capturing some "food for thought" here regarding Lent from a recent thought provoking post by Ann Voskampe over at A Holy Experience. To read more of her thoughts/her entire post on this subject of Lent, click HERE.

“Four or five months of the year, the grey whale, she doesn’t eat at all.” He’s cut the engine, waiting, scanning. He says it quiet, “When a whale fasts, it breaks down its fat stores. And that process, ketosis — it makes a whale stink.” ... *** When a whale fasts, it stinks.

***

When a sinner fasts, it stinks. It stinks to come to the fleshy end of yourself, to wring out your day and face it: how all your efforts at fasting, at being pure, at being good, amount to a mound of reeking mess.  And the stink of a struggling Lenten fast? This is the purifying of the bloated allusions of self — and fasting hold of the only Savior. When we murmur, “God? In me, I can do nothing”  – this is exactly the moment when God says He can now do something in us.

recipes i must try

If you must try them too, just click the pics to link to the recipes :) 


supercharge me cookies

goat cheese quiche w/ hashbrown crust

man-pleasing chicken

italian-stuffed-peppers

honey bourbon chicken

(my note: there's no bourbon in it...& it looks to me like the teriyaki chicken you get at the mall!! :)

pesto chicken stuffed shells

baked pesto chicken

homemade play-doh
(Playmaker is supposed to babysit at our house tomorrow eve.
 This could be fun!)

hugo

*

**

 I

 always 

believed that 

the world is a machine.

 All of us were made for a purpose.

Maybe that's why a broken machine always makes me a little sad,

 because it isn't able to do what it was meant to do... 

Maybe it's the same with people. 

If you lose your purpose... 

it's like you're 

broken.

**

*

These quotes from Hugo remind me of Someone I know:

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18

 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3 

&

they also remind me of my husband/dearest friend. He's a fixer too. He can fix most anything that's broken.   I don't know how he does it but he's so good at it that he does it for a living - and I hafta believe it is what he was made to do. He's my Hugo.  And - when he's on the opposite side of the planet than I'm on, as he is now, and my toaster is broken, as it is now, ... well - I just add that to the looong list of reasons why I miss him - that's getting longer the longer he's away. 

pretending

I'm heading out in the cold and rain to shovel slush - but I'm gonna use my i-m-a-g-i-n-a-t-i-o-n & pretend I'm here instead :)  Oooooh - if only ...

Enjoy!

pics to describe adjectives

fyi: a click on each pic will link you to the source/more info if you're interested

yummy

cute

twisted

pretty

summer

brilliant 

perfect 

(for a bookgroup?!)

genius