Mocha Club

I decided to give up trips to Starbucks for Lent--and to send that money to a good cause.

I just joined a web site called Mocha Club, where you can give up the cost of 2 mochas a month, or $7, to help orphans, refugees, and those affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Did you know that 6300 people die every day from AIDS? Here is what blew my mind - in All of Africa, $7 gives clean water to 7 Africans for a year. In Kibera Kenya, $7 gives 3 meals in a day for 9 orphans. In Bulawayo Zimbabwe, $7 would put two kids in school for a term. It's those kind of things that made me realize this is something I can do. So I've felt convicted to move from the talking to doing category. You can join my online team by clicking HERE and we can keep inviting friends so the team continues to grow at $7 per person.

They also give detailed updates once a month as to what the money is doing in Africa.

And do you know of MATT WERTZ? Here's a cool incentive he's offering - if you join our team now, you'll also get a FREE download of his entire new album, Everything In Between. Cool, huh?

Let me know what you think.

Free pancakes today, Fat Tuesday

From KRDO news:

IHOP is doing what it can to fatten you up on this "Fat Tuesday".

It's National Pancake Day and IHOP is giving away a free short stack (three good sized cakes) of their buttermilk pancakes--for a good cause.

IHOP is hoping those who come in to get the free pancakes will donate money toward the Childrens Miracle Network. The non-profit helps sick children get the medical treatment they need by treating everything from pediatric aids to cancer to a child injured in a car accident. If you do donate today there's even more of an incentive than free pancakes. "We hope that they donate. They get free pancakes no matter what they do but we hope they come in and donate and if they do we also give them a 20 percent bounce back coupon to come in and see us again." says Patty Tennant Operations Director of local IHOPs.

Last year IHOPs around the country raised more than 300-thousand dollars for Childrens Miracle Network. This year the goal is to raise more than 500-thousand dollars.

To get the free pancakes you can go by any IHOP TODAY between 7 am and 10 pm.

Beware of early daylight-saving time

Congress lengthened this year’s daylight saving time by four weeks in the name of energy efficiency. The decision is likely to affect numerous computer systems preset to change the hour on the traditional date.

Many people aren’t even aware of the change, which takes effect Mar. 11. Devices such as cell phones should automatically update. But Microsoft cautions that some of its older products—including Windows XP SP1 and Windows NT4—will require manual updates. The company’s Web site provides detailed instructions on how to update various products. As a fallback, Microsoft says customers should double-check meetings scheduled electronically during March and April 2007.

One more reason to stay away from Peter Pan

A salmonella outbreak that has slowly grown to nearly 300 cases in 39 states since August has been linked to tainted peanut butter, the Assoc. Press reported.

The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to eat certain jars of Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter because of the risk of contamination.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they believe this to be the first salmonella outbreak associated with peanut butter in U.S. history. How salmonella got into peanut butter is still under investigation.

I am a HUGE fan of peanut butter, so this is kind of scary. However, I'm kind of a peanut butter snob and won't eat the kinds like Peter Pan with lots of sugar and hydrogenated oils. So I see this salmonella incident as just one more reason to stay away!

The affected jars have a product code on the lid that begins with the number "2111," made by ConAgra in a single facility in Sylvester, Ga., the FDA said.

The largest number of salmonella cases were reported in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, and Missouri. Symptoms of salmonella can include diarrhea, fever, dehydration, abdominal pain and vomiting. Fun!

Starbucks new promotion: designer t-shirts

To show customers how easy it is to customize their beverage of choice, Starbucks created a new campaign--letting fans choose drink elements incorporated into the design of the shirts, including drink size and flavors.

The cost and shipping are free. However, only a limited number of shirts are available each day.

Starbucks offers more than 5,000 drink combinations.

The campaign runs through Feb. 28 and is designed to ease the intimidation factor of ordering a beverage and get customers to try something new.

Fashion designer Mychael Knight has been tasked to create icons that will be placed on the T-shirts. MyStarbuckstshirt.com includes a link to a list of popular drinks and celebrity favorites and details about Knight.

Life's Story

Last night a friend and I went to the $1.50 theater (less money than renting!) to see Stranger Than Fiction, which has become a new favorite. The main character, Harold Crick suddenly starts hearing his life being narrated by the author who’s controlling it. “Little did he know” of his “impending doom.”

When he starts to accept that he’s going to die, Harold starts living the life he’s always wanted. I walked out of the theater challenged to live—really live the rest of my days. I don’t know that I’m going to die soon, but I do know my days are numbered.

I’m glad I know and trust my narrator to create my life story in the most loving way possible.

This morning I read Proverbs and Psalms 13.
Proverbs 13:12 (Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life, NLT) is often quoted, but it particularly struck me in the aftermath of yesterday.

I walked over to the Focus on the Family bookstore and picked up a Brio magazine. I realized this was the issue my sixth (I think?) article appeared—the one they used as part of my job interview last summer.

Once again I questioned why God has placed insurmountable obstacles in front of me and working at what I believe to be my dream job. And my best friend is going on a mission trip with them this summer, but I can’t go because of my current job’s demands.

However, I was encouraged when I read an article in our magazine’s “Why We Do What We Do” section, in which the author had a mission from God, but He kept saying “wait” or “not now” until 12 years later when circumstances lined up and she was ready.

Psalm 13 says: “O Lord, how long will you forget me? …Restore the sparkle to my eyes or I will die…But I trust in your unfailing love.” (1,3,5)

Feeling for Bones review

Bethany Pierce / Moody Publishers
Subject: Contemporary Fiction
p $12.99 ISBN: 9780802462886

When her dad loses his pastor job and the family relocates under his aunt’s mercy, 16-year-old Olivia watches her surroundings spin out of control. Money is scarce, dad stops attending church, mother becomes more controlling, they constantly argue, and she has to share a room with 6-year-old sister Callapher.
Olivia becomes obsessed with controlling her calorie consumption and pasting idyllic images on the bedroom wall. “Every page was another promise that life could become what it should, that I could be beautiful,” she says.
Near-tragedy and a death bring the family closer together, and Olivia slowly learns to accept love and care from her mother and her heavenly Father—who in the final pages becomes real to her and miraculously heals her disorder.
Recommend to young women and their mothers searching for a palatable tale of a teenager’s striving for beauty and struggle with anorexia.

Too skinny

photo: Bernat Armangue / AP

There’s been more in the news recently about models and actresses being “too skinny,” when previously the message has been “you can never be too skinny or too rich.”

It’s a well-known fact among womankind that models set an unrealistic standard—and the quest to be thin can be deadly. The most recent wakeup call came when Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston died in November 2006 at age 21. She was 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed just 88 pounds, and had a BMI (body mass index) of 13.4.

Italian designers in December agreed to health and age guidelines for runway models, The Associated Press reported. Now New York City Council member Gail Brewer wants fashion houses to ban any model with a body mass index of less than 18.5 -- the cutoff for the World Health Organization's definition of "normal." (up to 24.9)

Brewer said she wants models to be educated on nutrition and designers to encourage healthful lifestyles. "We want the designers to offer some clothes that are a little bit more robust," she also told CNN, "and we certainly don't want people under the age of 16 to be modeling.
Models are often women’s mirrors—who they compare themselves to. I’m not saying this is how it should be, but I certainly think it’s time for culture to start recognizing the impossible and unhealthy ideal that’s presented on the runways.

Models don’t need more education about nutrition. I think they know how to eat, but they choose not to because they’re not allowed to if they want to keep their profession. The rules of the profession need to change, so models portray an image of beauty and health.
However, if women want to see an image of beauty and health, perhaps fashion models are not the best role models in the first place. I want to look to models like Mary, Elizabeth, Ruth, and Esther (in the Bible).

Younger women join convents

From The Washington Times
By Jocelyne Zablit

One was a successful corporate lawyer, another a Mercedes-Benz driving businesswoman and a third a Navy officer who steered warships and hunted down cocaine smugglers in South America.
They are among a growing number of women in their 20s and 30s across the United States who have shed high-powered jobs, career ambitions and boyfriends for a nun's veil and a life devoted to the church. Though the trend is by no means spreading like wildfire, several Roman Catholic communities throughout the country say they have noticed a surprising and welcome phenomenon in the past decade as younger women join their ranks.
"The inquiries in recent years have been coming from younger and younger women, most of them in their early to mid-20s," said Sister Agnes Mary, mother superior at the Sisters of Life community in New York.
The Catholic community, which counted seven members when it was founded in 1991, has grown to 52 women who live in six convents scattered throughout the New York area. A seventh convent is planned within two years.
"I think young women are searching for something, and culture is not giving it to them, so they are turning to God," said Sister Mary Karen, 33, the superior at the Sisters of Life Formation House in the Bronx, where 18 women are being groomed for a life of obedience, poverty and chastity. They include a Yale graduate, a former Navy officer, a former medical student, an opera singer and a Web designer.
All have college degrees, are well-traveled and were more cosmopolitan than cloistered growing up.
They have abandoned cell phones, IPods, daily Starbucks runs and, in some cases, fiances for dormlike rooms, or "cells" as they call them, and a wardrobe that consists of a veil and habit. "I was in the Navy for a total of 10 years because I wanted to do something great with my life, but I realized I could never be passionate about it," said Angela Karalekas, 28, who entered the convent in September and will receive her habit and new religious name in June. "I was raised Catholic, but my decision has been hard on my father and three brothers."

Answer me this: What's the appeal?

Stronger Than You Think review

Kim Gaines Eckert / IVP Books (InterVarsity Press)
Subject: Pastoral Helps; Women
p $15 ISBN:9780830833733
Women who long for wholeness, admit something is missing, and are willing to engage on a journey toward emotional healing are stronger than they think, Gaines Eckert says. As a practicing counselor, she uses helpful examples and real-life situations. Her realistic approach offers tips, suggestions, activities, and images to assist readers on the journey, but acknowledges there’s no quick fix to life’s deep pains and difficulties.
“God’s intent is not to help us avoid pain and maximize pleasure,” she says. Rather, God intends to help us grow up in Christ, as we find wholeness in community with Him and others.
Stronger Than You Think is ideal for group study, as each chapter concludes with “Tools for the Journey,” and the concluding section is dedicated to discussion/reflection questions. Readers who take the message to heart will find Stronger Than You Think worth far more than the suggested retail price.

Practical Justice review

Kevin Blue / Likewise (InterVarsity Press)
Subject: Chr. Ministry/Missions
p $13 ISBN: 0830833684
Practical Justice exposes the disparity that exists when Christians show little concern for injustice. It calls Christians to service—even if it means discomfort or suffering.
Blue doesn’t pretend serving the poor equates earthly benefit, though he says, “no act of love is wasted.” You aren’t the beggar’s judge, the author says: “Let us not be fooled into not giving for fear of being fooled.”
The book follows through on the title’s promise of practicality. Many useful examples are provided, including fasting with a friend from entertainment for a month and giving what you would have spent to/for someone in need.
This challenging read will spur justice-minded Christians to do more for the poor and may encourage the apathetic to action. Practical Justice is one of the first from the Likewise line, named after Jesus’ command to “Go and do likewise.”

Tagged

I was reading Margaret Feinberg’s blog today and she said, “if you're reading this consider yourself tagged,” which means I get to answer these questions here, and if you’re reading this, and you have a blog, consider yourself tagged.

1. What’s the most fun work you’ve ever done?
Writing magazine articles, reviewing books, music, and movies.

2. What's one thing you did in the past that you no longer do but wish you did?
Running. I love it, but it’s not worth the sciatic pain it now provides me.

3. What's one thing you’ve always wanted to do but keep putting it off?
Write a book.

4. What two things would you most like to learn or be better at, and why?
Learn: Music—how to play the piano and harmonica (I’ve never had a talent for music, but I’d like to conquer my fear of being incompetent at it) and how to fly an airplane (I’ve loved my experiences as a passenger in 2-seaters, and would love the thrill and challenge of being the operator—plus, it runs in the family).

Become better at: swing dancing (it’s fun and I want to be able to dance with anyone) and swimming (it’s a great workout and my missing link to being better at triathlons).

5. If you could take a class/workshop/apprentice from anyone in the world living or dead, who would it be and what would you hope to learn?
If Jesus isn't an option, I might say Leonardo da Vinci. I would hope to learn how to use my brain and abilities to their full capacity.

6. What three words might your best friends or family use to describe you?
Caring, beautiful, encouraging

7. Now list two more words you wish described you…
fearless, confident

8. What are your top three passions? (can be current or past, work, hobbies, or causes)Writing, relationships, health

9. Write–and answer–one more question that YOU would ask someone (with answer in three sentences max)

What is one step you can take toward doing that thing you’ve been putting off?

I hope that the fiction-writing class I’m taking will help me get closer to writing the book that is in me.

Wine and friends improve with age

Happy Birthday, Abbie!

Overwhelmed

I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed with life because there’s so much going on. And there's so much more I want to do in this year, and during this lifetime.

I bet you can relate. Here are some things that may help:

1. Surround yourself with people who will speak truth to you. Select a group of close, intimate friends who know you. Don’t even try to fool them, but allow them to tell you who you are, who God is—and let that transform your life.

When conversing with friends this weekend about resolutions, one of them asked if we could suggest resolutions for each other. I gleaned valuable insights from these dear friends’ suggestions. Another question: What gift do you feel you have, but haven’t been exercising? Resolutions often fixate on what we’re not good at, but what if we focused on some talents/skills/gifts we’d like to improve upon?

2. Make a commitment to cut the excess baggage out of your life.
What is most important to you? A leadership principle called the 80/20 rule says 20% of the things in your life create 80% of your success. And 80% of the things you spend your time on only give you 20% of your successes. Find the top 20% of the things you are good at that yield the most results and cut the 80% of things that are basically wasting your time.

Searching for Wisdom

Psalm 90 is full of rich wisdom, and offers for me a prayer for the coming year.
It says: for God, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.
He may give us 70 or 80 years on earth—but even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away.
May we ask God to teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.
And may the Lord our God show us His approval and make our efforts successful.
May He teach us to live wisely and well.

Tardy

Happy New Year!

I'm a bit late ushering it in blogdom, and since life seems a little too hectic right now to spend time blogging, I'll offer an easy pic.

A few of my favorite things: abode in Montana

dog, Chewy

new(ish) Subie, Jade

revelation

We make ourselves a place apart
behind light words that tease and flout,
but oh, the agitated heart
till someone really find us out.

'Tis pity if the case require
(or so we say) that in the end
we speak the literal to inspire
the understanding of a friend.

But so with all, from babes that play
at hide-and-seek to God afar,
so all who hide too well away
must speak and tell us where they are.

--Robert Frost

bye bye subie :-(

Blogger would not let me post a pic in "It hit me: Part 2 (literally)" below, but here's a glimpse of my car after the accident. Ten days later, I still miss her, but am starting to move on.
Any suggestions on a replacement vehicle?

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

Thanks to The Palace girls who hosted a great party Saturday.
There were some awfully ugly sweaters, and vests, and pantsuits. And yes, folks, I am wearing a real-live tree skirt! ( Curvy photo credits go to Abbs).

It hit me: Part 2 (literally)

I realize now more than ever how life can change in a single minute.
My wakeup call came on an ordinary Tuesday evening on my way to meet two friends at a coffee shop downtown.

I rush out the door, only to realize I’ve forgotten my cell phone. I’m going to be late, so I decide not to go back for it.
I’m downtown, not very familiar with the area.
I’m getting into the left turn lane. The light is green. I’m looking at the street sign and the oncoming traffic and decide to go. I see they’re coming quickly.

I hear a horn blast and feel the impact.
I can’t believe this is happening. I’ve never been in a real accident. A fender bender, sure—but this is bad. This is not going to be good.
I’m in slow motion, spinning around fast.
Powerless, I’m inside my car, but feel outside of it all as it collides with another and cartwheels on its side. I brace for a roll, but slide to a glass-cracking stop.

The questions begin inside my head. What just happened? Am I alive? What’s going to happen?
Quickly I see people peering through my windshield. Only a driver’s-side door separates me and the ground. I’m laying there, parallel to the earth, feeling paralyzed until the questions come from behind. Are you conscious? Are you in pain?
Then the firemen. Can you move your fingers and toes? Where are we? How old are you? What’s your name?

I realize I don’t feel any out-of-the-ordinary pain. I know I hit my head and my neck twisted in an unnatural fashion. Why am I OK? I begin to wimper then cry. They tell me to stay put while they see if they can roll my car back to an upright position. Do you think you can crawl out of here, or do you want us to cut you out? I can do it.

I don’t feel any pain. I can move, though am not sure I want to.
The fireman directs me as I crawl over my seat and out the broken back window. They lead me to an ambulance. I’m walking and shaking and answering questions and they’re making me decide if I want to go to the hospital. I don’t know how long that will take and how much it will cost and what they will do to me. No I feel fine.

I need to tell my friends what happened. My cell phone is at home. I just want to go home.
No, I don’t know their numbers. Yes, I will take a cab voucher.
The ambulance leaves, I sit in the cop car. They’re directing traffic. There’s a fire truck and about three police cars.

People driving by look shocked, like I was when I’ve seen accidents before. “I’m so glad that wasn’t me,” I thought.
Now it’s me. I thought I was a good driver. Aggressive, yes, but not reckless. I wish I could take back that split-second decision.

I get issued a $90, 3-point ticket for an improper turn, failing to yield. I’m still shaking, haven’t stopped. I can’t believe I did this. What about the other people? I go to gather my things out of my car. One cop finds my keys for me, says I need them to get in my house. It actually didn’t even occur to me to grab those. “Accidents happen,” he says. “At least no one was hurt and cars can be replaced. That’s what insurance is for.” Thank you.

The cab driver plays Enya for me as I sniffle in back seat. “Have a good night. I mean, hope your night goes better.”
First thing after telling my roommate what happened, I call the friends who’ve been worried sick and tell them I’m alive, but not well—but could be much worse.

Now what? I’m thankful to be alive. Thankful to be able to move. Thankful that soreness is my worst complaint. Yet, sad this had to happen. Sobered to realize I was powerless to stop the force of thousands of pounds of metal crashing, spinning sideways, and plummeting to their demise and my chagrin.
Humbled to accept God’s grace and dependent on help from others.
Confused about what all this means and what will happen.
Anxious to know what I’m supposed to learn from this, and for these lessons I’m strangely thankful.
I’m thankful to know what it is to have potentially lost my life. I’m thankful for the people who love me and for the chance to love others and to live more ordinary Tuesdays.
What an extraordinary gift is love and life.