Achieving Goals

I took the first bunch of scarves to my charity, Dinner & A Movie, about three weeks ago when we were in the midst of a major cold spell. Thanks to my sister and my mother, we produced about 20 scarves and mom purchased about 10 hats and 10 pairs of gloves. Many of the homeless shelters in the Portland area are already full and as I walk to campus, I walk past a shelter that daily has about 20 people standing outside of it (not to mention the many individuals I see sleeping in doorways with only a single blanket to keep them warm through the chilly winter nights). Thus the idea of these youth (as well as all the other individuals, regardless of any addictions they might have) chills me to the bone. In my car's trunk, I have two more bags of hats and scarves that were produced by my home church and a friend of my granny also has a drawer-full for me to pick up on my way back to Portland. I will continue to work on this project throughout the winter, as it's a simple way to hopefully bring a little physical warmth to others while also letting them know that people DO care.

The second major goal that I have achieved is that I finally read the entire Bible. I have been attempting to do so for several years with a reading schedule, but this is the first year that I have been able to completely read the whole thing. Throughout my entire Christian life, I have always felt a little guilty that I had never read it. While I still can't quote anything from memory, the New Testament continues to remind me of the gift of love and that the best gifts we can give are to glorify God through giving to others.


The next several months will include many new goals, but the theme of my goals always remains the same. Life is more bountiful and fulfilling when I am growing spiritually, living a balanced and simplistic life, and giving to others. Hope you all have been enjoying a wonderful day!

A Roar For Powerful Words

Patty, from Morning Ramble, gave me a new award this morning:


This award was started by the Shameless Lion Writing Circle and is "the chance to scream from the mountains the good news about the powerful posts that are produced every day in the blogosphere, despite what some mainstream columnists and journalists claim."
The recipients then do the same, passing it on to five other people, and accompany the image with three things they believe are necessary to write well and powerfully.

To me, good writing contains:
1) Personal honesty & insightfulness
2) Passion on the topic/experience
3) Knowledge/wisdom on the topic

However I'm not sure how well I follow my own definition then! I write more when I feel compelled to share knowledge than anything else. (Although w/o internet I haven't been able to share everything I would have liked to during the last few months!)

Anyway my nominees:
1) Chile Chews: She exerts passion, knowledge, and insightfulness all with lots of humor. I laugh everytime I read an account of what she's doing just because she describes it so gleefully!

2) The Healthy Cookie: She's personal and has loads of wisdom and passion on the topic of health/nutrition based on her own experiences and current studies. Her thoughts are always well-developed and her posts are incredibly insightful and researched.

3) Contemplating Change: I love the weekly glimpse of her life in England. She's caring, compassionate, dedicated, and insightful.

4) Pondering the Myriad Things: She's an advocate, and she believes in change. She's honest and she moves others toward action and fact finding. Plus she's Canadian!

I'm going to stop at 4. There are plenty of others that deserve an award, but to be honest, I've gotten sort of out of the loop as of late. These 4 are some that move me to think or action every time. Happy blogging! :-)

Dad and I took a quick trip up the coast today to check on any potential damage from last week's storm at the beach house. Luckily there was none, especially as the day was cold (not even 40 degrees) and would have been miserable to work in. Winterized and shut the house for winter.

Took these pictures from the cape and then while Dad was driving on the way back down the coast. Such a beautiful scene-makes me wonder how some people don't believe that there is something greater than us humans and why others don't want to protect the beauty through which God can communicate!

Not much was done but the day was full all the same and worthwhile due to the beauty observed and the time together!

Leading By Example

Lately I have felt myself being pulled away from my simplistic values by others while being in the city. Sometimes it feels hard to balance all of my different values, as they can enter into periods of contradiction fairly easily at times. It's ironic since I have so much time up there to really engage in simplicity. However the concept of leading by example has been filtering through my mind the last few days and it all started on Friday....

Learning from elders....my granny! On my way back down to the coast I stopped to spend a day/night with her and to visit with my favorite friends that live there also. Granny sends weekly notes to people and so usually has an on-slaught of stamps available. Last week she was out of traditional stamps and was so excited to give me a lesson on frugality. Over the years , she has received numerous letters from organizations asking for donations (she's a very charitable lady but can only give so much), and some of the return envelopes had stamps already applied to them. Stop here though and realize that these are 1, 3, 5, 10 cent stamps adding up to whatever postage was at the time. As she had two bills to go out, she demonstrated the proper stamp extraction, reapplying, and gluing process and then we spent the next half hour removing all the rest of the stamps so she would have them ready to use! That was lesson one in frugality.

Lesson two in frugality pertained to double checking statements, something I rarely do except to verify that I was billed online. She demonstrated how she saves receipts, checks to make sure she has a receipt for all the entries on her statement, and then double checks the amount to make sure it is correct. Over the years, she says she has found several mistakes. Lesson two in frugality. And I'm sure she will continue to teach me over the years-yet I am always so impressed in how she leads by example.

This concept came up in church yesterday as well. That as Christians we should be leading by example in terms of our faith in general, and in terms of our approach to the Christmas season. And it was something I thought of as I walked to and from church yesterday also-a measly mile one way and something that has become so standard due to walking everywhere in the city. I could have driven and I'm sure as I'm home I will drive more than naught, but by walking I feel that I am leading by example. As I walked by all the cars idling in the driveways, I realized I probably wasn't making that much of an environmental difference but at least I am walking my talk and hoping to encourage others to experience the benefits of walking as well. I hope we all lead by example and demonstrate to others our values through our actions-although I will be the first to admit that there are times when we all falter or get caught up in the midst of the storm.

P.S. I'm glad to be home, many more postings to follow! :-)

Snug As a Bug in a Rug

I'm currently in sweats and rolled in my sleeping bag and a blanket on the floor of my friend's house. My car could not be parked on my street this morning due to street cleaning so I drove over here last night to study and sleep and to keep my car out of the way of the neighborhood towing and cleaning crews. While it is quite cold in this house (they heat with oil and always keep the heat almost off throughout the winter), I feel quite comfortable bundled down in all of my coverings and looking out the upstairs window at the dew laden trees and the early misty morning. These are the things you miss without expansive windows and a more removed setting.

Being here has been good for me in other ways as well. It's been nice to be in the presence of an old friend and to play with her adorably fat cat. It's been nice to have internet access and to find more motivation to work on my papers. One thing that I always forget until I'm living by myself in the city is how necessary it is to have consistent and fulfilling interactions with others. As simple as I desire to be, I am not sure I would ever make it as a hermit in the woods although I suppose then nature's creatures would become my friends.

The last week has been a more difficult one, reminding me also that while simplistic is good, I need to be living at some level of busyness in order to feel that I am fulfilling my purpose here on this Earth. So I have come to the conclusion that after returning to the city for my next term, I need to find some sort of fulfilling part-time employment through which I can give more to others and feel that I am creating positive change.

That said I am looking forward to heading back to the coast for a month, to subbing, to visiting the kids I worked with this summer, to visiting with old friends coming home for the holidays, to reading interesting books, to taking long chatty walks, to spending time with family, and to being snug as a bug in a rug in the comfortable bubble of my parents home.

Thanksgiving

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I love that we take the time to spend time with and cherish those individuals in our lives that mean the most to us. I love that we take the time to gather with those people, to remember the daily gifts that we have in our lives, to cook from scratch a generally nutritious meal, and to offer gratitude to God for the blessings He has given us. Thus I am looking forward to this Thursday and the time we will all spend at my aunt's house, and I am thankful for the Thanksgiving dinner I just shared on Saturday with one of my undergrad roommates and her social circle. In my mind, I have always romanticized the idea of Thanksgiving and have never felt that it lives up to my expectations. Funny that I would allow expectations to overshadow a time of blessings and gratitude. Thus it was even more interesting that this dinner on Saturday finally fulfilled the expectations I always had: fabulous homemade food (cooked primarily by my friend's boyfriend including vegan stuffing!), good wine, candles, great company, and wonderful laughter and conversation. However it could also be that my current mentality is one that has altered my expectations, regardless I feel I have much to be thankful for from this last year:

-another cancer-free year for my father
-getting into grad school and now potentially being able to do a dual program in the same amount of time
-the year I spent living with my parents (again)
-learning how to cook from scratch
-moments with my individual family members
-being a better aunt
-the flexibility of subbing
-safety on my many journeys
-deep conversations
-the support and love from and to family and friends
-all the moments with my granny
-making freezer jam
-the health and safety of my friends and family
-laughter
-having tomatoes that actually grew!
-finding housing just in the nick of time
-new windows, heat, clothing, health, food, transportation
-a functioning body including breathing lungs and walking legs
-the many sides of nature: sun, rain, breezes, sea mist, falling leaves, green fields
-the capacity to learn and grow
-answered prayer
-listening ears and caring hearts
-feeling "free" and restoring passion
-embracing and achieving goals
-restoring relationships
-finding simplicity and embracing humanity
-feeling, caring, loving, faith, hope
-wise words and strong memories
-beer and Scrabble
-scholarships
-all the kids I've worked with this year
-forgiveness, healing
-simple moments
-and every single one of you

May you all be filled with the blessings in your own lives and feel them magnified during this week! May your burdens be removed and your hearts be filled! Happy Thanksgiving!