Christmas Means....

Wonderful people inspired to help others during this "Season of Giving".  There is nothing better than slowing down and remembering how blessed I am: a wonderful family, great friends, a warm cozy home(even if it's in total disarray at the moment), food in the cabinets and fridge, cloths for all types of weather, love and laughter and so much more.

Why the slowing down...well, there are so many who don't have these things and I was reminded of this once again as our Harley Group spent part of Saturday at a local Children's Home.  There is no greater gift I could receive than the opportunity to gather with a group of friends all wanting to do a little something to benefit 42 children.  We took gift cards and goody baskets to these children to let them know they are not forgotten.  What a way to spend a Saturday!!

Thank you my Harley friends for also slowing down and participating in this event!  There are 42 children who now know someone cares.

Wordless Wednesday....!

(You know me....had to get some of those Fijian babies to pose for me!!)



You can see more blogs about Wordless Wednesday here.

Building Cathedrals!!!!

A few weeks ago my oldest daughter sent me a short essay written by a mom.  It was my daughter's way of saying "thank you" to me and I was moved by the essay beyond words.  Now I wasn't feeling sorry for myself or anything like that!!  However; I do remember feeling this way at times and it brought back memories of when I was a "tad" frustrated!!!  I just had to share it with you!!  (I recently found out that the actual title of this drama monologue is "The Invisible Woman: When Only God Sees" and was written by Nicole Johnson who performs it at many Women of Faith Conferences).   Thank you, Bree, for sending me this wonderful essay!!!

Invisible Mom...... 

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.  Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'  Obviously, not!  No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. 

I'm invisible. The Invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?  Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'   I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!

 
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England...Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in.  I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself.  I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'  It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe ...I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:  'To My Dear Friend, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.' 

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: 
• No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. 
• These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. 
• They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. 
• The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. 
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam.  He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof?  No one will ever see it.'  And the workman replied, 'Because God sees'.  I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. 

It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'  At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life.  It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.  I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. 

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.  When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.'  That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself.  I just want him to want to come home.  And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're going to love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right.  And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.  Great Job, MOM!

 
Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know...I just did. 
Hope this encourages you when the going gets tough as it sometimes does…
We never know what our finished products will turn out to be because of our perseverance.

Here are my two beautiful cathedrals!!!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Sticks and Stones

Bullying is not a new phenomena; we all have seen bullies, known bullies or have been bullied at some point in our lives.  There are bullies of all ages in this world!  Does that make it okay....NO WAY!!  The video above is a reminder of how bullying is still around!!

What is new is the technology we now use and the way it's being used to bully children.  Bullying is in our child's school, on their computer, on their cellphone!!  There is no escaping bullying...in years gone by one could walk away from the bully and not allow a bully access to our lives 24/7!  Not so today.  Now, in no way am I saying technology is bad...it was a lifesaver while I was doing graduate work, provides unlimited research opportunities, keeps me connected to family and friends and my list can go on and on.

My request is simple...we need to be aware of what is going on in the lives of our children, grandchildren, students...the lives of the children around us.  It's important we provide them with an outlet...someone they can go to, talk with and give them knowledge on actions they can take when faced with any bullying situation!

How Frequently Does Bullying Occur?
There are different estimates of how often children are bullied or engage in bullying:

• According to the American Medical Association, 3.7 million youths engage in bullying, and more than 3.2 million are victims of “moderate” or “serious” bullying each year (Cohn & Canter, 2003).
• Some studies have shown that between 15 and 25 percent of U.S. students are frequently bullied; 15 to 20 percent report that they bully others frequently (Nansel et al., 2001; Melton et al., 1998; Geffner, Loring, & Young, 2001).
• Over the course of a year, nearly one-fourth of students across grades reported that they had been harassed or bullied on school property because of their race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability (Austin, Huh-Kim, Skage, & Furlong, 2002).
• Almost 30 percent of youth in the United States (or over 5.7 million) are estimated to be involved in bullying as either a bully, a target of bullying, or both. In a national survey of students in grades 6 to 10, 13 percent reported bullying others, 11 percent reported being the target of bullies, and another 6 percent said that they bullied others and were bullied themselves (Nansel et al., 2001).
• Seventy-four percent of eight- to eleven-year-old students said teasing and bullying occur at their schools (Kaiser Family Foundation & Nickelodeon, 2001).
• Every seven minutes, a child on an elementary playground is bullied (Pepler, Craig, & Roberts, 1998).

When and Where Does Bullying Usually Occur?

• It occurs at early ages and in all grades, with an onset between three and four years of age (Byrne, 1994a, 1994b).
• In the United States, it increases for boys and girls during late elementary years, peaks during the middle school years, and decreases in high school (Hoover, Oliver, & Hazler, 1992; Banks, 1997; Garrett, 2003).
• Physical severity may decrease with age (Sharp & Smith, 1994).
• At the start of the school year, bullies begin looking for easy targets.
• It occurs two to three times more often at school than on the trip to and from school (Olweus, 1995).
• It is most likely to occur where there is no adult supervision, inadequate adult supervision, poor supervision, a lack of structure, and few or no anti-bullying rules; it is also more likely to occur where teachers and students accept bullying or are indifferent to it (Beane, 2008).
• It occurs virtually everywhere: in homes, nursery schools, preschools, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, neighborhoods, churches, city parks, on the trip to and from school, on the streets, and in the workplace, for example. It occurs in large cities and small towns, large schools and small schools—and even one-room schools in other countries (Olweus, 1995).
• It occurs mainly in hidden areas and areas lacking adult supervision: halls, stairwells, the playground, areas where students take brief breaks, between buildings, restrooms, locker rooms, the cafeteria, on buses, and parking lots; it occurs when students are walking to and from school, but also in classrooms

http://www.cyberbullying.us/index.php
http://www.olweus.org/public/bullying.page
http://www.stopbullying.gov/
http://www.education.com/topic/school-bullying-teasing/http://www.bullying.org/http://www.bullyfree.com/free-resources/facts-about-bullying



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