How would you like to 'Rock On!?

I need help with hats for those in need. When my seniors in nursing homes and assisted livings pass on, I need to help other residents learn to loom hats. I found out that one of the seniors, who passed on, promised two organizations hats. I plan to keep this woman's promise. By completing and donating the hats, Living Stones will be honoring the recent passing of our seniors and their community work. I have yarn, looms, hooks and needles to stitch up the hats. If you live in the Seattle area, I will provide you with the looms and yarn that I have on hand. Help me to honor the five women, who passed on and fulfill the promise made. If you cannot help by making a hat, share a kind word with a person in need and Rock On!

Lessons Learned from Dumbo

The first time I watched “Dumbo” with my family as we sat in my parent’s Oldsmobile at the Lincolndale Drive-In, and we were allowed to eat in the car. (Fun Fort Wayne Fact: The Lincolndale had a 500-car capacity.) 

I watched late last night “Dumbo,” celebrating this classic’s 75th Anniversary, and I had forgotten the lessons learned, including:

• If you have faith in a feather or something or someone else, the unexpected can happen. “Don’t just fly, soar.”
• It is not the quantity of your friends matter. It is the quality.
• People can change their minds and help you in a moment’s notice.
• A mother's love cannot be replaced.
• Adults can be mean in their actions and words.
• Some clowns aren’t funny. They are scary.
• Drink clean water or you could end up in a tree and out on a limb.

And mostly, “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.” NLT
The lessons from "Dumbo" can be valuable in our lives.

Protecting the Homeless from the Elements

Seattle's Morning Commute Today

We are driving to work with the rain pounding on the car. Maybe we are complaining about the commute; however, we are being protected by the elements.

I give gratitude for my friend, Jolynn and the reminder she posted on her Facebook page this morning:

"The weather is awful today and as I work (from our branch office) I can hear multiple people outside the window who are picking up their "homes" from last night's stay on the sidewalk. The sidewalk, my friends. The current conversation is about an umbrella. Reliance on an umbrella to protect them from this horrible weather. An umbrella, my friends. It hits me at my core that we live in a country full of wealth and resources yet we have human beings living on sidewalks only relying an a tiny umbrella to protect them."

I buy umbrellas and the blue plastic tarps throughout the year at discount and thrift stores and hand them out in my neighborhood during the rainy season. It's time to get them out of my storage unit and pass them out in my neighborhood.

I am not a proponent of giving money to those living on the streets. I encourage you to give to an organization that walks the talk in my neighborhood through their Street Ministry and other programs. It is Nightwatch.

I would like to thank the Rev. Rick Reynolds and  for their work with Seattle Nightwatch. I encourage you to go to their website and read their mission and history and learn about their respective programs:http://www.seattlenightwatch.org/index.htm

If you do not have the means to financially help or to volunteer, offer a prayer for those in need.

Mats from Bags

Join us. I will be there. And feel free to join Mats From Bags group on FB: 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1801435326802560/

If you are interested or want to be a part of making mats out of plastic bags for our homeless neighbors, we will meet again at Third Place Books in Lake ForestPark this Saturday at 9 am. We need people to flatten, fold and cut bags into strips, others to loop strips into 'plarn' (plastic yarn) and we can all learn to crochet.

Hope to see you this Saturday at 9am. More details will be posted in the FB group Mats from Bags.

Out with the Old and in with the New

I noticed this this church on my way home a few weeks ago. I parked my car and walked around it. The lights were on and no one was home. I knocked on the front door, and then I knocked on the side door. I wanted to walk in and sit on a pew and imagine the people who had been in the Sunday worship service. The stained glass windows were mesmerizing.

I wish I had a home where I could use these windows. I am saddened. I have always wanted to live in a church and make it into a community center.

Is change always good? All I am sure of is that "God is Good. All the time."

http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2016/10/109-year-old-church-slated-for-demolition-on-14th-ave/

You don't focus on what you don't have; you celebrate what you do.

I left my orthopedics appointment last evening disappointed but not devastated. He genuinely said that there is nothing more he could do my right knee and the scar tissue without breaking my femur. I now need to walk with a cane. I do not think so. My back, hip and right ankle constantly hurts me.

I was not happy that there is nothing more that can be done for my knee with 60 to 67 degrees of flexion. I was not happy so I walked a different neighborhood and toured two gyms. I have a 4-day pass to a gym, starting tomorrow. I have scheduled an appointment with a sports medicine in 2-weeks. I have charged my FitBit.

“I AM” willing to work towards more flexion and healing. That is why my evening walks are a gift. I will continue to walk slow, take pause and give gratitude.

I am requesting that all my family and friends become my prayer warriors. Please pray and ask your family and friends and you churches to pray for me. Help me to believe and have faith. "God will heal and restore."

I was encouraged this morning when I watched this video Gatorade made with Elena Delle Donne and her sister, Lizzie, who cannot hear or see but she can feel.Lizzie can feel the wind. She can feel joy.

In my life, I have always loved basketball, and I was hurt playing it many years, ago. I have worked with developmentally disabled throughout years, and my residents love unconditionally. If you have been hurt, it does not mean you cannot still love what hurt you unconditionally as you overcome obstacles.

You don't focus on what you don't have; you celebrate what you do.

Be True to Yourself

This photograph was taken during my Northrop class reunion at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The reunion was wonderful – especially the words she shared me touched my heart. You never know how your words resonate with someone. Joella shared how I said something during a conversation in high school, and she held onto the words and imparted them to her students throughout the years.

I could not remember the story from that night so I instant messaged Joella. She responded:

“I have been thinking back to our reunion and that story and realized your words have been absorbed into my world. I have been trying to recall the specifics and realized your inspiration carried me through my many years as a school principal, now becoming part of me. You were wise beyond your years in high school when you challenged the status quo and made it a good thing to be true to yourself and be proud of who you are. Kids today still struggle to fit in and define themselves by the social groupings of popular and not popular. You made it cool to be proud of who you are and not to let others define you. Thank you!"

Joella’s words were with me today as an article was forwarded about “All Lives Matter.” The article said that white people say all lives matter because they are uncomfortable with “black lives matter.” It was funny that the article made assumptions. I believe all lives matter since I was a chaplain with folks, who were in the last chapter of their lives. It did not matter to me about their respective belief system or the color of their skin. I was honored to be allowed into their lives and to hear their stories. I was humbled. I will always cherish these moments.

After tonight, I plan to take a few days break from my personal Facebook page and television. I chose not to hear about Colin Kapernick tomorrow and the Presidential debate on Monday evening. There are positives in life. What are those positives for you?

Remember, be who you are, words matter and all lives matter, too.