Oreo Races Or Important Life Skills

Young people are smart, funny, and you can learn valuable life survival skills. You need to pay attention or these opportunities will quickly pass you by in a blink of an eye and then life will be quite boring. You may find yourself with one lonely Oreo. Most people would eat it like this and the sweet pleasure will be gone in an instant. You will be left searching for more when yet there exists another solution. Observe an example that occurred on a recent Youth Outing. They tried to call it Oreo races but I knew it was part of Life Skills.

You start by twisting it in half and you would think that would be it. I know, I know you want to start licking that creamy middle. But observe a life changing technique that will always give make your Oreo last much longer and you will work off some of those extra calories making it good all around.

Start by sticking half of the Oreo on your forehead. As you can see here it helps if you give it a sneer and let it know who is boss. Those of you with freckles will have the upper hand as you will look so good wearing your Oreo.

Then you need to stretch your lips and get them limbered up because at some point they will get in on some tasty goodness. Just in case the Oreo decides to end it's fate early you will be ready to catch it before it hits the ground.

Don't forget to stick your tongue out at it and call it names if it doesn't cooperate but be nice.

Of course don't forget to give the Aargh I'm a pirate and I am going to get the treasure smile!

Back to business and sheer determination

Ahhhhhhhh - success! Nothing to it - Look ma no hands

So next time will it be this.......

Or this? Important life skills is all I'm saying!

In a recent post by Shaun Groves he shared how a church in India through their day to day (not exactly what some people would call normal) church activities, focused on services to help each other out and used these services as their witness. In comparison some church buildings sit idle waiting for Sunday services which we believe will cure what is wrong while the church body (people) are outside in need, lonely, and lost. He challenged us to reflect on our workplace, neighbors, communities and figure out what our witness was.

I have been reflecting and re-focusing on this for a while, attempting to listen to God’s calling for me personally. It is kind of scaring me and I am taking it slow to make sure I am listening and letting Him have control.

People that know me know that I am no stranger to volunteering and helping out. In 2003 after an unbelievable accident in which I walked away without a scratch and with no memory of the impact or sound of the accident I received a strong impulse to start focusing my efforts to find situations to help work with young people. Maybe not so great for my daughter at the time who was in high school but we always think our kids are our projects. See it made her want to laugh and ride on purple animals. Let's just say she taught me alot.

There is plenty of room for improvement starting with me but recently here are some of the things that may qualify as witnessing. We joined with some other churches and took 2 weeks hosting the Overnight Emergency Warming shelter for the homeless. We cooked and served meals, brought in hygiene supplies and provided a warm place to sleep.

On Easter Sunday we hosted our second annual Resurrection Meal. Anyone was welcome to eat a meal for free. There were over 100 Easter baskets donated for any children that attended. We served over 300 and all were welcomed with smiles and hugs.

Twice a month a small group comes together to prepare a free meal to be used at a program called Double Portions – Several churches working together to feed the hungry.

We have created Hygiene Kits and collected clothes for an organization called Friends of Haiti. Some of us have assisted on the bi-annual mission trips

I no longer want to randomly help out with no direction. Not too long ago on a particular Sunday at Mass the words "I have sinned in what I have done and what I have failed to do" jumped out at me. Great now I can’t even sit on the couch any more without sinning. It started last fall and I felt the call to become an advocate for Compassion International. It was more comfortable to sit back and quietly sponsor and write the children that I sponsor. It felt scary to ask someone else to sponsor a child even though I knew it is totally worth it. God has led me step by step so far and the door is still open. I started following Shaun’s blog and the Compassion blogs for inspiration. I started this blog to help share some of the information. Last night after several months preparation work I got the approval to speak at 2 churches this fall and to write articles about child sponsorship at another church. I am excited to see where the journey will go.

At A Corner.....

Life can pass you by on a corner. You can meet some amazing people with life changing stories on a corner. You can turn left or right, move forward or get lost and go back to the corner. Decisions are made as you change direction at the corner. Or fear can make you stop and root your soul to the concrete unable to navigate the corner. Our lives encounter corners at every turn. Sometimes we are ready and sometimes we aren't. Sometimes we take the corner so sharply and crash head first into things unseen. Adventure, excitement, fear, unknown, surprises, laughter, tears and life. I feel God has been calling me to do something and turn a corner for a while now. Here I am turning the corner and starting this blog. I may be at this corner all by myself but hopefully now and then others will stop by and share their stories or connect there corners with mine. In this little corner of the world I hope to highlight positive moments with young people I encounter, my passion for an organization call Compassion International and any other topics that God lays out there for me to delve into. The next few days I hope to delve into this blog, figure things out and keep the blog rolling. Here I am turning the corner.......