Help me find an issue to Rant about!

Some people call it buzz and others static. That's the noise around election time that makes us wary and distrustful. It seems as if many politicians want to make needed changes they have promised during elections but when they get to Washington or Albany they are stymied. Change does happen but not soon enough and we get discouraged wanting to give up on government.

Tony Campolo said in his new book "Choose Love, Not Power" "We must learn what issues are facing the nation at election time and reflect on those issues in light of the Bible's teaching. We must not be politically ignorant or indifferent. All the world belongs to the Lord--there is no sector of society that should be excluded from our concern."

I can only handle one issue at election time. I am ADD and my brain can focus only so long-as long as an election. So I'll choose one, find out where the candidates stand and vote. Any ideas?

What Does Obama and Bush Have in Common?

What does Obama and Bush have in common? America thinks they can't do anything right.
For instance, Obama is criticized for big government and later, post oil leak, he is condemned for not doing enough. Does it seem like our President just can’t win?
I am not sure what was expected of him the first few days when BP was trying all their options. His response was to let the experts fix it. This makes perfect sense. When they couldn’t stop the leak, Obama went to work bringing experts together to try to find a solution.
In the last few decades it seems as if none of our Presidents were appreciated for the difficult job they do for us. They are mercilessly criticized. I felt terrible for the abuse Bush was getting in office.
I recently heard a report from professionals who gave a year of service to intern at the White House. These adults came from many professions where they were top in their fields.
They spoke of the complexity of the problems that Obama and his Cabinet face every day. One intern said he would never again question decisions made because he realized how little information we as citizens have about these overwhelming issues.
Thank our God we can have honest debate in this great country. It is important to question for it is in the discussion of issues that the best is brought out in us. But we must do this discussion in humility. We do not have all the information.
Then, citizens who know that God does have the answers, we must pray. Pray for our President and all the decision makers in Washington. Please pray with me.

A Prayer for Our President

“May the king’s rule be refreshing like spring rain on freshly cut grass,
like the showers that water the earth.
May all the godly flourish during his reign,
May there be abundant prosperity until the moon is no more.”
Psalm 72: 6,7 NLT


King of Kings,

We pray that our President, whom you have appointed over us, to exhibit fairness and wisdom as he/she leads our nation. Help him/her to have a variety of counselors who will advise with Godly priorities. May our President defend the constitution and the values it embodies. Allow him/her to put aside his own agenda when it does not fit within your will.
May our President be a peacemaker, looking for solutions that bridge differences with his/her opponents. Encourage him/her to seek peace worldwide while maintaining our security. Give him/her favor with other nations as well as those in our country who oppose his/her policies.
As he/she faces important decisions today, enable him/her to do what benefits our citizens. When the decisions are complex give him/her the wisdom of King Solomon, the heart of King David and the courage of Daniel.
Inspire him/her to act righteously, regardless of his/her religious beliefs. Bless his/her family and may he/she draw strength from his loved ones. Restore his/her tired mind each night to lead us anew each morning. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Changing Gears

It's easy to change gears when your driving a stick shift. Much different when it's your daily routine. I suppose teachers experiences it every summer. That lull between jobs where you feel somewhat lost. The end of the year was hectic and you complained you didn't have enough hours in the day. Now you have plenty to do but nothing demanding your time. You don't know where to start. After a huge project is finished at work, there is always the let down. You are relieved but a little lost.
Vacations are like that for many people. They are so use to frantic activity and then there is nothing to do. The first day it is great but after 10 days, you want the routine back in your life.
May is a busy time for substitute teachers. I've been doing this job 5 years and I love it. I love being with the kids, even the ones who give me trouble. But it comes after months of intense writing and during May I miss my time. So now it's June and I have the time to consentrate on my book. But now I miss the kids. It's hard to change gears.
I wish you could take a pill for transition. Something to help you get over the hump. But there isn't medication for changing gears. Even if there was, it would probably have side effects like the feeling of jumping off a bridge or putting your cat in the microwave. So I'll just have to be grateful to be doing two things that I love.

Proving Your Worth

We all need to chat with an old person or at least read some of their wisdom to get the time- tested perspective on life. That's why reading 88 year old, Jesuit Priest Daniel Berrigan's interview in Sojourners Magazine was so helpful as I struggle to make a mark on this world.
For Father Berrigan, a peace activists, fighting for peace was worth the endless rally's, writing 50 books, and even imprisonment. In protesting the Vietnam War he torched draft files with homemade napalm outside a Maryland draft board office. In 1980, he hammered on nuclear missile nose cones which earned him a two-year prison sentence. In this decade, he protested the US Detention Prison in Guantanamo Bay. Between imprisonments he taught university students, lead spiritual retreats, volunteered with AIDS and cancer patients. All of this work and we are not any closer to a peaceful planet.
What would he tell younger activists? "One does what one can and lets the results go. The good that was to be done, was done because it was good, not because it goes somewhere."
I am so result oriented, wanting to accomplish something tangible before my life ends. It's almost as if I have to prove my right to exsist. I have a feeling I am not alone. Many of us think that proving ourselves in our ticket to stay here. We've earned our keep, so to speak.
Rev. Daniel, who now lives in the Kairos Peace Community in Manhattan, leads Bible Studies to people across generational lines and faith traditions. He believes that "The closer we are to Biblical wisdom, the less consumed we will be about proving ourselves and about ego and celebrity."
You can learn a lot from an old person, even when you are one.

A God Story

If you are given the same message twice maybe God is telling you something. So what if I recieved Don Miller's new book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, and then the DVD a few months later. Like Don, is God wanting me to be more intentional, to take some risks, to create more story in my life?
Don was feeling lost and unproductive, I wasn't. In fact I had been thinking how comfortable life was for me now. Kids are gone. I love the writing and subbing I do. I love the ministries I am involved in. But there are no risks. I wasn't doing anything that only God could do. I wasn't taking risks.
The guys who wanted to make a movie of Don life told him his life was boring. They would probably say that about mine. I needed a story.
I don't mean adventure. Physically. forget it. If I can finish a game of tennis with my back injuries I am happy. Adventure, where you push your body, is satisfying but it is not my story.
I needed an adventure birthed by God that would show his work in my life.
Over the last year I kept thinking about how cool it would be if our family could provide the money for a well in Africa. It costs $4,800 for World Hope to bring this clean water source to an African Village. Every time the thought came to me, I dismissed it. None of us have any extra funds around. In fact, looking at our bank accounts and the word, ludicrous, come to mind. If we were to come up with the money we would have to raise it ourselves. In reality, only God could do it. Then it dawned on me, what a perfect story!
So I have started the story with excitement and fear. I will let you know what happens.

Go Ahead and Be Bad!

Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly at first. At least that is what my husband Bill tells his classes when they try a new skill. He's right but I don't like to admit it.

I know it's true with writing. My first attempt at a book, an established author put her shaking head in her hands while laughing when reading it. I could have quit writing that day but I decided that I liked writing for writing's sake. I also decided that the author was stupid and clueless about my work. It helps to bash your critics but not to their faces.

That was five years ago and I am better. I have published some articles in our denominational magazine. I am working on 2 books. I remind myself that we have to start somewhere even if it is embarrassing and others are aware of your failings. For me, it is okay to be hohum, to be average, to be even bad at first, if I can write one great sentence in the end.

So I want to encourage you , my friend to be bad and start working toward your dreams.

Buffalo's Braodway Market

Want to be a kid again? Visit the Broadway Market this Easter Season. Beside the Easter Bunny and the clowns making animal balloons, there are plenty of smells, sights and treats to satisfy your senses until next year.
Karen Michelle and I decended on the market Wednesday afternoon only to find aisles cleared of the packs of shoppers we usually see in the mornings. We were greeted by a giant chocolate rabbit you can win if you want to gain 50 pounds and be on a continual sugar high this spring.
We prefered the smells of the babka breads, hot crossed buns and cinnamon rolls and headed over to drool over these goodies. Lunch was the polish plate; glumke (stuffed cabbage rolls), polish sausage and kraut, lazy pieroge and vegetable for S7.99. We dismissed the homemade perogi at $1 a crack. It's good but not that good. We had to buy, for the first time, horseradish root. Bill tells the story of his grandmother grating horseradish in her NYC apartment in the window sill with the window pulled down to protect her eyes. He has to show me how this is done. Then we headed for the flavored noodles from Denver we bought last year. Porcini Mushroom noodles are delightful. Karen likes a lemon mixture linguine. Kelly's chocolates are so delicious that I will deny my obession with bargins. I always buy the orange chocolate. This year I bought chicken sausage but don't tell Bill or Mark. It was so tasty let alone healthy and cheaper than pork. Talk about tasty; have you ever had a pastry heart? I tired a bite and will never be the same. I am lusting for more.
Enough about food. There are also gift items with an Easter/spring theme. I usually buy a Polish or Ukrainain Wooden Easter Egg. Wooden because I will never forgive myself for breaking a few of Bill's grandmothers delicate eggs. This year I was braver-I bought a ceramic egg that is white with red and black patterns, typical of the Ukraine.
This was our day going from booth to booth delighting the clerks with our enthusiam and humor. You only have a few more days to get the Easter treats. Go ahead and be a child again. Go to the Market.