Inspirational ‘Love Notes’ For Teens

Editors note: I recently moved my blog to a new server. You can find this same post (and all my others) at the new location: BalancingMotherhood.com, where I post daily.

The art of letter writing is dead; you practically have to go on “Survivor” or “Big Brother” to get letters from home. Recently I learned of a teen retreat where the kids would be given letters written by family members, telling him/her how much he/she is loved. They were deemed, “love notes” for the teens.

Read the full post here.

Give a Christmas Gift to a Child In Need

Editors note: I recently moved my blog to a new server. You can find this same post (and all my others) at the new location: BalancingMotherhood.com, where I post daily.

I believe all children deserve a present at Christmastime so this year I’m going to participate in Operation Christmas Child. Children from around the world are given a shoe box with gifts you’ve purchased for either a boy or a girl.

Former President Bill Clinton mentions Operation Christmas Child in his new book, Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World. He says that he likes the program because people of all ages and income levels can participate.

A few years after the first shoe boxes were delivered, Clinton went to Bosnia and saw first hand “the happiness and gratitude sparked by these small boxes.”

Clinton also says:

“Countless gift-givers of modest means have made a real difference in the lives of children who otherwise might have been forgotten. Though Samaritan’s Purse is a Christian group, it offers a proven model of caring for children that members of any synagogue, mosque, or temple might want to emulate.”

This is how Samaritan’s Purse summarizes the project (from the Web site):

“Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God’s love. This program of Samaritan’s Purse provides an opportunity for people of all ages to be involved in a simple, hands—on missions project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas—Jesus Christ.”

It’s a great way to involve your entire family. Each member can do his/her own shoebox. Each kid can do one for a child like himself and fill it with toys he’d love to receive.

Find a drop off location near you.

Photo courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse.

Rejuvinate Yourself With Time Off

I’m back from the mountains of North Carolina where my husband, son and I took our vacation. We were lucky enough to stay at my sister-in-law’s house which has an incredible view. She and her husband were on vacation too, so we had their house to ourselves. What a way to spend a week!

We’d been planning a fall vacation for most of the year, but when I learned that I would be out of a job we were thinking that we couldn’t afford to spend the money to get away. Disappointment set in. We decided to go ahead and set the date anyway, so that my husband could at least take a week off of work. I wrote V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N with a thick, black sharpie pen on our calendar so that we couldn’t change our minds. As soon as we did that and started thinking of relaxing and just being grateful that we could take a week off together in the fall — no matter what we did — things fell into place.

My husband learned that his sister was going on vacation at that same time — she offered her home to us for the week while she was away. Bingo! So, we drove about 10 hours to her house in the hills and enjoyed a week of rest, relaxation and fall-like temperatures.

We’ve come back home rejuvinated and thankful for time away. No phones, limited email and no blogging (although I did miss it). If you haven’t had a vacation in awhile, why not take a long weekend before winter hits. The leaves are changing and the weather is cooling. It’s a great time to think and be grateful for what we have.

Quote From TV

This quote is from an unusual source, a cooking show, but it is applicable to the all aspects of life. It’s perfect for procrastinators.

“You take some time,
when you have some time,
to save some time,
when you don’t.”

– Michael Chiarello

“Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello”
February 4, 2007

Read the Quotes From TV Archive

One Way to Stop Complaining

I’m a regular reader of “The Orlando Sentinel’s” Help Yourself blog, written by a friend of mine, Kris Hey. She offers simple tips and inspirations. Yesterday I read a post she wrote about how long it takes to break a habit; it reminded me of a story I heard about a Pastor of a church who started a movement to get people to stop complaining. He was featured on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” earlier this year where he explained how it works.

He says that it takes 21 days to stop a habit and suggests that you wear a bracelet on your wrist as reminder to not complain. Once you complain, you have to move the bracelet to the other wrist and start over. The goal is to keep the bracelet on the same wrist for 21 days. His Web site explains it here.

The church mails the bracelets out free as a service. Request a bracelet here.

Read more about the segment on Oprah’s Web site.