After a fairly shocking/emotional/crazy day regarding the Casey Anthony trial, it was very sweet to come upon this blog.
Heartwarming.
And all she is truly asking for is more people to become blood marrow donors.
While I have always been interested in learning more about it, she is inspiring me more.
Thank you Alice for touching my heart today. And may God enrich your life because you are enriching ours.
Showing posts with label PSA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PSA. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Friday, September 3, 2010
A Parents' Worst Nightmare
Image found hereI just got finished skimming over the story of the Sullengers. I say skim because I could only see a few words here and there behind the blur of tears. The part of their story I caught was about their beautiful little girl, Preslee. They went through a tragic ordeal, and I warn you, don't read or even listen to the music if you are not prepared for a good cry.
This is truly a fear of mine, losing our child. And now I have read at least 4 blogs where this has happened. As much as the blogging world helps find new family and friends, I am torn on whether or not to continue reading stories such as this. And I mean that only because I tend to see things from the family's point of view now, and all I want to do now is wake Brylee up from her nap to give her the largest hug in the world.
Say a prayer for the Sullengers, who are heading into their second month since the tragedy. Say a prayer for all of those families who have lost a child, baby, toddler, or adult. From accidents to addictions, military, or beyond our imaginations. There is a saying out there that God does not give someone more than they can handle. These families must be incredibly strong to undertake what they have. But God also shows His presence very strongly in them as well.
God, please continue to work Your amazing miracles in these families, helping to get the word out and showing their strength through you. As heartbreaking as their ordeal, we can see Your grace through it, and help us remember how blessed we truly are.
Amen
Monday, April 13, 2009
Another (Shameless) Plug...
So I'm here to plug the wonderful site that Cary has worked so hard on.
It's http://lewisville-lafs.webs.com/index.htm, and it is set up for parents and children alike to look at and teach each other about Safety.
What started out as mostly fire safety, we (as in the clowns) have seen the need to teach other safety, so if you are in the area and see us, we could be teaching you anything, including:
It's http://lewisville-lafs.webs.com/index.htm, and it is set up for parents and children alike to look at and teach each other about Safety.
What started out as mostly fire safety, we (as in the clowns) have seen the need to teach other safety, so if you are in the area and see us, we could be teaching you anything, including:
How to cool a burn
Weather safety
Seatbelt safety
Crosswalk safety
What to do in an emergency
Stranger safety
Poison safety...
We are working hard to try to teach you and your loved ones on how to stay safe! Please check out our site!
Also, check out our newest merchandise: www.cafepress.com/lewisvillelafs
You too can sport the likes of Ashes and Radio in your own shirt, mug, clock....
Thank you for supporting the Lewisville LAFS group!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
This Chick...
is Tres Chic!
I am sporting a very popular, well known look: the famous elbow bandage!
That's right folks! I gave blood today...and to make a quick point: I encourage you to give, too!
Just think, you get to lay back, squeeze a foam ball, get a free t-shirt, AND snacks and juices!!!
And of course the upside to all of this is that you can potentially save a life! Just think if you were in the situation of needing blood yourself--the person you received the blood from (though you may never know them) will become your hero.
Become a hero today!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
A Moment Please...
I would like to take a moment to express myself. Most times I am able to hold it in, and let the embers burn on the inside. But not now. Not after this week I'm having.
I hate rude people. H.A.T.E. God is probably wincing at that word, but right now I feel this intensely in me.
I don't care if you are older, more attractive, or have more money than me, but you do NOT have the right to treat me like scum on the bottom of your shoe. I am a human being, just like you, your mother, father, siblings, and spouse, and YES, I do have feelings.
The worst part about people like you are how you push your way to get what you want, whether it is a return on an object that doesn't exist in the store you are trying to return it in, or if you are demanding immediate answers for something that cannot be delivered immediately. People are doing their jobs, and by denying you these immediate pleasures, keeping what they were trained to do, and keeping their jobs. Because you think you are better, you whine like a baby and throw a temper-tantrum. Get over yourselves.
Learn to wait in line like everyone else, and also to pay attention to the things you are doing. Perhaps it will keep you from experiencing the frustration you have, and pointing fingers (remember that saying--point 1 finger, 3 more point back at you).
Smile and be courteous to people around you, and understand that they may not have the training, or the position to do what you are requesting. And breathe deep. Count to 10. Walk away. And find God. If you think you have found Him, think to yourself, "Would He treat anyone like that?" I highly doubt it.
Ok. Back to work. This week has been full of nothing but rude people, and I just needed to get that off my chest before I told someone that to their face (or ear).
I hate rude people. H.A.T.E. God is probably wincing at that word, but right now I feel this intensely in me.
I don't care if you are older, more attractive, or have more money than me, but you do NOT have the right to treat me like scum on the bottom of your shoe. I am a human being, just like you, your mother, father, siblings, and spouse, and YES, I do have feelings.
The worst part about people like you are how you push your way to get what you want, whether it is a return on an object that doesn't exist in the store you are trying to return it in, or if you are demanding immediate answers for something that cannot be delivered immediately. People are doing their jobs, and by denying you these immediate pleasures, keeping what they were trained to do, and keeping their jobs. Because you think you are better, you whine like a baby and throw a temper-tantrum. Get over yourselves.
Learn to wait in line like everyone else, and also to pay attention to the things you are doing. Perhaps it will keep you from experiencing the frustration you have, and pointing fingers (remember that saying--point 1 finger, 3 more point back at you).
Smile and be courteous to people around you, and understand that they may not have the training, or the position to do what you are requesting. And breathe deep. Count to 10. Walk away. And find God. If you think you have found Him, think to yourself, "Would He treat anyone like that?" I highly doubt it.
Ok. Back to work. This week has been full of nothing but rude people, and I just needed to get that off my chest before I told someone that to their face (or ear).
Friday, January 23, 2009
A Very Touching Story
This morning I was listening to Kidd Kraddick In The Morning. While Kidd is not the greatest DJ in the radio world (Jay Fox is!), he does have some very good stories to share. Check out his website. I got the below story from his blog:
http://www.kiddnation.com/
I truly hope that I can inspire my kids to be like this story:
This story is real. It was written by the talented Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated and it inspires me every time I read it:
High school football is big in America, but I suppose there is no place where it is bigger than in Texas. Friday nights there are legend.The fans scream; the stands are packed; cheerleaders with pom-poms jump and sway to the beat of the school band and everybody joins in the chants and stomps their feet on the metal stands until you are sure they will collapse.
This is the frenzy of Texas high school football. But there is one football team in Texas that is a little different. When they play on Friday night, their stands are empty, no band, no cheerleaders, no mass of parents or townsfolk wearing the school colors and waving banners and flags. They take the field without anyone cheering them on. When they score a touchdown, which rarely happens, there is no wild celebration behind them…
All of it seems hollow and muffled in contrast to the tidal wave of roars and drums and chants that come from the opposing side.They are the Tornadoes of the Gainesville State School, a fenced, maximum-security facility. The young men who go to Gainesville State are there because they have made some major mistakes in their lives. But the players who are on the team are there because they have worked hard and have earned enough good behavior points that gives them the privilege to leave the facility and play football on Friday nights—always an away game for them—always a home game for their opponents—and almost always a loss.
They don’t have a weight program or training equipment or high-paid coaches and assistants. They don’t have a large pool of players to draw from. The school has 275 boys, but many are too old or too young or can’t or don’t meet the “criteria” to play. And they don’t have the support of a town and a mass of parents and family and reporters and bands and cheerleaders.That is, until November 7th. Something changed.
They played Grapevine Faith Christian School. A few days before the game, the Gainesville coach, Mark Williams received a call from Faith Christian coach, Kris Hogan, asking him if it would be okay if Faith formed a “spirit” line for his team when they ran on the field. Mark said, “Sure, that would be a real encouragement to the kids.” He thought that the line would consist of a couple of the JV cheerleaders, but when they took the field, there were a hundred people in it and it stretched to the 40-yard line, filled with Faith Christian parents, fans and varsity cheerleaders, complete with a banner at the end for them to burst through that read “Go Tornadoes!”. And then, those parents and fans sat in the stands behind the Gainesville players and when the Tornadoes broke the huddle and went up to the line they could hear people cheering for them, by name.
When they got a first down, “their” fans erupted.You see, coach Hogan had sent an email out to the Faith Christian parents and students asking them to consider doing something kind for these young men, many who didn’t know what it meant to have a mom and dad who cared, many who felt the world was against them, not for them. Hogan asked that they simply send a message that these boys were “just as valuable as any other person on earth.”
So half of the Faith Christian fans were now sitting on the visitor’s side of the field, cheering for the Gainesville team, and in some cases, against their own sons. Cheering for a team decked out in mismatched old uniforms and helmets. Cheering for boys who wouldn’t go home that night and have a smiling dad slap him on the back and feel his mom put her arms around him and say “I’m so proud of you son!” Cheering for the underdog.
This was a Friday night like no other for the Tornadoes. In the locker room, the players were confused. “Why are they cheerin’ for us, coach?” “Because, men, they want to encourage you. They want you to know that they care about you…that you have value.”
Coach Williams said the boys were stunned. For many of these kids, it may have been the first time that anyone had shown them, so visibly, unconditional love.They were down 33 to nothing at the half. Williams encouraged his team to set a goal for the second half: to score a touchdown against this vastly superior team. And when the boys from the State School took the field again, with their fans cheering them on, everything started to click. And they did score. Not once but twice.And the fans went wild.
Coach Williams was asked what the bus ride was like on the way home and he laughed and said that they were all asleep—their bellies were full. That’s becuz after the game, the parents brought a whole bunch of food over to the guys: hamburgers, fries, candy, sodas…and included in the meal sack was a Bible and a personal letter of encouragement from a Faith Christian player.
But then, he said, they formed a line for us out to the bus. And the parents patted them on the back and said, “Nice game” and “Look forward to seeing you guys next time.”As they left the field that night, Coach Williams grabbed Coach Hogan and said to him: “You’ll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You’ll never, ever know.”
http://www.kiddnation.com/
I truly hope that I can inspire my kids to be like this story:
This story is real. It was written by the talented Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated and it inspires me every time I read it:
High school football is big in America, but I suppose there is no place where it is bigger than in Texas. Friday nights there are legend.The fans scream; the stands are packed; cheerleaders with pom-poms jump and sway to the beat of the school band and everybody joins in the chants and stomps their feet on the metal stands until you are sure they will collapse.
This is the frenzy of Texas high school football. But there is one football team in Texas that is a little different. When they play on Friday night, their stands are empty, no band, no cheerleaders, no mass of parents or townsfolk wearing the school colors and waving banners and flags. They take the field without anyone cheering them on. When they score a touchdown, which rarely happens, there is no wild celebration behind them…
All of it seems hollow and muffled in contrast to the tidal wave of roars and drums and chants that come from the opposing side.They are the Tornadoes of the Gainesville State School, a fenced, maximum-security facility. The young men who go to Gainesville State are there because they have made some major mistakes in their lives. But the players who are on the team are there because they have worked hard and have earned enough good behavior points that gives them the privilege to leave the facility and play football on Friday nights—always an away game for them—always a home game for their opponents—and almost always a loss.
They don’t have a weight program or training equipment or high-paid coaches and assistants. They don’t have a large pool of players to draw from. The school has 275 boys, but many are too old or too young or can’t or don’t meet the “criteria” to play. And they don’t have the support of a town and a mass of parents and family and reporters and bands and cheerleaders.That is, until November 7th. Something changed.
They played Grapevine Faith Christian School. A few days before the game, the Gainesville coach, Mark Williams received a call from Faith Christian coach, Kris Hogan, asking him if it would be okay if Faith formed a “spirit” line for his team when they ran on the field. Mark said, “Sure, that would be a real encouragement to the kids.” He thought that the line would consist of a couple of the JV cheerleaders, but when they took the field, there were a hundred people in it and it stretched to the 40-yard line, filled with Faith Christian parents, fans and varsity cheerleaders, complete with a banner at the end for them to burst through that read “Go Tornadoes!”. And then, those parents and fans sat in the stands behind the Gainesville players and when the Tornadoes broke the huddle and went up to the line they could hear people cheering for them, by name.
When they got a first down, “their” fans erupted.You see, coach Hogan had sent an email out to the Faith Christian parents and students asking them to consider doing something kind for these young men, many who didn’t know what it meant to have a mom and dad who cared, many who felt the world was against them, not for them. Hogan asked that they simply send a message that these boys were “just as valuable as any other person on earth.”
So half of the Faith Christian fans were now sitting on the visitor’s side of the field, cheering for the Gainesville team, and in some cases, against their own sons. Cheering for a team decked out in mismatched old uniforms and helmets. Cheering for boys who wouldn’t go home that night and have a smiling dad slap him on the back and feel his mom put her arms around him and say “I’m so proud of you son!” Cheering for the underdog.
This was a Friday night like no other for the Tornadoes. In the locker room, the players were confused. “Why are they cheerin’ for us, coach?” “Because, men, they want to encourage you. They want you to know that they care about you…that you have value.”
Coach Williams said the boys were stunned. For many of these kids, it may have been the first time that anyone had shown them, so visibly, unconditional love.They were down 33 to nothing at the half. Williams encouraged his team to set a goal for the second half: to score a touchdown against this vastly superior team. And when the boys from the State School took the field again, with their fans cheering them on, everything started to click. And they did score. Not once but twice.And the fans went wild.
Coach Williams was asked what the bus ride was like on the way home and he laughed and said that they were all asleep—their bellies were full. That’s becuz after the game, the parents brought a whole bunch of food over to the guys: hamburgers, fries, candy, sodas…and included in the meal sack was a Bible and a personal letter of encouragement from a Faith Christian player.
But then, he said, they formed a line for us out to the bus. And the parents patted them on the back and said, “Nice game” and “Look forward to seeing you guys next time.”As they left the field that night, Coach Williams grabbed Coach Hogan and said to him: “You’ll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You’ll never, ever know.”
Thursday, January 15, 2009
I Am Second
I would like to take a moment (in a very hectic week) to talk about a site that has touched Cary and me, and want to share with anyone who is interested.
It started as a billboard that we saw here and there as we drove down the freeway in the Dallas area, and then finally we decided to check it out online. As I have just found out, this is a Dallas-based project, and all the billboard says is:
I AM SECOND
An internet address that follows: http://www.iamsecond.com/. Have you seen these? Well, if you haven't, go to the site now. Make yourself comfortable, and click on one of the faces that race across the screen (you might even see a couple of celebrities mixed in). Here, you can see their testimonies.
I tell you this: some of these touch you in ways you cannot imagine. If I weren't at work when I watch these, I would be brought to tears (all of those interruptions!!!!). This is a beautiful site that brings people together with the Greatest thing in common: God.
My name is Jennifer McFadden, and I am second.
It started as a billboard that we saw here and there as we drove down the freeway in the Dallas area, and then finally we decided to check it out online. As I have just found out, this is a Dallas-based project, and all the billboard says is:
I AM SECOND
An internet address that follows: http://www.iamsecond.com/. Have you seen these? Well, if you haven't, go to the site now. Make yourself comfortable, and click on one of the faces that race across the screen (you might even see a couple of celebrities mixed in). Here, you can see their testimonies.
I tell you this: some of these touch you in ways you cannot imagine. If I weren't at work when I watch these, I would be brought to tears (all of those interruptions!!!!). This is a beautiful site that brings people together with the Greatest thing in common: God.
My name is Jennifer McFadden, and I am second.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Have You Hugged A Cancer Survivor Today?
Today marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness for the month of October. You've probably seen many foods/clothes/appliances colored pink to help raise funds for these things.
I want to encourage you to spend the extra money (if it really is more) to buy these items (men, don't be afraid to display the pink!) because proceeds go to research to finding the cure for Breast Cancer.
But I don't want to just stick with Breast Cancer awareness. Remember, there are so many other types of important causes out there: Every form of Cancer, Autism, MS, Parkinson's, Animal Rescue, Greenpeace... The list really is unending. I tend to watch for items and buy them if they are more likely to support a good cause. Go for a long walk and raise money--a great way to get healthy and support a great cause!
But I don't want to just stick with Breast Cancer awareness. Remember, there are so many other types of important causes out there: Every form of Cancer, Autism, MS, Parkinson's, Animal Rescue, Greenpeace... The list really is unending. I tend to watch for items and buy them if they are more likely to support a good cause. Go for a long walk and raise money--a great way to get healthy and support a great cause!
But remember, the best support you can give is to love, hug, and listen to stories from someone you know that has or survived cancer or any other ailement. They have gone through a lot--and a hug is so easy to give!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Meet Chester's Twin Sister!
Rachel is a 2 year old (or around that) dachshund/cocker mix that is up for adoption at Petfinder.com. I was just scrolling through, interested in seeing what kinds of animals they have every once in a while.
As anyone who knows me should know, I am a HUGE animal lover and I believe in rescuing instead of going to a breeder. Why would anyone want to spend $1200 on a "Cockapoo" (yes a MUTT) when there is another one sitting in a cold, large cage that is just $50 at the local shelter? And even with discounts on vaccines and spaying/neutering!
If anyone you know is interested in adopting a dog, I highly encourage Petfinder.com if you don't want to go to a shelter. It is a great site, and it is so full of rescues. Some have all of their vaccines and are fixed, so all you need to do is supply the good home.
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Ninjago With A Special Guest
So we took B to go see Ninjago, The LEGO movie a couple of weeks ago, and by we, I mean Cary, myself, my dad, and...my grandfather. Odd co...
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