Tornados Hit Home

Since moving here to Oklahoma, there’s never been a dull moment for weather. Whether it’s flooding, blizzards, ice storms, hail or tornados, I’ve seen it all. And this week created the most heartbreak and anxiety this city has seen in quite awhile.

Our hearts, prayers, and thoughts go to those who are picking up the pieces this week, just a few short miles away from where I call home. Some homes were completely taken away, just leaving the foundation and debris on the ground. Families lost loved ones and the community has mourned with them.  Yesterday they found the body of a 3 year old little boy who got taken with the tornado and was missing for two days – horrible stuff that we are dealing with here.

But we’re not the only ones dealing with loss. Everyone has heard about the tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, and the images we see tear at our hearts and make us want to do SOMETHING, anything, to help.  

One organization that I’ve been hearing a lot about is Convoy of Hope. They are on the ground in Joplin currently and as of Friday, Convoy of Hope has delivered nearly 500,000 pounds of food, water and supplies to victims of the Joplin tornado.

Never seen what tornado damage looks like? I pulled this off a summary article on their website:

“The view from within the swath is surreal. Steel buildings are twisted like straws, cars and trucks resemble soda cans twisted into oblivion, power-poles and fence posts are blown over as if made of rubber. Trees have either toppled over or are stripped bare of leaves and bark. Boards stick precariously out of the sides of walls and the dank smell of wet wood hangs in the air.”

So, needless to say, the tornado victims have really held a special place in my heart this week. And because of that, I want to give my monthly donation to Convey of Hope for the month of May. If you’d like to do the same or find out more about their efforts in Joplin, check them out at http://www.convoyofhope.org

Yay for Mobile Blogger and Stamp Out Hunger day!

I just figured out how to use mobile blogger and I'm pretty excited to now send pictures from my phone to the blog... I'm hoping this will increase the amount of posts I'm able to put up each month, so let's keep our fingers crossed! :) It'll definitely be a time saver!

I wanted to show a picture of my "Stamp Out Hunger" contribution. I was so excited when I got my mail a couple days before May 14th last week, and there was a plastic bag just for the food bank! It made me proud that my little area of OK was doing it's part to "stamp out hunger". On May 14th, Saturday morning, my mom and I raided my panty and took the goods to the mail box. I'm pretty sure I missed the pick up time, but lo and behold, the mailman picked up everything anyway, even if I was a little late. Thank you Mr. Mailman! 

Did anyone else take part in this National Day? Refer back to one of my older posts if you have no idea what I'm talking about :) Here's my mobile picture:

March of Dimes

I'm so bummed as I write this that we didn't take any pictures today! I've been excited to write this post for a few days leading up to this morning and was planning on taking a bunch of pictures to document what we did - but lo and behold, no pictures of us :( By the time I realized it, it was too late! But enough about regrets... let me tell you what we were able to be a part of today!

My Life Group has been wanting to volunteer more often and do things in the community, and so my friend Zack found out about this 2 mile walk called March of Dimes, that benefits babies who are born premature. We joined teams with Bank of Oklahoma and all met up at the OKC Fairgrounds this morning. Here's what the funds go to:

where your money goes 

The money you raise in March for Babies is used to fund important research and programs 

that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it helps us 

provide information and support to families whose baby was born too soon, or sick. 

It was so humbling to walk alongside others who had t-shirts on that said "In memory of ...... " and you knew it was for a precious baby that they grew to love. Some shirts had weights on them. For example, "In memory of Amelia. 4 lbs, 3 ozs, 19 in" and it broke my heart to imagine the hurt and loss those people had. 

Checking out the website more, I stumbled up on "Share your story" with this description: 

Parents love to talk about the trials and tribulations of having and raising kids. Unfortunately, it often isn't easy for the parents whose children were born prematurely, with a birth defect or who have suffered infant loss to find other parents who understand. That's why the March of Dimes created Share Your Story , an online community to support the parents so closely touched by our mission. The site provides parents with a place to share invaluable information, encouragement and support. 

It also brought to mind a special baby, whose family I knew growing up. I babysat for the family's other three kids, but their 4th little baby girl was born premature and struggled to survive for months. Her's is a happy story- in that she survived and is a blessing to her family- but I know there were months, even years, that were very difficult because of her premature birth. Whether it was feeding tubes or hundreds of doctor visits, I saw with my own eyes how much of a toll it takes on families. But those babies are SO PRECIOUS and SO WORTH IT, and it was a wonderful morning this morning, marching to support this cause!

Also, I loved marching with Jake and our other friends, and look forward to the many other volunteer days we will share together! There's nothing like serving alongside friends and having a common purpose to do so!

We finished the morning with BIG TRUCK TACOs!!! (one of our favorite local stops) and as always, it didn't disappoint!

*****

Also I wanted to let you know that for my April donation, I decided to give to

 

There's just something about giving to what you participate in. Seeing those families marching for the babies they lost just made my decision all the more easier. What a blessing to have doctors studying and researching to give babies healthier lives!

What can you do here and now?

So often when I talk to people about my desire to help others and serve overseas, I get a lot of questions like “Why not help Americans- here in the United States? Why travel around the world?” to which I have many answers and reasons. But today, I want to share with you something that you can do HERE and something that can make a real impact NOW… actually in 10 days to be exact!

Women’s Day magazine brought to my attention the subject of this blog post today: the Stamp Out Hunger program, run by the National Association of Letter Carriers. Here’s a flyer to sum up what you can do on MAY 14^th this year:

http://www.helpstampouthunger.com/thankyou.aspx

So by just putting a few perishable items in a sack by your mailbox you can make a difference. So often giving and serving requires a lot of effort (effort that I think makes it even more worth it!) but this is just as simple as it gets. Tell your neighbors, call your post office to make sure they are participating, and jump on board as we fight hunger here in the good ol US of A! And if you have any questions, check out the website here.

Some Encouragement

The other night at the Dallas airport I had some time to kill. My flight was delayed an extra hour and whenever I travel, I always print out numerous articles from a lot of different sources... most of which I never get a chance to read. But the other night, I was looking through my bag since my 3 books just weren't doing the trick, and I came across some articles I had printed out months ago for one of my flights home to CO. Finance articles (yup, this girl loves to read about work stuff), friend's blogs, the latest posts from Bill Gates, and finally exactly what I needed... a chapter called "Every Day Deserves A Chance" by Max Lucado.

Now I wasn't having a bad day or needing a change in perspective. But I DO have those bad days and I often DO need changes in perspective. So I picked it up and read it, seeking encouragement and advice. And I got everything I was hoping for and more. Words that made me take out my camera phone and snap a picture of the page, so when I am having one of those days, I can have this little refresher right there to refer to. I hope it's as encouraging to you as it was to me:

".... Suppose neck deep in a 'terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day,' you resolve to give it a chance. You choose not to drink or work or worry it away but give it a fair shake. You trust more. Stress less. Amplify gratitude. Mute grumbling. And what do you know? Before long the day is done and surprisingly decent. 

So decent, in fact, that you resolve to give the next day the same fighting chance. It arrives with its hang-ups and bang-ups, bird drops and shirt stains, but by and large, by golly, giving the day a chance works! You do the same the next day and the next. days become a week. Weeks become months. Months become years of good days.

In such a fashion good lives are built. One good day at a time.

An hour is too short, a year too long. Days are the bite-size portions of life, the God-designed segments of life management.

Eighty-four thousand heartbeats.

One thousand four hundreds and forty minutes.

A complete rotation of the earth.

A circle of the sundial.

Two dozen flips of the hourglass.

Both a sunrise and a sunset.

A brand-spanking-new, unsoiled, untouched, uncharged, and unused day!

A gift of twenty-four unlived, unexplored hours.

And if you can stack one good day on another and another, you will link together a good life.

But here's what you need to keep in mind.

You no longer have yesterday. It slipped away as you slept. It is gone. You'll more easily retrieve a puff of smoke. You can't change, alter, or improve it. Sorry, no mulligans allowed. Hourglass sand won't flow upward. The second hand of the clock refuses to tick backward. The monthly calendar reads left to right, not right to left. You no longer have yesterday.

You do not yet have tomorrow. Unless you accelerate the orbit of the earth or convince the sun to rise twice before it sets once, you can't live tomorrow today. You can't spend tomorrow's money, celebrate tomorrow's achievements, or resolve tomorrow's riddles. You have only today. This is the day the Lord has made.

Live in it. (Emphasis mine)You must be present to win. Don't heavy today with yesterday's regrets or acidize it with tomorrow's troubles...."

There's so much more that is so good. Please read the rest. I keep hearing lately about "living in the present" and while I've dismissed it often, I've been more convicted lately to really do so. To give today. To listen today. To do today. To serve today. Let this be an encouragement to you as well... THIS is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it :)

Inquisitive Eyes Make Me Curious

So I’m curious to see if this has happened to any other bloggers out there… where you have written about a  company, show, or person and that company, show, or person has contacted you afterwards asking you to continue to spread the word. Well a few weeks ago it happened to me and I was pleasantly surprised by the following email from Secret Millionaire on ABC:

Hi Michelle,

What happened when Curves founders John and Diane Heavin spent a week living on just $6.50 a day in Houston, TX?  That’s exactly what we found out on Sunday’s all new episode of ABC’s Secret Millionaire. If you didn’t catch the show, it is now available to watch on ABC.com along with additional info about the millionaires!

 Watch Sunday’s episode of Secret Millionaire here:

http://abc.go.com/watch/secret-millionaire/SH5580166/VD55120013/gary--diane-heavin-houston-tx?cid=11_SecretMillionaire_Lbi

Has Secret Millionaire inspired you to get involved and contribute to your community?  ABC.com has provided fans with the tools and motivation to act on that inspiration and make a difference with “I Pledge” and “Get Involved.”

 Take on the challenge of bringing the Secret Millionaire message out into your neighborhood through “I Pledge” on ABC.com. Join the ABC.com community and make a promise to get involved and help others!  Share your pledge and see what others are saying as well on “I Pledge” here:

http://abc.go.com/shows/secret-millionaire/i-pledge?cid=11_SecretMillionaire_Lbi

 Made your pledge but need some tips on how you can begin helping? Visit “Get Involved” on ABC.com for some helpful advice, a Secret Millionaire toolkit, links to info about the charitable organizations featured on the show and more here:

http://abc.go.com/shows/secret-millionaire/get-involved?cid=11_SecretMillionaire_Lbi

 Please share this news with your readers.  New episodes of Secret Millionaire air Sundays at 8/7c on ABC.

I was always curious to see if TV shows, such as Secret Millionaire, were out there with interested eyes all over the blog world seeing what people are writing and saying about their new hit show. Kind of crazy how public information is once you put it out on the world wide web, isn’t it? In fact it made me a little anxious, just like it does when I see that a person half way across the world read what I wrote last week… but at the same time it’s exciting because you realize that people are actually interested and hopefully motivated by what you are writing.

Now for your stories… have you ever had a company or person contact you after you wrote about them? Have any of them offered to pay you to market their product? 

Oh and P.S. – the show they are referring to about the Curves founders was probably my favorite! Watch it on ABC if you get a chance… it was really neat to see how they gave! And their Texas home is totally amazing!! 

March Donation

March has flown by for me! While my mind and heart have still been thinking of what to blog about and wanting to blog, I just haven’t been able to physically make the time to do it. Crazy how time flies huh? One of the reasons I have been so busy, is the fact that I got engaged March 18^th! And with a wedding only 4 months away, the last two weeks have been solely devoted to wedding planning when I haven’t been working, eating, or sleeping. But without further delay, here is some information about the organization that I am donating my $100 to for the month of March:

My one my girlfriends Desiree, works for the American Cancer Society and every year they run the Relay for Life. I remember raising funds in elementary and Jr high school for the event, but have not been educated about it since. Desiree sent out a few emails to her friends and family awhile back, asking for donations and it made me think about how neat it would be for me to support her for the month of March! After asking about the event and doing some research, I can see why she is so passionate about this opportunity to raise funds to help fight cancer. And what a neat way to do it!!!

One of the quotes I love from her email was “help us as we work to save lives and create a world with more birthdays! Every donation brings us one step closer to a cure.” – what a great concept and something that everyone can become passionate about! There’s not one of us that has not been affected by cancer in some way or another.

Desiree is running the race on June 10^th here in Oklahoma City. I’ll actually be out of the country on a trip myself, but I had her send me some information on the race in case you are interested. Just hearing her tell me about last year’s race, made me wish I could see it for myself. Here’s what she sent me:

The OKC Relay for Life is on Friday, June 10th at 7pm and goes until 7am on Saturday, June 11th.  It is at Southern Nazarene University's sports complex off on 50th west of Council and the theme this year is "Rushing for a Cure".  The overall community goal is to raise $100,000 and all the proceeds goes towards cancer research, education and patient care.  During the night of relay, the goal is to have someone on your team to walk the track around the field the whole time the relay is going on.  Some teams will camp out during the relay event.  We have a special time during relay, where all the survivors walk a lap around the field, which is emotional to watch. When it gets dark, we have these bags called luminaries, which is a paper bag with a candle in it that we light in honor/memory of someone that has cancer.  People will buy these and decorate them for someone they know or if they don't want to decorate them, we will do it for them.  They outline the football field so it is really cool when they are lit. Also, we put some up in the stands that spell “hope” and then during the ceremony, the word changes to “cure”. There are activities that go on the night of relay that make it fun for all who are attending.  It is free of cost to get in, but inside, each team has some kind of fundraiser going on, so there are plenty of donation opportunities at the event itself.

 So how does the race benefit others?

•        It helps people get well by educating them on how to reduce their risk of cancer, and how to detect it early, at its most treatable stage
•  Helps people stay well by providing support to newly diagnosed patients in the form of transportation, lodging, wigs, education, and more
• ·       Finds cures by supporting millions of dollars in research grants each year to the best and brightest young researchers in their field of expertise
•        And fights back by supporting laws at the local, state, and federal level that will have a positive impact on healthcare and cancer patients nationwide

I was so happy to donate to such a cause and hope that you will check out a Race for the Cure in your area, wherever you live. If you’d like to find out more info about how your donation and time could make a difference, please visit their donation page.