| WINTER WEEKEND CREW! Orange is for 8th graders/7th grader and Green is for 6th graders! Allison Bengel | ||||||
| Bryanna Brown Marjory Clay | ||||||
| Caitlyn Clem | ||||||
| Morgan Forbush | ||||||
| Emma Grooms | ||||||
| Tara Harris | ||||||
| Madison Marshall | ||||||
| Emily Nemeth Maddie Ostrander (7th grader!) | ||||||
| Emma Risberg | ||||||
| Kortney Smith | ||||||
| Emily Sweeney | ||||||
| Hannah Sweeney | ||||||
| Brynne Tombaugh Julie Xu
|
pray for us please!
poverty.
I'm in a fight with poverty. It's out there. It's present right here in my own neighborhood. It's overseas, underseas (people below sea level), and in the seas (islanders). Poverty is such a prominent part of the state of Michigan and the city of Lansing, but I have no idea how to handle it. Is poverty something we accept as normal or something we punch out as unacceptable?
It's a tough tough subject. Poverty is debatable, hard for those experiencing it, unimaginable for those who are rich, and disregarded by people who don't want to believe it exists.
Today I witnessed three poverty situations.
First, I was sitting in at an orientation in Ann Arbor in order to start a process of receiving funding for new hearing aids. This program, called Michigan Rehabilitation Services, is a bit tricky to explain. So let's get side tracked for a moment.
What MRS does is fund Michigan residents with disabilities to help them achieve employment and self-sufficiency. MRS works on a county by county basis and from what MSU's Center for Students With Disabilities tells me, MRS will help pay for new hearing aids as long as I show MRS that they will help me in my career. There are quite a few more details, but that is the gist of what you need to know for the purpose of this post.
Well, one can imagine the number of people that were at this orientation. No one had physical disabilities (that I could see besides me), but we mainly seemed to address cognitive/learning/emotional disabilities. Everyone in the room was older than me and I was the minority in terms of skin color. Here comes the reality check: No one in the room had a job except for me. My measly part-time job at Starbucks (that I love but would never dream of doing for the rest of my life) was more then any single person in that room had.
I about started crying when I saw the hands go up for those who were currently unemployed.
Not only are these people unemployed and (I am assuming most) are depending on welfare or unemployment....but they also have a disability that prevents them from performing a job like a normal person would. AND most of the people in that room were well into their 30s or 40s. They are a part of the generation where college wasn't as necessary and their grasp on the technology revolution might not be as up to speed.
As I left the orientation, I wondered who had homes/families/food/all the necessities to survive. How could they apply for jobs if they do not have a home? How can they dress to impress if they have no place to shower? Even if they do get a job, is their disability going to prevent them from performing the job requirements?
Then, as I start to pull into the Arborland parking lot I see a man on the corner. He is standing in the bitter cold holding a cardboard sign that reads:
Former VET
Need Work
PLEASE
Love People and
Need Work
PLEASE
Love People and
animals.
My heart broke again. Was this the truth? Was this man really a Vet who lost his job and can't find work? I'm sure there are plenty more details to his story, but the fact that he felt the only way he was going to find help was by standing on a corner just hurts me. I felt helpless driving by, and overwhelmed by a subject that I am constantly oblivious to.
Then I drove back to school and attended my Sociology class..where we talked about Poverty in Society. We chatted about the reasons for poverty. The structural causes vs. the cultural causes. People who are in poverty because of the economy vs. People who are born into poverty and can't find a way out. We saw an interview with the author of Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich, who went undercover to work three minimum wage jobs researching the realities of living paycheck to paycheck.
I'm just baffled by this issue, this reality, this growing situation. Why am I so blessed? What does God say about poverty? What is the world doing to fight poverty? Are they doing anything at all?
Why are there people who really think that if you work hard enough you can climb your way to the American Dream, when there are Vets who had their dream and are now standing on a street corner begging for any kind of work. How does God feel about people who choose to stay in poverty so they can receive their welfare, and about those who go broke because they made unwise decisions? Goodness. I could keep going!
Pray for me as I ask God questions about this. Pray that conversations will help me comprehend poverty and that I will have a clearer vision for what God has planned for me and poverty.
My heart broke again. Was this the truth? Was this man really a Vet who lost his job and can't find work? I'm sure there are plenty more details to his story, but the fact that he felt the only way he was going to find help was by standing on a corner just hurts me. I felt helpless driving by, and overwhelmed by a subject that I am constantly oblivious to.
Then I drove back to school and attended my Sociology class..where we talked about Poverty in Society. We chatted about the reasons for poverty. The structural causes vs. the cultural causes. People who are in poverty because of the economy vs. People who are born into poverty and can't find a way out. We saw an interview with the author of Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich, who went undercover to work three minimum wage jobs researching the realities of living paycheck to paycheck.
I'm just baffled by this issue, this reality, this growing situation. Why am I so blessed? What does God say about poverty? What is the world doing to fight poverty? Are they doing anything at all?
Why are there people who really think that if you work hard enough you can climb your way to the American Dream, when there are Vets who had their dream and are now standing on a street corner begging for any kind of work. How does God feel about people who choose to stay in poverty so they can receive their welfare, and about those who go broke because they made unwise decisions? Goodness. I could keep going!
Pray for me as I ask God questions about this. Pray that conversations will help me comprehend poverty and that I will have a clearer vision for what God has planned for me and poverty.
the human heart.
We all have one. Its a bundle of cardiac muscle tissue nestled deep beneath and within the protection of our ribs and our lungs. Weighing in at just under a pound, rounding out to the size of your fist, and pumping up a whopping 2 tablespoons of blood every single beat!
Your heart tells you so many things that are important to your health. It beats faster when you are excited or working hard, it is slow and peaceful when you remain at rest and calm, it occasionally will speed up when someone you admire walks in the room (cheeks blush here), or feels like it stops when something devastating occurs. It feels heavy on gloomy days and broken after you've lost a love. It beats steadfast and diligently without question through any situation or circumstance and it never gives up.
Today I gained a deeper appreciation for my heart. Being a relatively high stress person, with a higher scale of anxiety and worries...my heart rarely gets a break from the chaos of my inability to calm myself down.
In class we were attached to heart monitors for the duration of our lab. The intention of the experiment was to teach us (the physical educators) how to use the TriFit Polar Heart Monitors in our future secondary physical education classes.
Our goal was to exercise within the "Target Zone" of 135-180 bpm for 20 whole minutes. We strapped the transmitter around our upper ribcage and buckled on the handy dandy watch, pushed some important red and blue buttons and began our workout.
Within about 2 minutes I was up to a steady 155 bpm and running laps around the gym. Going strong I was maintaining pace and working hard enough to maintain a conversation but still breathing steadily. As I continued, I noticed that my heart rate started to increase...and increase....and increase...until I was at 182 bpm and my watch was telling me to slow down.
I took some time to walk until I was getting a better reading, then I would start running again. However, this slight increase kept happening...even though I wasn't changing my level of exhertion at all.
In the end, it had taking me 36 whole minutes or running/walking to get 20 minutes of my exercise within my Target Heart Rate Zone. And I was a success compared to most of my classmates!
The whole time I was strapped up to this handy little device I just kept thinking how amazing my heart is. How much it does for me and yet there are so many times I treat it poorly. I thought about all the kids who grown up in households that don't value physical activity, healthy eating and holistic lifestyles....because that was my experience.
My heart has been through quite the few rocky roads of weight losses and gains, yet it continues to beat with a passion for physical activity and a desire to love those around me. I may not always feel or look like the most in shape person, but I am always going to strive to make heart healthy decisions that are reflective of those I hope my students and children will make someday :]
Cheers to heart health and embracing our bodies for what they are and not what the world tells us they should be!
consider this an accountability agreement.
The hat/shoes/and mittens are on the ground right next to the cellphone alarm set for 5:30 a.m.
Running starts again tomorrow.
No ifs/ands/or buts.
I'm hitting that sidewalk bright and early; even before then sun thinks about rising and the moon thinks about setting.
I can't justify spending $110 on a gym membership when I know that if I get my lazy bottom out in the cold I can exercise for free :] Consider it bargain exercising.
Why Now? Because 1 Corinthians 3-4 says so.
My body is a temple of God. God loves when we keep that temple at a healthy resting heart rate and clear mental state that isn't fogged by thoughts of weakness. God's temple are strong...physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Also, because I am a hypocrite when I am teaching people about how important it is to exercise when I don't do anything outside of my pilates DVDs that are uploaded on my computer.
In case you are interested, running companions are welcome. Please meet outside 581 N. Hagadorn at 5:40 a.m.!
Running starts again tomorrow.
No ifs/ands/or buts.
I'm hitting that sidewalk bright and early; even before then sun thinks about rising and the moon thinks about setting.
I can't justify spending $110 on a gym membership when I know that if I get my lazy bottom out in the cold I can exercise for free :] Consider it bargain exercising.
Why Now? Because 1 Corinthians 3-4 says so.
My body is a temple of God. God loves when we keep that temple at a healthy resting heart rate and clear mental state that isn't fogged by thoughts of weakness. God's temple are strong...physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Also, because I am a hypocrite when I am teaching people about how important it is to exercise when I don't do anything outside of my pilates DVDs that are uploaded on my computer.
In case you are interested, running companions are welcome. Please meet outside 581 N. Hagadorn at 5:40 a.m.!
doo doo doooo!
Things I am thinking right at this moment.
God is good.
Life goes fast.
Velveeta is gross.
8th grade is hard. 8th grade drama is harder.
You can never pray enough.
Amazing how spirtually connect you become to girls ten years younger then you when you've prayed for them for almost 3 years.
I'm content with what I've done, but I can't help but wish I had done more.
Last semester.
Example: should have applied for scholarships.
I really want an outdoor job this summer, let me know if you know any connections.
Learn to better comprehend/communicate the Holy Trinity.
Playmaker's sidewalk sale = great. (3 shirts for $35, when it should have been $178)
Good deeds are needed in your family of faith just as much or more then with non believers.
Why are worldly treasures always so appealing?
1 Corinthians = confusing and powerful.
I'm a sucker for chick flicks and cute, lovey-dovey romances.
Apparently that will change when I'm in a relationship.
I've been told I need to watch more tv.
Our middle schoolers are having more romantic experiences then I am :] so funny.
Mine/My/Me = annoying words that consume too much of my daily conversations.
I've been told I need to get out and see the world.
I agree, but I am way to scared and have no money to do so.
My sister ran her first marathon today! WAHOO!
My brother came up for the IL vs. MSU game yesterday and it was one of my favorite college experiences.
Flat's is delicious.
My friends teach me great lessons about life.
My Dad is an official mall walker.
Bedtime is approaching rapidly and so is the end of the song list on my I-pod.
GOOD NIGHT!
God is good.
Life goes fast.
Velveeta is gross.
8th grade is hard. 8th grade drama is harder.
You can never pray enough.
Amazing how spirtually connect you become to girls ten years younger then you when you've prayed for them for almost 3 years.
I'm content with what I've done, but I can't help but wish I had done more.
Last semester.
Example: should have applied for scholarships.
I really want an outdoor job this summer, let me know if you know any connections.
Learn to better comprehend/communicate the Holy Trinity.
Playmaker's sidewalk sale = great. (3 shirts for $35, when it should have been $178)
Good deeds are needed in your family of faith just as much or more then with non believers.
Why are worldly treasures always so appealing?
1 Corinthians = confusing and powerful.
I'm a sucker for chick flicks and cute, lovey-dovey romances.
Apparently that will change when I'm in a relationship.
I've been told I need to watch more tv.
Our middle schoolers are having more romantic experiences then I am :] so funny.
Mine/My/Me = annoying words that consume too much of my daily conversations.
I've been told I need to get out and see the world.
I agree, but I am way to scared and have no money to do so.
My sister ran her first marathon today! WAHOO!
My brother came up for the IL vs. MSU game yesterday and it was one of my favorite college experiences.
Flat's is delicious.
My friends teach me great lessons about life.
My Dad is an official mall walker.
Bedtime is approaching rapidly and so is the end of the song list on my I-pod.
GOOD NIGHT!
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