Deputies with the Guilford Co. Sheriff's Dept. are perched high atop the Friendly Center Chick Fil-A until this Saturday, May 19th, to raise money for NC Special Olympics. "Cops on Top" is an annual partnership with Chick Fil-A in which off-duty Sheriff's deputies prowl the restaurant's roof with a PA system, play music and ask for donations. Volunteers and Special Olympics athletes work donation buckets in the drive-thru line. The dancing Chick Fil-A Cow will be on hand; drive-thru customers who get out and dance with the cow will win a free sandwich! Games & face-painting for the kids, Torch Run t-shirts on sale, and child ID fingerprinting on Saturday.
Stop by Chick Fil-A at Friendly Center (611 Pembroke Rd. in Greensboro):
I used to have a problem falling asleep at night because I had so much on my mind.
Even though I was tired, yawning and could hardly keep my eyes open, I still could not fall asleep.
Why?
I brought too much to bed with me.
I couldn't leave all my troubles and worries just outside the door. I walked in weighted down from all the challenges of my day.
Sure, I tried counting sheep but I'd lie there wondering how many sheep there were and where the heck they came from.
Then I tried counting my blessings. I couldn't fall asleep because I had so many in my life I wanted to make sure I didn't leave any of them out.
Imagine just before you nodded off you forgot to mention a friend or loved one. I was afraid if I didn't mention them they'd know about it.
"Hey, you didn't count me last night? Thanks so much! Forget that Christmas present I was going to give you!"
Or worse yet... God. I mean, you're counting blessings but you fall off just before you say, "Thank you, God."
Would I even wake up?
Seriously, there is something I learned just last night from my computer.
I had too many things on my start up menu and it was causing the computer to run slower.
That's what got me thinking.
I've conquered the "taking too much to bed” problem, but now I start my day with too much in my start up.
Stuff comes rushing in and I get overwhelmed, I bog down and run slower in the morning.
I simply need to get more organized. Like the old saying, "A place for everything and every- thing in its place." I need to leave things at the door before I go to bed. Then, instead of falling over them when I wake up, I need to make a plan the night before.
Ok, so I tried it.
I fell asleep, pen in hand, with one thing written on the list.
"Thanks, God!"
When I woke up the next day I saw it again.
There's the answer.
The first thing you do when you go to bed is to thank God.
The first thing you do when you wake up is to thank God.
Writer and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, "Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together." But I was not thinking about the golden chain of kindness one day when a dilapidated automobile, possibly held together with glue and wire, parked in front of my house. During those years, we lived in a small town just across the street from the church I served, and travelers in need constantly found their way to our home.
I was growing weary of helping the numerous people who stopped by almost daily. I was frequently awakened in the middle of an otherwise good night's sleep, to get out in the cold and help someone passing through. Once our property was vandalized; once I drove through a blizzard in order to get two people to safety; many times I felt taken for granted by penniless motorists or hitchhikers who did not thank me for help they received and complained that I didn't do more. I hadn't felt a part of a "golden chain of kindness" for awhile and, though I still offered assistance where I could, sometimes I inwardly wished they would just go away.
But on this day, a young man with a week-old beard climbed from the broken-down automobile. He had no money and no food. He asked if I could give him some work and I offered him gasoline and a meal. I told him that if he wanted to work, we'd be pleased if he'd cut the grass, but work wasn't necessary.
Though sweaty and hungry, he worked hard. Because of the afternoon heat, I expected him to give up before the job was completed. But he persisted and, after a long while, he sat wearily down in the shade. I thanked him for his work and gave him the money he needed. Then I offered him a little extra money for a task particularly well done, but he refused. "No thank you," he said in heavily accented speech. I insisted that he take the money but he stood up and once again said, "No thank you. I want to work. You keep the money." I tried again and for a third time he protested, shaking his head as he walked away.
I never saw him again. I'm sure I never will. And interestingly, he probably thinks I helped him out that day. But that is not the way it was. I didn't help him, he helped me. He helped me to believe in people again. He helped me to once again WANT to do something for those who are in need. I wish I could thank him for restoring some of my faith in the basic goodness of others and for giving me back a little of the optimism I had lost somewhere along the way. Because of him I once again felt part of a golden chain of kindness that binds us to one another.
I may have fed his body that day. But he fed my soul.
There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them.
One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.
But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest ... perfect peace.
Which picture do you think won the prize?
The King chose the second picture.
Do you know why?
"Because," explained the King, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."
A hundred times a day something new jumps in front of me begging for me to tell you about it. But, my mind can't hold onto everything, that's when it ends up in my heart.
It turns from a thought to a wish there. My heart is home to a million wishes for you to be happy, full of life and in particular, hopeful.
So, when suddenly I realized the other day that I can't save the entire world, it was overwhelming. I want to. But then, as quickly as it came, another more satisfying thought took its place.
I can save one person at a time.
Just one person. Maybe today that person is you.
This is what I held onto today.
I have heard and believed at times that we need to just live for today. It sounds simple enough.
If you find it too difficult to look at your life and think about where you want to go and what you want to accomplish, then dealing with one day at a time is easy.
No sense worrying about tomorrow's problems. Here's the better idea.
You are not making a life just for today, you are making a lifetime from it.
That means everything you do, every decision you make today is like a single thread in the fabric you are weaving.
Those threads together form a pattern.
Be guided by the principle that you become a thread in someone else's pattern by how you interact with them.
All of us woven together over a lifetime become the patchwork quilt generations after us must build on.
If you have faith, don't just apply it randomly. Often times we do the right thing when it doesn't take much effort.
Making a life means being faithful.
Have fun.
Take time to be silly. God loves the child in us, not just the children.
Making a life means living fully. Laughing often.
Love.
Take time to love unconditionally. Our faith tells us to love one another not just a select few. Not just those who are like us. All people.
Making a life means loving the life in others.
Finally, sacrifice.
Stop asking for what you can get, ask what you can give, what you can do.
Making a life means giving life to others.
"You are not making a life for a day,
you are making a lifetime from it."
I am so excited by this prospect that I'm planning this big theme party! The theme will be "I've never..."
While explaining this to a friend of mine, I laughingly gave the example of, "I've never had a baby shower, so someone would have to bring a baby gift. Then I'll donate it to the nursery at the church." I was smiling through this little explanation, until I saw the look on her face.
With tears in her eyes she said, "That's so sad!"
Well, there was a time when I felt that way, too. Finding out in my 20's that I couldn't have children was devastating. I immediately left the child care field and went to work building cables for the B-1 Bomber. The physical, repetitive labor was very good for me. Towards the end of the three years, I found that I was just borrowing my co-workers' children to do things with.
My first and only love was the children. I had a lot of time to think about all of the things I had been cheated out of. I would never hold a new born baby in my arms. I would never rock my baby to sleep. I would never get to sing lullabies. I would never get to watch my child leave for their first day of school. I would never get to be the tooth fairy! I would never get to talk about boys, or proms, or pimples! Yes, I felt that I was going to get cheated out of a lot. I would never get a Mother's Day Card!
I'm not sure when it all changed.
I don't think there was one specific moment when I realized that I had more children than any mother could possibly ever have! And, that's the answer I gave to my friend.
Smiling, I explained that as long as I work in the nursery, I will have babies to rock and sing to. As long as I am a Head Start teacher, I will have first days of school. Working with the youth will give me plenty of experience with teenagers.
Carissa lost her first tooth at my house and no one was ever a better Tooth Fairy. I hosted an exchange student from Germany last year and got to shop for prom dresses. I even cried when she gave me a locket with her picture in it, engraved with one simple word on the front, "Mom".
I still have it and wear it, and I also have the Mother's Day card she gave me. All treasures.
My babies are now growing up and having babies. Soon I'll get to have "Nana" experiences. It doesn't matter that we don't share the same genes. What we do share is a lot of love.
Truth is, I'm having a hard time finding 40 things I've never done. It's hard to find them when you're happy, productive and living your dream!
My mother, Lee. Her sister Phyllis. Their aunts, Leslie and Shirley. All vibrant, intelligent, funny, extraordinary women who lost their lives in the madness that is Alzheimer's Disease. They are the reason I am walking to end Alzheimer's for the sixth year. I'd like to invite YOU to join me this Saturday, May 12th, at Center City Park in downtown Greensboro.
I'm walking to help reclaim the future for millions. By participating in the 2012 Alzheimer's Association Walk to End Alzheimer's, I'm committed to raising awareness and funds for Alzheimer research, care and support.
Currently, more than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's and that number is expected to grow to as many as 16 million by 2050. Our future is at risk unless we can find a way to change the course of this disease.
I need your support to do my part! Please make a donation - or join my team - to help the Alzheimer's Association advance research into prevention, treatments and a cure for Alzheimer's. For the millions already affected by the disease, the Association offers care, education, support and resources in communities nationwide.
Thank you for joining our movement! The end of Alzheimer's disease starts here.
Click here to join my team, make a donation or learn more about Alzheimer's and dementia.
Thank you and God bless!
Leanne and Lee (11/10/1924 - 2/15/2008)
A little boy came up to his mother in the kitchen one evening while she was fixing supper, and he handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on. After his mom dried her hands on an apron, she read it, and this is what it said:
For cutting the grass: $5.00
For cleaning up my room this week: $1.00
For going to the store for you: .50
Baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping: .25
Taking out the garbage: $1.00
For getting a good report card: $5.00
For cleaning up and raking the yard: $2.00
Total owed: $14.75
Well, his mother looked at him standing there, and the boy could see the memories flashing through her mind. She picked up the pen, turned over the paper he'd written on, and this is what she wrote:
"For the nine months I carried you while you grew inside me: No Charge.
For all the nights that I've sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you: No Charge.
For all the trying times, and all the tears that you've caused through the years: No Charge.
For all the nights that were filled with dread, and for the worries I knew were ahead: No Charge.
For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping your nose: No Charge.
When you add it up, Son, the cost of my love is: No Charge."
When the boy finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes, and he looked straight up at his mother and said, "Mom, I sure do love you."
And then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote: "PAID IN FULL".
Not sure where your polling place is for today's primary? Want to check out a sample ballot and find out more about the candidates and/or issues? This website should help you out!
