Things to Send Sponsored Children: A Bible Verse "Cootie Catcher"

RAISE YOUR HAND if you remember "cootie catchers!  

HERE IS ONE you can print out, fold, and send to your sponsored kids-- a cootie catcher with Bible verses! I remember making these and playing with them for hours in elementary school (We would rig them with names of boys in our school that we'd marry, numbers of kids we'd have, all kinds of fortune-telling narratives!), and I thought it might be neat to have them with Bible verses rather than fortunes as the final step. Plus, for the little ones, they provide a teeny bit of practice with numbers and letters (of the English alphabet).

To make it easier, here is a PDF so you can print the sheet on regular paper, with an instruction sheet showing you how to fold it (in case you don't remember, if you were not as obsessed with these things as I was as a kid!) and the third page is an instruction sheet to include for your sponsored child on how to play the game. I've included lots of photos (featuring my lovely daughter) to make it easier.... Don't forget to write your child's name/number on each piece to make sure it gets to them! Enjoy!

Gifts I Gave

NOW THAT they've been received, I can post these... a dog drawing for my parents' dear friend Nat, and a surprise cat for my parents...

Sermon Doodle 12-23-12

ALMOST CHRISTMAS! This was a fun sermon to illustrate... And for you European readers, I made the date "Dec." instead of "12"-- though I realize you would have written "23 Dec. 2012"... It's a compromise, OK?

Sermon Doodle 12-16-12

December 16, 2012

This must have been a bit of a tough one, what with the Connecticut shooting fresh on everyone's minds...

30 Ways to Do Good

ANOTHER SCHOOL SHOOTING. I have no idea how to respond to events that are so, so evil. Certainly they are symptomatic of a sickness in our society. Some will argue for more gun control; some will cite violence in the media, lack of good mental health care, lack of positive family relationships, lack of self-esteem--who knows why humans wreak such devastating damage on each other?

How do we respond? How do we help children to face the world with confidence and joy, when it appears so often to be dark and horrible?

Long ago, my husband and I adopted a habit we call "putting something good out there." (Not a very catchy title, but those are the words we've used  . . . )

It started at a time when we were facing some personal problems that seemed overwhelming and we felt completely helpless to change them. One morning I said, "You know, instead of just reacting to all this bad, how can we be proactive? We can't change this circumstance, but we can affect the balance of good and evil in the world, can't we?"

I called up a local homeless shelter that ran a daycare for children of their clients so that the adults could spend their days looking for work, or working, without worrying about childcare. I said, "I'd like to come in and do music with the kids every week." They laughed and said, "We certainly don't have any budget for that!" I explained that I didn't need money, just permission. 

So, every week (until we moved away from that town), my little daughters and I went to this daycare and taught the kids fun songs. At the end of the school year we had them put on a performance for their parents. 

You know, I do not remember what the problem was that seemed so insurmountable at the time--but I do remember those kids, who had pretty tough lives themselves, joyfully singing, "I am good, I am kind, I am special ..." and lots of fun and goofy songs.

Since then, we have let bad news, either our own or news such as the Connecticut shooting yesterday, prompt us to "put something good out there"--sponsor another child, 
donate to a charity, pick up trash, send a note of encouragement, put coins in an expired parking meter--anything we could come up with that would contribute "something good" as a response to something bad.

In the interest of sharing, I've compiled a list of 30 ideas for doing your own "something good." We should create a movement: What if every time some bad event occurred, scores of people turned around and responded with something positive? When the world appears unbearably evil, can we collectively attempt to demonstrate that there is still more love and more generosity and caring--and that every evil act will simply prompt us to love more?

That's my dream, and here's my list, with helpful websites for each one. I'd love for folks to comment with other ideas!

30 Ways to Do Good

1. Plant a tree in the Atlantic forest: http://www.plantabillion.org

2. Plant a tree for yourself--or give a baby tree kit as a gift! http://www.treeinabox.com

3. Sponsor a child: www.compassion.com

4. Sponsor a child: www.worldvision.org

5. Sponsor a child: www.childrenincorporated.org

6. Sponsor a child: www.plantabook.org

7. Sponsor a child: http://www.lifechange.net

8. Sponsor a woman in a war-torn nation: www.womenforwomen.org

9. Anonymously pay down someone else’s layaway account for Christmas: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-12-20/charity-layaway-christmas/52129100/1

10. Support a classroom in need: www.donorschoose.org

11. Give a cow to a family in need: http://www.heifer.org/

12. Support a third-world entrepreneur: www.kiva.org

13. Write a letter to a soldier: http://action.uso.org/action/thank-you-letter?sc=OM_Google-G_Support12-S_Thankyou-Write=Write%20a%20letter%20to%20a%20soldier_thank&page=FB5&donate=WW11VLP285&gclid=CLiqiIvmnLQCFStgMgodEEwABA

14. Send a thank you note to someone you appreciate: http://www.365thankyounotes.com/

15. Set up a “compliments” Facebook page for your school or organization: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/09/15797908-cyber-graciousness-students-set-up-facebook-sites-for-compliments?lite

16. Find a place to volunteer: http://www.volunteermatch.org/

17. Buy a shirt for charity: www.sevenly.org

18. Donate old iPods to the elderly: http://www.ximotionmedia.com/

19. Donate an old cell phone: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/donate-cell-phone-charity.htm

20. Perform a random act of kindness: http://www.helpothers.org/ideas.php

21. Join in on a craft project to benefit a charity: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Craft-Hope/105243509513568

22. Donate new or used shoes for people in need: http://www.soles4souls.org/

23. Help bring clean drinking water to people who don’t have it: http://www.waterforpeople.org/

24. Help bring clean drinking water to people who don’t have it: http://www.charitywater.org/

25. Buy a newspaper to help a homeless person: http://www.denvervoice.org/

26. Guide kids (and yourself) to media that is violence-free and positive: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/

27. Have a family game night! http://pinterest.com/julieluvsthis/family-game-night-ideas/

28. Watch (and share) the 5th-graders at P.S. 22 sing “Joy to the World”: http://www.good.is/posts/a-reminder-that-there-s-still-good-out-there-p-s-22-sings-joy-to-the-world

29. Sign up for all kinds of good news at http://www.good.is/

30. Buy and give gifts that do good: http://www.cometogethertrading.com/

Sermon Doodle 12-9-12

It's Sunday, so it's time for another set of sermon notes... This time on "Preparing for Christmas."

Set Painting

Talking camel cutout for Joseph 

My oldest daughter and her favorite Hindu god

Scrooge's front door.

Neon signs for Guys and Dolls

I really love painting big set pieces for plays--which is handy, since my daughter is in quite a few of them. Here are some samples.  

The Sphinx (before his paint wore off)

Older Drawings

Bob!

Here are some drawings from before my 8-year break from doing artwork... This is my husband Bob (back when his beard was dark. Actually, it was blue in the drawing for a long time, because I saved the beard for last. Bob kept showing me his real beard and saying, "It's not blue!" --so for a long time that was the title of this piece.

H2Ose

This little girl was the daughter of a woman I bought some clothes from on eBay. We got to be cyber-friends, and when she sent me this photo, I had to try a drawing from it. Boy, was that water fun!

Sermon Doodle: December 2, 2012

"Courageous Faith"

This is what happens when the sermon is unusually short!

Christmas Card Drawing 2012

Christmas Card Drawing 2012

Wishing you a Christmas filled with warmth and deliciousness!

Sermon Doodle: November 25, 2012

All about EVIL!

Southwest Airlines--LIKE!!

I CAN'T BELIEVE I am about to recommend an airline. For starters, I HATE flying. And not for the reasons most people do--I'm not afraid of it. But given our always dicey finances, I feel like the airlines go out of their way to make you miserable, and to ensure that you spend a lot of time thinking, "I paid hundreds and hundreds of dollars for THIS?"

(Note: I realize that I should simply be delighted and amazed that we can fly. That I can get from Denver to Vermont in only 4 HOURS. Just like this hilarious video says...)

Enter Southwest. First of all, we were able to check bags for free. Just like in the good old days!

We were flying on Christmas Day. (It was cheaper that way.) All of the people working for Southwest that day were, in a word, delightful--when they could easily have been surly for having to work on a major, major holiday.

But the best: The airline steward who did the announcing. He took that ordinary safety instruction card reading and made it hilarious:

"In the event of an unscheduled water landing... because we've stopped scheduling them..."

"To inflate the life vest, pull on the red tab. If that doesn't work, blow into the red nozzle. If that doesn't work, well, you're just not having a very good day, are you?"

"Be sure to fasten the oxygen mask over your own face before helping your child. If you are traveling with more than one child,... what were you thinking? God bless you. Well, just choose the one you like the best!"

And he played with us:

"Hey, folks, if you're on the left side of the plane today, be sure to look out the window, because, well, you just don't get to see tha-- oh, nevermind, it's gone now."

"Be careful when taking your belongings out of the overhead compartments, as they may have missed you during the flight and might jump out to see you!"

"We'd like to welcome you to Hawaii. Except you're not there, so we can't. OK, then, welcome to Boston."

The return flight on New Year's Eve also featured a joke by the pilot, as well as a beautiful smooth landing despite incredibly turbulent air coming into Denver (We all applauded.).

In my scientific sample of two entire flights, it appears that the employees of Southwest actually enjoy their work and are encouraged to do so.

I am determined to ONLY fly Southwest whenever we fly in the future!