I was planning to post a new challenge this morning to get you guys more involved in the Facebook Giving Challenge. I’ve even got some gift cards that I was going to give away as prizes … we all like getting stuff, right?

After reading the following message from Amy Eldridge, the director of Love Without Boundaries, however, I felt that that the best thing I could do today would be to pass her message on to you. I don’t want to cheapen it with gimmicks or distract us from the whole point. So here it is … do with it as you will!

My message is a bit long today but I hope you will read it to the end. We have just 24 hours left in the Giving Challenge contest on Facebook. 24 hours to try and stay in the lead. And we can’t do it without you.

As I type this, I am staring at the photos of 12 babies who are hurting because they were born with heart disease. Their eyes truly haunt me, first because they are orphaned and as a mother it is hard to accept that any child has to be sick without a mom or dad to comfort them….but second because I know that without surgery, the pictures I have of these children might be their last. Do you know how small a baby’s heart is? And how fragile an orphan’s life is when that tiny heart has a defect? These pictures are of children who are blue, children who are tired, children who NEED OUR HELP.

I also have on my desk the photos of children whose hearts we have healed. They stare out at me with pink cheeks and smiles, and in many…with their new adoptive families. THIS is what it is all about. Saving lives, giving a second chance, and allowing a child to find their family and know complete love.

In the next 24 hours we have a chance to give the GIFT OF LIFE to 10 more children in need. The charity with the most unique $10 donors at 12 noon PST on February 1st will win $50,000. Heart surgery in China averages just $5000 per child, so with that prize….ten children can have a second chance at life.

I am not going to ask you today to find 10 more donors, or even 5 more donors to help us. I am asking you to find just ONE person in your life that hasn’t donated and to ask that person to please help you save a life. For just $10. If all of us do this, we could have over a thousand new donors in just one day.

How often do we spend $10 on things that last just a moment?

$10 for two fancy coffees, $10 for a movie and popcorn, $10 for a dinner out. How about for today, for the next 24 hours, we all find $10 for something that will last a LIFETIME. $10 to save a baby’s life and allow a priceless child (who is orphaned and totally innocent) to get a second chance at finding a family to love them.

Find just one friend in the next 24 hours, and encourage them to join our cause and donate. $10 for the life of a child. Of all the money you have spent this week….this might be the most important.

Thank you EVERYONE for keeping LWB in the running for the top prize. We love our supporters and give thanks everyday for the amazing generosity, compassion, and kindness you show to those who live as orphans each and every day. We truly are a family, bound together by the belief that every child born on this earth matters.

Here’s the link! Let’s do it for the kids.

Amy

[AP Photo/EyePress]

Last year I often bought vegetables at this outdoor market in Loudi. Yesterday it snowed so much there that the market completely collapsed.

The harsh winter storms that have ravished China in recent days are the worst that country has seen in five decades. And these record snowfalls couldn’t have come at a worse time … it’s currently Spring Festival, a time when millions of people travel home to be with their families.

The transportation industry was hit particularly hard … snow and ice have crippled railway lines and highways, killing dozens of people and stranding over half a million at the Guangzhou railway station (and millions more around the country). Even more dangerous, however, are the effects to China’s food supply … if things don’t improve soon, the delicate system that feeds 1.3 billion people could be severely impacted.

Hunan is right in the middle of it all … troops have been deployed, workers have been killed, celebrations have been cancelled, and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiaobao even traveled to the Changsha train station to reassure stranded travelers.

I’ve received several emails from friends who are stuck, missing their families, or just plain freezing their tails off. And my heart goes out to them … the frigid winter and crazy travel I experienced last year must pale in comparison to what they’re going through right now. I’ll tell you one thing … I won’t be complaining about the weather here in Ohio this winter!

Alright, now’s the time to step up.

If you don’t already have a facebook account, just create one. Then go to the LWB page, join the cause, and donate $10. That’s all!

Not only is the $50,000 monthlong contest neck-and-neck, but LWB is also currently in third place in today’s contest. If they get twelve more $10 donors today, they’ll get an additional $1,000 to help the orphans of China!

So what are you waiting for? You’re not seriously going to walk away from this, are you? Clickity click!

And educated insolence makes the world go around. Thanks for the quote, Aristotle!

[original photo]

I need $10 from you on Tuesday. It could save lives.

Here’s the deal. Facebook is holding a contest to see which non-profit organization can get the most $10 donors this month. If Love Without Boundaries (the organization I work with in Loudi) wins, it will receive $50,000 to use for emergency surgeries for orphans in China. That’s a whole lotta cash!

Believe it or not, almost a thousand people have already donated to LWB this month … and it’s now in second place, 60 donors behind the current leader. I have more visitors than that to this website every day … so if you and a few of your friends will commit to donate on Tuesday, we can close that gap and win $50,000 for these precious and hurting children.

Here’s how:

If you don’t already have a facebook account, just create one. Then, on Tuesday morning before noon, go to the LWB page, join the cause, and donate $10.

It’s that easy.

If you’re seriously considering closing this window without doing anything, I ask you to reconsider. The sacrifice is so small but the payoff is huge … the race is so close that your choice is actually really meaningful, potentially mobilizing a network of physicians and caregivers to step in and rescue these kids who are desperately in need of surgery. Suck it up and give, dude.

I’d also love it if you’d spread the word through your blog or facebook account … let people know how far their $10 can go to change a life. Last year you helped to raise $5,000 for these orphans … now’s the time to add on another zero (and a whole lot more hope).

Let’s do this!

Don’t ever buy gas from a station that’s getting a refill from a fuel tanker. When the tanker dumps the new gas into the station’s underground storage tank, all of the silt and sediment from the bottom is stirred up … and even one little piece of that junk can really mess up your car’s mechanicals.

If you regularly use the same station, it’s even worth finding out which days the tanker shows up and planning to fill up your car a couple of days earlier. Just don’t give your car botulism!

As I was walking down the hall this morning, I asked a charming little fifth grade girl if she was having a good day. She promptly answered, “No” … and without missing a beat, proceeded to accidentally drop all of her books all over the ground.

It’s amazing to me how many of my students have anxiety problems … the smallest things can trigger the biggest reactions, and comfort just seems miles away. Pity and leniency don’t really seem to help … instead, I’ve learned that the best thing I can do is constantly bombard these students with trust, confidence, and joy.

Dear Impersonal Online Employment Application Website:

Your organization’s recent accounting position recently caught my attention. But let’s be honest, so does any financially related job opening located up to a twenty minute drive from my current residence, so, really. Don’t get too excited. Upon examining this position, I believe that I am clearly the most experienced, qualified, kick-ass candidate for this opening.

…

Yeah … mdog is hilarious, and right on. Check out the rest of the letter … and let her know what you think!

I don’t usually go for top ten lists, but this one of personal growth lessons from children just makes me happy.

1. Tomorrow’s Gonna Be a New Day.
2. Sometimes it’s Better to Make Up Your Own Rules
3. Don’t Be Afraid to Show Your Enthusiasm.
4. Feel your emotions fully.
5. Walk On Walls Whenever Your Have The Chance
6. Sometimes you have to do it alone (even if there’s someone right there who could help you).
7. Know When to Ask For Help.
8. Don’t be attached to what you painted yesterday (or 2-seconds ago).
9. Singing Makes Everything Better.
10. Dance like no one’s watching (even when you’ve made sure that everyone is!)

Number five is fantastic. But number eight seems to be the one that I’m dealing with a lot lately … I’ve been going through tons of boxes full of old memories and things that I’ve made and trying to decide whether or not to keep things. I’m really starting to think that the author’s reasoning is right … holding onto old creativity ends up stifling new creativity.

That’s also the reasoning behind one of my biggest gripes with the idea of copyright … I feel like true artists shouldn’t need to rely on a system that glorifies old handiwork and discourages innovation and reinvention. Doesn’t it just turn them into tools?

When I saw this graphic (see it larger), I was pretty surprised. I guess I had never really seen the breakdown of where each denomination is geographically located in our country.

Have you?

–He–
by Lance Webel
8.28.96

the truth hits like a fallen redwood–
freezing the body
trapping the heart
grasping the throat
     (suffocation)

denial envelops, falling to oblivion
this cannot be.
how can one so loved be so unloved ¿
how can one so loving serve two masters ¿
how can one be considered a master ¿
this cannot be.

is “truth” a mirage
     a facade
          a fabrication ¿

[The Paradox unfolds, only to confront The Paradigm]

torn between devotion and reality

each requiring the other
     each feeding the other
          each destroying the other

until only
     –He–
remains,
(understands)
     _embraces.

This variation of the biblical story Daniel and the Lion’s Den was made by my nieces, Grace and Rachel, my nephew Drew, and some of their friends in Indianapolis. Aren’t they fantastic?