Do It!

Never give up; you never know until you try.

James 1:22 tells us to be doers and not just hearers.  I've written on this subject before, but I think it bears repeating.  Many times, we know what we should do; people point out to us reasons why we should take a certain course; what we should do is glaringly obvious.  Yet we fail to put into action the very steps we should be taking.  To further our education.  To land a job.  To find a mate. 

Today, if you hear seemingly everyone telling you the same thing, and you find yourself saying, "I know; I know." when they say it, maybe it's time you stop just hearing the words and start acting on them.

Domestic Violence/Abuse

Never give up; you never know until you try.

October is Domestic Violence Month in the U.S.  Domestic violence cuts across all areas: heterosexual, lgbt, rich, poor, black, white, and everything else.  Help is available for the abuser and his or her victims.  The first step is admitting there is a problem.

Check out the following for more information.

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/domestic_violence_abuse_types_signs_causes_effects.htm#signs

Something From Everyone, Something For Everyone

Never give up; you never know until you try.

A recent discussion with a student left me thinking, as discussions with my students often do.  I believe that if we stay open to the possibility, we all learn something from people we regularly spend time with.  We learn about them, and we learn about ourselves.  We may not like what we learn about them, and we may learn something about ourselves that we don't like to face. 

I often wonder what I'm learning from others.  I often wonder what I'm teaching others--about themselves, and about me.

Never give up; you never know until you try.

It's been completely crazy in my world the last few weeks.  I'm sure you can relate!  Honestly, I've shed a few tears of sheer frustration, but I've kept going, knowing that, as the title says, I think I can (and) I know God can.

Though things have occasionally been a little "hairy," God has been so good and faithful to send me encouragement when I've really needed it.  Wednesday night, I was watching "NCIS" and relaxing, when I remembered that I hadn't pre-scheduled a blog post for the week.  I was tired and didn't really feel like climbing the stairs to my home office, but I didn't want to miss my usual posting time by any more than I already had, so I dragged myself to the computer.  What I saw when I logged on made my day brighter and reminded me again that God sends just what we need, often in unexpected ways.

The Yahoo news page had an unspeakably tender photo of a man wading in the warm water of Lake Superior, gently cradling his arthritic dog in his arms.  I'm an animal lover and "melt" any time I see just about any animal, and I cry, angrily and unashamedly, when I learn of someone being cruel to one.  I also cry tears of joy when I learn of someone being especially kind to one. 

The photo went viral, and animal lovers from far and wide have donated money for the dog's treatment--above what the dog needs, so other animals will benefit from the generosity so freely given.  The picture says it all.  Check it out.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/dog-photo-schoep-arthritic-lake-180953849.html

Fall Trivia

Never give up; you never know until you try.

With fall just around the corner, I thought you might enjoy a bit of trivia.
http://www.quizmoz.com/quizzes/Trivia-Quizzes/f/Fall-Trivia-Quiz.asp

Happy fall, everyone!

Wisdom From a Holocaust Survivor

Never give up; you never know until you

I received a couple of these in an email devotional and thought I'd share more of Viktor Frankl's words.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2782.Viktor_E_Frankl

Summer Trivia

Never give up; you never know until you try.

As summer draws to a close, many of us want to stretch those golden days out as much as we can.  Check out these bits of summer trivia:


http://www.2020site.org/fun-facts/fun-summer-facts.html

http://www.squidoo.com/summer-fun-trivia