Mother Abandons Two Children on Conrner

A woman dropped her two children off on a street corner and then just drove away. They were unharmed, but totally abandoned. Now they will be in Foster Care. They might be better off, and they might not be. Should they be returned to a mother who abandons them to the street?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/30/dalisha-adams-arrested-fo_n_1241442.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl7|sec3_lnk1%26pLid%3D131203

Volunteerism Drops as Governments Raise Social Spending

“An increase in governmental spending on social benefits by 1 percentage point of GDP decreases an individual's likelihood of volunteering for religious, sports, arts, or any other kind of organization by about 2 percentage points, say Franz Hackl, Martin Halla, and Gerald J. Pruckner of the University of Linz in Austria. Another factor that diminishes volunteerism is the population's confidence in its elected officials. Among the countries with the smallest proportions of adults doing unpaid work are Hungary, Japan, and Spain, at 16%; at the other end of the spectrum are Sweden, the Slovak Republic, and the U.S., with volunteer rates of 56%, 54%, and 50%, respectively.”
Source: Volunteering and the state

So the more government pitches in to pay, the less likely that people will volunteer?

Videos About RFK

Here are a couple of links to videos showing and telling the story about what happens at a Royal Family KIDS Camp. Enjoy.

Rewrite Their Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QjG9bFQZSE

Concord CA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy3zo5RPfv0&feature=related

Colorado
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riU2oMvWWDM&feature=related

FIVE REGRETS OF THE DYING

Below is an condensed article by Bronnie Ware about regrets of the dying. I think it is pretty sobering to read and should help each of us plan some better goals for next year. For the full article, see her site at http://www.inspirationandchai.com/Regrets-of-the-Dying.html.

REGRETS OF THE DYING - BY BRONNIE WARE

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared.

People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard.
This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.
Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

More family photos

If you received our Christmas Newsletter you'll notice some of the photos were pretty small. Here are some larger versions.

Summer Training Report

4 Directors’ Training Institutes
• 45 Trainees
• 8 Trainers
• 3 Host Couples
• 2 Child Abuse Specialists
• 4 Host camps:
Omaha, NE, Kearney, NE, Bellingham, WA & Madison, AL
• 11 NEW camps trained from:
Nebraska (2), Colorado (2), Minnesota, Georgia, Wisconsin,
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indianapolis and Idaho.

2 Passing the Scepter classes
• 38 Trainees
• 3 Trainers
• 1 Host Couple
• 2 Host Camps:
Norman, OK & Costa Mesa, CA
• 20 Current camps represented

Family Time

At the end of a busy summer, we finally got a chance to get away as a family up to the San Bernardino Mountains. On the trip, we visited Lake Gregory, Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake. We did some hiking, kayaking, shopping, games and lots of quality family time. As you can see from the photos, I also made some new friends. I’m hoping they will become future donors, but you know, it’s a tough economy right now.
















Here are some potential new donors I met on vacation!!!

Three WWII Encounters

Some of you know that I am a fan of WWII history. There are so many amazing stories and conflicts, heroes and villains. The devastating part of WWII is that 55 – 60 million people died in the war. But heroes emerged and I love to read their stories.


1. On Memorial Day weekend, we visited a local church that had a guest speaker and WWII veteran and hero, Louie Zamperini. He spoke briefly of being shot down over the ocean, floating helplessly for over 40 days, and then becoming a Japanese prisoner for 2 ½ years. His story is chronicled in two amazing books, “Devil at My Heels” and “Unbroken” (see Book review on the side bar).


2. In June, our family was visiting a local site and there was a couple dressed in WWII uniforms sitting in a totally refurbished WWII jeep. Well I couldn’t pass this up, so I stopped and talked to the man and found out he runs a non-profit organization called Noble Cause Foundation in Costa Mesa refurbishing WWII vehicles and telling the heroic stories of WWII. He was a boy in Romania, and was a survivor of the Ploesti oil refinery bombing raids by the allies. Many American Airman were shot down over Romania and Yugoslavia, and were hidden by the locals at great risk to their own lives. I had just finished reading about this story in a book titled, “The Forgotten 500”. It was great to meet someone who was actually there and could tell the stories first-hand. I appreciate all that he and his family sacrificed for the airman they rescued.


3. While at the Singing Flag in Concord on July 4th, they announced there was a Veteran from the Bataan Death March attending the show. Well, there aren’t too many survivors left from the Bataan Death March, so I wanted to meet him. I caught his attention right after the show and we spoke briefly. His daughters helped him do most of the communicating because of his advanced age. I was able to get my picture taken with him, and obtained a copy of his short book. He too, spent 2 ½ years as a Japanese prisoner and his book chronicles his life prior to WWI and during WWII. He is another great American hero.


There are few people I’m interested in getting my picture taken with, few autographs I’m willing to seek, and few people whose lives were interesting to me 60 years ago. But these gentlemen have all done some remarkable things. They are heroes to me, and I will always appreciate who they are, and what they have done.

Family Update July 2011

Busy times for everyone.
Judy finished her first year of school and had a great time.
Jonathan finished his first year of Little League baseball and his team took first place.
Janae Graduated from 8th and will head to high school next year with Jessica.
Jessica finished her sophomore year and her first job as a little league Jr. Umpire.
Good times for all and let the summer begin.

A Revelation About Revelation

I’m on my last class for my Ministers License and it’s on Eschatology, the study of end times. It’s very interesting to get a little in depth study going on the book of Revelation. The book had this chart which I found very useful when reading about all the events happening in the book. I thought it might be helpful for other people to see the chart as a better way to understand the last day’s time lines. Just a thought. The book is tilted; Eschatology: A Study of Things To Come by Zenas Bicket.

Fun in the Sun with a Gun

Our churches Men’s Ministry got together for a day of shooting. It was Jonathans first time to pull a trigger. What a day for your first time. We shot pistols, rifles and shot guns. We had about 15 guys and had a great time and no “bleeding”!

Mother's Day 2011

May 8, 2011

Today is the first Mother’s Day since my Mom passed away in March. I’ve been asking for other people’s memories and stories about her, so I thought I’d better share a few things too. Happy Mother’s Day Mom!!!

5 THINGS MY MOM TAUGHT ME
Patriotism
people
time
experience
Faith


Below are five (of the many) things my Mom taught me. I could probably write a chapter on each topic instead of just a paragraph, but this will suffice for now.

Patriotism
Mom loved America! July the 4th, Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day, Labor Day, Veterans museums, and National Monuments and Cemeteries. She had a deep abiding sense that this country was great, and that we needed to honor it. Mom never served in political or military service, she never did anything outstanding on a National level, she simply did what she could do in her local sphere of influence. And of course, she was quite diligent in trying to teach us about honoring our country, too. As a family, we celebrated National holidays, we hung our flag with pride, she always wanted us to stand for the National anthem, even when it was just playing on television. Mom was always interested in things about the country and National pride. She gave speeches on the ways to fold the flag and what each fold stood for, she studied and gave a speech on the WWI Veterans memorial in Concord, she spoke and wrote about Presidential tid-bits, National trivia and she was eager to learn more and pass on what she had learned. When Mom and Dad came to my graduation in Virginia, we spent a day in Washington DC going through the Smithsonian’s and Arlington National Cemetery. It was a great day and place to experience so much about our country. Mom never served her country on the battle field, but she served her country in the way she could, on a day-to-day basis within her own sphere of influence.

Dealing with people
I had the opportunity to work part-time with my Mom for three years while I was a student at DVC. We often commuted together, and as always, she was in a talkative mood. We worked in different departments, but knew many of the same people. Mom was pretty good with her intuition, and she would often discuss the office politics and people and what was really going on behind the scenes. I was just a newbie in “Corporate America,” but I soon discovered there was a lot going on at work besides work! Mom would often make an assessment about someone and given enough time, it would eventually prove to be true. I paid attention to Mom’s assessments over the years. She wasn’t always right, but she was right more often than not. Mom wasn’t just assessing people, she was teaching me that if you understand people, then you will know how to deal with people. Mom was a “people person”, she loved gathering groups together, but she also loved meeting with people one-on-one. Since Mom’s death, many people have sent in stories about her spending time with them and just talking over lunch. Many people have told me that she was one of their best friends. She could only be a great friend to so many people because she knew people and cared deeply about people.

Time with people is important
Mom was always gathering groups of people together for every kind of event, party and celebration. I actually grew tired of a few of her events, but it’s hard to say no to Mom. Birthday parties, holiday gatherings, church functions, school groups, nothing was off-limits; we had everything but annual Ground hog celebrations. There was always a good time to be had, and time with people always turned out well. I enjoy a good party, but I can also enjoy solitude, time alone away from the crowds. Mom could only be alone for so long before her “party addiction” took over and she was planning another event at JuhalaLand. Time with people was not just about the party, it was the conversations, the experiences, getting to know someone else, inviting someone new and making them feel welcome. That’s what she taught me, time with people always turned out well. She also taught me that if someone invites you to an event, you should probably go (see the next lesson for more about that).

Experience life, even when you don‘t feel like it
I can’t tell you how many times during my high school years that I was invited to go somewhere and said, “I don’t feel like going” or “I don’t want to go.” She would always talk me into going, using her own persuasive techniques, she never said you absolutely must go, but somehow she always got me to go. Once I got there, I always had a good time, sometimes, even a great time. It wasn’t until after high school that I finally came to the realization that, “I don’t want to go, she gets me to go, I have a good time, so why do I not want to go?” From then on, she didn’t have to talk me into going anymore. When I was younger, my hesitation was that I simply didn’t want to go to some event. Today, the issue is that I don’t want to go because I’m so busy or I’m so tired. But Mom’s encouraging thoughts are still true no matter what the reason for not wanting to go. If I just get up and go, I almost always have a good or great time. So the next time there is something to experience, just get up and go, even if you don’t feel like it.

Faith
Of all the things Mom wanted to teach me, Faith was the most important. Mom was never a pushy Evangelist, but she was pushy about going to church, there were no options there. We went, and we were involved. If there was a need, somehow we were involved, be it a church work day, helping a member, serving, volunteering, doing an outreach, or having a party at our house, we were involved. But that was all the “works” part of her belief. There was also the Faith part. She had the works part down pat, no dust settled on her, but fewer people saw her quiet faith. I’m sure many people could comment on her faith that they saw in action, or the conversations they have had with her over the years. I saw her faith lived out in the way she and Dad raised the family, I saw it when she would read a scripture card every morning from her childhood “Bread of Life” scripture cards. I saw it when I would wake up early and find her praying on the couch. I heard it in our conversations about a sermon, a family member, a friend or the news. She really did believe in God and His teachings.
She lived her faith each day-
She taught her faith to her children-
She shared her faith with others-
She supported her faith financially-
She worked her faith by volunteering-
And now she has been rewarded in her faith through death.

Mom has taught me a lot, maybe she has taught you a few things too. If so, I’d love it if you could share them.

Jeff