Do you need Saving?

This past Sunday, my church's pastor Jeff Henderson gave a great message. The message is that God sent His Son Jesus because God assumes we need saving and therefore we need a Savior.
In Luke 2, the angels appeared to the shepherds to share the good news that God is bringing all people a Savior. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Our Savior has been born!
But at the heart of it is: Do you believe you need saving? What do you need to be saved from? check out Jeff's message for yourself, it's a great message entitled Saving Christmas from 12/21. http://www.buckheadchurch.org/messages

And with all of that in mind, no one tells it better than Linus. There's something interesting that Linus does which I'd never noticed before in the many times I've watched my favorite Christmas special. As you know, Linus is NEVER without his trusty blanket. Except in a very poignant moment during his recitation. Watch closely:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKk9rv2hUfA

Merry Christmas!

I feel so blessed to do what I do for a living!

The following is an email thanking me and a colleague for helpingthis organization by facilitating them being able to use Verizon Wireless phones for a day so that they could help homeless people in Atlanta call home at Thanksgiving. I feel so blessed to play a small role in such a neat and amazing way.
To God be the glory!
####

Thank you all so much for donating the phones for our Chili Outreach. Although we were faced with bad weather, we went forward with the event anyway. Fortunately we secured nine tents that we used to host most of the event. Two of the tents were used as our “call home” station. Thanks to you guy’s sixty seven people got to call home. I think we would have had a lot more, but because of the rain a lot of people just wanted to get in and get out.

There was one really cool story that I wanted to share with you that emerged from the day. One of the many who used the phones was a young man who had not spoken to his mother for quite a long time. He made contact with her using our Verizon Wireless Call Home station. They spent over 45 minutes on the phone. When the conversation was over, he hung up the phone, with a huge ear to ear grin handed it to one of the women working this station, gave her a big bear hug then proceeded to walk to the corner of Ellis Street and Courtland Street and hop in the car with his mother!

Without the phones there would have been no calls. Without this call this family would still be fragmented. Thanks to Verizon wireless and SafeHouse Outreach this young man has been reunited with his family and is now off the streets! Thank you so much for all that Verizon has done for SHO. I look forward to see how our relationship will continue to develop in the future.

change has come!

well, the people have spoken and change has come. What does change mean right now? the change is that that the majority of the people in this country apparently no longer value individual responsibility, less government, low taxes, a strong defense, energy independence by seeking our own sources, and complete alliance with Israel. I guess civics class will look rather different in the coming years, because the values this country was founded upon seem to be no longer relevant based on Obama's victory tonight. It seems that a government hand out and govt solutions to our problems reign supreme.
I hope once in office Obama's radical idealism will become more centrist as he realizes his responsibilities that he is the leader of the free world.
I love this country and therefore I have to respect the choice of the majority and pray that God's grace and protection will rest upon Barack Obama and his family. And may he truly seek Jehovah God's will and direction as he leads America.

hastening the arrival of autumn

Although it seems to have been a rather mild summer...at least in temps, I'm ready for the cooler crisp days of autumn. There's nothing like the blue skies, changing leaves, wind blowing through the trees, and if it's Saturday: the sounds of the Red Coat marching band; it just does something to my mood. It somehow relaxes me. The heat of Atlanta summers can be so stifling so I'm ready for calmer cooler days to prevail. And maybe with it will bring cooler heads and calmer days as we navigate the final weeks of a pivotal election and an economy that is facing a bit of upheaval. Not that autumn promises relief but at least the weather will be more pleasant!

maybe I need to get out more....

or perhaps the grass is always greener in someone else's backyard, because I can't say as I'm in full agreement with Forbes ranking.....
I mean I guess if you're looking for a guy who drives an SUV or Beemer or has a high-end condo in Buckhead or loves clubbing, then maybe so.......


Atlanta ranked top city for singles
Mon Sep 8, 8:37 AM ET
If you're single and looking for a mate, Atlanta could be the place to live.
The southern U.S. city displaced San Francisco for the top spot and edged past Dallas, Minneapolis and Washington D.C. to be voted the No. 1 city for singles, according to Forbes.com.
"Atlanta got the top spot because of its hopping nightlife, relatively high number of singles and sizzling job growth," Michael Noer, the executive editor of Forbes.com (www.forbes.com) said in a statement.
It was the first time Atlanta was ranked No. 1 in the annual poll that assessed 40 of the largest U.S. urban areas for coolness, cost of living alone, culture, job growth, online dating, nightlife and number of singles.
Seattle, Boston, New York City, Orlando and Phoenix completed the top 10 places in the survey. Jacksonville, Florida, Salt Lake City and Cleveland, were ranked at the bottom of the list of desirable cities for the nation's 74 million single adults.
Chicago was ranked 11th, Miami placed 13th, Los Angeles dropped from third place to 16th this year, and Las Vegas came in 24th in the poll.
Each urban area was assigned a ranking of one to 40 in each of the seven categories. Coolness was gauged by a poll of adults across the country, while rent, the price of move tickets and a six-pack of beer were used to determine cost of living.
Museums, sports facilities and concert venues per capita were assessed to determine culture, while nightlife was based on the number of restaurants, bars and nightclubs in each urban area.
"To those who know 'Hotlanta,' the ranking should come as no surprise," Forbes.com said in a statement, adding the city had been the top 10 in seven of the eight yearly surveys it has conducted.
(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; editing by Matthew Jones)

Random thoughts and observations

Ok, I haven't blogged in a while and I don't have a particular topic so I'm just going to dish on some various subject matters.

• Straight talking John McCain made Barack Obama look like an inexperienced politician who's running for school board on the saddleback showdown. Kudos to Rick Warren for asking some compelling questions and getting to the heart of the issues that make our country unique. If you haven't watched it and can find a rebroadcast, it's worth every minute.
• I was reading an article in the New Yorker about Emily Dickinson and it actually referred to her as "a spinster of thirty-one." How unfortunate......that's my age......
• I have had more conference calls in the last month, than I've had in my whole life in total up to this point. I guess that happens when your boss moves to another state.
• I got a new zoom lens for my camera, it's a pentax 50mm-300mm. It's awesome.
• I've been thinking a lot lately about how important it is that women allow the men in their lives the freedom to be imperfect. Sometimes we can set guys up on a pedastal and be so easily disappointed when they mess up. They aren't perfect and we shouldn't expect them to be.
• God thinks I'm beautiful. "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." My small group is doing an amazing book called "Do You Think I'm Beautiful?" by Angela Thomas. I am learning so much.
• I am so thankful for Faith, Hope and Love.

Vacation

I sure could use one! Seriously, like desperately. The kind where you turn off the blackberry and cell and don't worry that anyone is trying to reach you. The kind where you're with someone that you utterly and absolutely enjoy either doing something totally fun and adventurous or absolutely nothing at all. I need a vacation that gives me the freedom to leave behind the cares of every day life and be completely swept into rest and relaxation. I want one free from worry of spending too much or the worry that the weather won't be good. Really, I just want a VACATION.
I sure hope this ideal comes soon.

Clarence!!!

I just love the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" when George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) gets a visit from the Angel Clarence who shows George what life would have been like if he'd never been born.

Do you ever wonder what kind of impact you are making on those around you and in your sphere of influence? Do you ever wonder what kind of legacy you are leaving? I do. Sometimes I wish God would allow me to see these things (ie results) more clearly.

I sometimes feel like I'm not making a gigantic impact, but hope surely I am in little ways. It sure would be nice to see how it all fits together, and what, if anything, would be different if I wasn't a part of the lives of those around me. Would they be better off or worse off?!

In this thinking, the challenge to me is to be more intentional about making a positive impact in my friends' lives, my family's lives, my work, my church and in society in general. What more can I be doing to live out God's commandments to love others more than myself and bring people into a very personal relationship with the God of the universe?

UGH!!!

Sometimes life can get pretty frustrating. but today a friend of mine called my attention to a great Bible verse to keep it all in perspective about what really matters. Zephaniah 3:17
17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
I am so very thankful that in moments of uncertainty and trouble, I can totally rely on God and His control in my life.

Home

Someone recently asked me if I was willing to move again outside Atlanta/the South (hypothetically). And I replied, "honestly, I truly believe, yes I would." I've moved to DC and NYC, and now, yes, granted I did return but largely there were more circumstances involved regarding career etc. I like to think and truly believe about myself that I would be willing to live most anywhere given the right circumstances, especially if I was with a man whom I trust and care for. I think happiness and contentment can be found in any location if you have your priorities straight and you are with people you enjoy doing things you enjoy. And after all, God's got the whole world in His hands----a fave song of mine as a kid.

I really relate to this article

So I thought I'd share it.

I CAN DO ANYTHING, SO HOW DO I CHOOSE?
WITH COUNTLESS OPTIONS AND ALL THE FREEDOM I'LL EVER NEED, COMES THE PRESSURE TO FIND THE PERFECT LIFE.
NEWSWEEK
Updated: 4:51 PM ET Oct 17, 2007
For the most part, my women friends and I were kids of upper-middle-class privilege, raised to believe that, with hard work and a little courage, the world was ours. We climbed mountains at summer camp, went to Europe on high-school class trips and took family vacations to New York City and the Grand Canyon. Our parents, like theirs before them, told their kids they could go anywhere and do anything. We took them at their word.
By the time we hit adulthood, technology and globalization had brought the world to our doorstep. Now in our mid-20s, we're unsteadily navigating a barrage of choices our mothers never had the chance to make. No one can complain about parents who started sentences with "When you're president..." But we are now discovering the difficulty of deciding just what makes us happy in a world of innumerable options.
Three years ago my friends and I barreled out of the University of Wisconsin ready to make our mark on the world. Julia headed to France to teach English. I started law school in Minneapolis. Marie and Alexis searched for work in San Francisco. Bridget started an internship in D.C. Kristina landed a job in Ireland. The list goes on. Scattering to our respective destinations, we were young enough to follow our crazy dreams but old enough to fend for ourselves in the real world. At a time when our lives were undergoing dramatic changes, so was America. Three months after receiving our diplomas, the Twin Towers came crashing down. We realized that, in more ways than one, the world was scarier and more complex than we'd ever imagined.
Since graduation, we've struggled to make our own happiness. It seems that having so many choices has sometimes overwhelmed us. In the seven years since I left home for college, I've had 13 addresses and lived in six cities. How can I stay with one person, at one job, in one city, when I have the world at my fingertips?
Moving from one place to the next, bouncing from job to job, my friends and I have experienced the world, but also gotten lost in it. There have been moments of self-doubt, frantic calls cross-country. ("I don't know a soul here!" "Do I really want to be a __?") Frustrated by studying law, I joined friends in San Francisco to waitress for a summer and contemplate whether to return to school in Minnesota. Unhappy and out of work in Portland, Molly moved to Chicago. Loni broke up with a boyfriend and packed her tiny Brooklyn apartment into a U-Haul, heading for Seattle. Others took jobs or entered grad school anywhere from Italy to L.A. Some romances and friendships succumbed to distance, career ambition or simply growing up. We all lost some sleep at one point or another, at times feeling utterly consumed by cities of thousands, even millions, knowing that even local friends were just as transient as we were.
Like so many women my age, I remain unmarried at an age when my mother already had children. She may have had the opportunity to go to college, but she was expected to marry soon after. While my friends and I still feel the pressure to marry and have children, we've gained a few postcollege years of socially accepted freedom that our mothers never had.
The years between college and marriage are in many ways far more self-defining than any others. They're filled with the simplest, yet most complex, decisions in life: choosing a city, picking a career, finding friends and a mate--in sum, building a happy and satisfying life. For me and for my group of friends, these years have been eye-opening, confusing and fabulous at the same time.
The more choices you have, the more decisions you must make--and the more you have yourself to blame if you wind up unhappy. There is a kind of perverted contentedness in certainty born of a lack of alternatives. At my age, my mother, whether she liked it or not, had fewer tough decisions to make. I don't envy the pressure she endured to follow a traditional career path and marry early. But sometimes I envy the stability she had.
Once again I've been unable to resist the lure of a new city. So, as I start my legal career in Chicago, I'm again building friendships from scratch, learning my way around a strange new place. Yes, my friends and I could have avoided the loneliness and uncertainty inherent in our journeys, and gone back to our hometowns or stayed in the college town where we had each other. But I doubt any one of us would trade our adventures for that life. I have a sense of identity and self-assurance now that I didn't have, couldn't have had, when I graduated from college. And I know someday I'll look back on this time--before I had a spouse, a home and children to care for--and be thankful for the years that just belonged to me.


URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/55960