Who Decides

Let me preface this post by stating that I have all ready made a donation toward the Haiti relief effort. I have several other organizations that I support on a regular basis.

Two nights ago I flipped through over thirty channels on my TV to see the telethon for the Haiti relief effort. This isn't the first time that celebrities have come together to "guide" or "enlighten" us about a specific cause.

This all got me to wondering, with all the natural disasters on our planet, who decides which ones get the media attention. Stars gathered to sing about famine in Africa and the earthquake in Haiti, but not for the Tsunami in Ecuador. Why? I mean, who decides? If there are 2 big disasters in one year, does one cancel out the other?

--And after the Red Carpet is rolled up and overhead is paid, who benefits more--those who needed the relief, or the careers of the stars? I don't know, but there is no harm in asking.

Don't get me wrong, agencies need money to do their good works. Right now I have school children collecting pennies to buy chicks for families in undeveloped countries. The kids won't get Red Carpet treatment and they won't appear on a telethon, but I know their hearts are in the right place and I pray that the money they collect will help change lives.

Faith and Hope

I have decided to jump into the deep end of the swimming pool, so to speak. I sent a manuscript to a publisher. Now I play the waiting game.

I have been down this road many, many times. Why? After all, there are more failures than successes. I guess I just don't know how not to write. It is in my blood, something I must do.

I have been working on my resolution and heard a sermon that really touched me. The key scripture was Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen.

Hope gives us a goal, a vision for the future. Faith is acting upon that vision. I guess I had been getting it wrong all these years and what this man preached made real sense to me.

It reminded me of the story about the farming community that was suffering through a drought. All the ministers and community leaders planned a prayer meeting. Everyone in town attended and prayed great prayers asking for rain. One young child, however, brought everyone else to shame, for that young child was the only one to arrive with an umbrella in his hand.

It is our hope that gives us the vision that causes us to pray. It faith that causes us to find our umbrellas.

I guess that is why I continue to write and try to publish articles and books. I hope to make it as a writer and faith is what causes me to keep at it.

If this attempt doesn't work out, there will be another down the road.

Doing Things Differently

My Sunday school teacher, Al, says that he writes his New Year's resolutions and mails them to himself after about 6 months so he can see if he has made any progress. I realize that I am going to need more than one reminder to hold myself accountable to my resolutions. That is where you, my friends, will come into my plan.

I have decided this year that I will use my blog, not only to display my writing, and connect with the world, but to hold myself accountable to my resolutions of self-improvement. I plan to do this on 2 fronts; economic & career wise, and physical health.

The economic problems that hurt so many people last year and the year before, have left me struggling. I am not as young as I used to be either. I plan to do something on a regular basis that will somehow help to improve me and make me more valuable to the job market. I also want to explore ways that I can increase my earning so I can stand solvent in a struggling economy.

I also want to increase my health. I lost some weight last year. I would like to do more in that area, but I need to explore other health mattters. I have already had some tests run--now that I have healthcare again--and am all ready seeing some relief for some constant pain I was enduring.

I want to keep this all in a spiritual perspective. I have believed for many many years that the year 2010 would be a special year for me--that God had a special blessing for me that would come to fruition at this time. Holding on to that hope has helped me through these past 2 troublesome years. --And I do plan to blog about both hope and faith in the near future.