You may have let your summer body go by enjoying too many margaritas. Those few extra pounds can be easily shed by walking briskly or dancing in your living room. It won’t be too hard to whip yourself back into shape. Just do the work.
Positively Purging-I welcome your feedbacks in the comments and your likes and passing the real-life wisdom on to others as I embark on this new venture of “positively purging”, as I know each of these pieces represents something…
Garland Chapman, principal of R. E. Lee High School
in Midland, Texas, relates an experience during his
days as a grade school principal.
A little second grade boy started out in the morning by
falling from the bus and hitting his head on the concrete. It
required three stitches to close the gash. Recess proved a
little unfortunate as he and another boy ran together. The
result: two of the boy’s teeth were loosened, and a lip was
bruised. During the afternoon he fell and hurt his arm. Mr.
Chapman decided to get the boy home before anything else
could happen. They were riding toward the boy’s home
when the principal noticed the little guy clutching
something in his hand.
“What do you have?” Mr. Chapman asked
“A quarter. I found it on the playground today,” exclaimed
the little fellow. He smiled and with an excited voice
exclaimed, “You know, Mr. Chapman. I’ve never found a
quarter before. This is my lucky day!”
So much is dependent, not on how the day looks at us, but
how we look at the day. Some people miss seeing the roses
behind a broken fence. Every day has its problems, but faith
can turn them into blessings. It depends on how you look at
it.
On a recent evening, my wife and I heard what sounded like live mariachi music a few houses away. We were drawn to the uplifting Latin beat, so we followed the sound to a family gathering down the block in a backyard. While we were appreciating the music from the street, a Mexican gentleman in cowboy boots and hat approached us. He introduced himself and welcomed us into his backyard, where they were celebrating his daughter-in-law’s birthday.
We were introduced to the man’s son, who thanked us for enjoying his culture. The accordion player smiled and nodded at us with a generous grin. It was family and community at its best.
Then the police arrived — a neighbor had complained. The son apologized to us. And as we walked home, the celebration moved into the house.
Given the divisive zeitgeist in this country, we were humbled by this gracious invitation from strangers. How sad that so many of us hear joy with fear. Respect in diversity is what makes us who we are as a people.
John Gamache and Bonnie Nesvick,
How do you need God’s help today? How have you experienced His help in the past? Healing God, I need Your help! Please use Your righteous right hand to take hold of my broken, weary hands and help me, I pray.
You often say that you aim to change culture through the media. Whether through your production company or the digital lifestyle community, Poderistas, you cofounded, is there a blueprint you follow to create transformative media?
Artist and activist Favianna Rodriguez says cultural change comes before policy changes, and we can change culture through media. For example, look at when I Love Lucy was on TV and people welcomed Ricky Ricardo into their homes. Then when the Cuban crisis happened, there was a consensus that Cubans were great. It’s the same with marriage equality. Before the Supreme Court ruled on same-sex marriage, TV shows like Ellen and Roseanne got people comfortable with it. So, for me, I’m always thinking about the imagery we can be putting out that people who don’t interact with us will watch. I’m thinking about what I can show that will make them laugh, relate, cry, and be entertained and will also make them less hesitant or less scared of change. We have the power to change culture through television and film.
