Praise to God. Trust in God.

Thank You

All visitors who take the time to read my posts.  I hope that I can bring something positive to all who visit here.  

All visitors who take the time to visit & patronize my stores Out of the Box, Joshua's Treasures & Jen.Colleen & support through purchases various charities such as Dress for Success San Diego, St Jude Children's Research Hospital & Wounded Warrior Project just to name a few, that I support.  With your generosity through your purchases in my stores, I am able to help those in need. I owe a mountain of gratitude to all support me, my stores & my efforts. Together we make a difference in the lives of others.  

Much gratitude.

In The Spirit of This Week of Thanksgiving...

Give Thanks

If we would spend as much time giving thanks as we do complaining, what an amazingly happy world this would be.

Another Random Act of Kindness "On The Road"

This story about a woman on a New York subway cannot go unmentioned.  I used to work in Chicago and know all too well the hustle-bustle, hurried commotion that rush hour brings. Everyone in a hurry.  No time for anything.  I also remember the homeless and how they just seemed to kind of fade into the background of commuters and travelers as they hurried to get to their next destination. The passersby seemingly oblivious, unaware or choosing to ignore the person there in front of them in dirty, ratty clothes digging in the trash or sitting on the ground against a building asking for someone to spare some change.  I remember one Christmas Eve when I was walking from work to the train a poor homeless woman sitting on the stairs to the train station as everyone hurried past her. I was moved with pity for this poor woman who sat there all alone with clearly nowhere to go or no one to share Christmas with.  I stopped gave her $1 and said Merry Christmas.  I will never forget the gentle look in her eyes and the way they lit up like I had just given her a million dollars.  I could actually feel the gratitude coming from this woman.  I write about my experience because I can relate to the woman who gave her shoes and the gentleman who gave his socks in the sense that the homeless are among us but how many people take the time to notice or more directly even want to bother to notice. My $1 does not in anyway compare to the selfless act of the woman who gave her shoes and walked 6 blocks home in socks.  Nor can I honestly say that I wouldn't think twice about taking my own shoes off for fear of stepping on something, hurting my feet or having them wet or cold.  I think it is only natural to have those thoughts but what we do with those thoughts is where true selflessness comes in and treating others as we would want to be treated  If any of us would only stop for a moment, in the middle of the madness of our rushing here and there to notice the homeless person or any person in need, and think what if that was me?  What if I was the person with no shoes? What if I was the person sitting on the stairs in dirty clothes on Christmas Eve?  Maybe just maybe it would help to move us to simply pay it forward and practice the Golden Rule.  Treating others as we ourselves would like to be treated.

Inspiration

I have been so inspired by the group of best friends @Paveitforward on Twitter that I wrote about yesterday, it has caused me to dig deeper into myself to try and emulate them, albeit on a smaller scale. Being a single mother with a child in school, I cannot pick up and travel the Country for a month although I'd really love to, it does not mean; however, that I cannot do what I can right here in my own backyard.  I really feel that this is the idea this amazing group of individuals is trying to get across. It does not matter where in the world you are, kindness is something we can and must share. Rich or poor, young or old, man or woman, it costs nothing to be kind.  It is what this world desperately needs.

Random Acts of Kindness on the Road

What the world needs, simply, is random acts of kindness to our fellow man.  Now more than ever. In a hurting and angry world where violence is becoming more and more common and the care for human life has become so blase.  For myself I have been amazed to see the reaction of a total stranger as I simply took the time to say, "have a good day" after I held the door open for them or they for me. I've actually have had people stop and look confused almost as if to say, "are you talking to me?" and a hesitation in saying, "thank you." Something so simple can make all the difference in someone's day and ultimately in the world. Kindness spreads.

On social media we find all sorts of news.  Good.  Bad.  What's hot.  What's not.  And on and on. As I was going about my day, across the Twitter feed came something that caught my attention. A group of twenty-something best friends simply calling themselves @Paveitforward.  I looked closer and found that they have taken it upon themselves to travel across the United States doing the very same thing I find myself trying to be mindful of doing, random acts of kindness.  I give them all the applause in the world when most of the time we find people who are only caring about themselves or what they can get out of a situation.  These out of the box thinkers, have taken their love of self and turned it outward doing selfless acts to make the world a little brighter.  I took a chance and thought I'd send them a message to see what exactly it is that they do since they have a site on Facebook Pave It Forward, I'm sure explaining in more detail their experiences and things that they have done but since I am not a member of Facebook, the only way for me to find out, was to reach out.  To my delight, I got a response and found that this young group of best friends from college devised a plan to take a month-long trip travelling the United States over this past summer looking for the opportunity to do something good. They made a list of challenges that they felt would be fun to do.  Dividing them into categories, silly, adventurous, altruistic, random and adventurous.  Then through their own efforts saved for and bought a used RV, money for travel expenses and then $1,000 to enable them to carry out their random acts of kindness.  These best friends simply had a plan to bring kindness to total and random strangers through simple acts and followed through.  They paid expired parking meters, paid parking tickets, gave care packages to the homeless, donated toys to children's hospitals and any place that they found a need and could do some good.  Doing random acts and expecting nothing in return, they are simply trying to change the way people treat one another.  All it takes is one.  One candle can bring light into the darkness.

It is my hope that by sharing this story about these amazing individuals that I just happened to stumble across, it will inspire others like it has me.  It truly is possible to change the world by one random act of kindness at a time.

Gratitude

In the spirit of this month of November and a time of Thanksgiving, what are you thankful for?  If we count our blessings instead of our sorrows, it is a proven fact that more good will come our way for what we think about expands.  If we all live each day with an attitude of gratitude, over time, we will watch the world change for the better.

Change Starts With Our Own Selves. Each One of Us As Individuals

In light of the most recent sad events of terrorism in Paris, I reflect on how precious life is.  Here one minute.  Gone the next.  All we ever have is the moment we are in.  We all have a choice on how we will live those moments.  I believe in the good of man.  I try to look for the good in everyone.  I believe it has to be in there somewhere in each and every one of us because God only creates good and beautiful things.  It is our free will that causes us to go astray.  If we would all just stop in the moment we are in and realize the precious gift we have been given-life what a beautiful world this would be.  Focusing on good.  Only brings more good.  Each and every one of us has the power to change the world because it starts with our own selves.  How we choose to live and conduct ourselves is ours and ours alone.  We can only control our own selves.  Looking inward instead of outward, we have the strength and power inside of ourselves to do good.  It starts with us.  I strongly believe that if we as a whole would look inside ourselves and not at what our neighbor is doing, saying or believing, in other words, live and let live.. we would find peace within ourselves, our homes and our world.

Featuring Dress for Success San Diego

This post is Featured For and In Support Of Dress for Success San Diego.  

Dress for Success San Diego is a non profit organization with a mission to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and developmental tools to help women thrive in work and life.

Women in general have an extremely tough role.  Being a wife, mother, caregiver, homemaker, employee and the list goes on they must be the source of comfort for their children and sometimes the sole breadwinner.  It is no secret that women also make less in the workplace than their male counterparts which can also pose challenges when trying to raise a family alone. It can feel sometimes like there is no way out of the hole but with a strong desire to succeed anything is possible.  Dress for Success San Diego is just one of many affiliates of the worldwide organization Dress for Success.  Being a single mother who is no stranger to being the sole breadwinner, I have found that the resources available through Dress for Success San Diego as well as all affiliates associated with Dress for Success are numerous and extremely helpful.  Not only do they help with clothing but also with job readiness and job retention.  While their inventory need is ever changing, the one thing that is always the most helpful is the monetary support they receive which helps to underwrite programs and purchase whatever clothing items are in the greatest demand at the time.  Women need support.  Dress for Success San Diego and all affiliates, not only support but empower women to be the best that they can be.

Thoughts to Share

Originally when I started this blog, it was intended to be about the struggles and difficulties of being a single parent.  I have come and gone with posting here over the years as I guess my life has changed and taken me in different directions.  It is interesting to look back and ponder over the choices we've made or where we once were in life and think, wow, I got through that experience, or how did I ever survive that "thing that happened" or I can't believe I actually went through that!  For myself, I really can take note of the things that I've been through and say without a doubt those experiences made me a more grateful, appreciative, God-centered person. At the time going through those difficulties, never in a million years did I ever think that I'd be able to find gratitude or happiness or even worship and pray as much as I find myself doing now.  Something in me changed for the better and I now find myself more conscious of others and the world around me.  I have always told my son that this world is not about us, it's about others.  We are all here to serve others, help others, put others before ourselves, all for the glory of God.

I have given some thought to this blog and resurrecting it with a change as I have changed and now be focused on what is near and dear to me, giving back.  I will still write about those challenges we face as single parents but more so now about what we are all called to do as children of God.  Give back.  Think of others.  Help others.

I hope that you will find my writing insightful and inspirational and that it will awaken in you the desire to give back if you do not currently do so or if you do, to go deeper and try and live with the attitude of gratitude and giving at the forefront of your mind.

Please feel free to comment or write to me.  I will respond.