Positive Post Tuesday-Outdoor Encounter
Randy and I have had the awesome opportunity to meet and get to know some folks doing some great things just South of Nashville. Rebecca and Ben Wynd have started the ball rolling for the creation of a recreation park in the Spring Hill area including a disc golf course, hiking trials, biking trails and a bunch of other things called Outdoor Encounter, and (imagine that) they’ve started to blog.
Growing up in Northern California I think I always took the beauty there for granted. We lived ten minutes from one of the most amazing rivers I have ever seen, and living in “nature” just seemed to be normal. Now that we have found ourselves living in the suburbs south of Nashville, more than once I have realized that I really missed nature. I miss the peacefulness of walking around a park in the trees watching the leaves fall, and families play. It’s awesome to hear the vision of Outdoor Encounter and see that align with what I think the area needs.
Here’s the deal. This is a two-fold “Positive Post Tuesday”. This time I need something more from you. If you live even remotely near the Nashville / Franklin / Spring Hill area, and I know a lot of you do, and I also know a lot of you are really into the outdoors (Randy, Spence and Jeremy), I’m asking that you start talking about this. Start blogging about it, and help the surrounding areas get excited about it. The more a community is involved in what is going on, the better that community becomes.
So for all you locals, make sure to check out Outdoor Encounter and also make sure to follow their blog. At the very least, head over there and welcome them to the neighborhood. It’s going to be a pretty cool process to watch take shape.
Happy Tuesday. Let’s make this week massive.
(WCW)
Appreciation
Appreciation is defined two ways. “Gratitude or thankful recognition”, and “An increase or rise in the value”.
Type one is the one we typically think of when we are talking about appreciating people and liking what they are doing for us. ”I appreciate all that my wife does around the house.” “I appreciate the waiter bringing my food quickly.” ”I appreciate the sacrifices my parents made to raise me.” Stuff like that. I think most people would have a pretty good grasp on what it feels like to truly “appreciate” someone in this way. Whether we show it or not is another thing, but I think we can all at least understand the idea.
Type two is defined in the value that we put on things. The “rise in value”. ”My house has appreciated twenty-five percent in five years.” ”This baseball card is appreciating more and more every year.” Things that we place value on. What is somethings “worth” and how is that appreciating.
I’ve been up since about four-thirty thinking about the word “appreciate” and I started to realize that though there are two very different ways that I have viewed this word, if I combine the meanings it takes on a completely different shape in my mind
I know, without a doubt, that I don’t express my appreciation to people as much as I should and I have realized that it’s one of the most frustrating things to me to feel under appreciated. I think we would all hate to feel like we are doing something of worth for someone and not even feel their “type one” appreciation. Let alone their acknowledgment of “type two” appreciation.
Here’s the kicker for me, (Please don’t think that I feel like I am reinventing anything here. It’s early and I’m just typing as I’m thinking) I think I would appreciate what people did for me more if I looked at it in the “type two” way. What I mean by that is simply, if I can find the value in what someone is doing, I can then appreciate it more than if I am just thankful for them doing it. Does that make sense?
If I see the value of what my wife does around the house every day, I can look at that with different eyes. Not in a monetary sense obviously, but more in the health and well-being of our home sense. If I can get past simply being grateful for what she is doing and see the real worth of it, I can appreciate it differently. The same goes with employees or co-workers. If I can see the real value of what they are doing to better a company or product, it’s helps me appreciate what they are doing more than just being thankful.
I don’t know if this is anything new to you, but to me and my quest to “appreciate” and be “appreciated” this hit me differently this morning. Try that today. Try to view the things that people are doing for you as valuable, and appreciate them in a way that acknowledges their worth. I wonder if we will see things differently.
What do you think?
40 Day Fast – Day 22 – UNICEF
Today is day twenty-two of the 40 Day Fast at InspiredToAction.com. I was able to be a part of this amazing movement last year and wrote about Compassion International. Since there are so many other folks out there talking about Compassion, I wanted to take the time to focus on another organization who’s primary focus is children.
According to Wikipedia: The United Nations Children’s Fund (or UNICEF) was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II. In 1953, UNICEF became a permanent part of the United Nations System and its name was shortened from the original United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund but it has continued to be known by the popular acronym based on this old name. Headquartered in New York City, UNICEF provides long-term humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries.
UNICEF is currently focused on five primary priorities: Child Survival and Development, Basic Education and Gender Equality (including girls’ education), Child protection from violence, exploitation, and abuse, HIV/AIDS and children, and Policy advocacy and partnerships for children’s rights. Related areas of UNICEF action include early childhood development, adolescence development and participation, life skills based education and child rights all over the world.
In my opinion, there isn’t much more of a worthy cause than to focus on the children of this world. I know we’ve all heard that children are our future, almost to the point of becoming a little cliche’, but the fact of the matter is, there are too many kids being forgotten by my generation and the generation before me. There are too many problems in the world and many of them are simply falling on kids because of the laziness of the generation before them. I see that as an issue that my generation has created and with that comes the responsibility to fix some things.
One of the things I love about UNICEF is it’s willingness to get involved in so many different aspects of the world. From sanitation and clean water in East Timor, to malaria nets in Malawi, UNICEF isn’t afraid to get their hands dirty and ask the same from anyone willing to get involved. In over one hundred and fifty countries and operating for over sixty years UNICEF has helped develop simple, affordable, and innovative solutions to complicated problems. A few examples: birthing kits to help women have safe deliveries; oral rehydration salts to treat diarrheal dehydration in children; portable School-in-a-Box kits to make classes possible almost anywhere; and solar-powered cold storage units to transport vaccines to remote villages. All of these are now in standard use by many humanitarian organizations, saving millions of children’s lives.
I know there are plenty of organizations out there that are helping children and I think it’s important to get aligned with something. There’s no reason at all anyone with the ability to read this post wouldn’t be involved in the effort to save the lives of children. UNICEF is one of the hundreds of ways to get involved. The 40 Day Fast has been, and continues to be, an amazing venue for the Church as a whole to lay aside differences and get involved in things that really matter, and when that happens I believe lives are changed and a difference is made. Thanks for letting me be a part.
Now make sure to check out Lori’s post today as the second part of this movement.
In Case You Forgot
Just wanted to remind everyone we are still trying to build some wells in Africa through the work of Blood Water Mission. So far the response has been great, but I know there are plenty of other folks out there that wanted to give.
Remember my piss-poor math? Ten bucks a month, or thirty bucks for three months because we are trying to give enough for two wells every three months. With the amount of readers here we should be able to get that done in no time. Obviously there is no penalty for giving more, so do that if you wish.
Click that giant, obvious orange box over there on the right and enter the amount you want to donate, or head over to Jesus>Thirst and get a shirt, where the proceeds will go into the pot. Remember, June 1st is the day that I am sending the check. It’s not too close right now, but I don’t see why it can’t be a lot closer by that date, so let’s get on it. Everyone here has some cash laying around that can go to help save some lives.
Ready? Go.
Village Care International
A group of folks from my home church in California is taking off tomorrow and headed for Uganda with an organization called Village Care International.
Staff member, Sally Lunetta writes:
“Among other things, they will be presenting our 3-day “Outcomes, Practices and Open Space” training to the Lugazi Community Primary School in Lugazi, Uganda. This school has over 300 orphans in their orphanage and over 1200 students in the school. The training is presented to help the community get mobilized and achieve the outcomes we want for all children: to be safe, healthy, living in a loving home, attending and doing well in school and behaving well in their community.”
Pray for them and their travels. Pray that they can accomplish what they set out to do and make sure to check out their site and see what they are all about.
