Curb Appeal

There is such a thing as curb appeal and at the moment is something that our house lacks.  Someday, we will remove these bushes and update our landscaping, but right now, this is what other people see when they look at the front of my house, but not me. Hidden within these sparse, dying bushes is a treasure, not something that we have planted or planned, but a bounty that is God given. A simple seed dropped by a bird to produce a flourishing black raspberry bush.  

Yes, they are hard to get to. I get scratched and my clothes get hung up on the thorns. But, what I love about this picture is that it proves the statement, "You can't judge a book by its cover." Or a house by its curb appeal, because there could be, and most likely are, treasures that you can't see.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

As I turn the page and enter my forty-first year I look back at how I've changed, or should I say, how God has changed me...

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? ...

 The Bible says, Do not worry about your body.... 

In my twenties and thirties I agonized over my weight, wishing I was thinner. I remember when on a date with my husband, after I had had my second child and barely fit into a size fourteen, crying and wishing God had made me differently. I wonder how many times I have looked in the mirror and hated what I saw, basically telling God that there was fault in his creation. How many times I have told him that I was not " fearfully and wonderfully made." 

The Bible says, Do not worry about what you will wear...

In my twenties and thirties, I would change my outfit five or more times most days, because I didn't know who I wanted to be in that moment. Did I want to look cool and casual, sophisticated, girly, or tough, all the traits that I as a woman already embody, but I would worry about what outfit or jewelry would best portray the personality of the day, and how the world would see me.

God asks, "Isn't life more than outward appearances?"

I love how God uses birds as an example of being fully dependent on Him...birds are beautiful, they are all unique, and they each have a different song to sing. Much like people. But, a chickadee doesn't desire a robin's red breast or when nibbling on a seed think, "I can only eat the sunflower seeds because all the other seeds will make me fat." They know and trust that they are cared for and they know that they are "fearfully and wonderfully made."

God asks us..."Are you not much more valuable than they?" 

I have a post-it note on my mirror that reminds me everyday that I am fearfully and wonderfully made and that no matter, shape or size, I am who He intends me to be. My body is not my identity and my clothes do not convey my personality, God does. 

Seek Ye First

"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you."

My mother taught me this verse, as a song, when I was a child. I would sing it in Old English using the words ye and shall, in the car, in the bath, in the backyard, it didn't matter where I was or who heard me. Over the years my voice grew quiet and I became aware that people might hear me, and eventually I stopped singing all together. A gift of a voice, unused, became silent.

This morning in my quiet time, which honestly as of late has become increasingly sporadic, God reminded me of my childhood lullaby. As I contemplated the words I was reminded why they were so special to me, when God comes first everything else falls into place. As I sat in quiet reflection and thanked God for bringing back this childhood memory, I sang, a voice no longer silent.

Sokanu an aid to find your new career

The other day I was surfing the internet and ran across "Sokanu," a website that matches a person, via a simple test, with their perfect career. Intrigued, I took the test.

It was simple and short which is always appreciated and at the end I was given interesting career choices. My first career match, at 100 percent compatibility, was a singer. I used to sing in my high school choir and had even graced audiences with solos and I admit that once or twice I entertained the idea of becoming a professional singer, but faced with reality, that job was not for me.

My second career choice, at 99.8 percent, was a musician.

The third was a woodworker at 99.6 percent, and the forth a farmer at 99.2 percent. I had other intriguing options as well, stock clerk, air crew officer, and last but not least, and the option that entertained me the most was circus performer. Given that information I asked my family to forgive me because I had found my true calling, I was going to join the circus.

Did Sokanu help me find a career? The answer is no because I took the test just for fun. It would be helpful however for people who are just starting out in the job market or looking for a career change. Sokanu is the website to visit. It not only matches you with compatible career choices, it gives you guidance on how to achieve your goal through practical advice and tools.

Sokanu was founded in November 2012, and claims to be, "the most modern career test created, it is not the old fashioned bubble sheet you had to fill out in high school." Sokanu uses "Choice Architecture" which according to Wikipedia is "a term that is used to describe the different way in which choices can be presented to consumers, and the impact of that presentation on consumer decision making."

How does it work? "When you answer a question on Sokanu, they calculate how you answer and how it relates to one of the 186 traits they measure."

Is there a cost? "The Sokanu core career test is free but offers a premium tier of $60.00 for lifetime access."

If you are ready to discover your career options, or to find out if you are capable of become a circus performer too, visit...www.sokanu.com

Apple Pusher's? Who are they? Here's their Story...

When I watched the documentary “Apple Pushers”, I was appalled to learn about the phenomena, “food deserts.” From the documentary, I learned that some inner cities of America, particularly New York, had quickly become “food deserts” after World War II, because of suburbanization. I had never heard of the term and it seemed extreme. Isn’t a desert a barren wasteland? This couldn’t possibly happen in America, the land of plenty. Or could it?

            I am from rural Vermont where produce is abundant and I naively assumed all Americans have a supermarket nearby to purchase fresh food. After all, the Center for Disease Control recorded that 72.5 million American’s are obese; no matter where we live, country, city, or suburb we obtain our food from somewhere. The deep contrast between the two epidemics seemed odd.  

            After I watched the documentary I learned the working middle class moved out of the urban areas, and the grocery stores left with them. Fresh foods from supermarkets were unattainable by those still living in the urban areas, because of the distance and lack of transportation. In place of supermarkets, fast food and convenient stores popped up on every street corner, offering the people affordable, but unhealthy food options. Bottom line, America is the land of plenty just as I had ascertained. But, the options offered to the people are deficient of nutrition, and fresh produce was no longer available, explaining the rise in obesity.

Did you know? 23.5 million Americans don’t have a supermarket within 1 mile.

            But there is a silver lining to this story….

            Spring 2008, the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund started the NYC Green Cart initiative, which helped launch, with the help of Mayor Bloomberg and the NYC Council, 1,000 new street vending permits. This has enabled entrepreneurs, such as the five immigrants in the documentary “Apple Pushers”, to sell fresh fruits and vegetables to those who live in New York urban areas. For more information about the green cart initiative go to,www.nyc.gov/greencarts.com, and watch “Apple Pushers” for a better understanding on this topic.