200%

In the US, they say that a family needs to make 200% of the poverty guidelines to live a "sustainable" life. Our family makes $9,000 LESS a year then the 200%.
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The above is just for informational sake. I am not sure what the 200% and sustainable life really means, I will have to look into that more

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Over the next several weeks, I am going to make some posts dealing with poverty.

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Did you know that in our county ( county of 115,000 ) that we have 3,700 children who live in poverty (100% guideline or less) and have only a mom ?

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Did you know that in our (my) county that 1 out of 5 adults over the age of 25 does not have their hs diploma or a GED ?

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Did you know that 11,000+ people in our county live in poverty at the 100% rate ?

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Some of the blogging is going to come under the following guidelines:

ending poverty in our nation, in our lifetime (until it's gone)

Sarah Palin's Church

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, her husband Todd and up to 1,000 fellow parishoners will worship in a local school this morning after a suspicious fire virtually destroyed the Wasilla Bible Church early Saturday.

The Rev. Larry Kroon said some parishoners were in the church on Nicola Avenue at the time the fire was noticed but no one was injured. Firefighters battled for about eight hours in minus-20 degree temperatures to completely extinguish the blaze that began at the front door.

The former Republican vice presidential candidate went to the church Saturday to apologize to pastors in case the estimated $1 million fire damages, suspected as arson, were "in any way connected to the undeserved negative attention the church has received" since the governor's involvement with John McCain's presidential campaign.

The 30-year-old congregation in Wasilla, about 40 miles north of Anchorage, had moved into its new church just 30 months ago. Church officials said they expect to hold services at the Wasilla Middle School for the foreseeable future during repairs

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I surely hope that someone did not "arson" the church building because of her.

God Has Given You A Weapon

The video that you are about to watch (if you so choose) is very disturbing in my opinion. It is the type of video that makes me sick and my stomache turn.

This video s why some people have a ery bad taste in their mouth regardng Christianity.Yes,tose who lve the video and the message will argue that we have a vital message and we must get it out ......

But, I contend that we can do it without this gabage.

Watch and Give me feedback. Maybe, I am wrong .....

I Have No Clue What To Title This Post

But, I think that I can safely say that he did support Obama.

Whoever did the haircut should be commended, they did a good job. I am not sure if I could/would pull off that look.

How about you ?

Theology: Who Is Right ?

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I took this from Mark who took it from Lionel
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I Love This.

Yes, I know there will be many who visit who will say, "no imposible for me to be wrong because I follow Scripture"

Abundant Living

Abundant living means embracing and engaging the world around us.

On December 19th Jim Carrey returns to the cineplex in the comedy Yes Man. The film is adapted from Yes Man, the unintentional self-help book that tracks one year of humorist author Danny Wallace’s life after a stranger on a late-night bus suggests
that he should “say yes more.”

In order to make his life more interesting, Wallace pledges not just to say yes more—but to say yes to everything: “I, Danny Wallace, being of sound mind and body, do hereby write this manifesto for my life. I swear I will be more open to opportunity. I swear I will live my life taking every available chance. I will say Yes to every favour, request, suggestion and invitation. I will swear to say yes where once I would say no.”

We need to find ways to say yes to life, to relationships, and to engaging God’s world more fully. But we cannot say yes to everything, and there is still a place for saying no. Danny Wallace’s approach to life, choosing to say yes to everything without thought or consideration, comes with plenty of problems.

Wallace must have been aware of this fact; in Yes Man he enlists a close friend, Ian, to make sure that none of the ventures are too wild. While we should not close ourselves off from the world by consistently saying no, we must use wisdom and discernment before saying yes.

I know that to a few individuals that I have been saying "yes" to too many things. As, I look back at the last few months, I have definitely took on a few more things and with "Bridges" coming around the corner, this will definitely be the case.

However, I am doing so - saying yes - with a purpose in my. Recently, I saw some talking points (3) and I believe they are "fitting" to me. Here they are:

Talk Topic #1: The Habits of No
KEY POINT: If we make a habit of saying no to new experiences and opportunities, we may miss out on the abundant life that God desires for us.

Talk Topic #2: The Power of Yes
KEY POINT: Saying yes means actively engaging and embracing God’s children and God’s creation.

Talk Topic #3: Saying Yes to God
KEY POINT: Theres a difference between constantly saying yes and saying yes to God. When we say yes to God, we are actually saying yes to God’s will for our
lives, even if this means sometimes saying no.

Also, I have recently had a scripture come to mind that has really grapped a hold of my heart strings. Throughout my life, during different periods, there were certain Scriptures that "drove" me. Here is the one that is my driving force:

Proverbs 31:9 (The Message)

"Speak up for the people who have no voice, for the rights of all the down-and-outers. Speak out for justice! Stand up for the poor and destitute!"

I want to be the "voice" for those who do not have a voice or am not sure how to use their voice.

Do You Have A Pair of High Heels?

So, we just finished dinner ......

Jacob (9) says, "mom, do you have high heels"

Mom says, " umm, why do you want to know "

Jacob says, " umm, I just want to see if I can walk in them"

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Gotta love dinner conversations

Not Walking & Gaining Weight

I have not been walking as much in the last 4 weeks. Granted, I am still putting a lot of steps in. However, my calorie intake the previous 8 weeks have been used. Thus, with the holidays and being "use" to eating that much, I have continued.

Well, my steps are down, my metabolism has "adjusted" and the weight is coming back on. Now, I am still a good 40 pounds down from my high. But, I know that if I continue to gain 1 pound a week and not watch, that this time next fall, I could be back up there.

It is time to "reign" this back it. I need to get back to W&W. No, not weight watchers .. but water (drinking) and walking (high total).

So, here we go, yesterday and today were not high step totals but starting tomorrow, it is recommit. To recommit, I need to get to the Gault. Walking in the snow and cold is just not working.

For those of you curious, I am on my way back from New Orleans.

Bridges of Hope

I am really looking forward to the organization that I am going to be partnering with in Wayne County. In the next few weeks, I will be sharing more news on the organization and what aspects that I will get to help out in.

To give a quick summary though, we are going to be attempting to build an extensive network of individuals, businesses, non-profit agencies and government agencies that will team up with families who are wanting to move out of poverty.

These families will have to make a significant commitment to wanting to end the vicious cycle that they are facing. This "program" has huge potential and I am really excited to be part of this new initiative.

This past week, I have been involved in two meetings that have been very beneficial in making sure that the success of the program will happen. The first meeting was where the Director of Bridges spoke to the Wooster Area of Interfaith Partnership (WAIP) and the second meeting was the Guiding Coalition Info Meeting. This meeting was designed for potential "board of directors".

The next key date for us as an organization will be December 17th. I look forward to that date and on/after that date, I should be able to share a lot more information.

Tommy Tuberville to WVU

Hey, let me be the first to start the rumor.

Bill Stewart is out and even though Tuberville had a rough year, he has a great track-record at Auburn.

So, Coach Bill resigns at the end of the year and Tuberville comes in. Tommy, leave your current offense guys behind and come and bring back the offense that you had down in the 2003-2006.

We can have a nice guy and a great coach.

Coach Bill, you seem to be a fantastic guy, but you are not a BIG TIME coach.

Let's get the ball rollin' and try to turn WVU ball back around.