Fingerprint Friday: Waiting Rooms

By MAD21

I recently went to a doctor's appointment with a close friend of mine. As I was in the waiting room waiting for her to come back out, I was reading a devotional book, along with a small pocket Bible, I had brought with me to read and pass the time.

I have to say my time in the waiting room was actually quite funny. There were a lot of elderly people coming and going, and their comments to each other were hilarious. But in the end it was just me and another older gentleman sitting across from me. As I sat quietly reading for several minutes, he asked me if I was carrying a Bible. I said, "Yes." He then went into a pretty great discussion about how much he loved God and his church. He'd said he had a really good relationship with his pastor and that they were "great buddies." I agreed that it was so important. I told him, "I am a mom of two little kids. I dont' know what I'd do without God."

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YOB: Adventure Alaska

By Lara

As I may have mentioned, Alaska wasn't on the Year of the Birthday list. However, it was my 30th birthday present to myself. I am rarely one to turn down an opportunity to travel. I have felt that Alaska was calling my name for a long time. I was finally able to cross it off the list in May. I was also able to be more specific about the things I want to see when I go back to Alaska.

This article would probably be about twenty pages long if I were to describe the entire trip in detail, but I still wanted to relive the highlights. Keep in mind that my goal on the trip, aside from wanting to see the breath-taking scenery, was to see both a moose and a sea otter up close and personal.

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Whose Eyes Are You Looking Through?

By Chuck (Sharing Compassion)

This past Sunday at church, our sermon was on "Entering A New Year." Our pastor challenged us to Live for Eternity & Live with Passion. Somewhere near the beginning of the service there was something he said that triggered the title of this post. I spent some time reflecting on it and thought it was a great way to begin this year....it is a question that we should all ask ourselves. It is a question that can change our focus and perspective for 2010. As far as I can determine there are really two answers to this question that really impact us.

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Works For Me Wednesday: Help! The Toys Are Taking Over!

By MAD

For this week's themed edition of WFMW, I get to turn the table on you, my reader. I get to ask, "What works for YOU?" Yay for me!

My girls are still at the young stage when their toys all take up a lot of space. Doll houses, little people houses (barnes, stables, amusement parks, train, circus, playgrounds... you get the idea), kitchen sets, dress-up clothes, big plastic cars, dress-up Elmo, dress-up Larry (veggie tale), train sets, big leggos, bouncy balls, hula-hoops, store sets, stuffed animals, and drawers full of all the assessories that go along with all this stuff.

Initially it wasn't too hard to either give toys away, or put them away until our younger daughter was old enough to want to play with them. But now our girls have similar interests and love to play with the same toys.

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Stereotypes with Stereos

By Alan

Most people who think about those who like technology usually picture the stereotypical image: someone who avoids the sun, skips physical fitness as boring, and stays on the couch playing on the computer rather than doing anything else. However, it's pretty obvious to anyone who might have ventured into a fitness center, gym, or even a YMCA, that technology plays a pretty significant part in modern physical activity.

Technology has played an primary role in organized physical fitness ever since 1952, when Dr. Robert A. Bruce, took the treadmill and stuck it under a human for stress testing of the heart and lungs. If you think about it, exercise equipment has to be able to last through thousands of repetitions, look cool, provide good behavior, all while not killing the person using the thing. Exercise provides stimulation to the heart, lungs, muscles, nerves, and even digestion. And while exercise is definitely beneficial to the brain, the act of exercising is not necessarily all that stimulating. When you run outside, at least you have the scenery changing, but running on the treadmill is... well... boring. The only scenery change will be the next sweaty person on the mill next to you, who is also disappointed in the brain stimulation going on.

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