Chariots of Fire - The Rest of the Story

I just finished watching a very interesting and powerful documentary on Eric Liddell about whom the movie Chariots of Fire was made. If you have never seen it I highly recommend it. (for those who haven't seen it, Eric L. was a Scottish runner who refused to run in the 1924 (I think)Olympics because the race he was scheduled to run in was on Sunday. Ultimatly he ran in another race that was usually not his strong point and he won gold.) After the Olympics he actually returned to his birthplace of China as a missionary where his parents were still missionaries and the documentary is about what happened in his life after Chariots of Fire left off. His life was cut short, he was only 43 when he died, but he ran strong for the Lord until the end. I can only hope that I will be remembered in some small way by the people I have known as having possesed even a small amount of the character virtues that he is remembered for. How did he do it? Mainly by forgetting himself and putting his whole heart into his personal touch for others and the Lord. I fall so short so often....

"In the end everyone's life is reduced to two dates with a dash in the middle. What matters most is how we live the dash in the middle."

If anyone want to borrow the DVD let me know. I will be happy to loan it out.

I Love My Job

Ok well so I have more than one job but my newest job at the nursing home continues to grow more wonderful by the shifts (I only work 2-4 a week). I usually laugh a lot with my residents, sometimes I sing with and to them, I hold their hands and listen to their stories when I have a free moment, enjoy putting lotion on their feet and watching them sink into happy land with a foot massage and just generally enjoy myself even if I do have a lot of smelly briefs to change. But tonight something incredible happened and I am still very touched. I had just finished changing this one very nice, elderly christian man one last time before I got shift and I was standing there holding his hand, saying goodnight and about ready to leave when he told me he wanted to pray for me. I wasn't sure I heard right so I asked him again what he said and indeed he wanted to pray for me. Of course I agreed and he prayed a wonderfuul prayer for me that I would be kept strong, not subject to the illnesses going around, that I would hae a good night rest and be prepared for whatever the new day held and that I would be ready to return and be the light in the darkness that I am each time I come to the center. He also prayed for his roommate who is ill and quoted several verses along the way. It was a truely touching prayer and I was very surprised. It maybe a demanding job and I may have to give a lot while I am there but in so many ways the residents give back so much in their own way and this was just the cherry on top for today! What a wonderful way to end the Sabbath!

Stepping Out

Imagaine being a little tired and opening the door to this bathroom!

Photos

To anyone that hasn't already seen them or is interested I have pretty much finally gotten the photos from our trip and since then caught up in albums now. The webshots site has been having problems so I haven't been able to get them quite as organized as I would like but at least they are up. I will try and work on the arranging them as I can and the site cooperates but in the meantime, happy viewing! Feed back is always welcome too!

How do you spend your time?

The average day in 2004
On an "average day" in the U.S. in 2004, persons age 15 and older slept about 8.6 hours, spent 5.2 hours doing leisure and sports activities, worked for 3.7 hours, and spent 1.8 hours doing household activities.
The remaining 4.7 hours were spent in a variety of other activities, including eating and drinking, attending school, and shopping.

The American Time Use Survey collects data about daily activities from all segments of the population age 15 and over, including persons who are employed, unemployed, or not in the labor force (such as students or retirees). Data are collected for both weekdays and weekends. Thus, "average day" measures developed for the entire population reflect the average distribution of time across all persons and days.
On an average weekday, in comparison, persons employed full time spent 9.2 hours working, 7.5 hours sleeping, 3.0 hours doing leisure and sports activities, and 0.9 hour doing household activities. The remaining 3.4 hours were spent in other activities, such as those described above.

The American Time Use Survey is the source of these data on time use. You can find out more about how various segments of population spent their time in American Time Use Survey - 2004 , news release USDL 05-1766. These data are for persons 15 years old and over.

Mushroom Hunting

Yesterday mom and I and some friends went on what is becoming our traditional one afternoon Chantrelle hunt up the mountain behind their house. I suppose if you don't like mushrooms it might not be too much fun but I really enjoy this little outing every year. It's like a treasure hunt. We go into the woods behind their house, head over to a creek and then start climbing straight up through the woods till we get to the area where the mushrooms usually grow. From there we fan out and it's always fun to see who finds the first one hiding under leaves or next to a fallen log or under moss. This year I found the least but I also found a Cauliflower Mushroom which is good eating too so that sort of made up for it! I tried to take a photo of a few of them before I picked them but the camera batteries were dying and they were hollering at me to hurry up because they were ready to head down so unfortunately I didn't get one to post. It's fun though and I suggest if you ever get the chance to go. I find something wonderful in wandering through the woods, smelling the damp woods smells, looking for hidden morsels, singing hymns to myself as I slowly meander around searching, searching for spots of orange in the dark forest floor. (The singing part is optional!)