Help the Homeless Walk & 5K

On Saturday, November 12, 3PM, the Help the Homeless Walk & 5K will be held at the Fair Park Band Shell.  Funds raised benefit The Bridge homeless assistance center.  It’s a great event for the entire family.  In addition to getting our daily exercise, there will be lots of fun, food and music. 

·         The North Texas Patriot Guard will lead off both the walk and run.
·         The presentation of colors will be led by the 4^th Air Wing Honor Guard, Texas State Guard
·         Slappy and Monday (from Slappy’s Puppet Playhouse fame) will be on hand…a great opportunity for the kids to say ‘hi’ to the affable clowns. 
·         Dallas’ favorite band, Emerald City, will be bringing us the toe tapping tunes.   
·         Great, free food samples from Tiff’s Treats (yummy cookies), Little Caesar’s, Community Coffee, Pepsi, Powerade, Clif Bars, and Frito Lay.
·         Fun, interactive games, face painting and more!

For the $5 discount, those interested may use the code VETS.  Enter the code at Question #5 during registration.

For more info and to register go to: http://helpthehomelessdallas.org/

We have a Winner

Congrats to Adam G. who won a Family Four Pack to Disney Live!

http://neveradullmama.blogspot.com/2011/10/and-winner-is.html

Listening for a Legacy

The holidays provide a wonderful opportunities to get together with older relatives and hear stories from their lives. Biographies are a treasure house of lessons learned, fields full of wisdom that can be gleaned from the good and bad decisions of someone else.

My parents always encouraged me to ask questions that will help me understand the perspectives of others and I guess that has factored into my pursuing a degree in psychology and my love of acting. I spent three and a half years as a probation counselor to juveniles. As a part of the job, I would interview families and create a social history. This was my favorite and also saddest part of the job because as you might imagine, most of the family sagas were filled with dysfunction. For instance, the most violent offender on my case load took great pride in the fact that a great grandfather had killed another man with a frozen fish! I'm sure we all have a few black sheep in our family trees and I thank the Lord that his grace can deliver us from negative family baggage. Thankfully, most of us have at least a few  family members who set a great example.

Okay, I have a few suggestions for you to consider as you get together with family during the holidays. Consider setting down and recording some stories with some of those who may be approaching the final seasons of their lives. Jot notes, use the voice recorder built into your cellphone, or the video recorder, or a camcorder. Use your cellphone or a scanner to copy some of their important photos. Ask lots of questions and listen, listen, listen.You will probably laugh, cry, and learn many things that you never knew and be reminded of things that you have forgotten.

If you have the means, consider hiring a media professional, like me (unashamed self-promotion) to shoot an interview or edit your clips and photos into a presentation for your family. These make unique and meaningful gifts and can often be used in a powerful way at memorial services when our loved ones pass on.

If you are like me, too often we spend too much time at family get togethers, eating and fussing over the food and clean up, or talking about the weather and watching the game. Resolve now to prayerfully seize the opportunity to listen for your legacy so that you can pass it on.

Return to the Hiding Place

Lori and I had a real treat yesterday when we heard Peter Spencer speak at the Dallas Christian Media Association meeting. Mr. Spencer shared how his friendship with one of the members of Corrie Ten Boom's "young army" of Dutch resistance during WWII lead to the creation of the film Return to the Hiding Place.

Mr. Spencer, the Director/Executive Producer, spoke of a fourteen year process of seeing his vision for the film grow from concept to script to reality. The production is a true family affair with one daughter serving as producer, one daughter acting in the film, the assistance of a son, and Mrs. Spencer spending countless hours assisting with the extensive period wardrobe.

We enjoyed several clips from the film and I'm convinced that Peter Spencer's passion for story telling has resulted in a masterful presentation of people at their best and worst.

It is evident that Mr. Spencer and his team have done a wonderful job completing the painstaking research involved in creating a film that is historically accurate and true to the philosophies and motives of the real people who lived this drama. The dialogue is thought provoking and profound especially the scenes that involve  John Rhys-Davies.

Several years ago, my wife  Lori and I had the pleasure of spending a few hours escorting Jeanette Clift George from Wichita Falls to the DFW airport. Ms. George is the actress who played Corrie Ten Boom in the original film The Hiding Place. She is a delightful person as is Mr. Spencer.

It is sad and almost beyond belief that something as horrific as the holocaust could be forgotten. Especially for me, growing up with a Jewish heritage (my grandparents were Goldstein and Abramson) and seeing the photos of my father's two brothers in their army air corp uniforms, photos that were taken a few months before their bombers were shot down over Germany and the English channel. Films like Return to the Hiding Place play a vital role.

Follow Return to the Hiding Place at http://hidemovie.blogspot.com/ and http://www.hide-movie.com/

Here are the pics I promised!

This is my new "Waring Harp." I just love it! My four year old son, Jonathan requests that I play "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." (I play it as if I were playing "Beethoven's Fifth" in a huge concert hall)!

This is my Dad, "Supervising" while my daughter Janna, works on assembling the harp. It was a family project. My dear husband helped as well.

A "Harp" Deferred... Part 3

I received my package from "Waring Harps," that included the kit with all the pieces for the harp. I was excited! We ended up taking the kit to Oklahoma with us for Christmas. My Dad graciously offered his help and his very clean and organized garage for our harp construction. I was very grateful. He had all the tools I needed. So my Dad, me, my husband and my daughter Janna, all worked on various aspects of the harp building process. It was a lot of fun! Plus, it was a blessing to have a nice instrument that was made with the love from many family members. :o) I was also able to purchase a nice tuner. Although this harp stays tuned pretty well, as with most instruments, they have to be tuned frequently and for me, a digital tuner is a must! I have some pictures of the construction that I would like to add here, but I am unable to transfer them from my cell phone to my computer...ugh! I will post the pictures as soon as I'm able.

A "Harp" Deferred...! Part 2

After looking around, I couldn't find any decent harps in the "dirt cheap" category...(surprise, surprise)! The least inexpensive harps I could find (other than a lap harp...and that was out of the question), were the Heather Harps, produced by "Mid East Manufacturers." However, I read many articles and blogs advising against these harps because they are poorly made, etc. I was not to be discouraged though, so I pressed on...

To my surprise, I ran across an article where someone recommended "Waring Harps." He said they are harp kits that you put together yourself. He went on to say, that for a homemade harp, these have a clear sound! That piqued my interest! In looking for a harp, you want one with a clear sound.

Although I don't consider myself an expert "Harp builder," after looking on the website, etc., I decided that this was the harp for me! I was excited! :o) I called Mr. Waring and talked to him in person. He was very nice. When inquiring about a case for the harp, I found out that he has custom-made cases for an additional amount. I did read where someone said, if you buy a harp such as this, you definitely want a case to protect it. Well, with 11 children, when I spend that much money, I would HAVE to have protection for it! Besides, having a case for any harp is a good idea even in ideal circumstances. 

I ended up having enough money to purchase the harp, a custom-made case and a "Sylvia Woods-Learning to Play the Folk Harp" book!  Mr. Waring also has a "learning to play the folk harp book" and it is a very good book, that I highly recommend.

Stay tuned, (pun intended) for my next blog installment where I will share the details about building and tuning my new harp!