Life's Greatest Lessons

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:"

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".
26. Always choose life.
27. Forgive everyone everything.
28. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
32. Believe in miracles.
33. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
34. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
35.. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
36. Your children get only one childhood.
37. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
38. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere..
39. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd
grab ours back.
40. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
41. The best is yet to come.
42. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
43. Yield.
44. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift

10-0 Baby!!

ACU finished our season today at Shotwell Stadium by defeating Midwestern State University in a smashdown. It was the first time in 30 years that we've had a perfect season. The only time in history we've had a perfect season was the same season we won the National Championship. We're still ranked #2 in the Nation for all of DII football. 

We'll start the second round of the playoffs two weeks from today with home field advantage. Get ready for Florence, AL on Saturday Dec. 13, 2008!

Go Wildcats! 

here's life...

Yes, I know...it's been a ridiculously long time since I've written anything on here. The blog has definitely gotten the shaft over the past few months. I got swamped with work at Impact this summer and didn't have any time to spare. This trickled over to being at home and working lots in August, which has then brought me to almost 4 weeks of school being done before I realized that I've neglected this (obviously) vital part of life. So here goes an update of how things are for me...

College- School is in full swing and 16 hours has treated my nicely so far. All my classes (minus one) are on Tuesdays & Thursdays. That's 8-3. I've got an 8 o'clock on MWF, which keeps me having to get out of bed at the same time each day (which is usually about 7:40). I'm in a marketing class which I love, and a philosophy class that I don't understand. But it's fun an

d not a terrible schedule, so who could complain. 

Work- I'm still working at the Friendship House for right now. So much has changed there and it's really different, but I'm still a part of it, at least for a while. We'll see how things go. I miss how things used to be, but it's still about loving people and I'm still about loving people too. Pray for all of this if you will. There is a new kid that I think God's placed him there because he needs someone to count on and be there for him.

Church- I love Southern Hills. My church here is rockin and I love my community there. I've gotten really involved with the campus ministry there recently and it's such a blessing. I feel like I've finally started to be used by God in ways that I've never been before. Such a good group.

Not Chile- Perhaps you've heard, but Chile is no longer on the horizon for me, at least for as far as I can see. I spoke with the team and shared with them what's been on my heart. It was really tough to make this decision, but I could feel God tugging at my heart to do something else. What is that something else? Not too sure, but I know there is something just right for me coming around the bend. 

Grad School- This is the season for applying to grad schools. Here's what I'm looking at so far. Masters in Social Work at: University of Houston, Baylor, University of Texas (sssss), and University of Texas at Arlington. Masters of Urban Planning: Texas A&M. Masters of Public Service & Administration: Texas A&M. First step, need to take the GRE before I can apply! That's only 180 dollars. 

Birthday- I'm 22. Isn't that weird? I feel like I'm an old man. And I'm also getting more and more gray hairs. Awesome. Got to go home last weekend and spend some time with the family.

Houston- I've been thinking alot about those in Houston affected by Ike. I think I might need

 to make a trip down there soon and help out if I can. I miss them! Keep praying. 

I guess that's all. Nothing much new here. Just going through the motions and enjoying my last year at ACU. Keep in touch and have a blessed day! 

Inspiring Speech for YOU!

Check this out. Pretty incredible!

http://www.dallasisd.org/keynote.htm

VBS Week One!

This is just half of my kids for the summer.

Well, we just finished our first official week of Impact VBS 2008. It has sure been a crazy ride, these past few days. How can I describe how this past week went? I think the best way is to list a bunch of words that are on my mind. Some of these include but are not limited to the following: wonderful, tiring, long, intense, exciting, crazy, busy, exhausting, never-ceasing, amazing, surprising, testing, and blessed.

So much has happened over the past week that I want to share, but I know as soon as I finish this post, there will be an infinite amount of things to write that I will have forgotten. The week began at 6:30 Monday morning when I rolled out of bed in excitement of what this day would hold. The first thoughts that passed through my head were these: Father, I need you. Stay with me this day. This definitely set the tone for the coming days.

The Irvington Village Bus!

When the kids arrived, they were thrilled to be at VBS. Many of them haven't been around Impact for nearly a year...VBS last summer. Can I tell you a secret? Well, I was WAY nervous on Monday to get in front of the kids. I don't know why. I do this stuff all the time. As I made announcements and got them pumped about the day, I quickly fell into my groove and it became natural.

Some of them were "newscasters" at the Museum.

We had our first successful field trip on Tuesday afternoon to the Children's Museum of Houston. It could not have gone better. They had a blast. We made it back safely with every kid. What a feat! The day became longer as my interns taught kids Tuesday evening for the mid-week Hispanic worship service. They were troopers for making it through this 14 hour day.

Damion & Cory. These boys are BAD. I love em.

Wednesday was a tough one. There were a few moments during the morning that I thought I might not make it through. The lack of sleep and high-stress atmosphere of being in charge left me feeling slightly frazzled. But thankfully, God provided a sense of peace and energy that got me going.

Diamond...bein all cute

Thursday afternoon brought us some rainy skies that prevented us from going to this cool park downtown for our field trip. But we made it work and stayed at the building to watch The Land Before Time. This was an all-time favorite of mine. By Thursday night, I could hardly see straight. Needless to say, I slept in yesterday morning and today (which means about 8:30 or 9, ha).

Yesterday was SO awesome. I got up and went to the movies with one of the youth groups that helped us from Memphis. Then I went to a friend's apartment to sit by the pool and read/get some sun. Then finally, I met Deanna out in the Woodlands to go to a nice relaxing dinner. It was a perfect day to get refreshed. You've gotta have those when you go, go, go all week with these awesome and crazy kids.

Keep praying. We cannot do what we do without you.

broken buses, bubbling beaches & birthday boys

For any of you who are interested in following up with how Mike is doing...he came back the next day with a huge smile on his face. He was happy to be at reading camp and seemed to have a much better day following his possible trouble at home. Thanks for your prayers.


The past few days have been a definite blessing to me. Tuesday and Wednesday were family nights at Impact. Tuesday was spent with some 100 Spanish speaking families as we introduced our summer program and what was in store. Wednesday night was expected to have decreased involvement, but God blew us away with a packed house. I thought I might only have two or three families from my neighborhood to pick up, but I ended up with two packed van loads and had to make two trips.

Broken Buses: On the way home Wednesday night, we decided to take a bus, rather than make two trips to take families home. What a great idea, right? No. Bad idea. Very bad idea. To start things off, our bus stalled as we were politely singing "Jesus Loves Me" on the bus. We fixed it quickly and thought we were low on fuel. A few minutes later, we get a call from Dennis that his bus is broken over by Minute Maid Park. His was overheated as we spent about an hour working it our. God provided a water hose spout directly next to where he was broken down at. Thank goodness that we were able to mend the radiator hose and get back to the church safely. Needless to say, it was a long day (and week for that matter).


Beach: Friday could not have come soon enough. Myself, a few interns, and some teens took the early part of the day to relax in Galveston in the muddy waters. There were a lot of waves and it was free, so there was no right to complain. The night ended by spending the evening in Clear Lake with a few old friends from ACU.


Birthday Boys: On Saturday, Gabby and I took SeDarious and his two brothers Damion and DeAngelo to Zuma Fun Center, which is basically the same thing as Celebration Station. They had a blast. It was great to see them riding Go-Karts, doing the Bumper Boats, and attempting to play mini-golf. I have a feeling that we are starting to spoil them. But they need it. Who will show them that they are worth a day out if someone doesn't take them? Damion just found out he is being held back in school for the second time in a row. He needs some serious prayers as he learns and grows and acts out during his hard times.

Friends: On a side note, I was SO glad to spend the weekend with some very good friends. Cassie came into town and I we got to see Kelly and Julie. I also got to go to First Colony CofC this morning and was refreshed to be worshiping with good friends in a "close-to-home" way.

This week marks our official start to VBS. We'll spend the next 4 days working on throwing everything together before we get about 400 kiddos for the rest of the summer. I'll definitely be needing prayers for energy, patience, leadership, communication, rest, and joy as we work together to create something lasting for these children.

Mike and his mom

Yesterday was a tough one. Leaving for the afternoon is not always an easy thing for our children. For many of them, church is the only safe place they can run to and count on. Some of them have no consistency in their lives and very little positive relationships to turn to. For Mike, reading camp has been his safe haven over the past couple weeks.

As we were leaving on our van routes, all 15 kids were loaded and ready to go...except for one. Mike didn't want to get on. In fact, he refused to get on. First he wouldn't put his shoes on because there was a little glitter in them. Then he started getting fired up about a little glue and glitter that had gotten on his shirt.

After a few minutes of trying to figure out why this was such a big deal (and it wasn't about being OCD or anythng) he began to cry. Tears began falling as we coaxed him toward the van. A few feet futher, he planted himself on the ground and started balling. I talked to him for a bit, and figured out that he was not going to go home with anything that caused his clothes to appear dirty.

"My mom told me that I would be in big trouble if I get my clothes dirty." We cleaned the little guy up. The glitter was gone, and there wasn't a remnant of anything dirty. This still didn't satisfy Mike's peace of mind. I promised to talk to his mom and that it would be ok. He cried all the way home.

"Are you Mike's mom?"... "Yes, what did he do!?" I spoke with his mom and told her what a great kid she has. I told her she should be proud of him because he does such a great job and is such a bright little dude.

How scary it must be to go home in fear of loved ones. How do 8 year olds endure such hardship and trials of abuse? Surely God has provided these little ones with a faith and hope that goes much farther than this world. They are already stronger than I might ever be to keep moving on each day. Pray for Mike. Pray for the infinite amount of nameless others without a hope.

Here's a picture from last Friday. I took SeDarious, Paul, and DeAngelo out to Kemah to eat some lunch and ride some rides. We had a blast.