Solace

Oh, you mean you didn’t know I was the Chairwoman on the board of one of the most amazing NPO’s around?

Solace

Let me paint a picture for you…

You’re walking through the streets of downtown San Francisco. You pass by a strip club. A worker comes out and walks down the same street along side of you. What do you do? What do you think? What were your thoughts when you were passing the club?

I know for most of us we think, “Sick. How can people do that?!”

I used to be one of them. Now, having been in those clubs with Solace, I have fallen in love with each and every one of these people. They’re people just like me.

What Solace does is meet them where they are…every week with club visits. Solace’s heart is to encourage, empower and enlighten. And they do that by being real, loving, compassionate and accepting.

And one of the many ways these things are being cultivated is by having Help Portrait there with Solace, in San Francisco, and our beautiful Ladies and Gentleman on Valentines Day weekend.

This is going to be a huge event just for our ladies and gents. No one will want anything from them. This is all about giving to them. Giving them a picture of hope. Both figuratively and literally.

Please visit Solace and get to know more about why I am so in love and on board with them. And please pray for them and Help Portrait and all the volunteers that will make Valentines weekend, hopefully, a life changing event for many!

And please consider praying along with us for all that will be touched by this event.

Do Today What Should Be Done Today

What may be done at any time will be done at no time

Now that’s a good word for me. I am the queen of procrastination.

How do you prevent putting things off?

3rd Annual Fort Building Contest!

Yes, you read right. We’re having a Fort Building Contest. This will be our 3rd one! Actually, I skipped hosting one last year…ya know, it was kinda busy ;)

But it’s back now! And I’m ready to watch all my competitive friends battle this out.

I picked this time of year cuz everyone tells me February’s gonna get cold. So why not build a cozy fort you can hang and snuggle in.

There are just a few guidelines you must follow…

1- Your fort must be made indoors.

2- All the items used must be from your house and be reusable.

3- No purchasing items just for the fort.

4- Involve your family! Tap into your inner-child – involve your children if you’ve got’em, or, your neighbors children. Just make sure you know them and have permission to take them.

5- Submit your entry by pictures or video, via your blog or link to youtube or vimeo, by March 1st. I will provide a one-stop fort submission hub.

Most of all…HAVE FUN! 

And, yes, a winner will be chosen! This year will be the first time the winner actually gets a prize. They’ll get to choose from one of the following…

1- $20.00 Starbucks Gift Card

2- $20.00 iTunes Card

3- $20.00 Amazon Gift Card

Here are our two past winners:

Russ Hutto (unfortunately this video has been deleted but his post is amazing and he also lists all items used in the fort, w/pics)

The Rainey Fort

So, y’all in??

Lemme know!

Our last fort

 

Most Embarrassing Photo

I had mentioned on twitter this week that I was gonna post a “most embarrassing photo” of myself and that anyone who saw it here also had to share an embarrassing photo of themselves.

Well, Brent can’t find the photo I was thinking of. And let me tell you…it was a doozie!! My hair had air dried, I had no make-up on and I had a whopping bruise on my right bicep. But, when Brent transfered all his stuff to his new computer about 1/2 his photos didn’t make it. I know, it is so fortunate unfortunate.

So, instead… I’m gonna post the most embarrassing photo of Brent and me. We were dating. It was 1990. And it was all about the big hair!

Now…share one of yours!

 

choosing hurt over healing

Here are my thoughts. Take it or leave it. Love it or hate it.

Unedited…

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Hurt…in one word…hurts.

We all experience hurt. It is unescapable. It is a part of life. It comes in multiple levels.

One seems easier. Stay where you are. It’s all you know. It’s your normal.

One requires no work. It takes work to heal. To move on. To forgive. To focus on the future and not the past. To choose to trust again.

Outsiders often encourage the hurt by justifying. Babying. “It’s ok. You’re the victim here.” They’re enablers. And, often times, they have no idea that they are enabling. It is no fault of theirs.

We get comfortable with attention, regardless if it’s negative or positive. Attention is attention. It intrigues people.

Others reach out to the hurt because they know it’s right. The good in them compels them to want to help.

The victim receives that extension, and it is beneficial for a season. Often times, that season extends beyond its practical length. And, in turn, becomes a crutch and a comfort.

In all reality, you can become addicted to hurt. Some may feel that the only way they can get attention is by ”playing the victim”.

It’s not healthy. It’s manipulative. It can stunt emotional and spiritual growth. Ultimately, I believe that none of us truly desire that.

I realize this a very strong post. But, hear me out. Wait… read me out. I would never write this, had I not lived it myself. This would be an opinion if I were an outsider looking in. But, this was once me.

 

{This post was inspired by recent messages from Cross Point Church}

 

1 In 4 [My Top 10]

I’m going to finish out the year with my top 10 posts of 2011. Yes, I realize that is when all of you click off and run outta here cuz you’ve seen it already. Fine…be that way ;)

But…I’m doing it anyway…

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New study finds that 1 in 4 teenage girls have a sexually transmitted disease.

When I first read that I thought…

Phew…at least I never got one of those.

As if two abortions is somehow better and less embarrassing.

But 1 in 4 teenage girls. Wow.

When Kass was in High School there were 1,200 students enrolled. Say half of those are girls. That would mean 150 of those girls, statistically, have a sexually transmitted disease. And I wonder, how many more of them will end up pregnant. How many of them will wind up having an abortion.

When I was in High School they taught about abstinence. They taught about safe sex and had condom vending machines in all of the bathrooms. But…I remember our health teacher telling my class that it was impossible to expect us not to have sex. This is the same class that hosted a faux Spring wedding. My boyfriend and I were the couple the class chose for this project. We had to arrange our wedding ceremony, complete with dress, tux, wedding party, rings and reception, to be held at lunch hour on a friday afternoon during school.

I remember my mother being so upset at this. I didn’t understand her anger. But she was furious! She said it encouraged unhealthy relationships. It gave a false sense of being adults.

I was mad at her and her unwillingness to understand.

Well, wouldn’t you know it…the boyfriend I fake married at school…was the the same one I ended up having two abortions with.

Mom, you were right.

Question: As parents, what can/should we do to educate our kids on sex and all that it involves?

Do you agree with my high school health teacher that it is impossible to keep teens from having sex?

[Original post and comments here]

A Woman Who Doesn’t Like Shopping

I am not a fan of Christmas shopping.

I’m not opposed to gift giving. Oh no! I love giving gifts! I love shopping for people! I just don’t care to shop for a bunch of people all at once. Because that requires a couple very important necessities…

Time and Money.

Both of which I seem to have little of in December. And, most other months.

So I have a question for y’all…

How do you get through December??

Do you budget?

Do you start shopping in the summer?

How much do you spend per person?

Does your family draw names?

Tell me everything you do. I need ideas!

A Chocolate Smile

This is what happens when two friends get together who have no filters or inhibitions. Even in public. Sorry, PF Changs.

[@trishadavis23]

And not that this is embarrassing, clearly, but I was wondering if you’d like to share a funny or most embarrassing picture with me??

Ya know ya wanta!

Guilty Pleasures

Okay. Once a year. That’s it. One. Time. Per. Year….

The McRib comes back to McDonalds.

And every year I will make sure to have one, ONE, McRib.

I know it’s probably a meat-by-product and not actual Pork. Or if there is any Pork in at all it’s likely only 8.2 percent and the other 91.8 % is god only knows what. And, no, I do not want to be informed.

But dangitalltoheck…I love the McRib!

My name is Tam and I eat McRibs.

Love me, don’t judge me.

And when I had my birthday this week the McRib made a fabulous appearance, too!

So, what is your guilty pleasure??