Mission Faithwalk

                In front of you is a refrigerator about half the size of yours. Take one step to the right. You are looking at the dining table   with a bench seat on either side. Turn 180 degrees. Now you are facing a sink and counter area, but 75% of the counter is beyond the sink. Take another step to your right. There is the range and the convection oven/microwave that is the size of the microwave. Turn around again and you're back where you started.         Here's a complication to the story, t he stove runs on propane, which hasn't been purchased yet. That leaves a the convection oven/microwave as your sole means of cooking, which you've only used as a convection oven once before. Considering those limitations, I have to say that a Thanksgiving dinner of turkey tenderloin cutlets, sweet potatoes, and broccoli with a choice of cheese toppings (Parmesan or Cheddar) served nearly all together and still hot is a pretty good job.         The other nice thing

    It's Thanksgiving eve, and tomorrow is a day often filled with family, friends, fun, food, and for some, football. As we pass dishes around the table, stories will be told to share news and to share memories. Plans will be made to prepare for Christmas. In some families, there is a tradition of each person sharing something for which he is thankful.       For years, the day after Thanksgiving was the day I put up my tree. My parents were already south for the winter, so there really wasn't anything to put under it except three ceramic St. Nicholases that I have found in a consignment shop. They represent St. Nicholas as he was once imagined in England, German and France, and therefore, they represent 3/4 of my recent lineage. I wish I could have found Ireland as well.         One year, it came to mind that my heritage is a gift from God. These little statues were a reminder of an intangible gift. From then, the hunt was on. What were other intangible gifts God had giv

                    Right around the time of the attacks of 9/11/2001, my boss retired. His boss was defeated in her re-election bid and County Council, in a display of power, eliminated two positions from the county labor force. One was vacant. The other was occupied by me. Five months later, I was hired at Sears and I remember thinking, "Oh no, they hired me. Now what am I going to do?" The people with whom I worked were often wonderful people, but I think they'll understand when I say that I found myself feeling like Joseph. I hadn't done anything wrong, but I was in prison. Leaving there to come here was like being released from prison. There was joy at being free and fear about what the future will hold. Will I make it? Or will I end up back in prison?                 Since I came down here with the idea of becoming a writer, I've found myself working on articles or chapters that are more challenging that I thought they'd be. They're not only c

        We're going through a difficult phase. We seem to have gotten settled in physically but Grace and I seem to be struggling. Grace wants to be outside - a lot. That requires someone be out there with her. She wants to run and play and be a puppy, but she's hampered by leashes and dogs that all seem to be at least 10 years old, or unfriendly, or intimidating. Most troubling, she seems to have decided that she doesn't like our morning walks. Admittedly, walking around and around the blocks isn't exactly exciting, but it's too warm to walk her when we could walk somewhere else.                 The problems for me are a little different. The first order of business after physical settlement has been finding a church. That has been interesting. The first church I planned to try closed its doors in July. The first Sunday, I arbitrarily chose a church that turned out to be a little country church. The second Sunday, I decided to try for something a little less

Title: The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement Authors:   Twenge, Jean and Campbell, W. Keith Free Press, 2009 ISBN: 978-1-4165-7598-6 Overall Rating: 6 of 10                   The Narcissism Epidemic provided some good statistics, and shared a number of interesting studies in a readable manner. It was nice to have something written by academics about an academic subject without sounding too academic. However, the prescriptions offered at the end of each chapter (at least it seemed like each chapter) became monotonous.   The fact that their prescription was different from Dr. Gilligan's in Violence: Our Deadly Epidemic and Its Causes won them points. I don't know exactly what statistics or information they could have given to have made me happy with them, but something about the book just didn't quite produce the "ah ha!" I wanted it to. However, for those who want some justification or fuel for their sense of irritation a

Title: Violence : Our Deadly Epidemic and Its Causes Authors:   James Gilligan, MD New York: Grosset/Putnam Pubishers ISBN: 0-399-17979-6 Overall Rating: 5 of 10                   The subject of this book is the author's proposed connection between violence and shame.   The writing was pretty good, with touches of creativity. The best that I can say for the content is that it led me to explore the topic of narcissism further. To some extent, I agree with his premise, but his evidence wasn't enough to win me to his way of thinking his manner of argument failed and his conclusion seems misguided to me.

Title: Terrify No More Authors: Gary A. Haugen and Gregg Hunter Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2005 ISBN: 0-8499-1838-3 59 chapters, 245 pages. Overall Rating: 6 (out of ten)                   This is an interesting book telling the story of a group (International Justice Mission) and its attempts to free those trapped in slavery and/or the sex trade: victims of human trafficking.   The writing lacks the flair and finesse of a novel, and the content lacks the statistics for which I'm looking. Had I picked up with book with other purposes in mind, I might have given it a better rating. Despite its literary "weakness," I think this is a book that anyone who claims to care about people ought to read.