Mika 6:8

"Do Justice, Love Kindness, and walk humbly with your God" was the scripture one Sunday morning. I realized that this was the verse from Mika 6:8, but what I didn't realize that after this service my minister would ask me to join an awareness group he had organized specifically around this scripture.

This group consisted of our minister and four other active youth members. After a very long discussion we decided what our focus would be on: social justice.

Doing Justice is not as easy as it may sound. Becoming a part of this group gave me a realization that the social and humanitarian work I have been doing over the past few years was worth it. Not only did the family, children, and communities get a lot out of it; but so did I. I received a spiritual and personal high in my life and it has been the greatest emotion i have ever felt. Just seeing the faces of the ones receiving the help, gave back to me, what i have given to them: love.

One could say that this has "ruined" me for life. And in fact, it has. A friend of mine gave a sermon discussing our, and her personal experiences on our church's missionary work in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She tells of how once someone becomes a part of a movement like this, they are in it for life. It becomes a part of the heart, and a part of the soul. The term "ruined for life" is not meant in the negative way how most would view it. Yet, in a positive way, that for the rest of my life I am part of something wonderful.

For the rest of my life... I will be doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with my God. I will continued to be "ruined for life." And this I truly believe.

The Lieberman Let Go...

Recently, it seems that all of the blog entries written on My Left Nutmeg are Joe Lieberman, Joe Lieberman, and some more about Joe Lieberman. In fact, in the most recent blog entry, he is referred to as Joe in the title. I guess that he is blogged about so much they are now on a first name basis with him.

Since Election day, there have been 20 (as of Dec. 4th, 40) blog entries completely and totally devoted to bashing Joe Lieberman. In these blog entries there have been many, in a way, campaign buttons that say "just say no to Joe" It seems that every day there are just more and more thing out there to get Joe Lieberman out of Connecticut office. Well then maybe it is time to actually do something about it.

There have been many statements saying things like:

"To reward Senator Lieberman with a major committee chairmanship would be a slap in the face of millions of Americans who worked tirelessly for Barack Obama and who want to see real change in our country"

Joe Lieberman has stabbed Connecticut Democrats in the back too many times. It is time to strip him of all committee memberships -- he no longer deserves such respect from Democrats.

And there have been many blog entry titles like:

Senator Dorgan States That Joe's Behavior Is Unacceptable

Greenwich DTC Votes to Censure and Repudiate Joe Lieberman

Lieberman Wins, We Lose

After reading all of the multiple blog entries about how awful of a person Joe Lieberman is, it made me think that it is time to change to title of this blog... maybe to something like wehatejoe.com or a name of that sort.

With all these bloggers out there writing about how much they hate him, it is sort of funny that no one is actually doing anything to take a stand and push him out of office. It is just a bunch of anonymous bloggers trying to sway peoples opinions. I am not in anyway saying that I am for Joe Libermen, nor am I saying I am against him. There is nothing wrong with blogging negatively about Joe Lieberman, but maybe it is time to be a little more mature about it...

Joe The Paskudnyak*

*A horrible, horrible person. (completely unnecessary)

The Power Of Inspiration!

My Childhood, wouldn't necessarily be labeled as a normal one. I did have a loving and caring family at home, but I also had my church "family". Being raised in the "family" of over 600 was an intense thing to try to comprehend at this young age. But now, it has inspired me to become a Sunday School teacher so that I will become a part of inspiring the next generation of children in this church "family"

Alongside this "family" of 600 is who one could call the father of the house, Rev. Gary Smith and his wife, Linda Smith. While watching in the background as Linda and Gary go on multiple mission trips over the summer to places like West Virginia and Ecuador with dozens of volunteer youth from our church along for the ride; I just couldn't wait for my tern to come. And it did, that day finally came, but without the love and support from Gary and Linda I would have never been inspired to be a part of this mission work.

In every child's life there will hopefully be just one of "those" teachers. The one that moves their students to thrive on the knowledge that they will gain not only out of their classroom, but also out of life. I have found this teacher. In his own weird, and very negative way, he has inspired me to do my best and get my work done (although not often on time.) He has made me a better writer, a better speaker, a better thinker, and even a better person. Someday, I hope to thank him for all that he has done for me. To let him know that he helped me to get over the speed bump in my life and has inspired me to move forward.

I don't know where this world would be without the people who give out their time and their knowledge for the well being of others. Everyone has somehow been inspired to be where they are today and has been motivated to spread that inspiration.

I believe in the power of inspiration. That hopefully sometime in every ones lifetime they will be in the presence of someone that can truly inspire them to do great, be great, and someday have the power to inspire others in the same way that they were. With inspiration come responsibility and the motivation to reach their full potential in life. Over the course of my lifetime i have been inspired by a number of people. I consider myself to be very lucky to have such great role models in my life who have help me to become who I am today.

This I Believe...

Well, for starters i have four ideas rushing around in my head. The first is inspiration, and the power of it. this is where i would tell stories or a story of a person who has greatly inspired me. I am also thinking about respect and the importance of it; respecting adults (including teachers), family and friends, and respecting the Earth. Two other ideas that i have swimming around in my head are on different things both relating to my religion and my church.

Mika 6:8 and my strong belief of it, and i try to follow by what it say.

Youth Ministry and the importance children getting involved.

I have the same assignment for one of my other classes. And because my teacher for that class told the class to steer clear from writing about religion I will be using the power of inspiration for her class.