Grace and Grit

...Many of you who know me know that for the past 15 years I've been interested in working with at-risk populations. I felt especially drawn to juvenile delinquents, foster children, and grieving children who've lost an immediate family member. I had many opportunities to volunteer within these groups; Comfort Zone Camp, AWANA, OC Youth Guidance Center, Juvenile Hall, Babysitting, Character First, Rancho Santa Marta Orphanage, YUGO Zapata, Guatemala City, Bernal, Mexico City, Singapore... to name a few of the memorable ones. :-) Yet for all the volunteer opportunities I still felt like I was missing out on something! I wanted more and I wanted it full-time. Although I had a full-time job that was challenging I looked forward to my volunteer night and weekend jobs to carry me through the everyday 9-5. I do not regret my time spent in a cubicle, especially now that it seems it's already been ages ago! But it was disappointing to search and search for a full-time job in my ...

Do you know what an Ebenezer is? George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge Take note, I said what not who ! Don't go Dickens on me just yet. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary the word Ebenezer means, "a commemoration of divine assistance." The word originates from the Biblical Samuel (1 Sam. 7:12) who erected a stone to remind the people of God's deliverance of the Israelites from the Philistines. Samuel knew human nature well. We have a tendency to forget former miraculous moments when we come up against a problem that we see no solution to. We, or should I say I, have a natural inclination to take ownership of all my successes and blame God and others for things I see as failures. This is who I am and this tendency is exactly why I'm glad to have started this blog. Somewhere between October and today this blog became my Ebenezer. It is a way of recognizing the working of The Divine in my life (and the lives around me) and provides a place fo...