Day 49: Flash Mob

Flash mobs are becoming an awesome interruption in life.  I've never been lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to see one happening myself.  But I've seen several on YouTube, and every time it just makes me smile.  Many times I've had the thought, "How awesome would it be if people just burst into song right now, like they do in musicals?"  Well, thanks to flash mobs, sometimes people do just break into song!





But flash mobs don't only sing.  Sometimes they dance.  And sometimes they just freeze.

Twitter Updates – Follow Good News for Isla on Twitter.
RSS Subscription – Subscribe to Good News for Isla via RSS in a reader.

Email Updates – Sign up for email updates. 

Day 48: Have you hugged a polar bear today?

Have you seen the Nissan Leaf commercial?  It follows a polar bear as he takes a journey from his native icy waters, through forests and greenery, into civilization.  It is a beautiful video, and yet as you watch him sleep in a man-made concrete tunnel, and lap water from a puddle on a sidewalk, or walking through farmland with an 18-wheeler driving by, the stark realization is that it isn't right.  He shouldn't be here in our concrete jungle.  He should be at home.  Swimming in cold waters.  Resting on icebergs.  Rolling around in the snow.  It kinda chokes me up, thinking about how we are impacting this beautiful creature.

But there is good news.  Steps are being taken to protect this animal.  On November 24, the day before Thanksgiving, President Obama's administration "finalized the designation of 187,000 square miles of "critical habitat" for the polar bear...Protecting polar bear habitat, the offshore sea ice that bears rely on to find food and mates and the onshore areas where they rest and raise their young, is vital to conserving these magnificent creatures."  This is a first step, with the hope that this will protect these animals and others living in that habitat from the "threats associated with oil development and toxic contaminants." switchboard.nrdc.org

Twitter Updates – Follow Good News for Isla on Twitter.
RSS Subscription – Subscribe to Good News for Isla via RSS in a reader.

Email Updates – Sign up for email updates. 

Day 47: Thirty

Thirty what?  Thirty days in a month.  The atomic number of zinc is 30.  Thirty is a score in tennis.  A semi-perfect number.  And it is my age as of today.

Thirty feels significant.  Like, this is it, I'm an adult and there is no turning back.  In the last couple of years, I've seen my knowledge and awareness of life go from the naivety of youth, to suddenly having new lenses that see life much more starkly.  The warm fuzzy hue of life has transitioned to a much clearer view of reality.  It's not bad...but it is harder.  It weighs on me as I suddenly become more aware that I have a role and an impact on this world, and the lives of the people that I coexist with.  

The first 30 years of my life I didn't necessarily have a goal, other than grow up.  It was a hard process, going from infant, to child, to teenager, to college student with new independence, to graduate with responsibility, to wife, and then to mother.  Those are major transitions.  Sudden, yet gradual, change.  But I think I would like to have a goal for the next 30 years.  I want to learn how to weigh the good with the bad.  I want to know through experience, that while most of the news headlines are touting sadness and shocking tales of woe, that there are good things happening everywhere.  That good, if it can't outweigh it, can at least balance out the bad.  I want my core to be grounded in goodness and hope, and I want to contribute to its presence in the world.  Thank goodness I have 30 years to accomplish this!

Lastly, I want to share with you John's birthday gift to me.  His support of my endeavor to do this blog daily has been so encouraging, yet I know this has been a sacrifice on his part.  This was a very thoughtful gift from him, an actual logo for this blog.  John's friend, graphic designer Brady Cobb, created this sweet logo.  Here it is.

Twitter Updates – Follow Good News for Isla on Twitter.
RSS Subscription – Subscribe to Good News for Isla via RSS in a reader.

Email Updates – Sign up for email updates. 

Day 46: Gumption

The definition of the word gumption is 'courage to act; the courage to take what action is needed.'  The women in Afghanistan are taking a stand, showing their gumption, in an unexpected way.  By kicking a ball.

I like playing soccer, and you might think it wouldn't be that uncommon for women around the world to also enjoy playing sports.  But until just recently, the women in Afghanistan were forbidden to play sports.  Under the heavy hand of the Taliban, they were restricted significantly in what they were allowed to do, and sports of any kind were definitely not allowed.

Here is their story as told by CBS News.
 
"Just by kicking the ball these Afghan women are taking on their fiercest opponent - the Taliban, reports CBS News correspondent Mandy Clark. 

When the Taliban was in power, no woman was allowed to play sports and female prisoners were publicly executed at Kabul's soccer stadium.

So having women take to the field is seen as a direct challenge to the militants. They practice every other day, but rarely play matches in Afghanistan.

There is no Afghan soccer league here. The women often play each other for fun, but the game can come with danger because some of the players face death threats.

Khatol Shahzad Amarkhel quit for three months because of the Taliban.

"Someone called my home number," she says. "He promised to kill me if I continued to play. I changed my number, but I am still scared."

Sajay Sahar, 19, was told to stop playing by family friends, but she didn't listen either. She's a top scorer for the team, but she really only has one goal in mind.

"It is my only wish to be a famous player in my country - and in the world," said Sahar.

And playing soccer has let the team see more of the world. They have traveled to Germany, Jordan and China for matches.

They also recently played coalition forces in Afghanistan and won 1-0. And they continue to try to push the boundaries.

"They say stop playing, but I cannot stop playing," said Sahar. "I can stop living, but I cannot stop playing football.

Soccer is more than a game for these women. Sahar sees it as a form of protest. By taking on the Taliban head on, she believes, it will help bring about their defeat."

These women are living boldly, with more courage than I could ever imagine.  Playing soccer may seem like an unlikely battle ground, but that is their reality and the first place to start.  Standing up to the Taliban and injustice.  My hope is that they will continue to fight.  To fight for their rights on the soccer field.  For equality.  For freedom.  Keep kicking it!

Twitter Updates – Follow Good News for Isla on Twitter.
RSS Subscription – Subscribe to Good News for Isla via RSS in a reader.

Email Updates – Sign up for email updates. 

Day 45: Saved

You might think it sounds like the story of Robinson Crusoe or the Tom Hanks film "Cast Away", cast-aways adrift at sea, surviving barely on rain water and fish, whose only hope is to be rescued.  I truthfully can't even imagine what it would be like, with nothing around but miles of ocean.  The sun beating down on you with no place to hide.  Being so thirsty and just praying that it might rain to quench your thirst, even just briefly.  Feeling so alone, and lost, and forgotten.  But this isn't fiction, it's the story of three teenage boys from the South Pacific island Atafu Atoll, Tokelau, who were rescued after being adrift at sea for 50 days in a tiny aluminum boat. 

"The trio - Samuel Pelesa and Filo Filo, both 15, and Edward Nasau, 14 - told rescuers they survived on rainwater they collected, a handful of coconuts, raw fish and a seagull that landed on their 12-foot- (3.5-meter-) long aluminum boat.  

The boys set off Oct. 5 from their home island to one nearby.  It's not known how they went missing, but the outboard motor may have broken down at sea.

Worried family members reported them missing and the New Zealand air force launched a sea search.  No sign of the tiny boat was found, and the village of 500 people held memorial services, expecting never to see the boys again.

They were picked up Wednesday by a fishing trawler, undernourished, severely dehydrated and badly sunburned, but otherwise well.  The ship's first mate said the area they were in is way off any normal commercial shipping routes.

They drifted 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) from where they set out - Tokelau, a bucolic collection of coral atolls north of Samoa that is New Zealand's territory.

A Fiji navy patrol boat met the trawler Friday and escorted it into the harbor of its capital, Suva.  The teens were met by New Zealand consular officials and taken directly to a hospital for medical checks.  Looking thin, the three walked off the boat without speaking to reporters.

Tai Fredricsen, first mate aboard the tuna boat San Nikuna, said a crew member spotted a small vessel bobbing in the open sea northeast of Fiji on Wednesday.  "We knew it was a little weird," he said.

As it edged closer to investigate, the crew saw three people aboard waving frantically and asked them if they needed help.

"All they could say was 'thank you very much for stopping,'" Fredricsen told New Zealand's National Radio.  "In a physical sense, they look very physically depleted, but mentally - very high."

After the rescue, one of the boys managed to reach his grandmother by phone from the fishing boat.  As news of their survival spread, the village erupted in joy.

"It's a miracle, it's a miracle," said Tanu Filo, the father of Filo Filo.  "The whole village, they were so excited and cried and they sang songs and were hugging each other in the road.  Everybody was yelling and shouting the good news," he told Radio New Zealand International.

Fredricsen said the boys reported having just two coconuts with them when they set out.  During the ordeal, they drank rainwater that collected in the boat and ate fish they had caught.  Once, they managed to grab a bird that landed on the boat and they devoured that, Fredricsen said. 

The rescue came not a moment too soon: Fredricsen said they had begun to drink sea water because it hadn't rained in the past few nights." Seattle Times

Today there will be great joy and celebration as these boys are reunited with their families and friends.  Saved from the clutches of the sea, into the embrace of those that love them.

Twitter Updates – Follow Good News for Isla on Twitter.
RSS Subscription – Subscribe to Good News for Isla via RSS in a reader.

Email Updates – Sign up for email updates. 

Day 44: A day of giving thanks

I like making lists to remember things.  Grocery lists, Christmas lists, To-do lists.  And each year, for Christmas, I have been writing our families Top Ten events of the year.  Well, I thought today it would be a good idea to write the things that I am thankful for.  John's helping me out, so this will be our 2010 List for Giving Thanks.


1. Each other (John for me, me for John)
2. Isla, and getting to watch her grow and learn and become a little person
3. Having 2 fantastic families
4. Having 2 fantastic families that live CLOSE
5. A home
6. Jobs; that we both are employed in this tough economy
7. Grace, being forgiven
8. Living in a country where we have freedoms
9. A growing family (We'll have a nephew in March!!)
10. Heat to keep us warm on cold days
11. Health, for us and our families
12. That each day is a new opportunity to do something
13. Having great friends, and a community to surround us
14. Getting to participate with our church in being externally focused
15. Having an adequate amount of food, water, and clothing
16. Living in a city invested in each other and the earth
17. Having a God that loves us
18. Being able to work part-time so that I also get to stay at home with Isla
19. Laughter fills our home and our interactions with family and friends
20. Traveling opportunities, particularly in January John will be going to Africa to document a water well being drilled for a village.


It's no shocker that we live in a land of abundance.  But I am truly thankful for all that we have and are given, and I hope that Isla will come to know and realize that it is a gift.  It is a gift.  Friends and family, you are a gift and I am so thankful for you.

Day 43: The gift of life

What is more noble then giving the gift of life?  I'm not sure that there is anything.  Especially when those people that voluntarily do so do it with the risk of potential complications for themselves.

Sixteen men, women, and youth were given the gift of life by receiving a kidney transplant.  The donors?  Some were family members, but many were unrelated.  Strangers, really.  Strangers who understand the sanctity of life, and that they have a gift, a kidney, which will radically impact someone else's life.  

Twitter Updates – Follow Good News for Isla on Twitter.

RSS Subscription – Subscribe to Good News for Isla via RSS in a reader.

Email Updates – Sign up for email updates. 

Day 42: Lost Boys now found

As Thanksgiving approaches, it has me reflecting a bit...on what else, other than what I'm thankful for.  I'll save that post for later this week.  But I will say one thing I am very grateful for, especially with the sub-freezing temperatures we are experiencing, having a home and a roof over our heads.

Jose Robles, a 24-year-old man, also is thankful to have a home.  His life and story are much more challenging than mine, but he was determined to rise above his given circumstances to attain something that could not be taken away from him.  Family.  And a home. 

At the age of 12, Jose had experienced more challenging times than most other pre-teens.  An incarcerated father, an absent mother, foster care, and separation from his 2 brothers who also happened to be his best friends.  Here is a small piece of his story.

"One day their mother said, "Here's $20, I bought you guys some groceries. I'm leaving." Jose said she left the three boys on their own.

Their dad was in jail so authorities removed the boys from the house, split them up, and placed them into foster care. Jose was just 12 at the time and he vowed then to never again let anyone take away his home - which in his mind, meant buying one.

Of course most kids won't save for anything that doesn't involve a video game controller, let alone a house. But Jose started working odd jobs in the 8th grade, and over the next 10 years he was able to amass a $15,000 down-payment.  He bought a foreclosed home earlier this year. It was a dump - but it was his dump." CBS News

The community surrounded Jose and his brothers, and pitched in to renovate the house.  Out-dated and peeling linoleum was removed, carpet replaced, and beautiful wood cabinets and a tile back-splash created a high-end new kitchen.  The brothers live together once again, in a home that is theirs.

Twitter Updates – Follow Good News for Isla on Twitter.
RSS Subscription – Subscribe to Good News for Isla via RSS in a reader.

Email Updates – Sign up for email updates. 

Day 41: Street Bean Espresso

Congratulations, Street Bean Espresso, for having your doors open for one year!  Your dream for these street youth is inspiring, and your impact monumental in their lives.   "We had always dreamed of opening a business that would provide supportive employment for the young adults we serve—a place with the grace to work with them as they work on themselves. They need more than just a job. They need a community to replace their community on the street, and a place to discover a new identity apart from the street."  Grace.  Encouragement.  Community.  Identity.  Good news. 

Twitter Updates – Follow Good News for Isla on Twitter.
RSS Subscription – Subscribe to Good News for Isla via RSS in a reader.

Email Updates – Sign up for email updates. 

Day 40: Another first....SNOW!

Having Isla in my life has me looking forward to all the firsts that she will get to experience.  The saying "through the eyes of a child" I'm finding to be true, because each new first she does is so exciting...for me!

Today we had our first "snow".  Snow in quotes because it wasn't really anything fantastical, just light flakes floating through the air for a few hours, with nothing sticking to the ground.  But the anticipation of a true sticking snow, the fun of tramping around in it, having snowball fights, snowshoeing, sledding, days off from school, hot cocoa with marshmallows...that is what is conjured up in my mind when I think of what she will experience as a child.

Remembering how I felt as a kid when it would snow, and even today as an adult, it is a good feeling.  It is a brief moment in time where we have to pause, to succumb to the forces of nature, and experience the beauty and purity of the whiteness covering everything.  The world becomes quiet, dampened by the blanket of snow, and there is a sense of serenity and peace.  Such a good feeling.  Snow, please come again!

Twitter Updates – Follow Good News for Isla on Twitter.
RSS Subscription – Subscribe to Good News for Isla via RSS in a reader.

Email Updates – Sign up for email updates. 

Day 39: Hope for a frog

Frogs are one of those creatures that borders for me between cute animal that I want to hold versus little insect that gives me the willies.  I don't see them very often, but I do have fond memories of them from when I was young and living in Germany.  I can remember sitting in the grass at my soccer practices, and totally getting distracted by the little frogs hopping around.  They were tiny, probably about the size of a nickel or a quarter.  And so fun to watch and to hold, feeling them hop around in my cupped hands.

I would love for Isla to experience nature like this someday.  And while our world is changing, with fear of population loss of various species, there are people fighting to save them and even making huge successes.

"Frog populations around the world have been falling victim to a deadly infection, but there may be a ray of hope for their future: For the first time Panama's La Loma tree frog has been bred in captivity.

The critically endangered La Loma tree frog (Hyloscirtus colymba) is notoriously difficult to care for in captivity, but scientists with the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project have successfully bred the species in their facility.

The rescue project has 28 adult La Loma tree frogs and the four tadpoles that have resulted from the program at the Summit Municipal Park outside of Panama City, Panama. Researchers have also successfully bred the endangered Limosa harlequin frog (Atelopus limosus)

"We are some of the first researchers to attempt to breed these animals [in] captivity, and we have very little information about how to care for them," said Brian Gratwicke, a research biologist at the Smithsonian National Zoo. "We were warned that we might not be able to keep these frogs alive, but through a little bit of guesswork, attention to detail and collaboration with other husbandry experts, we've managed to breed them."" ouramazingplanet.com

With people dedicating their working lives to save these frogs, there is hope that one day this species and others that are endangered, will be able to be removed from the endangered list.

Twitter Updates – Follow Good News for Isla on Twitter.
RSS Subscription – Subscribe to Good News for Isla via RSS in a reader.

Email Updates – Sign up for email updates.