It Takes A Village

The saying has been that it takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a village to help women make a better world. Here in blogland we have created a wonder. We have women (and men too) helping women (and men too) who can go on to help others.

Thank the Good Lord that some important things have stayed in my brain (still, it would be nice to remember what I went upstairs for while I'm there), one of which is an anthropology book that my late beloved husband Mario brought home from one of his college courses. Even though I wasn't even taking that course, I started reading his book.

In it, it spoke of how deprived we were today with all of our modern advances and conveniences! Everything designed to both help us and isolate us. Yes, as women especially, we no longer went to the 'common river to wash clothes' and share information and give guidance to each other. Now, we were so often lost and at sea, feeling alone and lonely.

What a blessing from Heaven that the same advances have now come full circle and given us back 'our village' in an even greater way than it could have been in the distant past! We ask for and get advice from one another, e.g., how to stop bugs from eating my tomatoes, what to do about a medical condition, how to solve a financial problem, work through the pain of grief, deal with a husband or child or relative etc. etc. I stand in awe of my Creator that He has brought us together and given us the unity to make ourselves and our world a better place.

So, first and foremost I thank my Heavenly Father and next I thank all of you for being my village, my support and for guiding and helping others. The world is full of so many problems and so much 'darkness', but here we 'light one candle after another' and bring light and brightness into this world!


I found this little site for you, if you want to check out this author's book. I have not read it, only watched a little clip about her which is on this site, so I may not agree with all she says, but all the good for preserving life and dignity and compassion I would most certainly endorse.

Women Who Light the Dark (you can click on this title)

"All over the world, women are helping each other tackle the problems that darken their lives. Their material resources are limited but their energy, dedication, and imaginations are boundless. They're using dance, drama, poetry, painting, games, story-telling. And they are succeeding: overcoming discrimination, domestic violence, disease, poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition. Be inspired by their spirit and courage! Help them change the world."

My sweet hubby Michael follows my blog and remarked on how many followers I have (gosh, gee willikers, it's not so many really, especially when I visit sites where they have over a thousand followers and lots of mine rarely visit or leave comments, sniff, sniff), then he looked at how many I follow and he was astounded as they definitely outnumber the followers. That doesn't even include little visits here and there to other sites...sort of like a little bee getting nectar or honey from each special 'flower' and that way I can gain a bigger and holier honeycomb. To sum it up I LOVE my village and everyone in it, so I humbly thank you from the bottom of my heart.


So, how extraordinarily appropriate it is to acknowledge and thank people for awards, such as this one:

This award is very special and an honor because it's an award created by Sandy (at Beachgirl77) in memory of her son Jonny. This award is passed on to those who are bolstering, uplifting, reassuring, soothing, calming, cheering, consoling, and encouraging. Thank you Eileen and Cathy, for sharing this award with me, a double blessing.
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Next, I would like to doubly thank Bernie and Jerelene for this nice award:

The Bella Sinclair was created by Ces in honor of her dear friend Bella to celebrate art, inspiration, friendship, sisterhood, sharing and caring. Thank you, Bernie and Jerelene, for bestowing this award on me, I too see it as a wonderful celebration of the friendships we have been Gifted with through blogging. I am so thrilled and grateful that you've come into my life as I am pleased for these others who I now forward the Bella Sinclair Award on to:

Since it would be so lengthy to list everyone for these two awards, I would like to kindly ask you to refer to my sidebar for both followers and those I follow (although I do also follow my followers even when they are not listed). If you have not already received either of these awards, please, please receive them from me as a small part of my gratitude for keeping me on the path to becoming a better me. It is with all honesty that I can say that each blog here has helped me in some small or HUGE way!!!

Last and maybe even least( :O) ), let me tell you what my other job was...I balked at first because I thought it was 'undignified" then I heard God say "Boy, DO you need a lesson here, Marcy, as there is no such thing as undignified work." The extra blessing here was that my dear friend Judy did this with me. What we did was to clean military quarters for inspection! This involved cleaning on an incredible scale, literally a 'white glove' inspection type of cleaning! It included, naturally stoves and refrigerators and bathrooms that had to look as if you could serve dinner there with no fear! Those two to three months turned out to be one of the most 'fun' jobs I have ever had. To pass the time, I decided to 'entertain' Judy (in whatever room she was working on) by singing offkey and loudly some of the silliest lyrics you can imagine (sometimes she would retaliate and sing the same lyrics back to me, as off key as possible)...we both ended up in fits of laughter and she worried that the neighbors were going to call the MP (military police) on us! It also gave me a much needed and new level of respect to those who do such jobs and make our world a better, cleaner and more palatable place!!

Now for some silliness so we can spread some smiles:

For those keyboard jockeys (those with bog sites that require sitting at a computer all day) who don't want to spend the money for those fancy exercise machines, here is a little secret for building arm and shoulder muscles. Three days a week is best.
Begin by standing (in your 'office space' works well) with a five pound potato sack in each hand. Extend your arms straight out to your sides and hold them there as long as you can.
After a few weeks, move up to ten pound potato sacks and then fifty pound potato sacks, and finally get to where you can lift a one hundred pound potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute.
Next, start putting a few potatoes in the sacks.

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Questions to question:

What disease did cured ham have?
What's the difference between unique and very unique?
We put in our two cents, but only get a penny for our thoughts. Who gets the extra penny?
When do you become important enough to be considered assassinated and not just murdered?
Can you cry under water?
Who decided that a round pizza should be put in a square box?
When you get to heaven, are you stuck for eternity wearing the same clothes you were buried in?
Why did we put a man on the moon before we realized it would be a good idea to make luggage with wheels?
Why are actors IN movies but ON television?
Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast?
Why does grass grow where you do not want it and not grow where you do?
Why do we pay to get to the top of tall buildings, then pay to use binoculars to look at things on the ground?
If a deaf person goes to court, do they call it a hearing?
What is a Japanese maple tree called in Japan? (Ans: Baby's Palm)
We say, "It's Greek to me." What do the Greeks say? (Ans: It's Chinese to me.)
If we don't care that Jimmy cracked corn, why do we still sing about it?
Why does Goofy stand upright and Pluto stand on all four feet? They're both dogs.
Do "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "The Alphabet Song" have the same tune?
On Gilligan's Island, the professor could make a radio out of a coconut. Why couldn't he fix the hole in the boat?
If Wile E. Coyote has enough money to buy all that stuff from ACME, why doesn't he just buy himself dinner?
Can you drive in the car pool lane if you're driving a hearse with t corpse in it?
Why does a dog get mad at you if you blow in his face, but then stick his head out the window when you take him for a car ride?

~~~How can I begin to thank You Lord for the blessings of all these wonderful and inspiring people You have sent my way??!!