Monday, July 13, 2009

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.
*********


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.

*******
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??!!

24 comments:

  1. Great post, Marcy. And congratulations for your award.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm glad to have you as a friend, Marcy.
    Your post to your blog today was wonderful. You have brought light and brightness into my world....and countless numbers of others.
    Smiles,
    Jackie

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm pondering those questions, Marcy. And I'm going to wait until the potatoes go on sale and get me a couple big bags to begin exercising!

    The "village" and washing clothes by the river are such GREAT analogies! I am thankful for the river/village of blogging. Truly, I'm blessed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I absolutely adored this post today. Isn't it funny how as much as one can despise the commonality of togetherness it also brings it from all areas of the world. There is nothing that takes the place of talking face to face with people, feeling the emotions & just sharing general everyday things. But technology does get out futher than our own front yards.

    Love the blow face dog, head out window. Wonderful way to end this. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a great post. Full of your sweet heart and all it holds. I'm so blessed to be a part of your village and this amazing blog world universal village. We're all gathered back at the river once more!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ditto to all that was said Marcy. It is so fun reading your posts. Always fun information and always "love" added as the cherry on top of a sundae! You do such an awesome job entertaining. I so liked the fridge post,(I am catching up 3 days worth today). The village...well I could not have said it better. That was totally wonderful! I wish I didn't live so far away...I would have loved to walk over to your home and given you a jar of my yummy canned apples for apple pie filling on Sunday night....

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your post speaks what my heart feels. We really do have a nice little community here, and the more the merrier!

    And talk about funny! I spit my coffee out at your comment on my home project blog! I'm sure when Ray reads it he will will be moaning and groaning for Marcy to stop putting ideas into my head!! (I secretly loved it and now want it!)

    Beautiful, heartfelt post, my dear friend.
    Love and Prayers,
    Eileen

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Sweetie, This whole blogging thing is truly phenomenal and I was just thanking God this morning for blessing me with being able to be a part of people's daily lives, some even across the seas!

    It is indeed a blessing to be one of your bloggy friends!!

    **I know about what your other job took because people like you made our quarters pass inspections!! A headache averted!!

    Have a joyful day!
    HUGS,
    Becky

    ReplyDelete
  9. Marcy you are so informative and full of wisdom...it's nice we have you in midst of our village...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats on your awards and yes, I would love to remember why I needed to go upstairs most days as well! And I too am amazed by the amount of information we can obtain these days!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Marcy, this post was wonderfully informative, bless your heart! Look at the village we've created through blogging. God is good!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Marcy,
    I just found your blog and it is beautiful. I really like the posting today with the encouraging words regarding how much people need each other. Congratulations upon your award. Please visit my blog and leave a comment at: http://blueridgepoet.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Marcy, do you continue to visit the blogs that don't come visit you too?
    I used to just read blogs before I started my own, and I would occasionally comment but not much.
    Once I started my own blog and people would visit and I in turn them, and comments went back and forth, really nice friendships were formed (an added bonus because I wasn't expecting that!), and once that happened, I stopped visiting blogs that don't visit me because it's hard to keep up a one-sided relationship. I feel like I might as well read a book about a stranger's life. I feel like some bloggers just want followers and don't care at all who it is, then there are those like us, the lucky few who have formed a unique (or is it VERY UNIQUE!) bond.

    Oh, and I'm giving you fair warning, I have a post for tomorrow, but not much of a poem. I just wasn't feeling it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love that last blowing in the dog face one!
    I'm with Eileen about the comments. If you comment over and over and they don't comment back it sort of feels like your not good enough,at least to me. So I better comment now on your post Marcy! I really did love this one you are so right in all of it. Technology has taken away alot of community so it is satisfing when we can all help and learn from one another by blogging. I especially enjoy the adult contact as Jake is always gone. I am used to it after twenty years but it still gets lonely! Church is really the only other place I have to be with other adults. I do feel blessed for all of the wonderful relationships formed from blogging. I just pray that this old computer holds up!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Excuse me for using Marcy's blog here, but, Diana, BITE YOUR TONGUE!! Don't even go there! Computer on the blink! Heaven forbid it!

    Okay, Ray is home today and I've ignored my family enough!

    Love to all my blog friends!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi. I don't know where you are in Georgia, but I'm sitting in the heart of Gwinnett County for a few days visiting grandkids. Friday it's off to JAX for more family.

    Thanks again for stopping by my blog. Please stay in touch. I should have an exciting announcement before summer is over.

    ReplyDelete
  17. As always you have left me with much upon which to contemplate. You even made me chuckle! Thank you ever so much!!! Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi Marcy
    Yeah, you tickled my funny bone today with those questions. All so true and they make you think.

    Have a lovely day, friend.

    Cheers - Joolz :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. NOW I can thank you very much, Miss Marcy, for making me spit my coffee out! And you weren't even trying to be funny!

    But I can't laugh too hard because I was just telling Ray about it, and I got confused telling him the story and he ended up with this really confused face on him!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Great post, Marcy! (As always &:o) And I love the analogy, too. I always think of my visits on the web as being like my grandmothers' visits over the back fence with their neighbors. How cool is it to have neighbors many states -- and countries -- away? You're my favorite friend to go to for a good belly laugh, ya know -- with lots of wisdom thrown in.

    Congrats on the awards, too, hon; you so deserve both of them!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Marcy, This post was so touching to me!! I'm so glad for all the friendships made through blogging..I'm very happy and blessed to be part of your village!!
    Thanks so much for being my friend!!
    With Love, Jerelene

    ReplyDelete
  22. wow very interesting info!! i will be pondering :-)

    ReplyDelete
  23. I'm glad to be a villager too! I love this post Marcy - in fact I love them all, but some strike more of a chord than others.

    Continuing what Eileen wss saying about blog visiting....I visit other blogs. I get sidetracked by a title that catches my eye alongside some blog that I'm following. Sometimes I comment, even though I just know they're not going to visit me. BUT sometimes they do and I can't tell you how happy that makes me. It doesn't put me off if they don't though. I mean, you sometimes can see a reason WHY they don't comment or anything. But every village has it's very shy or very private people and, trying to respect that, I don't expect to be visited. But, oh, when those people DO leave me a comment....

    love, Angie, xx

    ReplyDelete
  24. Good morning Marcy, Congratulations on your awards. It does take a village... It is a known fact that bloggers are healthier and happier people because of the connections they make to the rest of the world. I always enjoy coming here and visiting with you. I hope you have a wonderful day.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are blessings too...