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Q: javascript in button click event? i place the onClick event in asp buttons. but it is showing error like
Too many characters in character literal
my code is
<asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server" Text="Button"
    onClick="alert('The button was clicked.');" />

actually my requirement is when i click on the button i want to display some message and when we press ok  then it is redirect to another page is it possible
thank you

A: Change onClick to OnClientClick

A: You need to use the OnClientClick method, OnClick is the server side event. e.g.
<asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server" Text="Button" OnClientClick="return confirm('are you sure');" />

This code produces a message box which if cancelled, prevents the server-side event from being fired. If you click 'OK' to the message box the server event is fired as usual and you can then do your redirect as necessary.


Watch the world extend before you panoramically as you dine at the top of the tallest man-made structure on the planet. The Rooftop is a part of the Burj Club, an amazing experience in itself. Energize yourself with a refreshing drink at the juice bar. Following this, proceed onto the restaurant for an amazing 3-course meal. With views unlike anywhere else on the planet, this is one culinary experience that will satiate all your senses.
Booked my tickets online. Not too sure if I got any discounted rates but the process was easy.
I am not really an online booking fan. But I must admit my experience with Headout was superb. Got hassle free bookings done.
Wow! what an experience it was to watch twinkling lights of those skyscrapers sitting atop highest level of Burj Khalifa enjoying a 3 course meal! Unmatched! Advance booking on this website was a very wise decision.
Your mobile voucher will be emailed to you instantly. Please display the same at the ticketing counter at the venue to collect your physical tickets.


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Q: AngularJS, $cookies inside a custom directive I have a custom directive, in which I'd like to use $cookies, to check whether a page has been visited or not.  The code for my directive is:
angular.module('waApp').directive('waNewToGamma', function(
 $cookies
 ){ 'use strict';

    return {
        templateUrl: '/components/right-sidebar/new-to-gamma/new-to-gamma.html',
        restrict: 'A',
        scope: {
    },
        link: function(scope, elements, attrs){
            var visited = false;

            if ($cookies.get("ResultsPageVisits") > 1 ) {
                visited = true;
            }
            console.log('visited is');
            console.log(visited);
        }

    };
});

I get an error,
    TypeError: undefined is not a function
with regards to the line
    if ($cookies.get("ResultsPageVisits") > 1 )
about $cookies.get.
I know that ngCookies needs to be injected into the app; this is done in elsewhere in the definition of the application.  I'm fairly certainly that I've correctly injected $cookies into this directive, and this cookie does exist in the browser.  So where have I gone wrong?  Have I, in fact, injected $cookies incorrectly?

A: Turns out I was using an older version of Angular, in which $cookies.get() isn't a method, and instead you use $cookies.key directly!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


We love New Jersey for so many reasons, not the least of which is how fortunate we are to have great outdoor spaces. In fact, some of the best amenities in our region are the miles of multi-use trails — the Circuit Trails — that connect those outdoor spaces with our neighborhoods and communities.
The Circuit spans nine counties in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. When complete, the network will include 750 miles of interconnected trails. As of today, more than 320 miles are completed, one quarter of them in New Jersey. The Circuit provides our region a place for healthy transportation and recreation, connects our people to green spaces and area waterways, and makes our communities more welcoming places to live and work.
Our region is also home to abandoned rail corridors. These corridors are significant to the Circuit vision — when converted to trails, they make up more than 75 percent of current and planned trails in the network. A vital link on the Circuit that remains undone is NJ Transit's inactive rail bridge over Route 130 in Pennsauken. Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has developed a plan aimed at completing a trail segment across the bridge to connect Merchantville to Pennsauken, Camden and the Ben Franklin Bridge into Philadelphia, creating access to the active recreational opportunities people in the region desire. In fact, this section of abandoned rail, once converted to a trail, will be one of the only walkable, bikeable travel options between Pennsauken, downtown Camden and Philadelphia. In its present state, the overgrown rail bed is an illegal dumping ground and was the site of an attempted abduction of a 14-year-old in 2014. A cleared trail will not only offer active recreation, but will be safer for all residents, young and old.
It's very exciting that after many years of advocacy and partnership, this trail project is primed to become reality. The rail-to-trail conversion has the support of the Camden County Board of Freeholders, Pennsauken and Merchantville elected officials, regional community organizations and, most importantly, the community. Partnering with UrbanPromise, the Delaware Gardens Neighborhood Initiative, and volunteers from Dow Chemical in Pennsauken, we have hosted community cleanups on the corridor, inviting residents to envision the path as a formal trail — one they can claim as their own.
Even more good news is that more than enough public funding — specifically designated for trail development — is now available in New Jersey. This funding would cover the expense of the Route 130 bridge enhancements. The county freeholders have committed to the first step in the process, which is an engineering inspection of the Route 130 bridge to assess the structural integrity of the overpass. Once complete, it will be clear what actions are necessary to make the bridge safe for bicycle and pedestrian use.
Beautifying the land on and around abandoned corridors has historically been shown to increase property values, benefit the health of a community and contribute positively to a community's identity, safety and revitalization.
We are proud of the work that's been done to bring together partners from Camden County in support of this trail. It's our hope that this momentum puts us on the right path forward — closer to a trail that connects Burlington and Camden, right through Pennsauken.
Betsy McBride is the mayor of Pennsauken and has worked since 2014 on efforts to build the Burlington-Camden Connector. Liz Sewell is a trail planner in Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's Philadelphia-Camden office and is working with the Circuit Trails Coalition and local officials to move the project forward.
Jonas Gutierrez was diagnosed with brachycephaly, or "flat head syndrome," at the age of four months.


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STRONG APRIL MARKET RETURNS FULLY JUSTIFY 2C/L, AND CASH FLOW CRISIS MEANS CO-OPS MUST NOT DENY FARMERS
IFA National Dairy Committee Chairman Kevin Kiersey said the failure by Kerry to increase their April milk price would bitterly disappoint its suppliers, who have been promised a "leading milk price", and are under tremendous stress from the fodder and cash flow crisis.
He urged all other co-ops, when they come to decide their April milk price in the next few days, to look objectively at the strong increase in market returns, which fully justify a 2c/l increase. Co-ops must hold their nerves in the face of the rebalancing of Fonterra prices, and not deny their farmers a badly needed opportunity to improve their hard pressed cash flow.
"EU average market prices have risen very strongly during March and April. Butter prices rose by €590/t, SMP €410/t, WMP is up by €680, whey powder by €110/t, and Cheddar cheese by a more modest €20/t, mostly due to exchange rate factors. These are real lifts in the average price of commodities, not spot quotes," Mr Kiersey said.
"The SMP/butter increase since early March alone has added 6.3c/l to the gross returns available to EU dairy product sellers, including Irish co-ops, before processing costs. Based on member states' reports published by the EU Commission for 28th April, SMP/butter gross returns were 44.3c/l, WMP 45c/l and Cheddar + whey powder just under 41c/l," he said.
"A rough estimate of a product mix for the Irish milk pool would return something around 43c/l gross. Allowing for processing costs of around 5 to 6c/l, it is clear that there is scope for a price increase over and above the 33.5c/l + VAT the main co-ops have been paying for March milk," he added.
"The Fonterra price reduction last week happened because international buyers, in no rush to fill their second half needs, tried to dampen down prices for the back end. However, milk supplies remain very tight with little prospect of recovery in coming months, and demand is strong, especially from China and Asia in general. The international buyers' gamble relies on more plentiful NZ milk supplies from next August, and this is largely weather and margin dependent. I do not believe that, at least in the short term, prices will fall dramatically in this context – buyers simply will not wait for ever to fill their needs for the second half of the year, and opportunities will remain at and after peak for Irish exporters to capitalise on strongly priced markets," he explained.
"I urge co-op boards to look objectively at the real increase in market returns, and to pass it back to farmers in a 2c/l milk price lift," he concluded.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Expansion of the South Domestic Terminal at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport was necessary to meet growing passenger demand. Kiewit built a new nine-gate commercial aircraft terminal (Concourse C) and Arrivals Hall.
Under Phase I, crews completed the construction of a structural steel frame and foundation for the terminal. The $159.5 million Phase II work included limited demolition, concrete slab-on-grade and metal decks, structural and miscellaneous steel, fireproofing of 5,800 tons of structural steel framework, masonry, and 292,000 square feet of exterior metal wall panels. The contract also included new mechanical systems, a wide array of electrical equipment and systems, a state-of-the-art baggage handling system and a new taxiway.
Through a collaborative partnering process, Kiewit worked closely with the State of Alaska-Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to overcome scheduling challenges as a result of new security requirements and was able to complete the project significantly earlier than anticipated.


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Spartanburg County Courthouse and complex update
by: Kimberely Brown
Posted: Oct 1, 2019 / 11:59 PM EDT / Updated: Oct 1, 2019 / 11:59 PM EDT
New leadership on the Spartanburg County courthouse and complex project, leads to a few changes. So will it be finished on time and on budget?
The multi-million dollar project started because of concerns over mold in the current courthouse. Now that the community and elected officials are on the same page, staying on time and within budget are still top priorities.
Spartanburg District 3 Councilman, David Britt says he's optimistic that the new courthouse and complex are still on track.
"Things happen and sometimes if you don't have real good eye sight on it and control, somethings kinda slip a little bit." Councilman Britt says.
Spartanburg County Council Chairman and Councilman Britt say with the new county administrator who took office last December and the new Board Chair last January. Some new perspectives were brought to the project.
"both of them were smart enough and wise enough to say hey listen we better wrap our arms around this." says Councilman Britt.
So council rallied together over the project, $155 Million Dollars for the new courthouse, the remaining dollars set to build the city – county complex. So staying on budget is essential.
"we had several teammates who weren't working in cooperation with each other and the budget may have gotten a little out of hand." according to Britt.
Councilman Britt says at no time was the project delayed, items were just re-accessed.
"we made a promise to the voters on November 17th that we would bring this project in on budget and in time, on schedule. and I was afraid along with the six council members that that wasn't going to happen." Britt says.
But were told that council has everything back on track as the project moves forward.
Councilman Britt says, Spartanburg is the 19th fastest growing county in the United States, so making changes with the growth in the new normal.
Designs for the city-county complex will be finished by 2021 with the actual project scheduled to be finished early 2023.
by Ryan Kruger, FOX 46 Digital Staff / Jan 21, 2021
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) - A Miller Lite tractor-trailer crashed into a home in the Plaza-Shamrock neighborhood on Thursday, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police.
The accident occurred at 1:26 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, at a home located on Admiral Avenue.


One of may favourite animators Bill Plympton has had an Oscar nomination. Bill's short film "Guard Dog" is one of 10 films on the "short list" for consideration. You might remember the Nic Nac ads from the early nineties, but his films are far funnier – the violent comedy of Tom and Jerry, but drawn in pencil. My favourite is 'I married a strange person' about I guy who gets hit buy a satellite and suddenly is able to bring his thoughts to life – very funny stuff if you have a crude sense of homour! Enjoy more here.


text:
Title: Organisational resilience: building business value in a changing world
Authors: Erika Quendler
Addresses: Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics, Marxergasse 2, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Abstract: As an indication of development, ecological, economic and social frame conditions change owing to local, national and global adjustments. More competition, open markets, changes in political frameworks, structural changes, etc., make up the challenges for economies as a whole, organisations and employees. On the whole, however, the discussion about challenges often forgets the consequences for 'organisational' resilience, i.e., an organisation's capacity to anticipate disturbance, adapt to events, and create lasting value and thrive in a changing world. The notion of a resilient organisation is an emerging concept to clarify and cope with the modern day pace of change. By linking resilience theory with the sustainable transition process of organisations, this contribution has attempted to explore opportunities for and barriers to the diffusion, institutionalisation and implementation of resilience concepts from a holistic perspective. Furthermore, this contribution works toward a unified theory of resilience to help embrace and manage organisational change effectively when considering the concept of a sustainable future. Recommendations are provided for continued research in the modelling of organisational resilience.
Keywords: building resilience; organisational resilience; theory of resilience.
Received: 22 Dec 2015


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A relaxed fit, long sleeved dress with drawstring detail.
Designed to softly contour your body, the drawstring detailing defines the waist without restricting movement.
The full length wide sleeves are finished with a deep cuff to compliment the deep round or turtle neck options given.
Light to medium weight fluid woven fabrics especially crepe constructions in wool, silk and viscose mixes.


Cette auberge de jeunesse est juste parfaite, j'y reviendrai dès que possible. Un grand merci à tous les Host et plus particulièrement à Cacao qui était génial ! Merci à vous et Viva Barcelona !
Superbe le Hostel. Habitations net, toilettes et douches aussi, grande cuisine . Le Staff 100% spécialement Diego, Vicky et Hillary. Qui va a Barcelone. Je recommande !!!
I had a lot of fun in Barcelona and it was partly because of Sant Jordi! Located minutes away from Plaça de Catalunya, the hostel puts on multiple activities every night, such as paella night, tapas dinner, beer pong and pub crawl. Its ideal for solo travellers, with a lot of common areas and big fully equiped kitchen. Thanks to Ana and the lovely crew who made this stay unforgettable!
Hostel parfait pour le 18-25 ans !!! Beaucoup d ambiance !! J en est 34 alors jai eux quelques difficiles.... mais pour le reste rien a dire !!! Les soupers a 5 euros et deux bières incluses. Cuisine spacieuse! Belle terrasse. Jeunes ado vous allez vous amusez.
Bathrooms could be nicer, especially the showers. Don't bother coming in before the check in, they won't give you access beforehand. Otherwise the staff is really friendly and it's good for the price.
Très bonne nuit passée dans cet Hostel !
I booked a bed in a room with 12 bed and an adjoining bathroom. The door of the bathroom didn't close very well so it was quite annoying (light+noise). But the hostel is cool.


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Dog Saves Mountaineer While Awaiting Rescue
Grga Brkić was warmed by his 6-month-old Alaskan Malamute, North, after a long fall on January 1.
January 12, 2022 Owen Clarke
Photo: Croatian Mountain Rescue Service
After Grga Brkić fell approximately 500 feet down a steep ice slope, his dog curled up atop his body, keeping the severely injured Brkić warm overnight in sub-freezing conditions while rescuers coordinated a 13-hour rescue.
The pup's actions undoubtedly saved Brkić's life, according to the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (Hrvatska Gorska Služba Spašavanja/HGSS).
The accident occurred in Paklenica National Park, on Vaganski Vrh (5,764 ft), the tallest peak in the Velebits, Croatia's largest mountain range.
After Grga Brkić fell approximately 500 feet down a steep ice slope, his dog curled up atop his body, keeping the severely injured man warm overnight in sub-freezing conditions.
(Photo: Croatian Mountain Rescue Service)
Around 6:30 pm on New Year's Day, Brkić, his dog (a 6-month-old Alaskan Malamute named North), and two partners were descending from Vaganski Vrh's summit back to the shelter. As they crossed a particularly icy section of steep trail, which North was reluctant to cross, Brkić attempted to carry his dog on his shoulders across the ice. At this point, "they both started sliding for [500 feet] down the icy slope," an HGSS spokesman told Climbing.
This article is free. Please support us with a membership. Join the Climbing team and you'll not only receive Climbing in print, plus our annual special edition of Ascent, but you'll enjoy unlimited online access to thousands of stories, news and safety articles.
Brkić suffered severe fractures to both his lower leg and ankle, among other injuries, and his partners were unable to reach him. He attempted to keep himself warm with a gas stove in his pack, while North curled atop him. Rescuers reached Brkić's position at midnight in sub-freezing conditions, and he was finally handed over to medical services at the bottom of the peak at 7:55 am the following morning, and transported to the hospital.
"Friendship and love between man and dog know no boundaries," the HGSS wrote on Facebook following the accident.
According to HGSS station chief Gospić Josip, the rescue on Vaganski was "the most difficult and complex rescue operation carried out in [HGSS] history," and involved 27 rescuers from several nearby HGSS stations. (Photo: Croatian Mountain Rescue Service)
According to HGSS station chief Gospić Josip, the rescue on Vaganski was "the most difficult and complex rescue operation carried out in [HGSS] history," and involved 27 rescuers from several nearby HGSS stations. The volunteer rescue outfit has over 1,000 active members and conducts approximately 800 missions per year, according to the representative who spoke with Climbing.
North, home and safe. (Photo: Antonija Sjauš Brkić)
"The injured mountaineer had crampons, an ax, and all the other necessary gear," the HGSS spokesman said. "Generally, people should get to really know the area they are going to, especially [the] weather conditions," he added. The HGSS also cautioned against bringing dogs along on high-altitude hikes in winter conditions.
Antonija Sjauš Brkić of the Brkić family posted an update the following day, noting that "Grga will be fine," and that "North is home and welcomes everyone."
"HGSS… We have no words," she wrote. Thank you!"
Cedar Wright: "Dirtbagging Is Dead"
Cedar Wright
What It's Like To Write A Climber's Obituary
Chasing a New Speed Record on the World's Highest 14 Peaks
Frederick Dreier
They Wanted a Bouldering Area To Call Home, So They Bought and Developed One
Chris Van Leuven
One Dead, Two Rescued, After Rappelling Accident in Zion
To Bring or Not to Bring: The Fate of the Crag Dog
A Climber We Lost: Carlo Alberto "Cala" Cimenti, February 8


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More thoughts about pathetic fallacy
The Easthope stories, Writing by Lois July 18, 2017 September 15, 2018
I was probably studying Thomas hardy when I first came across the notion of pathetic fallacy; when I was teaching French literature to A-level students, the head of department who taught the language side, asked me what on earth it was because the students were forever going on about it! It's a literary device where the weather (or sometimes the landscape) reflect the mood, actions, inner thoughts, situation of the characters in the narrative. There are some wonderful and famous examples…
"The night has been unruly. Where we lay,
Our chimneys were blown down and, as they say,
Lamentings heard i' th' air, strange screams of death,
And prophesying with accents terrible
Of dire combustion and confused events
New hatched to the woeful time. The obscure bird
Clamored the livelong night. Some say the Earth
Was feverous and did shake."
The clouds swept across [the moon] swifter than the flight of the vulture and dimmed her rays, while the lake reflected the scene of the busy heavens, rendered still busier by the restless waves…
The storm appeared to approach rapidly… the heavens were clouded, and I soon felt the rain coming slowly in large drops, but its violence quickly increased… the darkness and storm increased every minute, and the thunder burst with a terrific crash over my head. …vivid flashes of lightning dazzled my eyes, illuminating the lake, making it appear like a vast sheet of fire; then for an instant everything seemed of a pitchy darkness…
This noble war in the sky elevated my spirits… I perceived in the gloom a figure… A flash of lightning illuminated the object, and discovered its shape plainly to me; its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly informed me that it was the wretch, the filthy daemon…
Mary Shelley 1818
There was no sound through the house but the moaning wind, which shook the windows every now and then On the morrow one could hardly imagine that there had been three weeks of summer: the primroses and crocuses were hidden under wintry drifts; the larks were silent, the young leaves of the early trees smitten and blackened.
About midnight, while we still sat up, the storm came rattling over the Heights in full fury. There was a violent wind, as well as thunder, and either one or the other split a tree off at the corner of the building: a huge bough fell across the roof, and knocked down a portion of the east chimney-stack, sending a clatter of stones and soot into the kitchen-fire. We thought a bolt had fallen in the middle of us.
Emily Bronte 1847
Smoke lowering down from chimney-pots, making a soft black drizzle, with flakes of soot in it as big as full-grown snow-flakes — gone into mourning, one might imagine, for the death of the sun. Dogs, undistinguishable in mire. Horses, scarcely better; splashed to their very blinkers… Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the tiers of shipping and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city … people on the bridges peeping over the parapets into a nether sky of fog, with fog all round them, as if they were up in a balloon, and hanging in the misty clouds.
Day after day, a vast heavy veil had been driving over London from the East, and it drove still, as if in the East there were an Eternity of cloud and wind. So furious had been the gusts, that high buildings in town had had the lead stripped off their roofs; and in the country, trees had been torn up, and sails of windmills carried away; and gloomy accounts had come in from the coast, of shipwreck and death. Violent blasts of rain had accompanied these rages of wind, and the day just closed as I sat down to read had been the worst of all."
Charles Dickens 1861
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
The fog still slept on the wing above the drowned city, where the lamps glimmered like carbuncles [jewels]; and through the muffle and smother of these fallen clouds, the procession of the town's life was still rolling in through the great arteries with a sound as of a mighty wind. But the room was gay with firelight. It was by this time about nine in the morning, and the first fog of the season.
A great chocolate-coloured pall lowered over heaven, but the wind was continually charging and routing these embattled vapours; so that as the cab crawled from street to street, Mr. Utterson beheld a marvellous number of degrees and hues of twilight; for here it would be dark like the back-end of evening; and there would be a glow of a rich, lurid brown, like the light of some strange conflagration; and here, for a moment, the fog would be quite broken up, and a haggard shaft of daylight would glance in between the swirling wreaths… like a district of some city in a nightmare. The thoughts of his mind, besides, were of the gloomiest dye
Robert Louis Stevenson 1886
I'm not for one moment comparing myself to these masters, but like most writers, I do use pathetic fallacy; I guess the best example is from my novel Night Vision; The main character Beualh is struggling to persuade her unreasonably jealous husband, that his belief that she has been unfaithful is totally groundless, she is completely innocent. They arrange to go out for a romantic meal, but on the way home from work he diverts to the rugby club and 'accidentally' gets drunk. When she comes to find him, a humiliating scene ensues, and she rushes out and jumps into her car and drives away:
Beulah drove at random, tears streaming down her face as the rain streamed down the windscreen. An oncoming vehicle flashed its lights aggressively and Beulah went to lower hers only to realise that she hadn't even turned them on. She pulled over to the side of the road and wept, embarrassed, mortified, humiliated.
How could you, Neil, how could you? She wanted to run away, but where to? Her friends were all in Manchester… thank God the boys were thousands of miles away. She wouldn't go back to the flat, Austin and Annie might see her arrive alone and wonder what was wrong, come to be kind…. She couldn't face them.
She wiped her face, smearing her carefully applied make-up. She couldn't help but think of her excitement and anticipation, her optimism and hope. It was an insult, an affront. Bad enough for anyone to do something like that, but for her own husband to make a mockery of her love for him… She was sobbing now, utterly miserable, the future absolutely black, no hope of ever regaining the relationship she'd had with Neil.
How could she ever trust him again? Their problems all came from him. When his jealousy exploded in his attack on Rafi she could honestly say that she was innocent. She blew her nose and got out of the car and walked up and down in the teeming rain. Her feet were wet in her slender strapped sandals, the soles so thin the water pooling on the pavement ran between her toes.
Back in the car, cold, very wet and more controlled but no calmer, she looked at her phone. Nothing from Neil. Should she ring him but what could she possibly say? Even if he'd been sober enough to understand what she meant, what could she say?
Beulah was shivering, as much with emotional trauma as with cold. She needed time to think… or not to think. She drove out of Easthope and through Strand, she didn't want Neil finding her, even if he came looking. Her phone was on the seat beside her, its silence telling her that he didn't care.
She pulled into a lay-by as a fresh wave of emotion and despair engulfed her…. but she couldn't sit snivelling and sorry for herself, alone and lonely; she walked around again, the rain coming down even more heavily. She set off again, crawling along, the rain lashing down so heavily her wipers couldn't clear the screen. Even with her lights full on she could hardly see where she was going until there was an illuminating blaze of lightning arcing above showing the flooded road, water running like a river. There was a sign to Westope and she drove down to the boatyard and parked against the fence.
The storm unleashed its torrential worst. She had some gloomy satisfaction in the sound of the roaring wind which buffeted the car, screaming and whistling through the boats' rigging. Deafening thunder cracked and rolled above her and the sheets of viridian lightning matched her despair. She tried to remember Lear's rage, tried to recall his anguished words, to block out her own thoughts.
The night was full of strange and deafening noises, crashes and bangs as invisible things were tossed about in the boat yard. She should have been frightened but she was beyond fear. She had no idea of the time, didn't care, it didn't matter.
She slept.
© Lois Elsden 2017
If you want to find out what led up to this, and to what happened next, here is a link to my boo, Night Vision:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/night-vision-LOIS-ELSDEN-ebook/dp/B00BMZ6UWY/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1500384431&sr=8-8&keywords=lois+elsden
Bleak House - Charles DickensFrankenstein - Mary ShelleyGreat Expectations - Charles DickensMacbeth - William ShakespeareNight Vision by Lois Elsdenpathetic fallacyThe Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis StevensonWuthering Heights Emily Brontë
The Clever Hostess – Hors d'Œvres
Rain and tears


$12 billion from feds: A quick fix for state?
TALLAHASSEE -- Could Florida's budget woes be over?
Gov. Charlie Crist risked some political capital last week when the Republican governor backed the $787 billion stimulus package that President Barack Obama will sign into law today.
And now the package is paying off with cold cash.
Crist's office said Monday that Florida could haul in $12.2 billion or more during the next 2 1/2 years because of the bill -- a larger chunk than policymakers expected late last week.
More than $3.2 billion would come in during the next four months -- for road construction, child care, unemployment checks, job training and Medicaid costs. Officials suggested this could eliminate the need for any more state budget cuts this fiscal year, a reported $700 million shortfall.
"This will absolutely shore up Florida's budget in several areas," said Jerry McDaniel, Crist's budget and policy director.
And officials said the whopping $5.17 billion that would be at budget-writers' disposal for the budget year that begins July 1 may plug the projected $5 billion-plus deficit without the need for tax increases or massive spending cuts.
Crist has held off proposing a budget to the Legislature until later this week so he'd know how much cash the stimulus bill would send.
On Monday, Crist suggested the money might buy Florida enough time to get through its economic slump, which isn't forecast to end until well into 2010-11.
"I couldn't be more pleased with how this has turned out," Crist said.
During the next 16 months, the state could receive more than $3.1 billion just for Medicaid, the state and federally shared health-insurance program for the poor. The stimulus bill raises the federal share of the costs -- currently 55 percent -- which means the state would pay a lower share and could be able to redirect some of its current spending to other programs.
To qualify for the money, the Legislature will have to reverse its plans to cut some 20,000 adults from the Medically Needy program that helps people pay for serious illnesses, and another 7,000 low-income seniors from the Medicaid Aged and Disabled programs. But the additional funds should more than offset these costs.
All told, Crist said Florida could land $5.1 billion in Medicaid funding during the next three years.
Florida also would get about $1.4 billion that it must allocate to road projects and transit during the next four months. The state Department of Transportation estimates the state has nearly $7 billion in road projects that are "shovel ready."
In Central Florida, the MetroPlan Orlando organization estimates it has $3.4 billion worth of projects ready for contract, including adding lanes to Interstate 4 through Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties. MetroPlan estimates about $45 million in federal money could make it to Central Florida.
But some educators, lawmakers and policy experts remained skeptical that the money would solve Florida's broader budgetary woes.
"Let's be clear and aboveboard," said Bill Montford, chief executive officer of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents. "The stimulus funding is for two years, and even though we desperately need the funding, and we gladly accept it, we also have to realize . . . it is limited just to two years."
Darvin Boothe, lobbyist for Seminole County schools, said he's not holding out hope that the stimulus money will stave off another round of budget cuts next month.
Some legislators have estimated Florida could need to cut another $700 million from the current budget to keep its books balanced, and that could mean further cuts to schools. Florida also is still fighting for about $2.7 billion in education funding in the stimulus package.
To qualify for the money, states must fund schools at least at the level they did in the 2005-06 school year. Florida's state funding is now below that level.
However, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan could waive that provision for states that have had serious revenue declines, as Florida has. Crist has already asked him to do just that, although it's uncertain when that decision gets made.


The world of WeChat changes by the day, as more functions become open and available to overseas / foreign companies. This article focuses on how foreign companies, outside of China, are able to set up their WeChat Official Account.
It should be noted that WeChat Tencent has been making numerous improvements to their foreign account application process and procedures. Just a year ago it was next to impossible to get a WeChat Official Account setup yourself. You had some options, such as setting up a China business office and using that to register, going through a third party agency, or setting up WeChat Pay and having the WeChat Pay vendor set it up for you.
Here's the big newsflash - you CAN set up a WeChat Official Account yourself now. You can visit the WeChat website to register for an account. The registration form and process was still in Chinese when we most recently went through the account set up process, but if you are able to read Chinese then you can now complete the registration process yourself.
Account Operator Identification - Government issued and also in colour - both sides. You can use your driver's license for this.
Account Operator Mobile Phone Bills - You will need to provide 3 months of your most recent mobile phone bills. This name on the bill should match with the government issued identification you provided.
Business Office Phone Bills - You will need to provide 3 months of your most recent office phone bills. The address should match the one in your WeChat application.
HICCUP #1: One of the hiccups we ran into from testing out the 2019 WeChat account registration process was the fact that they wanted the phone bills as ONE jpeg file. For those who download their bills from sites like Rogers, Verizon, Virgin Mobile, Bell, etc. You will know that the format is usually in PDF, so you will need to work some editing magic to incorporate all 3 phone bills into one long JPG.
HICCUP #2: Our second hiccup was with the payment process. After you have submitted all of the required WeChat application information and documents, WeChat will issue an 'invoice' for you to send them a wire payment to verify that your bank account is indeed active. NOTE: Make sure to send the wire payment from the same bank account you filled in with the application.
The details they provide do NOT include some details that most North American banks would require due to banking and anti-money laundering regulations. Such missing line items the bank asked us for included the Beneficiary's address and the Branch Address for the Beneficiary Bank Account.
HICCUP #3: Even when we found the above missing line items, we discovered that the Bank Account Name AND the Beneficiary and Branch Address were all too long to fit into the wire transfer fields. The first time this happened, our verification payment became lost in the banking system because the money could be sent but NOT deposited on the other end at the receiving China bank.
From our experience, you MUST include the full Bank Account Name, the first time we issued a payment our teller had missed the 'period' following "Ltd", and that was the reason why the receiving bank didn't deposit the funds.
HICCUP #4: Language Barriers. After they receive all the information and your verification payment is sent, your file is sent to a third party verification company authorized by WeChat to complete the verification process. This can include a few back and forth emails in Chinese (and sometimes English - luck of the draw), asking you for follow up information on your file.
They will then schedule a call with you to verify your phone number and other details. You also have the option of calling them at a time that is convenient for you, keeping in mind your work hours is usually when people in China are still sleeping.
So if you jump through all these hurdles quickly enough, you can narrow down your account application process down to 2 weeks, which is what happened with our latest account registration. It did take us a few tries but we have to say that WeChat has significantly improved the process with comparatively more customer support than they had in 2018.
If this scares you, and you don't want to do this alone, contact us and let us take care of the WeChat official account registration process, then it will be a breeze for you. Contact us today at wechat@catalystagents.com.


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News Roundup: Gossip Girl, 90210 and The O.C.
Ausiello has spoilish details on a new Gossip Girl character named Eva.
Kristin has a cute video interview with Chace Crawford (Nate, Gossip Girl).
TV Squad has an interview with Dreama Walker (Hazel, Gossip Girl).
SoapNet put together a gallery of some of the stars that will be featured in their Star Spangled Marathon of Beverly Hills 90210 on Memorial Day.
ABC News has a very interesting article on people mourning when their favorite TV show ends (prompted by LOST's finale last night) and it mentions Beverly Hills 90210 and the loss people felt when it ended in 2000. You all know full well by now how sentimental I get about it, and I was even quoted in an article in 2000 about it going off the air.
Style FILE has a feature with Shenae Grimes (Annie, 90210) showing off her closet.
Michael Steger (Navid, 90210) will appear in the third episode of Covert Affairs, which also stars Peter Gallagher (Sandy, The O.C.). The show premieres in July.
Michael Nouri (Neil, The O.C.) is SoapNet's Weekly Crush.
Tags: ABC News, Annie, Ausiello, Beverly Hills 90210, Chace Crawford, Covert Affairs, Dreama Walker, Eva, Gossip Girl, Hazel, Kristin, Lost, Memorial Day, Michael Nouri, Michael Steger, Nate, Navid, Neil, Peter Gallagher, Sandy, Shenae Grimes, SoapNet, Star Spangled Marathon, Style FILE, The O.C, TV Squad
Categories : 90210, Beverly Hills 90210, Gossip Girl, The O.C.
News Roundup: Gossip Girl, 90210, One Tree Hill and More
In case you missed it earlier, Ed Westwick (Chuck, Gossip Girl) and Jessica Szohr (Vanessa, Gossip Girl) have broken up.
A report also came out today that Leighton Meester (Blair, Gossip Girl) and Sebastian Stan (Carter, Gossip Girl) have split but I haven't been able to confirm that yet.
Date Night, featuring Meester, opens in theaters tomorrow.
Fancast has an interview with Zuzanna Szadkowski (Dorota, Gossip Girl).
BuddyTV has an interesting post on The Cost of Dressing Like A Gossip Girl.
Has anyone heard of the animated series Beverly Hills Teens? It aired in the late 1980s. I just stumbled across it today.
SoapNet has a poll asking "Which "Beverly Hills 90210″ star is due for a return to TV?"
Shawn Christian (Wayne, Beverly Hills 90210) is SoapNet's Weekly Crush.
SoapNet is having a mothers-themed marathon of Beverly Hills 90210 and One Tree Hill on Mother's Day, May 9. It will air during the normal Sunday teen drama schedule for those shows. I'll post a reminder that morning.
Wakey!Wakey!, featuring Mike Grubbs (Grubbs, One Tree Hill), will have a huge concert at the Bowery Ballroom in New York on May 20 (which is coincidentally the same date as The CW upfront). Also check out another newly-released video from the band.
iF Magazine has an interview with Joshua Jackson (Pacey, Dawson's Creek).
Michelle Williams (Jen, Dawson's Creek) is in talks to star in The Emperor's Children.
Michael Nouri (Neil, The O.C.) has joined All My Children.
Tags: All My Children, Beverly Hills 90210, Beverly Hills Teens, Blair, Bowery Ballroom, BuddyTV, Carter, Chuck, Date Night, Dawson's Creek, Dorota, Ed Westwick, Fancast, Gossip Girl, Grubbs, iF Magazine, Jen, Jessica Szohr, Joshua Jackson, Leighton Meester, Michael Nouri, Michelle Williams, Mike Grubbs, Mother's Day, Neil, One Tree Hill, Pacey, Sebastian Stan, Shawn Christian, SoapNet, The CW, The Emperor's Children, The O.C, Vanessa, WakeyWakey, Wayne, Zuzanna Szadkowski
Categories : Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson's Creek, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, The O.C.


I-40 challenge; 4 teens die in Warren Co.
The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security and Tennessee Highway Patrol announced today that there were zero fatalities on Interstate 40 during the "I-40 Challenge" over the Thanksgiving Holiday period.
The challenge took place from noon to midnight on Wednesday, Nov. 27 and again from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., on Sunday, Dec. 1.
The challenge was issued to seven other state police or highway patrol agencies and consisted of increased patrols along the I-40 corridor over two 12 hour periods on November 27 and December 1 – the busiest travel days during the Thanksgiving period. During those time periods, a Tennessee State Trooper was assigned every 20 miles on Interstate 40.
Law enforcement officials from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, New Mexico State Police, Texas Department of Public Safety, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Arkansas State Police and North Carolina Highway Patrol also participated in the I-40 challenge and reported zero fatalities on the selected interstate in their states during the challenge period. The California Highway Patrol's figures were not available at press time.
While there were no fatal crashes on Tennessee's Interstate 40, the state's Highway Patrol investigated a total of 60 crashes (one alcohol-related), arrested five individuals on suspicion of impaired driving and issued 126 seat belt citations throughout the two 12-hour periods.
During the 102-hour Thanksgiving Holiday period, there were fatal vehicular crashes in Tennessee. Preliminary reports indicate that eight people were killed in five fatal crashes statewide during this year's Thanksgiving Holiday period. That's the same number of fatalities reported during the same time period in 2012. All eight occupants killed during the 2013 Thanksgiving Day period were not wearing seat belts. Two of the fatalities were alcohol-related crashes.
Four of the fatalities occurred in Warren County at approximately 1:30 Sunday morning.
Kaimen Collins, Christopher Frazier, Dominique Pinegar and Shanna Seiderer were all seniors at Warren County High.
Investigators said they believe the car they were riding in was going more than 100 miles per hour before it crashed on Highway 108 (Viola Highway.).
The car, a 2013 Camaro, left the road near the entrance to Southside subdivision, uprooting a tree before landing on its top. The car burst into flames. Two of the victims, Seiderer and Frazier were ejected from the car.
"I hope that our agency's presence on Interstate 40 in Tennessee contributed to the zero traffic fatalities during the Thanksgiving holiday challenge periods. However, our presence alone cannot change driver behavior. Motorists must buckle up every time they enter a vehicle and never drink and drive," THP Colonel Trott said. "We will continue our efforts in the drive toward zero fatalities over the Christmas and New Year's Eve holiday and throughout 2014," Trott added.
Colonel Trott was instrumental in organizing the Interstate 40 challenge.


Join us on The Public Good this week! We'll hear from Kelly Galloway, founder and director of Mona's House, Buffalo's first restoration home for human trafficking victims. She will discuss the global human trafficking crisis and her work, challenges, and successes here in Buffalo.
Listen, and then learn more about Mona House here.


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8: Our Parish Church
St.Michael & All Angels
Church and Chapel
History Group
Village Guide
contents at 1
The Church was built around 1150 AD in the late Romanesque style of locally-won limestone rubble, ironstone and flints, with finer quality dressed limestone from Oxfordshire. It is a typical Norman three-cell construction of Nave, Chancel and Sanctuary with a massive central Tower above the Chancel, and survives as one of only three Norman churches of the same style and date, without having serious alteration to their original footprint plan.
Stewkley represents ten different late Romanesque stone carving styles, but chevron patterns are dominant, on the Chancel and Sanctuary arches, the window and door surrounds, and the internal and external string-courses.
early view, note tower top
G E STREET
St Michael´s was conservatively restored in 1862 by the eminent Victorian architect, G E Street. The roofs were restored to their original Norman pitches, the small oculus window added to the West gable, and stone buttresses at the Sanctuary corners. Street himself designed the neo-Norman pulpit and the exotic Sanctuary reredos, added new pews, and employed Messrs Clayton and Bell to re-decorate the Sanctuary vaulted ceiling and to install a new stained glass East window.
In 2000-06 and again in 2012, a modern programme of conservation work took place to conserve and replace eroded ashlar and rubble limestone, and to repoint the external walls throughout the church with lime mortar to permit the ancient fabric to breathe.
« « 7 Parish Church Church and Chapel menu8 9 »


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Injury could rule Spurs defender out of World Cup
Yet another Tottenham Hotspur player that was likely for the England 30-man squad is in danger of missing out.
By Kim McCauley@lgbtqfc May 1, 2014, 6:33pm BST
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Steve Bardens
At the rate he's going, Roy Hodgson's England squad is just going to be the Under-21 squad. Andros Townsend was ruled out of the World Cup earlier this week with an ankle injury that will keep him from training until late July, and now it looks like another Tottenham Hotspur player could miss out.
Kyle Walker's status is very up in the air due to a pelvic injury, and Hodgson talked about it.
"We haven't been told for certain that he will be out for the next six to 10 weeks but we are concerned. I know he has had another injection. We are waiting to find out whether that helps. He has not been fit for a long time."
Six to 10 weeks, huh? So we got more information on Walker's status from a throwaway Hodgson quote than we were ever going to get from the official club website. Lovely!
If Walker is out for another six weeks, there's a decent chance that he could be picked in Hodgson's World Cup squad, though it'll be a bit unlikely. If he's going to be out for any longer than six weeks, he's absolutely out of contention to go to Brazil.


Carl, M., & Lykke Jakobsen, A. (2010). Relating Production Units and Alignment Units in Translation Activity Data. In B. Sharp, & M. Zock (Eds.), Natural Language Processing and Cognitive Science (pp. 37-46). Portugal: SCITEPRESS Digital Library.
Carl, M & Lykke Jakobsen, A 2010, Relating Production Units and Alignment Units in Translation Activity Data. in B Sharp & M Zock (eds), Natural Language Processing and Cognitive Science. SCITEPRESS Digital Library, Portugal, pp. 37-46, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, 08/06/2010.
Relating Production Units and Alignment Units in Translation Activity Data. / Carl, Michael; Lykke Jakobsen, Arnt.
Natural Language Processing and Cognitive Science. ed. / Bernadette Sharp; Michael Zock. Portugal : SCITEPRESS Digital Library, 2010. p. 37-46.
Carl M, Lykke Jakobsen A. Relating Production Units and Alignment Units in Translation Activity Data. In Sharp B, Zock M, editors, Natural Language Processing and Cognitive Science. Portugal: SCITEPRESS Digital Library. 2010. p. 37-46.


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Using SLV COLOR CONTROL you can individually control the coloured light of your RGB/W devices indoors as you wish. Wirelessly, using a wall-mounted control panel or with the optional Bluetooth® expansion to control via an App. The SLV COLOR CONTROL system works using the master/ slave principle and it can be expanded at any time.
Your mood decides whether it should be red, yellow, blue or green light, or dimmable white background lighting.


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October 5, 2020 by Bridget Barrett
Bernadette Todd was 5-years-old and still crawling around her home in Jamaica. She was never able to start walking. She later overheard her parents discussing her devastating diagnosis of infantile muscular distrophy. The main thing she remembers is that her parents said she would die young. At the age of 5, she prayed that God would let her live to be 30-years-old.
People advised her parents to put her in a home and forget about her. People with disabilities often experienced discrimination and rejection in Jamaica. Bernadette's parents loved her and wouldn't abandon her. But in their desperation they left Bernadette with a "healer" for two weeks. He subjected her to horrible experiences like drinking blood and participating in animal sacrifices. She was only 7-years-old. "I felt abandoned by God and by my parents," Bernadette said. Her health didn't improve, and worse, she felt emotionally traumatized by the experience.
Jamaican schools weren't equipped for students with disabilities. One school would allow her to attend as long as her parents paid twice the normal tuition. The children laughed at her and teased her. She was even left in the bathroom all day because her teacher forgot about her. Finally her family moved to America to have better options for her health care and education. After moving to Miami, she was also diagnosed with scoliosis and had surgery on her spine. But her situation did improve as she was able to make friends, attend school, and eventually college.
Bernadette met Jeff in a college math class. He took notice of her and held the door open for her. Their friendship developed as she became his math tutor. Bernadette asked Jeff to join her and her friends as they celebrated her twentieth birthday. His reply surprised her. "I'll be happy to go out with you and your friends if you go to church with me," Jeff said. Bernadette became a Christian on that first day she attended church with Jeff. Just a few months later they married against the wishes of Jeff's mom and stepdad. They thought it was too quick and that Jeff didn't understand all the responsibilities he would have. But he did understand. When he proposed, Bernadette tried to explain her complete dependence on him and how she wouldn't live long. He said, "I love you, and it doesn't matter." They've been married for 33 years and Bernadette has outlived her prognosis, and even her childhood prayer. It was one of the many ways they both have learned that "with God all things are possible," Matthew 19:26.
Bernadette still didn't expect one of those "impossible" things to be travelling the world as a speaker. She was terrified of speaking in public. In 2003 her pastor asked her to share her testimony in a church service. "He told me to tell my story and let God be preaching through it," Bernadette said. Seventeen people got saved in that service including Jeff's mom and stepdad. After that, she had several more opportunities to speak and ended up travelling with Jeff to the Dominican Republic in 2005. "When you see God working and confirm it through leadership, through pastors, and through circumstances, we knew we were going to step out in faith," Jeff said.
The Todds visited Manila, Philippines in 2015
A month later they were on their next trip to Bolivia. Jeff and Bernadette have been to 16 countries including India, Brazil, Bolivia, and Sierra Leone. They've visited several countries mulitiple times over the years delivering the same gospel message and the encouragement that "God can use anyone. All he needs is a willing heart," Bernadette said. And as God was using her, he was also improving her health. Public speaking helped exercise her lungs. However, the Todds have been slowly reducing their amount of travel after a decade of heavy travel. They are very active in the ministry at their church as Bernadette mentors young women and oversees the small group ministry, and they both enjoy counseling married couples. Bernadette also started a book club at her local library. "I don't preach, but the book does," Bernadette said. She chooses books that inspire and challenge, and each meeting follows the theme of the book. "This gives us an opportunity to build relationships," she said.
Bernadette started a book club this year
Whether at the local library or across the world, it's amazing to see how God has used Jeff and Bernadette to do seemingly impossible things. "I just wanted someone to share my faith with, and he's used her to share that faith with thousands," Jeff said. In addition to sharing the gospel, Bernadette tells her listeners that her life and the way she was created wasn't a mistake. "God sees a daughter he created in his own image. He must have a purpose for my life," Bernadette said. God brought the Todds together to use them for his own glory. That is their purpose.
Christ Fellowship Miami recently made a highlight video about Jeff & Bernadette's marriage and ministry. Watch below.
The Rogers in Mexico


The past 4 weeks at CSM Houston, hundreds of people of all ages have passed through the doors (although most were high energy junior high). Every week, a few groups get a chance to serve at the Harbor Light Salvation Army. It is a men's shelter for those that are recovering from drug and alcohol addictions as well as a daily meal service and shelter for those on the streets. One man that is always there when CSM volunteers arrive is named David. David's story consists of attempting to go through the program at Harbor Light 6 different times. He has battled addictions for most of his life and has been welcomed into the program again to overcome his obstacles. Currently David is in charge of the kitchen which is where our group mainly serves. Over the summer he has gained an interest in our CSM groups asking questions about what we do and why we serve. All of the interns have grown accustomed to chatting with him every time they get to visit there. The best part about David is he wants to return the favor of our service by handing us not one but four boxes of cookies every time we come.
As much as I don't "need" to eat any more cookies, for David, it's always nice to be reminded of what he has shared with us by seeing multiple boxes left over around our housing site. We mostly chuckle......oh...you went to Harbor Light today!
Asking for spare change is easier.
Bumming a smoke is less gut-wrenching.
Standing in traffic, trying to catch the gaze of drivers who fiddle with their radio buttons to avoid looking into the eyes of a homeless person, is less intimidating than standing up for yourself. Which is what Xavier J. Bannister was doing yesterday in asking for a place in a neighborhood he considers his own as much as those who own property there.
"I don't know if I made a difference today. I got some dirty looks. That was hard," said Bannister, 31, who marched along H Street in Washington, trying to get the downtown lunch crowd to see him. "But at least I let my voice be heard. And some people honked their horns and waved."
I've been learning a lot recently about weariness recently. Partially because I'm learning what it means to be training at CSM in the summer; partially because I'm starting a new work-out regiment. But I'm learning what it means to try to find rest.
And recently, when I begin to think of rest, I am reminded about a message I heard Dan speak a few months ago. He was explaining that when we wrestle with God sometimes it is ok to just relax and rest in His arms and let Him hold us.
There's something sweet about that image. Something comforting. Something... relaxing.
I think a lot of times we wrestle with God, and that's a good thing. We grapple with Him about our futures, about our present, sometimes about our past. We hold on tight for the things we ask Him about. We grip his arms and hands demanding peace and rest and energy.
Let His hands hold us up in the moment of His grace.
Let His arms embrace us and shelter us from fear.
Let His voice calm us into peace and rest.
I saw something the other night, as I was at the Hamilton's house for game 3. Janie fell down as she was running across the living room. She didn't hit anything, but I think it scared her more than anything else. And she started to cry. I've seen this a ... few times... and every time it's very similar, either Jeff or Rachel picks her up and starts to speak soothing words to her. Usually, (though sometimes not always) she calms down, and all is right with the world again. Sometimes, she's really worked up and it's hard for her to calm down as quickly, but Jeff or Rachel keep talking to her. Calm, relaxing words of comfort.
Can I begin to relax in God's arms today? Can I listen to His still, quiet voice of reason? Can I just let His hands keep me safe? Can I calm down from the day-in and day-outs of life and allow God to just speak to me? What does quiet sound like? What does comfort feel like?
To help replenish diminishing supplies at our state's food banks, SK Foods is donating more than 82,000 cases of 15 oz. canned diced tomatoes--close to one million cans--to food banks throughout California. Deliveries to food banks began Thursday morning, June 5, with a truck dropping off approximately 2,800 cases of tomatoes to the San Francisco Food Bank.
The SK Foods donation constitutes one of the five largest food bank donations in the state's history, according to Bill Foltz, food solicitor for Second Harvest Food Bank, who is helping to coordinate distribution of the diced tomatoes. "It's a great product and has such versatility to it. This outstanding donation comes at a time when our food banks are scrambling desperately for donations," explained Foltz.
You see, our daily schedule starts at 8 or so in the morning, and we're finished once the group debriefs at the end of the night. Every week, the visiting group is offered a night off to explore the city or do something fun. While they are off, so are the city hosts! This past Tuesday was one of those nights for us.
I decided to go for a run around the city. (Yes, I hit the 'Rocky steps'!) When I came back, the rest of the group was out to dinner, so I decided to stay in and get some things done. When my stomach reminded me it was time for dinner, I hopped in my car and went cruising around University City (Chestnut, Walnut and Market streets) to see what the food venue was like. I found a Chili's Restaurant (my favorite ) and got my food to go. I also decided to attempt to stop by a Rite Aid to pick up a prescription I'm supposed to have before I leave for Mexico in a week. I parked my car on Market Street and started to walk to the Rite Aid.
Then it happened. I saw a man sitting in a wheelchair on the side of the road. He looked pretty content where he was, and I figured that he lived nearby. As I started walking by, he murmured something to me. Thinking I had parked the wrong way or something, I went over to him. His words were fairly garbled, but the Lord made sure I could understand what he was saying. He asked me if I could push him to the corner. I had no problems with this, and so I started to push him in the direction he was pointing. Perhaps he was tired, or maybe he didn't know where he was. Regardless, I started to push his chair down the road. It was no easy task, and I felt like I was pushing the chair through mud. He told me that he lived on the corner of the street and that he just needed to get there. I kept pushing and tried to get him off of the road and onto the sidewalk.
All of a sudden, a man calls over to me from across the street. He says, 'You're helping him get back to his home?' After he walks over he says, 'Ah, his battery must have died! (to the man in the chair) Hey brother, I live right down the street from you. You know me. I'll bring you back to your home.' He looked over at me, shook my hand, and thanked me for giving it a shot. Then he asked the man where the brakes were on the wheelchair. (explaining the slow-go I was having…duh Tim!) After releasing them, they wheeled off in the right direction.
So, what's the bad habit I'd acquired? I assumed that there is 'time off' from this experience. God could get my attention anytime during hosting hours, but once the groups are on their own, it would be just my time to relax and take a break from these revelations. God doesn't take nights off, and neither should we. Upon further reflection, I had some interesting thoughts.
How often do our batteries run low? It may be a rough week at work or school. Some event in our life may be causing us to stress out often. Before we know it, we're caught on the side of the road, unable to make it any further. The same could happen in our Christian lives. We may backslide, or simply have doubts which cause us to get off the path and delay our travel Home. Sometimes, the help of a passerby or a neighbor is exactly what we need to help us continue our journey. The electric wheelchair was run by a battery, but when that failed, the chair still rolled. (easily, too…if you released the brakes! ) God provides ways for us to get moving in the right direction.
Ever looked into the eyes of a homeless person?
Ever gazed in your mirror?
Walked down the street and watched someone eat out of a trashcan?
Seen an earthquake rattle a building?
Ever gazed into the eyes of a genuine caring Mom?
Ever watched an artist paint on a canvas?
Ever seen a child with a milk mustache?
Ever watched the wind flow through the trees?
I've been thinking a lot lately about grace and bout what grace truly looks like. I mean sometimes I get really focused on me and I think about how things make me feel. Sometimes I don't like that food, or I don't think things feel good to me and I just get really wrapped up in "me." There are days when I feel arrogant and prideful but I think about how I really have no rights over anyone else. Sure I wasn't born on the streets and I didn't face that injustice, I had my own injustices, but that doesn't make me better than anyone else. I dunno sometimes I just think I get wrapped up in me and forget that the grace of God surpasses all.
God's grace overcomes me, as well as every other person in the world. God's grace is something that everyone can receive if they choose to, it wasn't just for the rich, the poor, or the middle class it was for all. In recognizing grace we have to recognize that we sin and that God's grace can cover that sin. I'm not saying get lost in sin and let it keep going on, but recognize that sin, and understand what it really means to seek forgiveness and turn from that sin. I think when we realize that we can begin to understand grace. But grace is so much more. Grace is learning that there is a padded cushion under us, and when we fall we won't just crash and never get up. God is there to help us up.
"To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives--the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections--that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for.
I spent this past weekend as a homeless person living on the streets of downtown Toronto. The experience was part of my training with CSM, and the five interns partnered with the summer interns and workers from Evergreen Ministries, which is part of the larger Yonge Street Mission. Evergreen does this experience annually and encourage all of their staff to participate - this summer was CSM's first go-around.
Friday afternoon our city director took us to Double Take, a community thrift shop, to buy a homeless outfit for each of the CSM interns. I ended up buying an old, dingy baseball cap, a oversized white tshirt, black exercise pants, and some really old black tennis shoes. Once we got back to our housing site and changed, the five of us played in the dirt in the parking lot and a nearby park to make ourselves look more believably homeless. We then drove downtown to Evergreen Ministries.
After an orientation and what to do/what not to do, we (the CSM interns and Evergreen staff) were split into groups. Every six hours during the day, all of us would meet back at Evergreen (we weren't allowed to go inside again) to switch groups. The smallest daytime group was 2, the largest was 3. Jennifer and I were paired with Steve, the only male intern at Evergreen. We started at 6pm, and were to meet the rest of the larger group at midnight to look for places to sleep. Since all we were allowed to carry was 50 cents for an emergency phone call, we needed to figure out how to make money so that we could eat for the night.
Jennifer, Steve, and I decided to panhandle. If you don't know, panhandle basically means to sit on a corner or a street and beg for money ("Can you spare any change?"). Most of the time, you use a hat or a cup for passers-by to donate money into. We first decided to try our luck on Church and Wellesley, which is Toronto's gay village. I hoped that my natural good looks and southern charm could score some major cash (haha). Well…it didn't. In fact, the only thing I got after about 45 minutes was a pass for a subway ride. Steve didn't make any money either, but Jennifer got $5 from a transvestite! We then decided to move on to Bay Street (the financial heart of Toronto) and try our luck there. Absolutely no luck for me or Steve, but Jennifer ended up getting $100 from a man smoking outside of Red Lobster who identified his own children in Jennifer. After her streak of luck, we met up with Shannon and Victoria from Evergreen and made our way over to Chinatown on Spadina Avenue to eat dinner!
We met with our larger group at midnight, and broke into two groups of about 8 to look for a place to sleep for the night. Initially my group decided to walk through "Boystown" to experience what some of the darker aspects of the city are. "Boystown" is a part of downtown Toronto that is hidden from site because it is where young guys (about 13-21ish) who live on the street prostitute themselves to older men to make a living. Most of them will tell you that they aren't gay, but that this is the only way for them to make money outside of drugs. We didn't really see much going on, so we decided to duck into a hotel lobby to take a rest. My roommate Jake found an empty lounge upstairs, so our group crashed there until about 2am when we were asked to leave. We ended up walking across town to sleep on the campus of the University of Toronto for about 4 hours.
Saturday was a day full of walking. One thing most people don't realize about being homeless is how long the day seems when you have absolutely nothing to do. Fortunately, we learned the tricks of the trade from a few street kids, and ended up eating all of our meals for free on Saturday. For breakfast we ate at a soup kitchen at St. Stephens-in-the-field Church, for lunch we ate at a community barbeque for the homeless sponsored by a local church, and for dinner we went to a drop-in shelter at St. Peter's Anglican Church. Saturday night we enjoyed a free, outdoors fiddle concert at Dundas Square until we found a small park to all sleep at near the Women's College Hospital. Apparently during the night, another homeless man joined our group and slept next to me and I never realized it! I guess he felt safer sleeping in a group of strangers rather than sleeping by himself on the streets.
Our experience ended this morning (Sunday) at 9am with breakfast at Evergreen. Our city directors were waiting to greet us and hear all of our stories.
I knew that this was going to be a tough weekend, and I knew that I'd learn a lot about street life. My heart completely broke for street people because of how lonely, humiliating, and dehumanizing being homeless really is. While I was panhandling, hardly anyone would look at me, give me money, or at least say "I'm sorry." On a few occassions, people walking their dogs actually tightened their leashes so that even their dogs couldn't acknowledge me. At one point, a group of people stopped to have a ten minute conversation right in front of me without once looking down at me. It's really embarrassing and shameful-feeling to have to beg. I couldn't bring myself to actually look people in the eye and ask for money. When you're homeless, you lose all dignity and self-respect. It's such a tragedy.
I'm really glad I got to experience homelessness, if even for only 39 hours. The experience has really opened my eyes to the extent at which people are forced to live because of family, financial, personal, social, or medical problems. I've learned that each person on the street - no matter their circumstance - deserves respect and appreciation simply because they are another person. Although I probably won't give out money to every street person I meet, I will definitely acknowledge their existence with a "hello" or "God bless you." They deserve at least that much.
My group served at St. John's Hospice on Monday morning. We had somewhere in and around 327 men come to the shelter that day for a meal. (I think most of them just wanted to get out of the heat!) Before all of the men came, I had the pleasure of sharing a meal with a man who referred to himself as Big Bill. He was a fairly big man, hence the name, but was as friendly as he was large. I talked to him about the basics and discovered yet another person thrashing the stereotypes of a homeless man.
Big Bill traveled from Georgia after he was laid off from his job. He got hooked up with a ministry called Traveler's Aid, and through a network of missions, ended up at St. John's. He is currently looking for work so that he can get back on his feet. Big Bill didn't really make any bad decisions to get in his position. The jobs simply aren't available in his manufacturing and factory line of work. He says that the places he used to work for found cheaper labor overseas. Big Bill is well educated, but his field is getting smaller and smaller in the US. He goes over to an employment agency nearby and answers different ads. One thing I found to be interesting was that he has been offered jobs outside the city, but lacks the transportation to get there. The focus right now is getting a job where he can take public transportation so he can save up for a car. Then, a whole new world of opportunities is opened to him!
The truth remains that people without a home are still people. As we finished up lunch and got ready to work, Big Bill told me he had a few interviews lined up for this week. I look at Big Bill and I am humbled by the way he is willing to accept a lowly position washing dishes in order to start working his way back onto his feet. Talk about swallowing one's pride. It's safe to say that Big Bill got his name not only because of his physical size, but the size of his character, his heart, and his determination to get back on track with life.
One of my most meaningful opportunities for ministry came to me in Crestwood, Kentucky where I served for nine years as a member of the Community Rescue Squad, as well as pastor of the Methodist church. A little group of volunteers, trained as EMT's, provided this community service. When we inquired about our legal liability, we were informed that we were protected by the Good Samaritan Law. Since then, I've discovered most states and many countries have a Good Samaritan Law. The Good Samaritan Law, in essence, protects from blame those who choose to aid others who are injured or ill. In Canada, it's a requirement.
Want to experience radical love?? Serve with CSM in the city!
The place that we are living in is an old Methodist church. Our room has no windows and a fruit fly problem. The bathrooms are downstairs and the showers are itty-bitty and a little scary. I know it is really not that bad a place to live, however, not only do we have a fruit fly problem, but I have seen more roaches that I want to admit crawling around my bed and the other girl's beds as well. I am going to let you in on a little secret: I have seen 1 live roach in my entire life. I freaked out and screamed for my dad to come save me!...Needless to say, I HATE cockroaches!!! So living in a room where killing a roach is a common occurance doesn't sit well with me. I had gotten over my initial fear after a few days, but still, no one likes the sight of a roach...or the sound...blech.
I mentioned my fear and loathing of the little devils during a Wednesday morning staff prayer meeting, saying "I am really trying to get used to them, but they're just SO UGLY!! I mean, it would be different if it was a BUTTERFLY infestation or something..." So we prayed that I would be able to deal with the nasty things. A night later that week, I walked into my room, and there I found my butterfly infestation! Dozens of the most adorable construction paper butterflies were hanging from the ceiling from ribbons, each one decorated. I not only have a very thoughtful and creative Associate City Director (thanks Megan!) but I also have a God who cares about the little stuff that gets to me. I saw the love of God in a flock of paper butterflies (I didn't mention that our director bought 3 huge packages of roach poison and I haven't seen one since...another blessing :) But not only in that. I see God working in such little ways as my kids for the week talking to a homeless person for the first time and actually enjoying it. Or in them sharing how much fun it was to play with the clients at an Alzheimer's facility. So God is in the "little" things, and I found that His love for us manifests itself in so many small ways. We just have to keep our eyes open to notice, and hopefully stay open to Him using us to share His love in the lives of others.
Wow I don't even know where to begin but I guess I could start by telling you that I really like the city. I guess sometimes when you get so caught up in wanting to go to other parts of the world outside of the US, you forget how much need there is in the city. Tonight we shadowed a group and went on what we call the "Prayer Tour." As we are driving through Skid Row, on one of the streets there is a party going on. There are people listening to music and dancing in the streets. Then we drive a few blocks away and an LA Lakers game is just getting out, and people are partying and dancing in the streets so to speak. Two vastly different groups of people both rejoicing, but for different reasons. One group will find it's bed on a sidewalk as the rain drizzles down their faces. The other in a nice warm bed with a couple of pillows and blankets. One will beg for food, the other will walk to their refrigerator and have whatever they desire.
Still Jesus would have been in the midst of both groups. One of the questions we ask our groups to think about at CSM is where would Jesus be standing? Would he be standing with the poor or with the rich? Or would he be somewhere in the middle. Jesus did not come only to save the poor, nor did he come only to save the rich. So we think of Jesus standing in the middle. I guess for me that's a new concept so to speak, I think of Jesus hanging out with the poor and the outcasts (which he definitely did), but he also spent time questioning the rich and trying to help them understand his Father's way.
I wonder sometimes if I could look at my entire life how many times I have stood on the rich side? How many times have I stood on the poor side? How many times have I stood in the middle? If I'm truly attempting to be like Jesus wouldn't I be standing in the middle? How can I stand in the middle?
Think about that for a minute....I mean it's definitely a hard one to process.
I am more of a processor than I realize. I can be really extroverted, but sometimes I just need time to think about what I have seen or what is going on.
I love Nicaraguan & Indian food!!!
I don't like that there is not much grass in LA, but I'm told that there is more in Northern California.
Today I learned what a "Smog Check" is.
Lastly, I have a lot of things to remember this summer, but with God all things are possible.
God is in the midst of it all, and He sees the big picture more than I can, so trusting Him is the way to go. I hope you enjoyed reading, you can look forward to more stories soon!!
It was a cool, clear Monday night in Philly. We gathered with our visiting group, Sugarloaf United Methodist, on the Art Museum steps (affectionately referred to as the 'Rocky' steps). They are a group of about 50 high school underclassmen and leaders that have traveled all the way from Atlanta, GA to serve with CSM for the week. At the end of each day, they gather together as a whole to debrief the entire day that was. This includes singing worship songs, discussing moments from their day, and sharing stories of things that touched them or challenged them. As the music played and the kids shared, I started to take in my surroundings.
One of the noticeable features in the city skyline is the Amtrak building. This building is rather triangular shaped and lights up at night. In the past week, we have seen the building light up in a random flashing pattern. We were told that it occasionally is lit in the shape of the Phillies' symbol. On this night in particular, it was in the shape of a question mark. My mind immediately jumps to the Riddler from Batman for some reason. Why in the world would there be a question mark that size on the side of a building? I suppose they put it there to get people talking, but my interest was definitely peaked.
… and then the time would flash after every message or so. In the midst of the worship, praise, and telling of God's work in the day, God really put prayer and quiet time with Him on my heart.
Let's focus on the question mark. Each and every one of us has questions in our lives. It can be something like 'How are we going to make it to the end of the month?' to 'What am I going to have for dinner tonight?' to 'Why do I feel this way?' These questions range in complexity and importance, but they are all questions regardless. Some of us don't know why we have these questions in our lives, similarly to how I don't know why the question mark is on the side of the building. We just acknowledge the fact that they're there, and do our best to figure out why.
If we only knew the answers, life would be so much easier, right? Well, what if we knew the one who knows all the answers? This is where God comes in to the picture! He knows the answers to all our questions. Doesn't it seem ridiculous to know who knows the answers but choose not to ask?
Prayer is alive and well in Philadelphia. I am humbled by the fact that people at these ministry sites are so devoted to prayer. I've had people come up to us on the streets and just ask for prayer…without even giving their name. The beauty of our relationship with God is that it doesn't have to be technical communication! We have access to God anytime, anywhere, and for any reason. Just as Philadelphia welcomes the society, we should welcome communication with God into our daily lives.
We serve a God who is merciful to us and answers prayer. If we seek, it shall be revealed to us. If we knock, the door will be opened. God will answer the prayers of our hearts according to His will. Our job is to give all our doubts and fears up to the One who holds the answers. How marvelous is it that God loves us so much that he would listen to each of us when we pray!
Just as the time flashed between these messages, the time in our lives is certainly not standing still. Even as you read this, time has passed from when you started. There is no better time to start seeking Christ's guidance in our lives than the present! Take the time right now to give Him the giant question mark in your life.
Today, I didn't really know what I was doing until I woke up (which is a nice change of pace). We just finished training, and our groups aren't coming in until tomorrow evening. So, the hosts called me up and told me they were gonna hang out at the beach this afternoon. Hang out at the beach and work on my tan? Why not? Sounds like fun.
I ran some quick errands, and headed out to the beach to meet up with them (they decided to get out there around 11, I caught up with them around 1).
We did some quick swimming, then we mostly lay there and talked about stuff. It was a pretty chill afternoon. Around 5pm, some of the hosts decided to start heading back and since it was getting late, so did I. Apparently, one of our hosts is... not as dark as some of us from So. Cal. so she got pretty badly burned. It was actually pretty heartbreaking to see. This is her first REAL bad sunburn and she was actually so bad that she was dizzy and could barely move around.
At one point I stood there debating if we should drive her to the hospital and wait in the ER for like 7 hours for the doctors to tell me that there was nothing they could do and she needed water, sleep, and painkillers. (And sometimes they recommend aloe). At least in the ER I'm getting someone's professional opinion about what little we could do. I felt helpless. Sunburn is one of those things that make you feel alone. It hurts so bad that talking to others is difficult. You can't move, so you feel helpless. And worst of all, nobody can touch you, so you can't get comforted.
As I stood there watching her wrestle with her new found pain, I couldn't help but to think of the couple of times I had been through that. (yes today I'm slightly sunburned, but not NEARLY that bad). I wanted to tell her that everything would be ok. Her body would heal itself. The pain, though almost too much to think through, would eventually fade. And before long, the whole memory would be a story she told others to ward them away from the California sun.
But watching her eyes, and her pain, I couldn't say it. I felt like I couldn't ignore the pain she was going though, because it was real. genuine. consuming.
And I thought to myself. Is this how God feels sometimes when we struggle with our lives? Does He watch us go through our pain and want to tell us: "Everything is going to be ok." "With time, your body will heal itself." "The pain you feel, though almost to think through, will eventually fade." and "Before long, this whole memory will become part of the story of your life."
He's seen more than we can, He knows so much more, and He wants to be there for us... but maybe He allows us to experience pain because it is real and genuine. And with that timing He allows us to heal. He sits with us as we cry. He's quiet as we try to lay down for rest. He nurtures us when we need something. And He smiles at us when we look at His face.
coming, so that I can put into practice the things I've been learning.
I'm ready to jump right in there, make mistakes and learn from them.
them as much as He does in me.
Being from LA, 9/11 really didn't mean that much to me. I was a freshman when it happened, it couldn't have been more then a couple weeks into the semester. I believe it was the first late start we had when my mom woke me up and told me a plane crashed into a ny building. at first i thought she was talking about a movie she was watching and i was like, that's great. when i saw it i couldn't believe it. i remember i was playing football that year and i was like, 'what's the point of playing football when things like this are happening around the world?' i told my coaches there were some things i had to figure out and i didn't go to practice that week. i even missed one of the games. i also went to a couple prayer meetings. but that was the extent of my reaction to the event.
Being in NY now it is completely different. Every time i've gone down to the wtc site my heart beat slows and i almost seem to stop breathing. to think of the devastation, the lives lost, and the countless number of lives that were affected both with deaths and jobs. it's unbelievable. 7 years and we are still struggling to recover. there's a fire station right across from the site, and the last time we were down there one of its doors was up. i hadn't seen this happen on my previous visits and what i saw was a private memorial to their fallen comrades. This is the reality they live in. Whenever they leave that station they will see this memorial. Every time they look across the street i'm sure they think of their friends they have lost.
There's a church that's a couple blocks away called St. Paul's. In the aftermath of 9/11, caring people from throughout the nation who wanted to help stayed in the church. This church is real old and it is said that George Washington used to attend it back when the capitol was in NY. anyway, inside it's basically a giant memorial to 9/11 with a bunch of stations set up. one is of a bunch of origami. i hadn't known this before, but one of my kids read that the origami was from Japanese school children. this caught me by surprise for as i'm sure you can recall the actions carried out by America during WWII. Furthermore, in the church there's a giant banner that reads "Oklahoma loves you" and has the signatures of many. I hadn't realized the significance of this before, but this group was from Oklahoma and one of my kids was reminding me of the Oklahoma city bombings. While i was going on my strike against football i'm glad other people were actually extending a sympathetic hand.
We love hearing how people are able to use their unique gifts and passions to serve others. Check out this video to see how this organization is revitalizing a neighborhood in the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area!
When you think of homeless people, what are some of the things you think? Perhaps it's that they are all drug users. Maybe they have an alcohol problem. Or it could even be that they are too lazy to do anything about their situation. Sit back and grab hold of something. The story I'm about to tell you is going to blast all of those stereotypes away!
Let me start by explaining our ministry with Hands of Hope. This ministry is run by a woman named Joetta. Assisted by a cane, she ministers to the homeless not through a shelter, not through a soup kitchen, but she meets them right where they are; on the streets. Affectionately known as 'Ma' by many of the homeless, Joetta leads groups to different locations where she knows homeless people 'hang out'. Each group brings packed lunches of peanut butter and jelly, fruit and water. Groups also hand out toiletry kits with soap, shampoo, and sometimes a pair of socks and underwear. Most of the people are more than happy to spend some time sitting and talking with you. Some would rather not be bothered. If you're fortunate, they'll open up about their story. The ministry is not focused on treating the homeless like a zoo, however, where people come just to observe, learn and leave. The hope is that we will sit down with the people and just talk (or in most cases, listen!) for a while.
Allow me to introduce my new friend Ali. (Yes, like the famous boxer!) Try and imagine this scene. We're just outside of Center City, so the area is fairly busy and clean. We're at an area where three streets intersect. A wall of a juvenile delinquency center provides shelter for about half a dozen people. Ali was one of these people, and I sat down next to where he was camped. I offered him the lunch and the toiletry kit soon after introducing myself. (In retrospect, I wish I would have held on to them longer or not even had them to give because it probably appeared as though it was the only reason I was there!) I'm not sure how the conversation got started, but soon I was finding out more and more about Ali.
He told me to guess how old he was. I view this as a very dangerous question regardless of who I'm talking with, so I cautiously decided to go with mid-40s. He cocked his head back and laughed. He took his hat off and said, 'I'm 53 years old'. I wouldn't be complaining if I was his age and looked like he did. He began to tell me about the homeless in the area. Some people did fit into the stereotypes. Ali said he was not on drugs nor did he drink. As the conversation went on and on, I believed this more and more. He said that many people lose their minds out on the street. He knew of one man who was asking for a light for a cigarette for his friend. When Ali took a bit too long to get it out, the man quieted his friend and told him to be patient. What makes this situation crazy? Ali could only actually see one of them.
Ali has a fantastic sense of humor, something which I'm sure prevents him from making friends with invisible people. I asked him if there was any trouble around here for him. He told me that sometimes people will come around and throw things at them and run away, but it's nothing too severe. He takes it in stride and even finds reason to joke about it. One time in particular, a bunch of kids ran up and threw hoagie rolls at him. He caught one, turned to the kid and asked ,'Well, are you going to throw the meat and cheese? Where's the meat and cheese?!' The kid thought it was humorous and ran off with his friends. I marveled at the fact that he could make light of such a degrading thing.
Ali didn't go too deeply into how he became homeless. He has no kids and no wife that he talked about. He said that he had just made a few bad decisions and temporarily found himself where he is now. One thing just snowballed into another and it was too much at once. I asked if I could pray with him, and he agreed. We joined hands and I thanked God for providing me with Ali's example and the fact that he was an example for others on the streets as well.
After rejoining the group, I came to learn a few more things about Ali that I didn't know before I talked with him. First, he's a Muslim. That blew my mind as he openly allowed me to pray over and with him without showing any contempt. Secondly, he looked out for and cared for the girl that was living next to him. She was a drug addict, but Ali just did what he could to make sure she was okay. Not once did that fact come up in our conversation. He was not boastful, nor did he include it as part of his daily routine. I also learned that the building they were propped up against was being torn down for a new art museum. Who knows how long they will be able to live there. Ali never mentioned that either. He was content with what he had today and not worried about tomorrow. I learned about as much about his character with these three facts as I did by talking with him.
There are good people living on the streets. Many have just hit rock bottom in their lives and are trying to find a way out. Not all homeless are disgruntled. (I hadn't laughed as much as I did with Ali since I arrived in Philly!) It was so encouraging to see that God provides for people even when materialistically, it would suggest otherwise. Jesus came and died for all sinners. That includes those who are Muslim, or of any other religion. His openness to allow me to pray with him humbled me into thinking how many times I've had a closed mind and therefore closed the door to witness or learn from another.
I mentioned to Ali that the trees around him were probably awesome in the autumn with all of the changing colors. He said, 'Yeah, they sure are. I don't intend to be around here next autumn to see them though.' Ali has a plan. He doesn't intend on being homeless for much longer. I know people who live under a roof whose lives are nowhere near as organized and put together as Ali's. All the praise goes to God, who uses people like Ali to remind us to be open to His will, not to boast in our works done for others, and to be worry free, knowing that God will provide for tomorrow.
For the heart to work among the poor, God this I ask.
For the courage to stand for what is right, God this I ask.
For the spirit to lead those who come, God this I ask.
For the perseverance to continue working when I am tired, God this I ask.
For the rest that I will lack, God this I ask.
For the strength to make a difference, God this I ask.
Gracious and loving God, grant me the ability to see the unseen.
The ability to hear the unheard.
The ability to love the unlovely.
The ability to befriend the friendless.
The ability to understand the misunderstood.
The ability to serve the underserved.
The ability to feed the unfed.
The ability to comfort the uncomfortable.
Allow me to see Your light in the darkness, Your grace in the mistakes, and Your love in the hatred.
I pray that I may be their servant, that I may be as Christ to them.
I pray that I might have the grace to let them be my servant too.
Help me to weep when they are weeping; when they laugh, I will laugh too.
Help us share both joy and sorrow, until we've seen the journey through.
God of all, I pray that your love may shine through me on those I meet.
I pray that I see you on the street.