m-o-m-blog

Our winner at #SocialMomsLetters

Thu, 06 Oct 2016 00:26:23 +0100

Many thanks to #SocialMomsLetters for letting us be part of this great project. Here is the actual letter.

Dear Lady in Catskill, NY, whom we met at a gas station/convenience store:

My husband and I were on a business trip from our home in upstate NY to Connecticut. We stopped for gas and my husband noticed that one of our tires was flat. We were hoping that the gas station/convenience store would have a can of tire sealer, but no luck. As we were discussing what to do, you happened to drive in and came up and asked us what was wrong. We told you about our dilemma and you told us to wait a minute, jumped back in your car and minutes later came back with a can of tire sealer. Then you absolutely refused to take any money for it! You said it was your pleasure and you were just “paying it forward.” We were so touched and often spoke about you and wished we could do something for you. Please know that you are in our prayers and because of your example have also “paid it forward” in little ways.

Thank you wherever you are and may God bless you as you blessed us.

Arline

Social Moms and Random Acts of Kindness

Fri, 23 Sep 2016 04:00:26 +0100

Here is the link to my entry to the Social Moms project. http://www.socialmoms.com/imagine/letters-to/random-acts-of-kindness/. I didn't realize that they only chose one story! I am truly honored that my story was picked and I really hope that that kind lady in the Catskills somehow sees this. I would love to know who she is.
I really loved being part of this project because not only does it promote the virtue of kindness, but since the time of Aristotle, gratitude has been considered the primary classical virtue and this project encourages both kindness and gratitude.
Many thanks to Social Moms for letting me be part of this and I hope that it will bear much fruit.
Arline

Updating and "Random Acts of Kindness"

Sat, 17 Sep 2016 06:26:47 +0100

We had been hoping for help with the website, but haven't gotten what we need yet. So,we will attempt to continue to promote the goals of AEC as best as we can ourselves..

One of our major goals has been to promote good character. As we have noted before, the Center for the 4th and 5th Rs at SUNY Cortland has found that young people are 90% more likely to be abstinent if they have been in a character education program. I was recently asked to submit a letter to someone from whom I had received a "Random Act of Kindness" for a project of Social Moms, which is a great group of moms who are social media influencers.. Since I had had someone extend an unexpected and beautiful act of kindness to myself and my husband when we were driving from Upstate NY to Connecticut on a business trip, I submitted the letter and it was selected to be featured on the Social Moms website.
I actually submitted two letters because as I wrote the one about the lady in the Catskills, I realized that the greatest acts of kindnesses that I and my family have received have been from the Lord. So, I share this with you::

I am always amazed at the tiny details that God takes care of in our lives, and I was again surprised and delighted at another "God-incidence" that came into my life recently, so this is my own little thank you to the Lord. (NOTE: For those who do not know, I am presently helping my younger daughter with her first child as she finishes her PhD.)

Heavenly Father,

I am always astonished and grateful for your goodness to me.

Most recently, I developed a toenail fungus. My toenail looked strange, so I looked it up and I read that although it is quite common, it is also a serious health concern. I haven't had a doctor since we moved out here. I wanted a female naturopath that I could see right away, difficult in this area, where it normally takes months to get an appointment. I was pondering what to do a few weeks ago, when I suddenly got a request to monitor an infant playgroup for an organization for mothers. The request came to me because I have volunteered to host play dates at our home for my baby grandson. I decided to do it and a few days later, we found ourselves with 4 other mothers in a lovely community room. At this age (babies not yet walking), the play dates consist mostly of the moms (and grandmoms!) chatting with each other about what's going on with their babies. One of the ladies had just moved to the area from Seattle. I gathered that she was a pediatrician. However, as we were cleaning up, she gave her card to another mom, and mentioned that she was a general practitioner. so I asked for her card as well and she was not only a GP, but a naturopath! I saw her two weeks ago and my toenail fungus is clearing up nicely (without drugs!).

Many thanks for all the little miracles you send me always,

Arline

I will connect you with the story that is going to be featured on Social Moms on Monday, September 19, but in the meantime, part of this Social Moms project is to promote "random acts of kindness" especially for the month of September. If you would like to be part of this, please post to your social media sites with the hashtags #MomKindness and #SocialMomsLetters.
Many thanks and blessings.

High Risk Behaviors and AEC

Thu, 06 Aug 2015 03:35:01 +0100

Where It Starts

Lack of self-respect - Poor self-image - Academic problems - ADD/ADHD - Need for supervision - Poor role models - Peer pressure - Need for support - Lack of communication skills - Lack of social skills - Poor dietary habits

Where It Can Go

Addictions - Abuse - Depression - Disease (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) - Dropping out of school - Dependency on the state
(welfare) - Difficulty in getting and holding a job - Criminal behavior - Obesity - Cutting - Teen Pregnancy - Abortions - Suicide

How We Can Help

Develop character - Provide Support - Teach Life skills - Help improve self-image - Encourage self-respect - Encourage Self-control - Healthy eating habits - Healthy relationships - Good communication skills

Social Good Moms Review - Part 2

Mon, 30 Mar 2015 07:22:27 +0100

Part 2 is my review of "Renewable - One Woman's Search for Simplicity, Faithfulness, and Hope".
I think that Eileen Flanagan is a talented writer. However, after going through the most bitter winter we have experienced since moving to Upstate NY fifteen years ago, it is hard to take "global warming" with anything but a load of salt. Also, there is a lot of disagreement with this theory, such as this quote from American Spectator "Antarctic ice is at record levels, the Arctic polar bear population is growing, and there have been fewer hurricanes and tornadoes, not more (despite Al Gore’s predictions). Average global temperatures haven’t risen in 18 years". Former NASA scientist Tom Luongo claims that he has seen government documents that prove that the entire global warming (now called climate change) is fraudulent and a money-making scheme. In 2012, James Lovelock, the "godfather of global warming, publicly changed his mind over the entire issue.
At a time, when our country and the world is facing issues like terrorist attacks; Russian warplanes flying over American soil; human trafficking; and a host of other problems, I personally find Ms. Flanagan's passion puzzling and her very American approach to religion and faith rather sad. I applaud her obvious compassion and desire to help her fellow man, but she seems to be going at God in a kind of 60's hippie way. Not my cup of tea.

Social Good Moms Reviews - Part 1

Sun, 29 Mar 2015 02:59:20 +0100

I was asked to review some books for Social Good Moms.

The books are "Renewable" by Eileen Flanagan and "100 Under $100 - One Hundred Tools for Empowering Global Women".
Of the two, "100 Under $100" was by far my favorite. Not only does it have some great and inspiring information about what women are doing around the world to help themselves, but it has practical suggestions for helping them.
However, there are major inaccuracies in the book as well as well-intentioned but poorly advised programs that are featured.
For example: #21 Non-surgical medical abortions - First of all, do these third world country women know that they are taking the life of their own child? Unlike America where we have 3D and 4D ultrasound and the woman can see the baby, these women have no option for informed consent. Second of all, there is not a 100% guarantee that this method will kill the baby and if not, a surgical abortion will be necessary.
Other concerns include: A warning in 2004 by the manufacturer, Danco Laboratories and the FDA regarding non-surgical medical abortions pill Mifipristone: 1. "Bacterial infection following use, prolonged vaginal bleeding, and ectopic pregnancy with cases of bacterial infection and sepsis … reported following use of this product. In rare cases, septic shock has been a complication of these infections (which) may be severe and sometimes fatal.” 2. "Vaginal bleeding is a common consequence of mifepristone use. Bleeding or spotting occurs in most women for a period of 9-16 days.... In some cases, bleeding may be prolonged and heavy, potentially leading to life-threatening hypovolemic shock." 3. "the manufacturer notes that reports of ruptured ectopic pregnancy have been received." Ectopic pregnancies can be a potentially life-threatening situation.

#17 Cervical Cancer Vinegar Screening is pure genius, simple, inexpensive and easy to implement. So why promote the HPV vaccine (Gardasil) which has been linked to major adverse effects in 1.7% of girls receiving the vaccine, ranging from Epstein Barre, seizures, severe arthritis, paralysis and even death? Even the chief researcher on this vaccine Dr. Diane Harper has insisted that this is not a cancer drug. Although it protects against 4 of about 100 strains of the HPV virus, all of the strains are potentially cancer-causing, plus there is serious concern that the risks outweigh the benefits of this vaccine especially since cervical cancer is very treatable in the early stages and there is no data on how long the protection lasts http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gardasil-researcher-speaks-out/.

#18 Contraception – The Jadelle Access Program - Jadelle otherwise known as Norplant, dispenses progestin which has been linked to breast and uterine cancer as well as early abortions. 19 out of every 100 woman stop using it because of bleeding problems. “Known side effects are irregular bleeding, ovarian cysts, blood clots, possible increased risk of gall bladder disease and an increased risk of cancer at the implant site from having a “foreign-body intrusion[s].” None of this information seems to be part of the education process for the poor women in developing countries to which it is dispensed. At least, the program points out that it does not protect against STD’s which can also cause cancer, infertility, painful lifetime warts, pain in various areas of the body, discharge, bleeding, and a host of other ills, not to mention that some are no longer even curable.

What a pity, that such a great effort should be marred by what appears to be a radical agenda. Most of the book though is great and it is really interesting to see the kinds of entrepreneurial activities that women around the world are capable of doing.

I will review "Renewable" in my next post.

Healthy Mind, Healthy Body, Happy Life

Fri, 13 Mar 2015 02:37:42 +0100

We are "creatures of habit" and what we think, say, and do on a regular basis, impacts our life whether for good or bad. Abstinence education is about making good educated choices and avoiding the bad..
It is, for example, a terrible thing that birth control pills are regularly doled out to girls and women for a multitude of things, despite the fact that they are classified a Group 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Unfortunately, because there are groups who profit from our ignorance, we cannot depend on the schools, the media or the government to keep us informed of what is harmful to us.
Women in particular are at risk. The average woman puts 15 different concoctions on herself daily, many of which contain harmful chemicals. I just took the toxic test at www.TakeTheToxicTest.com/525870 and got an "A". But that is because I have been clearing toxins out of my home for years, after having watched so many people fall to cancer and other illnesses. It is up to us to learn what we are doing that can hurt our health, whether it be abstinence from high risk behaviors or from avoidable toxins in the products we use.
I highly recommend that you follow the link and take this test; start to read labels, if you don't, now; and set a goal this year to make you and your family healthier and happier by staying away from the toxic things in life.

Romance starts with R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Fri, 16 Jan 2015 05:34:20 +0100

I decided to use the above title as our theme for next year's fair booths.
My younger daughter got married this summer and her new husband and my older daughter's husband are so romantic! I have been really surprised and delighted. 'My children are so different and their husbands are so uniquely appropriate to them and yet, the men share a lot of wonderful qualities, starting with respect for the girls. Looking at them, I can see that this is the cornerstone of their relationships and romance is the bonus. They used to call this kind of marriage "made in Heaven."

I'm working on the acronym right now and am almost done. I hope to put together another banner.I'm also going to use this as the theme for the program we are having at St. Malachy's in Sherburne for the high school kids. I think that setting "Romance" and "Respect" as goals might be an attractive way of getting over the message to both genders that you can set a path to a wonderful future by starting with a good foundation in a serious relationship. I'm working on this project with psychologist Karina Romero and my friend Jane Schultz and Karina's friend who is a teacher will be visiting and helping us with creating the program. I'm hoping to make it interactive.

Merry Christmas to all and a very blessed New Year!

Spreading the Message

Mon, 21 Jul 2014 03:55:05 +0100

AEC has an important message and point of view which is difficult to spread because our culture is 1. antagonistic toward any kind of self-discipline and 2. close-minded about anything that is not "politically correct".
Enter Chatabout. Here is a website that actually pays you to give your opinion! What a great opportunity to use all the research that we have been gathering over the past several years to give informed responses to current news articles.
For the most part, news is either liberally or progressively agenda-driven or made up of shallow sound-bites, truncated due to lack of time, space or because the next wave of stories is breaking. And too many stories nowadays are ones that have tragic endings. Endings that often could have been prevented, if we had a more educated, involved and committed populace.
I am very pleased to have found Chatabout. I hope that contributing to their website will make AEC's work easier and more fruitful.

A Real Man Commits!

Sun, 13 Jul 2014 03:30:16 +0100

Our theme for AEC's booth at the Otsego County Fair this year is "A Real Man Commits", with COMMITS spelling out strong character traits to look for in your man - Considerate, Orderly, Mature, Modest, Industrious, Trustworthy, and Self-Controlled. After the wedding of my younger daughter a couple of weeks ago, I can now say that these character traits were ones that I see and admire in the men that are now my son-in-laws (my older daughter having married a couple of years ago). I was just pondering today, how interesting it is that, although my daughters are very different, they married men of very similar characters. My husband and I are delighted.
After the wedding, I chatted with some of the young women who came to the wedding, many of whom I have known for years, some since they were young children. All were enthusiastic about my daughter's new husband and I told them that they needed to look for a great guy. The response was a chorus of "We're trying!" But one of the girls also chimed in that the thing that was so wonderful about my daughter's new spouse was that "he respected her". I agree. It is absolutely one of the top reasons that we are so fond of him.
Sometimes we are so inundated with the bad news in the papers and the often terrible behavior of the high and mighty, that we forget that there are still good, decent people around. The key is to look for persons of good character and being one is the first step.