♥The United States Military♥

Joint Task Force Bravo, Honduras..

For the win.
There are about 600 troops at any given time stationed at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras. On their off time, you'd expect that they'd be...on their puters..hanging out on Myspace or something. Perhaps kickin it with a Wii.

Not these guys. On weekends, about 50 or so airmen pack up their hiking stuff, gather as much donated food, toys and clothes as they can and hike into the poorest villages they can find in the surrounding communities. Once there, they administer veterinary and medical care, give out food, toys and clothes, and hang out with the local Hondurans.

They do all of this, in their free time.

We complain about how terrible our military is, and these guys use their station in life to make a difference in the lives of strangers. Because they feel like it.

So, the official objective of us being there, is to support democracy in Latin American countries. Help them grow, and develop well so that they in turn, can benefit the U.S. with their happy democratic ways. But I mean, not only are we doing official government business, a bunch of people decided to use their personal time to go above and beyond what their job description is to like, play soccer with six year olds and make sure they have food to eat. They go all out too. Delivering Christmas cookies, taking care of goats.

This is the ethic I'm talking about. Extend this to *YOUR* work. Do you have a customer who's having a hard time..do you see a need with a client or co-worker or vendor..maybe they're really tired or their kids have been sick and it's wearing them out.

check out their efforts here

Bake them a FRUIT CAKE! Buy them a McDonald's gift card for their coffee on the way to work in the morning. Just one tiny step. That's all it takes.

Remember y'all, we are the sum total of every single moment, and every single thing we think doesn't matter.

While you're sitting here on the internets browsing around, watching YouTube perhaps? you could maybe go to a chat room (stupid, I know) and look for somebody that needs a little bit of hope. Tell them something meaningful and good, and then go on back to crazy crocodile videos or whatever it is you were looking at.

Try it.

xo,

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♥Sgt. Merlin German♥

So this little guy was born in New York, in 1985. Neither he, nor his family had any inkling as to what this precious child was destined for.

18 years later, Merlin German enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and was put on the fast track to the war in Iraq.

Participating in over 150 successful missions, Sgt. German developed an awesome gift. He was continually lauded for his impeccable ability to find IED's (Incendiary Explosive Devices) which, in non-military people terms, are hidden/disguised weapons a long roadsides, in ditches and generally placed in the path of coalition military.

With his excellent talent, in February of 2005, Sgt. German spotted an IED while on the way to a place called Camp Ramadi. With no time to alert the driver of the humvee he was in, the humvee was hit on the left side, subsequently burning 97% of Sgt. German's entire body.

There's absolutely no way to live through that.
But not really.

Sgt. German not only lived, through the refinement of the literal fire this man endured was birthed an incredible dream to assist children who'd also been

victims super heroes of the universe

of fire.

He-Man indeed. He fought every step of the way after being burned and having absolutely ZERO chance of survival, never felt sorry for himself, bought a house, put himself on the line despite INSANE pain for the sake of children he'd never met..

and then left when he was done showing the world what it means to get up out of the fire and use it to give defeat the finger.

If that's not hope and strength and pure awesome,
I'm not sure what is.

YOU sir, Sergeant German,
are super incredible amazing beautiful. You did it.

You went through fire and water and have been brought to a place of abundance.

Seriously y'all,
I know it hurts sometimes. Promise.
Please, remember this man and his practical application of strength..one second,one moment of every day he chose to be strong. Every second he lived after going through hell on earth, he chose to turn his pain around for the sake of the love of others.

Try it. Next time you feel like total failure say: 'How bout no. I win!!!'
Say that to yourself every single second that you hurt. Say it through the pain,
and look back in 2 months and watch the small thing you thought you were turn into a giant.

The world can be and is, a dark, scary awful place. We're stuck in a war no one wants to be in, and for all intents and purposes, no one wins when lives are thrown away like so much trash. But, not true. For every Sgt. German, there's a victory. Far as SoL is concerned, the war was one ten thousand times over when this man got up and told hate 'I don't think so y'all!'

You can win too. Please, just try it. Every second you choose to get back up is a second that you've won the fight.

Go to Sgt. German's site, Merlin's Miracles, and help him continue to live.

Right ON Sergeant German!

xo all,

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♥LOL♥

The Village of Oaklawn Illinois will do anything to ensure that it's residents follow traffic laws. To include putting up ridiculous signs like this one. The Illinois Department of Transportation has ordered the signs, placed directly underneath standard stop signs to be removed immediately per state transporation rules. The signs gotta be uniform and stuff.

They're really cute. *I* personally, think they're awesome.

LOL.
original story can be found here



xo!,

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♥Does Anybody Hear Her♥

So I was walking down the street one day, in the downtown part of a huge city. As I walked past the buildings, I came to a woman with dirty blonde hair. Not just in color either. It was pretty dirty. She was standing, silently..facing an inside corner of a building with her back to me, and her face hidden.

The back of her jeans were covered in blood..and my heart immediately broke. I didn't want to emberrass her any further than she clearly already was. I stopped right in front of her, while about a million people walked by. And she was invisible. I'm a pretty emotional person. Unfortunately. :( About nine hundred and fifty eleven thousand thoughts about her ran through my mind, as she continued to strike me just by being alive. I did absolutely everything I could not to cry for this woman. She was my age.

She could've been a drug addict. Probably was. Or maybe not.
She was clearly homeless.

And you know, I kept thinking that one day, years ago, some mother went into labor..with the promise of a new life moving inside of her..and gave birth. She struggled and hurt..and through this woman's pain..the person I was now staring at came into the world. Tiny and precious and beautiful. Someone cried over her. Someone rejoiced at her birth. Maybe not even her own parents, but SOMEONE did.

I saw that precious baby past the hurt, bloody and dirty faceless woman I couldn't walk away from.

The point? She represents every single thing that this blog here stands for. Who cares where she'd been or what she'd done. We've all done whatever she'd done to get to where she was that day. We've all taken steps in that direction. Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist.. I don't care what you are. SoL isn't here to shove our beliefs down your throat. We're here to show you that there's hope, and ask you to respond in kind.

the human condition, IS. It manifests itself powerfully every single day right in front of us. Maybe not as dramatically as it did for me that day years ago. Nevertheless, you have a coworker or a neighbor or a grocery store clerk or a greeter at your local Wal Mart with a pain just as searing as this woman's. And you have the absolute power and authority to speak DIRECTLY to that pain and turn it around.


As far as the nameless girl in Miami, I don't know if she'll ever realize or believe that there is someone right now..that still hears the cry of her heart. That she isn't alone, and never was. And that I mourn for her, and celebrate her birth. That there is another human being that, through the heart of the Living God..sees her pain and would give anything to be able to protect her from now on. I ask that you remember her. Maybe not like the McDramaPants that I am. But think of her the next time it seems easier to walk past the pain, instead of addressing it. All you have to do is say 'Hi'.


So here's your challenge! Listen to the song in the youtube video deal above. It's by Casting Crowns and it's called 'Does Anybody Hear Her.' Then, make an effort, every day..to *listen* to your annoying coworker. Hear him or her and respond directly to what they're saying.

The next time you hear them say they like something, remember what it is. Whether it be their favorite color or M&M's and surprise them with it next week. If they say they like big Victorian Houses or something though, you're on your own with that one.

Do it. and then let us know, respond to this post..and tell us what you did and how the other person responded. K STOP READING HURRY UP IMMEDIATELY! GIT ER DONE!

xo!,

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♥Mary McCarthy♥

She opened her mouth and sang like a caged bird, while revolution tore everything from her, as far as she could sing. They took the money that her and her her husband dilligently worked for, and she stood tall against the man that took everything but her home and her dignity. She told him that she would outlive him the day he came to her home, that her husband lovingly built and named for her...

And she meant it. Originally from Canada, Mary McCarthy came to Cuba with her Spanish husband in the 1920's. She's a widow, and managed her husband's leather business until it was nationalized by Cuba soon after his rise to power.

The U.S. has seized all of her jewlery and the small fortune she made with her business, and she subsists on a $96.00 per month pension from the accounts holding her seized assets.

Mrs. McCarthy originally came to the U.S. to study music at a conservatory in Boston, and turned back to this gift she used to serve others through music lessons.

She's 108 now, and still puts on her pretty red lipstick, and plastic pearls in defiance of the rule that said her real pearls had to be seized.

There are no chains that can keep you from being free. Bondage is a state of mind.


Right on Mary! and Happy Birthday!

xo,

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