Reprinted in part from various periodicals

I walk into a dark pizza restaurant, two books stashed in my purse, prepared to do something novel—attend my first Silent Book Club. The premise for this book club is simple. It’s a gathering of pe…

Pictures We Didn’t Take Before Digital Cameras by Twenty Pixels via Tastefully Offensive

Hi there! I'm dashing this off as Sam packs for our quick trip to Sydney tonight with our church youth group. It's been a breakneck couple of weeks around here and I'm feeling a bit scattered as the learning curve has flung me around a bit lately. So I don't feel quite on top of my game, 1/3 energiz

From real people who did exactly that.

No, Mom, my bisexuality is not a "youthful phase."

People who recognize their own strengths tend to be happier and have greater self-esteem. However, when a person uses their strengths every day, they can...

For so much of my youth I believed blindly in the idea of things having energy… I must have read it somewhere and adopted the belief without really having any understanding of it. It fascinated me and I've been on this life-long journey to learn as much as I possibly can about it. I would speak to my friends about the energy existing in natural things like trees and rocks. There was one good friend who was very doubtful about it and thought it crazy-talk. Rather than becoming offended by his doubt, or adopting his opinion as my own, instead it made me realize that I didn't really understand what I was talking about. From then on, I wanted to learn more about it so I had a better understanding and could have more educated conversations about it. That was about 16 years ago. From there, I dove into book after book about all sorts of energy-related subjects: how to see and read the aura, past life regression, astral travel, pagan practices, crystals, ESP… My mind absorbed a LOT of stuff, but I still had really no idea WHAT this energy stuff really was. I don't really think there was much of an explanation for it so long ago—at least not one that I had found. The relatively recent discoveries of quantum physics really help us to scientifically understand what it is meant when we use the term "energy". I'm not a quantum physicist, so if you're interested in learning the nitty-gritty details about how it all fits into science, I'd highly recommend looking into books and videos by Gregg Braden, and movies such as The Quantum Activist and What the Bleep do We Know? (I've included the movie links to Netflix, for those who are subscribed to it.) Basically everything in existence is made up of electro-magnetic energy that vibrates along a frequency range. Therefore we humans are made up of and surrounded by vibrational electro-magnetic energy! This energy field is often referred to as the aura. The human aura can now be measured by using Kirlian Photography, which is a photographic method that can photograph the electro-magnetic field around living things. A photographed human aura appears as glowing light surrounding the body—often appearing in any range of the spectrum of colors. Someday I'll have my aura photographed and update this post with the image. For now, if you do an internet image search for "aura photography" a lot of images will come up to give you an idea. This electro-magnetic field vibrates within a frequency range—sort of like a radio dial has a certain range from 87.5 to 108 MHz. Our emotions determine the frequency at which we are vibrating. This is useful to know if you want to get into stuff like the Law of Attraction. One of the first techniques I used to sense my aura I learned from one of the books I read as a teenager. Everyone I've shown it to in person has been able to experience it. If you'd like to give it a try, I've described the process below To feel your aura: - Rub your hands together quickly for a little while until you can feel tingles and warmth. - Stop rubbing and hold your palms facing each other with about 3 inches (7.5 cm) between them. - Slowly move your hands toward each other then back away from each other. - Continue to slowly move your hands together then apart, trying a variety of distances between your hands. What you should feel is a magnetic push and pull between your hands. I notice there seems to be an invisible barrier—when I'm on the inside of it my hands pull toward each other, but with my hands further apart (on the outside of the barrier), my hands push away from each other. If you don't feel it right away, keep playing with it. You'll get it. That invisible barrier is the edge of one part of the aura (there are many levels of the aura at varying distances from the body.) When we feel the magnetic pull of our hands together, our hands are inside the auric field of the other hand. When we feel the magnetic push away, our hands are outside the auric field of the other hand and feeling the edge of it. When we are around other people, our auras are interacting—sometimes even before we are aware the person is there. Have you ever had the feeling that someone was looking at you from across the room, and when you turn to look they smile and wave? Or, did you ever think of someone then the phone rings with that person on the other end? Your auras were communicating to each other (even from across the globe), which is what gave you the feeling. This concept is illustrated beautifully in the movie The Celestine Prophecy. There is a scene when the main character is interacting with a man who is attempting to manipulate him into traveling away from the group. There's a woman witnessing their interaction from a distance, and she can see their auras. It appears as though the manipulative man's aura is enveloping the main character and the main character's aura is becoming weaker and smaller. This video clip is a different part of the movie that illustrates the same thing, and goes about explaining it further. Very much worth watching—at least the first 3 minutes. When we are communicating to another, so is our aura. No matter what we are saying, whatever we are believing, thinking and therefore feeling is broadcasting energetically to all of those around us. Sensitive people can pick up on it. Through this energetic field, everything is interconnected. We're always communicating with the world around us, even when we are unaware of it happening. When we can become aware of the way the electro-magnetic energy feels to our body, we can learn to influence it through our intention. Here's a short video clip from a different part of the Celestine Prophecy that I think illustrates the idea of energy interacting in an intentional, positive and beneficial way. There is a lot more that can be said about energy, but I'll stop here for now.

Once again, I am excerpting from what is becoming my favorite campy antique book, The Mystery of Love, Courtship and Marriage Explained, 1890. The Language Of Flowers Arbor Vitæ — Unchanging friendship.Apple Blossom — My preference.Alyssum — Worth above beauty.Aspen Tree — Sorrow.Blue Canterbury Bell — Fidelity.China Pink — Hate.Coreopsis — Love at first sight.Dead Leaves … Continue reading "The Victorian Language of Flowers, How to Write a Victorian Love Letter, and Parasol Flirtations"

75-jaar bevrijding!< br/> Afscheid van Java is het verhaal van Arjan Hoks’ grootvader Johannes Hoks, die tabaksplanter was op Java. Hij liet een manuscript na waarin hij zijn leven beschreef. Aan de hand van dit manuscript en eigen research reconstrueert Hoks het leven van zijn grootvader. Het comfortabele leven van de Nederlandse tabaksplanter Johannes Hoks op Java wordt ruw verstoord wanneer hij in 1942 moet opkomen in het KNIL vanwege de dreiging van een Japanse inval. Met een stel andere planters uit Djember en omgeving is hij ingedeeld bij een eenheid landstormers, die de stellingen aan de oostkust van Java moet bewaken. Als speelbal in een groot internationaal confl ict wordt hij steeds verder meegezogen in de idioterie, de dagelijkse verwikkelingen en verschrikkingen van een oorlog: eerst als militair van het KNIL, na de Nederlandse capitulatie als krijgsgevangene van de Japanners, en vervolgens als dwangarbeider bij de aanleg van de Birma-spoorlijn. Onder invloed van de miserabele omstandigheden, de noodzaak tot overleven en het wegvallen van zekerheden, verandert ook zijn kijk op het leven. Afkeer van oorlog, mishandeling en politiek opportunisme heeft hem aangezet tot het opschrijven van zijn belevenissen. Maar hij geeft ook een verrassende inkijk in het koloniale leven in Nederlands-Indië voor de oorlog en in de alledaagse beslommeringen en humor tijdens het krijgsgevangenschap in het Japanse leger. Zijn levenslot valt samen met de neergang van Nederlands-Indië. Met het einde van een koloniaal tijdperk dat voor velen vanzelfsp

We gathered 18 of our favorite church memes for pastors because, let's be honest...we know you've seen things!

Last year the cup stack was one of my FAVORITE team building activities (see post here). So, naturally, I wanted to give it another shot! The Cup Stack is a fun, yet challenging activity that promotes team work. The supplies are basic: cups, string, rubber bands. I go ahead and tie the string to the rubber bands so it is ready to go. I make a few for groups of 4 and a few for groups of 5, this way no matter what the numbers are in the classroom I can make it work. I start by asking students what teamwork is. What does it look like? sound like? feel like? We brainstorm a list of ideas that I hang in the classroom for students to refer to. Each class comes up with a variety of ideas, but they all center around the same theme. Then I introduce their challenge. I start off my admitting that this will be a frustrating activity. We discuss ways to handle our stress and feelings that arise when others make a mistake or don't do what we want them to do. I model that they will each be given 6 cups and a rubberband with strings attached to it. Their job is to stack the cups into a design by only holding onto their individual string. I demonstrate that when everyone pulls on their string the rubberband opens wider, and vice versa. I also show them the challenges of picking up a cup that has tipped on its side or fallen on the floor. No matter what happens, they must follow the one rule: YOU CAN ONLY TOUCH YOUR STRING. No touching the rubber band, no touching the cup, and no touching other group member's strings. I reinforce how communication is so important in order to reach the goal. Then I set them off. Here are some videos and pics. After about 10-15 minutes, we pause and reflect on our experiences. I ask them to rate their group on how well they worked together using the ideas we wrote at the beginning of the lesson. I ask them what went well for their group. I also ask them what didn't go well for their group. We talk about different strategies and ways we an handle ourselves when things don't go the way we want them to. Throughout the activity I walk around and facilitate positive communication, so I usually have a few examples to help springboard the discussion.

What I've learned about quickly building relationships as a speaker has helped me better connect with students in my classroom—especially disengaged kids.

Key Club International is the largest youth run community service organization in the world. As an established alumni it is a passion of mine and I hope sharing my story will get others involved.

Here's some LDS Youth teaching tips all rolled up into a fun and engaging activity called The Teaching Burger!