Quiet Tree

I feel quiet this week.

Not sad, depressed, or lonely.

Just quiet.

In the mornings I make a small slit in the curtains.

From where I sit at my desk, I can see a patch of sky. A white fence. A palm tree. Cars are barely visible through the fence slats as they rush by, but the tree catches most of my attention. It is tall and straight. The sun reflects off the pool, and plays on its bark.

It is this tree I stare at when I am searching for a word.

It is this tree I stare at when I am anxious or scared.

I focus on it when everything around us is spinning out of control.

It stands alone.

Quiet, like me.

Strong, like me.

Unmoving, like me.

Rooted firmly, but not too firmly. Also, like me.

It does not really belong here, in this city place. I feel it would have chosen to be planted somewhere else if anyone had bothered to consult it.

Trimmed tightly. Bothered by people walking by, and the cars that rush. Wearing deep scars where it has been cut and hit.

Yet it stands. Firm. Strong. Alive.

Bending in the wind, but not breaking.

The sun plays across its bark as it reaches to a blue sky.

This city place will not keep it from being beautiful.

It will not steal its strength.

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Going Green - Recycle Your Old Blog Posts

It is never too late to go back and optimize your old blog posts - for SEO, for Pinterest, for better readability. After you put new work into those old posts, you want people to read them.

Adrienne and I are here to help you.

Or maybe you have an old post that is already perfect, but it didn't get the attention you hoped when it was first published.

We will help you with that, too.

What goodies do you have hiding in your archives?

• What were you doing one year ago this week?
  Two years ago? Three years ago?
• How has your writing changed?
• What experiences have you shared in the past that could spark a wonderful update?

Go through your archives and find an old post that you want to reintroduce to the world. Spruce it up if you want. Add our button. Link up your post. Visit at least two other links, and leave a comment.

We can't wait to read what the blog world missed.

<center> <a href="http://www.fromtracie.com/"> <img src="http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l106/abolton104/goinggreen_zps93aeb49a.jpg" height="150" width="150" /> </a></center>

You can also find us on Twitter at @themommymess and @fromtracie, and follow the hashtag #GoingGreen.

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Watch Out For The Quicksand

This recent conversation about quicksand on Thomas' facebook wall will give you a good idea what it is like to live in my house...

You have to watch out for punny people and their quicksand wordplay. They will try to pull you in.

(I think it's affecting me. Someone throw me a vine before I disappear!)

Going back to Thomas' original point. I remember being a kid, and feeling like everyone had a 72% chance of being stuck in quicksand at least once in their life.

Quicksand was a constant plot device in movies and tv. In The Princess Bride it was found in the Fire Swamp, and they called it Lightening Sand. There was desert quicksand in Lawrence of Arabia. In The NeverEnding Story quicksand was found in the Swamp of Sadness. Even K.I.T.T. wasn't immune to the quicksand danger.

Last night we were watching old episodes of Nancy Drew from the 1970's. Nancy and George were walking through the woods, looking for a car that disappeared, and George suggested with a fearful voice, "Maybe there is quicksand down there, and it sunk."

I remember many heroes who only survived because of a strong tree limb or a well-placed vine hanging down exactly where they could reach it before the quicksand swallowed them completely.

Kids on the playground offered advice like, "When you get stuck in quicksand, don't struggle too much. Make small movements. The more you move, the faster the quicksand will swallow you."

We all nodded our heads gravely, and reminded each other that vines couldn't always be trusted. We were sure that it couldn't be too many more years before the quicksand caught us, but it never did. At least, it never caught me. I can't vouch for the safety of my entire elementary school class. It could be that I am just part of the lucky 18% of people whom quicksand has not tried to swallow.

Did you have quicksand concerns when you were a kid?

______________________________________________________________

If you aren't curled up in a ball, trying to pretend that quicksand doesn't exist, you could check out the time I narrowly escaped being killed by quicksand just to get a picture for you.

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Wait With Me

I once heard a sermon about Isaiah 40:31 (or maybe it was in a Bible study), where it was explained that the word "wait" was not about sitting still until something happens, but rather about waiting as a time of service.

That thought has sat with me for all the years since I heard it.

Waiting as service.

Waiting as being ready.

Waiting as movement, verb, action, doing something.

I feel that reminder strongly in my heart this morning.

I wait upon the Lord.
I cry out to Him to change, move, guide, and touch my life.
I sit still. I get up. I sit back down.
Ever struggling with the balance between waiting and waiting.

Waiting is action.

Waiting is being ready for the day when things will change - not sitting in the dark, mourning that that day has not yet come.

Waiting is not being afraid of the storm that rages all around, because the storm is not for me.

Waiting is stillness in the midst of the noise of the world.

Waiting is where I find my strength, build it up, and get ready to soar.

Waiting is moving forward.

Waiting is flying free.

Waiting is trusting God.

Waiting is not done alone. I am not alone. You are not alone. Waiting is about me, and God, and you - working together and praying together.

I don't want to sit on my butt, and wait around for something to happen. I want to be active, serving, working, growing, moving forward, so I will be ready when something happens; I will be ready to fly.

Are you in a place of waiting? How can I pray with you today?

*This morning at She Reads Truth, I read about Elizabeth, who waited for the impossible. I was reminded that my timing is not HIS timing.

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My Heart Was Forever Changed

I have a friend named Amy. She encourages me to be creative, to write, to dream big, to get involved and make a difference. She sends me tweets with words like "assignment" in them - and I love every one. Amy told me about CausePub.

CausePub is a crowd-book-publishing company. They choose a non-profit (that is the "Cause" part), invite writers to submit their work, and edit and publish a book (that is the "Pub" or publishing part). They donate half the proceeds to the cause, and also pay the authors for their work.

The current project is Couch Rebels.

The cause is Blood:Water Mission - an organization that empowers communities to work together against HIV/AIDS and the water crisis in Africa.
(Blood:Water Mission Overview Video Link)
Writers write. Readers read. People get clean water.

After an email, and a couple of encouraging reminder tweets from Amy, I submitted a story...

Tracie's Story: My Heart Was Forever Changed
One summer we had a choir director with a different plan. We were going to spend the majority of the tour in one city. During the day, we would run a Vacation Bible School for kids living in a large housing project. There would be performances and singing in the evenings, but our songs would be heard in dark homeless shelter dining rooms, not under the warm lights of a church stage.

*Comments are closed here, because I'm hoping you will visit CausePub to read the rest of my story. Comments and voting are open over there.

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Making Grown Up Decisions

When you live in a small space, it is important to regularly go through things, and donate anything you don't need. This is a good practice when you live in a big space, too, but it is necessary in a small space. The hardest things for me to clean out are the bookshelves (book drawers, book chairs, book boxes, and book piles).

I let Katarina make decisions about her stuff - what to keep and what to donate.

When she went through her bookshelves with a donation box a few months ago, I watched her have a hard time making a decision about her fairy books.

They ended up back on her shelf. She was not going to part with them.

Over the next couple of days, she reread each one. It did not take very long; they are well below her reading level. I saw her look at them like old friends, admiring the pictures, and giggling in all the right places. I thought we might have to use some of our preciously small storage space to pack them away.

Last week we had an organizing and cleaning day.

Katarina handed me a stack of fairy books for the donation pile.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes. I will always love fairies, but I need room for my other books," she answered. "If I donate them, a little girl who can't afford to buy them in a bookstore will get a chance to read them. I reread each one after we cleaned last time, and now I am ready to let them go."

In that moment, I saw her grow.

And I realized there were at least twenty books in a stack that I don't even love. Books that could be passed on to someone who will appreciate them more. I added them to the donation pile. Maybe I grew up a little bit, too.

(Confession: It was harder than I thought it would be to watch those fairy books leave. I am not entirely prepared for this growing up thing.)

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Sparkling Truth with Glaceau fruitwater®

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Glaceau fruitwater®.

We all have bad days or challenges that hit us. When we overcome those challenges, and beat those bad days, we have a chance to sparkle. Those are sparkling truth moments.

Sparkling Truth:
Flashlights drive the darkness away (and make blanket forts more fun).
When Katarina was little, we were hit by a huge hurricane. It took more than a month for power to be restored to our house. That is a lot of very quiet, dark nights, made spookier by having the windows open to let in a breeze.

The worst part of the day was when darkness fell - watching the darkness slowly suck out all of the light.

On nights when my husband was away, I had to think of something to counteract the spooky darkness for Katarina (and, let's be honest, for me, too). I made a huge blanket fort in the living room. We took snacks, stuffed animals, and all the flashlights in there with us before darkness started to fall outside.

When bedtime came, Katarina didn't feel so bad leaving the tent for a comfy bed in a dark room. We sparkled our way through the falling dark with flashlights and shadow puppets.

Sparkling Truth:
Nail polish changes a bad day (and it is always better when it sparkles).
There are days that call for a change. Something that feels like a fresh start, even if it is only a little thing. Major haircuts or new outfits are both go-to choices when that kind of change is needed. But I have found that the haircuts never seem to work out just right, and those new outfits always seem more expensive when they are bought on a bad day.

When I am looking for a change, I sit on my comfortable bed with a good movie playing, and paint my nails - a wildly bright color, a few polka dots, and a coat of sparkles. That is the right kind of change for me, and I can't help but smile when I look down at my toes. Even when they are covered up by socks and shoes, I know that sparkle is there with every step I take, and that is a good thing.

Glaceau fruitwater® is a great tasting, naturally flavored sparkling water beverage that contains no juice.

Now that you’ve read about my “sparkling truth”, it’s time to share yours! A sparkling truth is a moment when you sparkle through unexpected challenges, brushing yourself off in a bubbly style. How do you sparkle on when life throws you a curve ball? Leave a comment on this post or jump in the conversation on social media by tagging your amplification with the hashtag, #sparklingtruth.

Visit http://www.fruitwater.com for more information and to help you discover your favorite sparkling truths.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Glaceau fruitwater®.

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Five Times Seven Equals Old School

Elaine and Alison are blogging old school this month, and Stevie from Joy in the Midst of tagged me to play along. Seven questions with five answers.

Five Things I Have a Passion For
1. My Faith.
2. My Family.
3. Writing.
4. Reading.
5. Encouraging.

Five Things I Would Like to do Before I Die
1. Be published - in a book or a magazine, where I can hold my words in my hands.
2. Skydive.
3. Travel through Europe, preferably by train. (I would love to do the train thing across Canada, too.)
4. Build a house - maybe something like this Hobbit House.
5. Pilot a plane (this should be a separate experience from skydiving, because, obviously).

Five Things I Say A Lot
1. Hi.
2. You need to read this.
3. Are you serious right now?
4. I love you.
5. That rocks my face off.

Five Books And/ Or Magazines I Have Read Lately
I rarely read magazines; books are my true love.

These are not even all of the books I have read his month.

Five Favorite Movies (Maybe You’ve Seen Them Five Times?)
I am so bad at picking favorites. I love all of these movies, and have definitely seen each one of them more than five times.
1. Philadelphia Story.
2. Fried Green Tomatoes.
3. The Princess Bride.
4. Beauty And The Beast.
5. Stranger Than Fiction.
Extra Movie: The Postman.

Five Places I Would Love To Travel To
1. United Kingdom.
2. Alaska.
3. France.
4. Russia.
5. Oregon.
Extra Place: The Giraffe Manor - I saw this on Michelle's list at A Dish Of Daily Life, and am in love. Plus, this will add Africa to my list. Double win.

Five People I Invite to do this Meme
I love what Andrea at Good Girl Gone Redneck did here - a shout out to five people you should go visit. I've already linked to five awesome bloggers in this post; go visit them.

You may consider yourself tagged to play along with this. I want to see your five times seven answers. Especially the ones about books, because I always need new book recommendations.

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Crack

His hands became gentle.
His words sounded like love.

He did not notice her studying him through her almost-closed lashes.
He kept his countenance carefully blank, but she knew where to find the crack - in his eyes.

She sought it out, and found his true feelings.
Hate shined through.

He would hit her again.

Trifecta Writing Prompt:
Crack - a narrow break : fissure

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Anniversaries Happen Every Year

Thomas shared this special moment on facebook yesterday afternoon...

Thomas: Has it been 11 years?
Tracie: It has been 11 years.
Thomas: You're old.
Tracie: You're old.
Thomas: You're old.
Tracie: You're old.
Katarina: Both of you are old.

Moral to the story....age happens!

When Thomas posted that, he neglected to tell you the whole story - we were only able to have that conversation because facebook saved our anniversary from passing unnoticed into the darkness of yesterday.

Yes, we forgot it was our anniversary.

...

But facebook was nice enough to send Thomas a little reminder in his sidebar, next to the list of birthdays.

Facebook did not remind me.

Obviously facebook hates me, and wants me to be seen as an uncaring, anniversary-forgetting wife, but faceook is wrong. I am caring. I even wrote a lovely post about our 10th anniversary. (ahem. The one year I remembered it.) I should get points for that.

...

Thankfully this whole forgetting the anniversary thing is something that both of us do almost every year, so neither of us can be upset about it.

Plus, we have two more anniversaries we can celebrate this year, right?
(That is the great thing about having three weddings.)

We will celebrate one of those 11th anniversaries.

Maybe.

If we remember.

Every year we say we will remember the other two anniversaries...but it has yet to happen.

I should probably mark them on the calendar right now, just in case.

Nah. I'll do it tomorrow. I'm sure I won't forget...

Happy Eleven Years, Thomas. I love you with much muchiness and all my heart. This is going to be our year.

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Not Going Back To Before

I remember not understanding why the adults in my life did not listen to new music when I was a kid. There was this cut off that seemed to happen around the time they started having kids. It was so strange to me. How difficult is it to turn on a radio and listen to music?

I vowed to never be that lame when I grew up. I would always keep up with new music, go to church every time the doors were open, spend time with my friends. Marriage and kids were not going to slow me down. (I also had a lot of opinions and plans for adopting teenagers, which have yet to play out in my life.)

Now I get it. The music thing especially. When I look at Spotify, all of my Christian music stops in the early 2000's, and most of my favorites are from the 90's. I have become that person with the old music, and no burning desire to find anything new.

I love my old bands. It feels overwhelming to try to get into music now (anything new I listen to is found on playlists that Megan creates for me). I love Third Day, but the bus album will always be my favorite. I want the Caedmon's Call of 1995 to play in a coffee house or bar. I miss Rich Mullins. Those are my glory years of music. (That sentence makes me feel older than any words I have ever written.) I am too tired, and too jaded, to spend time trying to find something new.

Just like my musical life stopped growing, my spiritual life did, too.
Not all at once.
Not when I stopped buying new cds (this is not really about the music).
Not when I had a kid (in no way am I blaming this situation on motherhood).

Slowly, bit by bit, my spiritual life has fallen stagnant.
When I stopped going to church regularly.
When my Bible sat on the chair, dust-covered and unread.
When my prayers became rote and hurried; something to get through quickly before a meal, and once again before bed.

This is not to say that I never read my Bible or pray deeply - I do. Just not the way I once did. Not with the same daily passion. If my spiritual life was a tree, it seems to have morphed from an oak into some sort of dwarf varietal. There are still spurts of growth, but not what there once was.

This is my year of action, but I feel like I moved into a valley* and sat still.

I find myself longing for those old years. I want that kind of spiritual growth again. I long to be the person I was in so many ways, but I am not that person any longer. Too much has changed - around me, and in me.

I am someone new, crying out, "I believe, help my unbelief."

This is not the first time I have been in this place. There was a time when I pleaded with God to take me back to something old. I begged Him to restore things to the way they were before, as if before was a place. Before hurt. Before pain. Before change. Before confusion crept in. I lay on the floor for hours asking God to take me back to Before.

He said no.

In one of those undeniable moments of clarity, I understood. He would never take me back to that old place. He expected more of me. He wanted to give me more. Going back would mean moving backward, and I was supposed to be moving forward. Forward. New places. New growth. New revelation. It wasn't a throwing out of the old, but a building upon.

There was peace in that. Pain, but peace.

I understood I was not supposed to run after those old things - even though they were good, and special, and real. I was supposed to move forward to new things and new growth.

There would be good, and special, and real things in my future, but I would never reach those things if I spent all my time looking back.

So here I am. In this place of longing. Again. Feeling that check in my spirit that reminds me not to reach behind, but to look forward. Step forward.

I needed to tell someone, so I am telling you. It is time to move. It is time to stir up those waters. It is time to grow that tree. It is time to dust off the Bible, and open the pages. It is time to get on my knees. It is time to immerse myself in Jesus. It is time to let the fires of passion burn hot. I want the more that God has for me, and I will no longer accept the less that I provide for myself.

Please join me. This spiritual life was not meant to be lived alone.

_____________________________________________________________

I don't really know if this song is old or new. I think it is old-ish, but that is not the point. It spoke to my heart this morning, and I want to share it with you.

Show Me Your Glory - Jesus Culture video link

25 I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
Job 19:25-27
*I read We Don’t Lie Down in the Valley on SheLoves Magazine earlier this week, and the message spoke to exactly where I am right now.

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How To Use Overlays To Highlight Your Text On Pictures In PicMonkey

I recently shared a picture of Katarina with some of her favorite books, and several people asked me how I put a background behind the words.

Today I have two quick tutorials to teach you how to use Overlays in PicMonkey to make your words pop.

PicMonkey Overlay Tutorial #1

Upload your photo. Crop and edit the photo as desired.
Once you are happy with the photo, it is time to add your overlay and text.
(*See note at the bottom of the post for updated PicMonkey sidebar icons)

Step 1.

Go into Overlays - it is the fifth menu choice
Click on Geometric
Choose the rectangle


Step 2.

Place Overlay
Adjust Size
Set Color

Clicking on the rectangle overlay, and dragging it, enables you to move it where you want it. You can adjust the size of the rectangle by clicking, and dragging, on the corner circles.

The color of your overlay can be changed by dragging the circle on the color palate in the Overlay Editor, or by manually typing in a color number. For this picture, I made my overlay white.


Step 3.

Fade Overlay
Merge Overlay and Picture

In this picture, Katarina was standing near a pretty fountain, and I did not want to lose it completely. I also felt that the white box was too harsh, and distracting. I used the fade option, located beneath the color palate on the Overlay Editor. Fading the overlay to 30% softened it, while still providing a solid background for my text.

Because I was planning on putting many text boxes on top of the overlay, and I knew I would be moving them around to get a perfect placement, I merged the overlay and picture so that the overlay would not move. To merge them, you click on the button that looks like two pieces of paper, with an arrow next to them. It is found on the top menu, between the redo and setting buttons.


Step 4.

Choose Fonts
Place Words on Overlay

I used a variety of fonts to help the book titles stand out, and I staggered the placement. I also ran a title up the left side.

The Final Picture:

PicMonkey Overlay Tutorial #2:

This picture of Thomas was a perfect fit for my post about why I won't read a book series with my husband. After editing the picture, I wanted to add text to make it pinnable.

If you add text to a picture, and it is hard to read, you can place an overlay behind it.

Step 1.

For this picture, I wanted to use a custom color for the overlay.

Go into Effects - it is the second menu choice
Click on Draw
Use the Color Dropper
Copy the Color Number

Once you are in Draw, and click on the Color Dropper, you can pick up a color from any part of the picture. I chose a green color from the trees you can see through the bus window behind Thomas. As you run the Color Dropper over the picture, you will see the color that is being picked up in the Draw Editor Box, and the Color Number will be displayed next to it.

You highlight and copy the Color Number to use for your overlay, and then close the Draw Editor.

Step 2.

Choose Overlay
Paste Color Number

Go into Overlays, choose Geometric, and select the rectangle. The Overlay Editor box will appear with the overlay. Above the color palate, you can see the Color Number. Highlight that number, and paste the custom Color Number you pulled out of the picture.


Step 3.

Place Overlay on Words
Right Click
Send Backward

Place the overlay on your text, and size it appropriately. You will notice that it is covering up the words - which defeats the purpose of making them easy to read. This is easily fixed. Right click on the overlay, choose Send Backward from the menu that pops up, and the overlay will move behind the words.

The Final Picture:

You do not have to use an overlay every time you add text to a picture, but some pictures need that little oomph. Plus, they are fun.

A few more examples of overlays that make words pop...

Self Care Thought:

In this picture, I used a small, square overlay, because I wanted to keep as much of the lovely view as I could. (A huge thanks to my mom for allowing me to use her picture of the beach in San Diego.)

Candy Crush Intervention:

In this picture, I used an overlay to cover the entire picture. This allows you to see the iconic candy, but the words still pop, and are easily read.

What Really Matters:

In this picture, I broke away from the rectangles, and used a circle overlay.

Have you tried overlays on your pictures?

*Updated PicMonkey Sidebar Icons
Since I created this tutorial, PicMonkey updated their sidebar icons. You can see in the screenshot below that the Overlay button is now a butterfly, and some of the other buttons have changed as well.

Even with the icon changes, all of the main options are the same, and are arranged in the same order.

Happy PicMonkey-ing!

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Should You Be Scared Of Facebook Graph Search?

Facebook has unleashed Graph Search to everyone. What does this mean for you? It means every thing you have liked, every place you have checked in, and every picture you have been tagged in, is easily searchable by your friends and friends of your friends.

This would be a good time to look at the entire list of things you have liked on facebook, and see if there are any pages you would like to un-like. Also look at places where you have checked in, and pictures in which you have been tagged.

It is a good time to look at ALL your privacy settings on facebook.
That hilarious page you liked five years ago as a private joke between you and a friend - the one that doesn't post updates, so you don't even remember it is listed on your like list? It might not be funny when it comes up in a Graph Search.

Is Facebook Graph Search a real privacy concern?
It absolutely is. I immediately think about people who are in high risk situations (you already have a stalker or you are trying to get out of a relationship that involves domestic violence). You need to be aware how easy it is for someone to find you based on the things you share, the places you check in, and the things in which you are tagged.

Graph Search could still effect you negatively, even if you are not in a high risk situation. Think about this: You purposely did not friend your boss on facebook, but you did friend some of your coworkers, and one of those coworkers has friended your boss. With graph search making it possible to find results not only from friends, but also from friends of friends, your boss now has the potential for more access to your facebook information than he did last week.

I've had Graph Search since February. The first few days it was fun to play with. I mostly threw out crazy searches, and had a few laughs. It could also be used to find a book, movie, or restaurant idea the way facebook presented it (but really, I don't have time for that, and will never use it that way).

Graph Search is what you make of it. People who want to use it for less than honorable purposes, will. Like everything else in life.

The first thing you need to do is check all your privacy settings.
Are you sensing a trend in this post? Please. Check your privacy settings.
Anything that has been shared publicly, or shared with friends of friends, will be searchable.

If you are unsure how to check or change your privacy settings, this video and page will give you a good starting point. Remember this: hiding an item from your timeline does not mean it does not exist. If someone posts a photo of you, tags you in a status, or checks you into a place, and you do not want that information on facebook, you need to ask the person who posted it to remove it.

With facebook, it is not just the things you share, but the things your friends share, that can put your information out there. Do not be shy about asking someone to remove a picture, check in, or tag. You have the right to decide how much information you want about yourself on the internet.

I approach facebook (and twitter, and all social media) the same way I approach blogging: I start with the question,"What am I willing to share publicly?" and don't cross that line. Even though my facebook privacy settings are pretty high, I still think of every single status update, picture, like, or shared link as if it was being shared publicly before I hit that button.

Are you concerned about Graph Search?
Have you talked about privacy settings, and searchability with the teens in your life who are on facebook?

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Longing

I feel it in my dreams. Not the ones I struggle to allow when I am awake - the ones that come in my sleep when my mind is allowed to wander and visit old thoughts and snippets of memories.

I am visited in those dreams by faces from long ago. I visit houses and places that only exist in memory and old photographs. My mind combines the two together.

Sometimes I am old, sometimes young. If I allow my mind to wander, if I do not use the full force of my lucid dreaming abilities, I will continue down those old paths - the same, yet different.

Nothing makes sense, and everything makes sense. It is the way of dreams. They find the longing in your heart, and magnify it.

I see myself on those hazy paths.

I could be strong, but I give into the failure.

I could be sure, but I give into the frazzle.

I could be safe, but I give into the fear.

When I can not stop myself from thinking it through any longer, when I have to analyze the moments through the haze, I see the longing.

It is there. Staring at me. As physically imposing as a mountain, and more real than the haze around me. The longing for more, less, different.

I could reach out my left hand and touch it. But I do not. I know one touch will give it power, and it will carry me off. Carry me beyond the safety of the haze and the surety of dreams I can control at will. The longing will draw me to places unknown, and I am not ready for that. Yet. Maybe ever.

For now, I wait on that hazy path. I search for the center of my soul, the quiet place, and listen for the beat of the Rabbi's heart. In my dreams, I allow the longing to stand close for the day I might be ready to follow it into the unknown. As I wake, I feel its presence behind me. Hand stretched out. Waiting.

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How To Raise Money With Teespring

*This is a sponsored post. I was not required to say nice things, and all opinions are my own.

I have worked with a lot of non-profits, and part of that work involves raising money. At some point in the fundraising conversation, t-shirts always get a mention. With that comes talk of printers, designers, size options, and a big, scary initial cost. It is impossible to predict what sizes you need before you start selling them, and you are always left with dozens of unsold shirts, and almost no profit. There must be a better way.

When I was a teenager, every event I participated in (choir tour, camp, Disciple Now weekends, drama club, band) came with the requirement that everyone wear a matching shirt. Ideally, the purchase of t-shirts would also help to fund the event.

Even though I circled the M for medium on my sign up form, I would be handed an XL when I showed up on the first day. I wasn't the only one who received a shirt in the wrong size. We would all sing, camp, or practice in ridiculously ill-fitting shirts. It was easier for the organizers to get a break on costs by buying up the surplus puke green, XL shirts the printer was offering at 20% off than to order nice shirts in all the correct sizes. There must be a better way.

Do you want to raise money for your charity? Are you organizing an event, and want everyone to have a matching shirt? Maybe you have a great t-shirt idea, and know you could sell a ton of them if only you did not have to put out $1000 upfront?

Teespring has developed the better way.
Teespring makes it easy to create, and sell, t-shirts. You design the shirt (no more ill-fitting, puke green shirts with bright purple and brown writing), set the price, and choose the time period over which you would like to sell. There is no need to worry about collecting the money or delivering the shirts.

Who can use Teespring?
Charities and individuals who want to support a favorite charity.
This shirt raised over 85 thousand dollars for The One Fund Boston.

Individuals or groups who want to raise money for something specific.
This shirt was sold by a couple who were looking to grow their adoption fund.

This shirt was designed by an 11-year old girl who wanted to raise money for a trip to Hungary to sing in a children's chorus.

Anyone looking to make extra money off of a great t-shirt idea.
Teespring is open to anyone who wants to sell a great shirt. You do not have to be affiliated with a charity or a cause of any kind.

Teespring Designer Tutorial Link

With Teespring, you design and sell shirts with no risk. If you don't meet your sales goal, no one is charged, and no t-shirts are made. If you do meet (or exceed) your sales goal in the allotted time, the t-shirts will be printed and shipped at the end of the campaign, and the profits come to you. All fundraising should be this simple and painless.

Do you have a favorite charity that could benefit from using Teespring?

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Someone Needs A Candy Crush Intervention

EMERGENCY!! HELP!!

My breath caught in my throat yesterday when I opened up my email, and saw a message from my mother with that subject line.

EMERGENCY!! HELP!!

It seemed to take hours for the email to load, although it was really only seconds. My mind went to the worst places in those seconds.

It had to be something bad. My mom is not usually prone to hysterics, and she certainly would not want to worry me unnecessarily.

I thought her house had burned down, or she was in the hospital, or my Grandma was sick, or she had been in a car wreck.

EMERGENCY!! HELP!!

The subject line screamed at me. I was terrified.

The email opened, and this is what I saw:

EMERGENCY! HELP!.....my friend has passed me and is on 108 now….PLEASE HELP!
LOL…but if you get a chance, I would love to get out of this section and pass her again!
Love Mom

I felt momentarily confused.

Was she emailing me about a Candy Crush emergency?

Is there such a thing as a Candy Crush emergency?

What do you do with an email like that? I tweeted about it. Instead of sympathy, I had people ask me if I would beat their Candy Crush levels for them.

(No, I will not beat your Candy Crush level for you. No one came to my house to beat Candy Crush level 97 for me when I asked.)

After my heart stopped pounding, I responded to my mom's email:

Oh my goodness, crazy woman.
You scared me with that first line!!
I tried to pass it yesterday, but failed. I will try again today.
Love you!

Surely she would write me back, and apologize for scaring me, right?

Wrong. It did not even occur to her to apologize.

This was the response I received this afternoon:

Did you read *Margie’s post today about the dirt?
Also I passed it this morning, but still need help to catch up to her…..please, please….

What would make my normally kind, caring mother do something like this?
Candy Crush. Candy Crush is evil.

It is becoming increasingly clear that my mom needs a Candy Crush intervention.

Anyone who is having a Candy Crush emergency needs an intervention.
And possibly a 12-step program of some sort.

My mom is stuck on Level 105.

How do you pass Level 105 on Candy Crush? I have a tip for you:

Don't give a heart attack to the person whose help you want.

I am not feeling much sympathy for her. Those moments of terror I felt while that email loaded were awful. Also, I am stuck on Level 162 of Candy Crush, and a friend just passed me on her way to Level 164.

Look at this board:

Candy Crush Level 162 (those brown circles spit out chocolate)

Clearly I am the one who needs help. I don't know how to beat Level 162.

Hey, can you beat Candy Crush Level 162 for me? It is an emergency.....

Maybe I need an intervention of my own.

Do you need a Candy Crush intervention?
______________________________________________________________
*Margie's post about the dirt? Our friend Margie was on facebook today, referring to a story about the time my mom made me water dirt. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

**I love you, mom!

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Breakfast Is Code For Dessert

This morning I had ice cream for breakfast. There was a quick moment, standing in the kitchen in the early hours of the morning while the rest of my family slept, where I halfheartedly defended my choice by thinking about the dairy content in ice cream.

But, really, it was ice cream. Neapolitan ice cream to be exact.

Ice cream is dessert.

Breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day. But for most of my life, breakfast has been an excuse to eat an early morning dessert without being bothered by pesky things like eating an actual meal first. I usually stick with the socially acceptable dessert breakfasts - those foods we all seem to pretend are legitimate breakfast foods instead of desserts - but I have also finished off a piece of leftover cake or pie.

Socially Acceptable Dessert Breakfasts:
1. Anything made by Little Debbie
2. Cinnamon Rolls
3. Coffee Cake
4. Danish
5. Doughnuts
6. Eclair
7. Muffins (more chocolate chips, less bran)
8. Nutella Crepes
9. Pancakes and Syrup (anything with syrup, really)
10. Pop Tarts
11. Reese's Puffs (and other sugar-laden cereals)

When I am not trying to fulfill my dessert requirements early, I am more likely to reach for a piece of cold pizza than something actually healthy.

I have to wonder, are the rest of you are out there making egg white omelets each morning? Steel rolled oatmeal without a generous addition of butter, whole milk, and brown sugar? Non-sweetened Greek yogurt with protein powder stirred in for good measure? Or do you break your fast with one of those socially acceptable dessert breakfasts?

The blame for my breakfast choices could be laid with my father, who usually picked up something at the gas station on the way to school (and thus began my love affair with Little Debbie treats), but I am thirty years old. I am responsible for my choices, and I could be making better ones. Clearly I did not decide to do that this morning when I reached for the ice cream.

But, honestly, I enjoyed every sugar-filled bite, and I do not feel bad about it.

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