Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful that I'm not in charge. I'm really, really, really grateful that I don't have to know everything, do everything, think of everything and be everything. I'm thankful that we don't have to figure out the why & how of everything. As you readers here know all too well, plenty of situations make no sense whatsoever. Course, that doesn't stop us from trying to think it through until we give ourselves migraines & ulcers, but ultimately, The Plan for us was decided long ago. Our job is to roll with it, to breathe with it, endure and even soar with it, then take it back to Him completed.

What are you thankful for today?

For all the scrappers ...

In Wichita this weekend is another super-fun scrapbook crop--all weekend long! It's called Crop*A*Ganza sponsored by ScrapFunattic in Andover, KS. It's held at the Best Western, Wichita North/Park City, Ks, and for $90 (+hotel) you can crop till you drop!

ScrapFunattic has been especially kind to The Kyrie Foundation, too. In fact, at Crop*A*Ganza this weekend, they are hosting a prize drawing where half of the proceeds go to The Kyrie Foundation thanks to the first registrant of Crop*A*Ganza, Laurie Turner. It was her choice! The other half will benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Two great causes to fight the beast!

So thank you ScrapFunattic! Thank you Laurie Turner! Thank you scrappers!

Be a blessing.

Ever notice how within a single trip, you have cars that cut you off (within a centimeter of your life!) and then cars that allow you to merge in front them, sometimes offering a smile, too?

Ever notice how within the same neighborhood, you have neighbors who bicker or neglect or litter as well as neighbors that share their summer tomatoes and watch over your house when you're away?

Ever notice how within a single family, you have moments of torment and confusion in addition to the elation of unconditional love and laughter?

Even within ourselves, have you ever noticed how giving, patient & impassioned we can be one day and then the next, exploding with worry, aggression and selfishness?

Some would chalk it up to the yin & yang, that Asian-based symbol of lightness & darkness coexisting where there's a little bit of light in the darkness and a bit little dark in the lightness. Personally, I don't believe in the ultimacy of this symbol. I don't believe evil is equal to good. I don't believe purity is anything but pure--certainly no little bit of impurity in that which is pure; that would defy its definition! And we know that it takes a whole lot of darkness to dim a light while just one tiny candle in a dark room can serve as a radiant beacon.

I do agree, however, that each day is a mixed bag. Se la vie. People are people. They will raise you up and let you down. And the question is not what you can do about them, but what you can do about yourself. Are you raising up? Are you letting down? Are you able to let go, if nothing else? Are you a blessing? Or are you being a pain? Can you accept? Could you think better, speak better, do better? Can you take the sore spots of today and breathe through them without harming the potential goodness that may come with the next moment?

If you can help it today, be a blessing.

Character is Destiny

We don't make political suggestions here on Kyrie's blog, but we do think that this account is very telling about his character. Very do good, eh?

Registration is underway!

Registration for the Kyrie Foundation 2008 Krop is well underway! Lots of fun goodies and prizes are being gathered as your read this, and plenty of good times, good friends and good memories are poised for the big day.

Just a reminder for you:

Saturday, October 11, 2008
9 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Family Church
11135 W. Kellogg
Wichita, KS

$40 per seat and includes lunch, dinner, freebies, games, prizes and shared tool station!

You can come & go as you please, sit by your chums or make new friends! For those of you who may have never been to crop, it's a day of fabulous, girlfriendly, creative time to complete your scrapbook layouts, handmade cards or paper crafting projects. You bring your supplies, photos and/or your projects-in-progress, and we give you the space, time, focus, inspiration and nourishment to do something fun for you.

The Kyrie Foundation Krop also falls at the perfect time of year to work on handmade Christmas cards or any sort of albums/photo project that you want to give as Christmas gifts.

Best of all, the proceeds from this event go toward helping babies fight brain cancer.

And we know how popular crop t-shirts are for creative scrappers and cropaholics, kind of like a badge of creativity to add to your collection, right? So ... (drum roll, please ...) we have a gorgeous tee created especially for attendees available for purchase at the time of registration. Wanna see the design?



Darling, isn't it? So if you want to reserve your seat (seats are limited!) and maybe one for your friend or daughter or sister or whomever you wish, you can register online at scrappinbootcamp.com or by e-mail/phone with Christy Freeman at christycmc@sktc.net or 620-584-2966.

Another hearty thanks to Scrappin' Boot Camp, too! Really amazing generosity from those folks!

Day 8

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind.
Think big anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack if you help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

Dr. Kent M. Keith
American Author and Inspirational Speaker

Day 7

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Hebrews 13:2

Day 6

“You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson
American Poet

Day 5

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return."

Mary Jean Iron

Day 4

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced.
Live your life so that when you die,
the world cries and you rejoice.

Cherokee Expression

Day 3

"People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering."

St. Augustine, 354 430
Early Christian Priest, Author

Day 2

"There is no such thing in anyone's life
as an unimportant day."

Alexander Woollcott
American Author

Day 1

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good."

Author Unknown

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for cultures different than our own. Sometimes, most notoriously as Americans, we are supremely ethnocentric. Ask any European who has been paying $4+ gasoline for years now.

I love Dutch tulips. I love the tango, German engineering and watching Kenyan runners. I love Thai peanut sauce, sushi, limoncello and sticky toffee pudding. I'm thankful for what research scientists are doing both here & abroad. I love the hope that Ellis Island embodies. I love those terrified but mighty colonists who left their families to try something new. And ultimately, I'm thankful for all those who came before us no matter where they were from.

What are you thankful for today?

a quick note ...

Please feel free to leave comments, though we may not have regular computer access over the next couple of days to post them promptly. Your words are important.

Good words.

Been thinking about how words these days become more than just syllables, especially when we say something mistakenly or erroneously. Since when did gossip become news? When did a verbal flub, which we all make, turn into the sum total of a person?

So in an effort to thwart the empty, ugly sentences that are pitched to and fro in the world, we have found The Kyrie Foundation's element of goodness within the words of plenty of wise & wonderful souls. That's what the next week or so is going to be about let. Human to human. Words of wisdom. Ponderings. Direction. Encouragement.

In the meantime, we are working on yet another forthcoming announcement mid-June. Stay tuned!