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| "Topics": acrylic, junk collage spread in journal. |
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Click: Rufus, Stop on By.
2GN2S
My daughter starts middle school tomorrow. We've decorated her locker, bought new uniforms, even surprised her with a new backpack. But tonight just before bed, we did another pre-middle school task that is far more important than the others. I gave her a tube of toothpaste and asked her to squirt it out onto a plate. When she finished, I calmly asked her to put all the toothpaste back in the tube. She began exclaiming things like "But I can't!" and "It won't be like it was before!" I quietly waited for her to finish and then said the following: "You will remember this plate of toothpaste for the rest of your life. Your words have the power of life or death. As you go into middle school, you are about to see just how much weight your words carry. You are going to have the opportunity to use your words to hurt, demean, slander and wound others. You are also going to have the opportunity to use your words to heal, encourage, inspire and love others. You will occasionally make the wrong choice; I can think of three times this week I have used my own words carelessly and caused harm. Just like this toothpaste, once the words leave your mouth, you can't take them back. Use your words carefully, Breonna. When others are misusing their words, guard your words. Make the choice every morning that life-giving words will come out of your mouth. Decide tonight that you are going to be a life-giver in middle school. Be known for your gentleness and compassion. Use your life to give life to a world that so desperately needs it. You will never, ever regret choosing kindness."
by Amy Beth Gardner: August 14, 2016
Special Advanced Tournament Training
Genbu-Kai Honbu Dojo
February 19, 2023
A lost bear cub wandered into a zoo during a storm, but security cameras captured an orangutan giving up its own blanket to keep the cub warm.
The tiny black bear had apparently become separated from its mother in the nearby woods. Late that night, it followed the covered service corridor beside the orangutan enclosure, looking for somewhere dry.
The cub eventually curled up beside the bars, soaked and trembling from the cold rain.
Inside the enclosure, an orangutan had been watching it. At first, it simply sat near the barrier and stared at the unfamiliar visitor. Then it picked up the fleece blanket it normally slept with.
The orangutan pushed one end between the bars and slowly worked more of the blanket outside until it reached the cub.
The exhausted bear climbed onto it and curled up.
When zoo employees arrived the following morning, they found the cub asleep on the blanket. On the other side of the bars, the orangutan was resting directly beside it, as if it had stayed there through the night.
Staff safely transferred the cub to wildlife officials, who began searching for its mother. But the security footage left everyone with one unforgettable image.
The orangutan couldn’t bring the lonely cub inside—so it gave the cub the one thing it could reach through the bars.
Just because ...
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| Common Hoopoe |
Thursday's Smiles ...
Hoping you see all the good things in your day.
