How to make yourself feel better....

This is not my list, I edited it a bit... but I love all the suggestions here and I will try some of them!

Eat the best chocolate you can get your hands on. In bed. Or in the bath.

Turn up music you really love. Play it so loudly that it soaks in through your skin. Dance in your pyjamas. Feel the pain lift.

Have a romance in your head.

Buy a remote control for your camera & dip your toes into the pool of narcissism.

Call a friend & ask them if they want to have a slumber party.

Throw yourself head-first into a creative project. Something that you’re excited about but which feels a little too big for you. You’ll be so consumed by it that it will fuel you for ages.

Sing. Loudly. Badly. Off-key. Whatever you like. It works.

Cover your entire body in cocoa butter & fall asleep.

Write a list of things that you appreciate right now, in the present moment. Focus on each of them & let the love inside you well up. Even when things appear to be going really, really badly, there are always things to be happy about. (That’s one of the reasons why we do Things I Love Thursday — to help bring your attention back to the positive.)

Indulge in your “guilty pleasures”, whatever they are. (Old episodes of America’s Next Top Model, ginger ale, chocolate cake, romantic comedies, etc.)

Send a text message to one of the most interesting people you know — maybe someone you don’t know that well, just to say hello.

Order delivery food, just to bask in the glory of the fact that if you pay people, they will come to your door. With food. Warm, good food. What an age we live in, huh?

Look through old photos. With a friend if possible. If it’s an old friend, you can reminisce (“Oh my god, do you remember when we did that?!”), & if it’s a new friend, you can tell grand stories (“Well, let me tell you about this guy…”).

Listen to old Motown hits. Come up with dance moves. Wear something sparkly & work it out. (DJ Z-Trip’s Motown Breakdown is an excellent time, too.)

Write a gruellingly personal entry for your blog dissecting every aspect of the situation which has upset you so much. Post it, don’t post it, whatever, just get it out of your system.

Plan a holiday.

Write a ridiculous online dating profile & marvel at the people who come out of the woodwork.

Spend an hour in your variety store of choice, set yourself a budget ($20?) & buy some junk. Lip treatments, candy, maybe an exfoliating scrub… Then go home & play with your new purchases. There’s a reason it’s called retail therapy, you know (though of course, it doesn’t last).

Think up nicknames for all your friends, then send them each postcards to alert them.

Grab a friend, dress up like tourists & go & do all the really schlocky things on offer in your city. Take LOTS of photos, & be sure to flash the peace sign in 70% of them.

Go to a yoga class. Surrender & breathe deep.

Write multiple lists of everything you want. Material possessions, relationships, work, lifestyle, everything. Pin them up by your door so you see them all the time.

Go through Urban Dictionary & find some fun/ridiculous new words to add to your vocabulary.

Make yourself the biggest ice-cream sundae you’ve ever seen. Decorate it with hot fudge sauce, whipped cream, sprinkles, nonpareils, whatever you like. Take a photo. Give it a name (“Jane’s Orgasmatron Cardiac Arrest Sundae”). Devour. Maybe without using your hands. Take a photo of that too.

Get your eyebrows shaped.

Spend an hour in a department store sniffing perfume samples. When you find something you like, spray it on a card & drop it in your purse.

Watch videos of flamboyant, successful people like Elton John or Michael Jackson & marvel.

Plan a party with a theme that makes you feel really, really happy.

Write a letter to yourself in the future. Then hide it. Maybe in the pocket of a coat you never, ever wear.

Leave the house wearing just fabulous lingerie underneath a coat. With heels.

Hula hoop.

Buy some really good art for your walls. Posters, prints, original artwork or other. If you’re feeling impoverished, go to the library, check out some art books, then take huge, great quality photocopies at a copy shop.

Listen to Never Better by P.O.S. from start to finish & revel in what a great album it really is.

Load up your ipod & go for a walk through your favourite park.

Visit a cool toy store & make your friend a surprise package.

Reach out to the people who inspire you but who don’t know you exist.

Write the birthdays of your personal heroes in your planner & work out a way to honour them on that day.

Pie.

Bake heart- or bunny-shaped cookies. Give them away.

Be graceful.

Be graceless.

Make a video diary.

Answer questions with questions.

Try on a pair of really, really expensive shoes & act like you’ll be back tomorrow, but you’re just going to go home & think about it. (Bonus points: take a photo of you in them. Often you will need to be stealthy about this but it’s worth doing.)

Flirt with entirely inappropriate people.

Sing into your friend’s answering machine. (If you’re in the USA & use Slydial, it will take you straight to their voicemail.)

Pour pancakes in the shape of your initials. Eat them while watching aerobics on television.

Make friends with your neighbours.

Tell someone cute, “You’re cute”.

Find a secret place with a great view. Like a tree, or a rooftop, or a hill.

Go & see a musical (or just rent one).

Be optimistic.

Buy ridiculous slippers.

Make a list of the things you want to do to celebrate the upcoming season.

Watch movies you used to love as a child.

Book a karaoke room with friends & sing your heart out.

Make a list of practical, actionable ways you can improve your situation.

Start keeping a dream journal & write down their supposed meanings, too.

Write a play.

Change your ring-tone to the sound of one of your friends laughing hysterically.

Take a nap with your head at the other end of the bed.

Walk around a garden centre & buy a colourful plant. Give it a name.

Hug your friends.

Believe that everything is always getting better.

Peace, joy & love,

Speaking the Love Language of Quality Time

Quality time is giving someone your undivided attention. I don’t mean sitting on the couch watching television. I mean sitting on the couch with the TV off, looking at each other and talking, and giving each other your undivided attention. For some people, quality time is their primary love language, and if you don’t give them quality time, they will not feel loved. Is it possible that your spouse’s primary love language is quality time?

Listen for Clues

Quality time is a powerful emotional communicator of love. One medicine does not cure all diseases. Just as one love language does not communicate emotionally to all people. If you give your spouse affirming words; If you express love by acts of service; If you touch them affectionately; and they still complain, “You don’t ever have time for me. We used to do things together. Now you are always too busy or too tired,” they are telling you that their primary love language is quality time.

The Essence of Quality Time

A central aspect of quality time is togetherness. I do not mean proximity. Togetherness has to do with focused attention. A husband who is watching sports on television while he talks to his wife is not giving her quality time, because she does not have his full attention. A husband and wife playing tennis together, if it is genuine quality time, will focus not on the game, but on the fact that they are spending time together.

Dialects of Quality Time

Like words of affirmation, the language of quality time also has many dialects. One of the most common dialects is that of quality conversation. By quality conversation, I mean sympathetic dialogue where two people are sharing their experiences, their thoughts, their feelings, and their desires in a friendly, uninterrupted context. If your spouse’s primary love languages is quality time, such dialogue is crucial to his or her emotional sense of being loved. Sit down. Ask questions, and listen.

Tips for Keeping the Love Tank Full

I want to conclude by giving you four tips on how to have a quality conversation with your spouse:

1. Maintain eye contact when your spouse is talking.

2. Don’t listen to your spouse and do something else at the same time.

3. Listen for feelings. Ask yourself, “What emotion is my spouse experiencing?”

4. Refuse to interrupt. Such interruptions indicate, “I don’t care what you are saying; listen to me.”

Such active listening will fill the love tank of the person whose primary love language is quality time.

My Jesus by Todd Agnew with lyrics

Great lyrics.. something to meditate on

Maite bought a new CD and I came across this song in the morning; I've been listening to it all day ... A few words stuck with me:

"Cause my Jesus bled and died

He spent His time with thieves and the least of these
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?

Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet.."

Quiz/questionnaire for Arab men

Saturday afternoon, Aspire park - beautiful day to reflect on many things and to make our own questionnaire for the men we meet in this Arab world (just to save ourselves headaches).

1. Are you married?

2. Have you been married?

3. Are you engaged?

4. Are you going through separation?

5. Do you have a secret wife (masayer)?

6. Do you have children?

7. Is this your real name?

8. What is your real age?

If you answered questions 1 - 6 with "no"you are eligible to talk to me! You have now finished Level 1!

Level 2

1. Do you have a job?

2. Is it a real job?

3. Are you aggressive?

4. Are you Tunisian?? (LOOOOOOOOOOLLLL)

Once you finish Level 2 you might be eligible to get my number insh'allah!

Update on situation in Egypt

This message comes from pastor Sameh Hanna (whom I've met a year ago - his daughter attends the school I taught at). I was glad to find out my friends are safe; glad to hear that Ehab and his family is ok (his son, David was in my class last year). It is crazy how these things happen and the place I called "home" for 2 years is now filled with rage and fire! I am thinking of all of my friends who are still there and lifting them up in prayer!

Dear family, friends and supporters,

From the bottom of my heart I thank you for all your messages letting me know how concerned you are for the people and situation in Egypt. Your prayers are heard by our Lord Jesus Christ who sits on the throne interceding for us to THE one and only true and mighty God. His will be done.

As I mentioned before, the jails were opened last Friday and over 10,000 criminals were released onto the streets and have been looting, attacking and destroying . It is the opinion of many that thugs were also sent out, in addition to the released criminals, from the secret police to kill, steal and destroy. This is the same time the police completely withdrew.

Until today the roads have been open in Cairo, but with the call for one million to come out into the streets today, all roads and freeways have been closed. Trains have also been stopped. The police are going back on the job today, trying to restore some order. Some foods like bread and milk are very difficult to find, and the people are buying up all the rice and beans, pasta and even meat, which is so expensive. They buy this with the assumption that they will be able to cook it, not thinking the power and gas could be turned off in days to come. In contrast, the ready to eat foods like peanut butter, jam, tuna are still on the shelves with very few takers. Americans are always trying to find peanut butter in Egypt, but now that they are being evacuated, there is plenty for the Egyptians, who do not want it!

I am on the phone daily with our dear friends, getting updates and trying to figure out how to take care of the families we serve. Most of our leaders in Upper Egypt are women, and it is too dangerous for them to be out on the streets traveling from one village to another taking food. Maged, our dear friend and servant in Upper Egypt, is buying food for ALL our families in ALL our villages, then taking it to our church in each village, where the elders of the church are hand delivering it to each family. By tomorrow our Upper Egypt families will all have food. Our seniors are the most needy, with no familly to take care of them. We are still working on how to get food to all our families in the Cairo area.

One of the main problems is that the Muslim fanatics are showing up in a big way, trying to take the lead in the demonstrations. When Mobarak steps down from the presidency the climate will be right for the fanatics to take over. Please, please pray this will not come to fruition.

Men are still working to protect their homes from looters, and most apartment buildings now have organized shifts of homeowners who take turns protecting theirs.

Our dear friend and coworker Ehab was able to get home to his family. He is working hard to keep Healing Grace moving forward and is sensitive to all our families needs. One story of interest happened today. Ehab was trying to get downtown to the Kasr church, which is located one street over from the large demonstrations in Tahrir Square. He knew as an Egyptian the authorities would not allow him to pass. So, he took our friend Sami,along with his new American wife Amy (standing in the middle between Ehab and Sami), as a decoy. Since they had an American with them, they were allowed to pass all barricades! He was able to do some much needed work at the church.

As many of you are praying for the future of Egypt, please consider the following prayer requests and pray as the Holy Spirit leads you.

Necessary food and medical supplies for the people
A quick end to this protest and the economic crisis accumulating.
Peace and security to return to the streets of Egypt.
A restraining of the Muslim Brotherhood and other political parties who have evil hidden agendas For the church to have a prophetic voice at this time. For wisdom and revelation from the Father to speak life and revealed truth to t he church and the nation.
The church to move propheticlly and know how to handle this difficult time with confidence and boldness.
That Egyptians will not be taken lightly or mistreated any longer.
That President Mubarak will leave with dignity and none of his family will be harmed.
A peaceful transition of power.