Michael Shelley

05 Feb 2008 12:01:00 -08:00

The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready.

As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window.

Bruce Layman

14 Jan 2008 16:54:00 -08:00

On Saturday, 1-19-02 I went to the home of a lady that was divorced and had been abused. I had received her name from our church. She needed some repairs done around her home. I worked repairing running toilets, "ghosting" doors, leveled her washer and trimmed trees. It was a great feeling giving. It was delightful to give without any expectations of receiving. She was grateful for the work. These were things that she did not know how to do and it was too expensive to hire someone to do. I benefited by feeling great about helping someone else. ...

Ann Gregory

14 Jan 2008 16:51:00 -08:00

It has been approximately a month since I attended Empower U. It was one of the most incredibly unique experiences of my life to date. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to attend. It opened my eyes to many aspects of my life I was not in touch with and I make daily effort to stay focused with the goals I've established for myself.

My Empower U experience has made me think a lot about my family and friends and how much I appreciate them. I am lucky to have a large, extended family that has always offered ...

Meg Van Steenburgh

14 Jan 2008 16:46:00 -08:00

I went to a Soup Kitchen in Hartford, Ct. that served clients who came in off the streets. It is sponsored by my work. I worked with four other volunteers. I was the only one from my company, the other volunteers came as part of a senior citizen group and one from another company. We did most of the set-up, cutting up bread, pre-pouring juices, etc. Then we served them.

The clientele were pleasant and came from all walks of life; some I knew could not afford a hot meal because of the price of ...

Cyndie Ewert

14 Jan 2008 16:43:00 -08:00

I must admit that this is not as big a step as I would have liked to have taken for my community activity, but I have taken action and that in itself is a success. I have volunteered to drive the father of the refugee family that we are sponsoring at church to his bus connection two days a week. Our first trip was quiet as he settled in and then thanked me over and over for sharing my time and helping him to make it to his bus in time to get to work in order ...

Jeremy Medcalf

14 Jan 2008 16:39:00 -08:00

Up until now, I wasn't able to communicate very well with elderly folks, but lately, because of my new lease on my life, I have really enjoyed working for them.

She told me that she knew I really cared about her and the situation and was most pleased with our service. WowWWW!!! That compliment made me feel so good that I WILL work harder and with even more passion for the next because she showed me how much of a difference I made in her life when her situation didn't seem like it could get any worse.

Annisa Wegner

14 Jan 2008 16:34:00 -08:00

We have some very dear friends here in Austin who we go to church with. They have a beautiful 2 year old daughter and Vickie was pregnant with their second. She and I have become extremely close in 2002. She miscarried late Thursday night. Since we both were in Dallas all weekend we did not know until last night. I was so touched by her email (which is a poem) that I want to share it with you all. She sent this email to all in our church.

Sometimes when things happen we wonder why.
But yet we just ...

Gina O'Brien

14 Jan 2008 16:28:00 -08:00

THANK YOU to everyone at EmpowerU for putting a fire in me that led to my brother's return to the family!! It was like a classic prodigal son story. My brother had a falling-out with my parents about two years ago. I was away at college so my details are fuzzy, but the basics were arguments about religion and money. My 32 year old brother married the girl he thought he loved, and it turned out that she didn't want him to have any contact with his family.

After I came out of the EmpowerU class, I brewed on ...

David Shockley

14 Jan 2008 16:18:00 -08:00

I took the day off on Tuesday, grabbed my classical guitar, and went to the Ross Memorial Senior Citizen's Home. I met with the two activities directors, Angela and Andriana.

Before I knew it, I was playing "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" for Mrs. Leonard who is in her final stages of Parkinson's Disease.....and life. At that moment, I understood what my music is all about. Until now, I have played classical guitar music for basic recognition (to show off). I started playing when I was 15 years old, and the main reason was to meet and impress girls. The ...

Joseph Ploehn

14 Jan 2008 15:57:00 -08:00

My son Chris just got done having a tremendous Easter experience. From our sharing at church to the movie we saw, to the picnic we enjoyed at the park with our annual Easter Egg hunt, Chris had all sorts of fun! He was a happy, smiling little 8-year old all day... that is until we got home and HE WANTED MORE!!!

He came up to me and asked, "Daddy, can I go swimming now?" I looked at the clock and it was 6:30pm. Not only that, when I checked the temperature of the pool it was 65 degrees. I thought ...

Michael Swinford

14 Jan 2008 15:45:00 -08:00

Hi, Everybody! It's a great NIGHT to be alive!

It's about 11:15 p.m., and I just got home from a class I teach (even though my voice is just now returning). You may remember, one of my activities toward my mission is to be the best teacher I can, to work hard, study hard, and do a GREAT job, WITH PASSION! That's just what I did tonight.

This was a new class that just met for the first time. And the topic, I must confess, is pretty boring (Theory of Communication), but NOT TONIGHT! I had 'em laughing and speaking out, ...

Alan Langley

14 Jan 2008 15:39:00 -08:00

Today while getting off the Interstate I saw a man at the exit that had a sign saying "homeless." I have passed this same man many times before. Up until now, I didn't see a person, I saw a beggar. This morning, I pulled over to see if I could take him somewhere to get him something to eat.

I told him that today was the first day of the rest of his life and that he would be okay. He thanked me and held on to my hand.

I took him to McDonald's and bought ...

Dena Shelley

14 Jan 2008 15:35:00 -08:00

Michael and I went to downtown St. Louis and fed the homeless. Well, first we went to church to cook the food. Everything was made from scratch and then we went down and served the food to about 100 or so homeless people.

I have always seen myself helping people...some way some how....and UP UNITL NOW... I have not done a lot of that kind of thing.

Most of them, not all, but most were VERY VERY appreciative! It breaks my heart to know they are homeless, but I hope that my smile and spirit and ...

Annick Davis

14 Jan 2008 15:29:00 -08:00

Gabe and I were both very moved when we recently learned that only 5% of people that live in apartment communities are connected in a local church. Further research showed that PEOPLE that live in apartments don't feel a sense of community with their neighbors; not making connections with other people.

This life isn't all about me - it's about making a difference with the gifts that i've been given.

Well, Gabe and I both have a renewed LOVE for PEOPLE... and this just made us sad. We have found a program called Apartment Life that ...

Lauryn Parham

14 Jan 2008 15:25:00 -08:00

Well, What can I say...I have been a very busy woman in the last 2 days. When I got home I heard a charity going on over the radio. It was to gather up comedy DVDs to send to the troops in Iraq. It sounded like a great cause that I could make a difference in ....and then I heard that the person who could gather up the most DVDs and bring them to the station would qualify for a trip to LA to the red carpet premier of Shrek 2. (Shrek being my favorite movie) and... My dream ...

Matthew Shigihara

14 Jan 2008 15:21:00 -08:00

Today I participated in what is called "Building Together". It is a program that assists elderly and immobile people with fixing up their homes. The project is broken out into 3 stages. Stage one advertise and request applications, then narrow the applications down to about 65 home owners. Stage two is to go out and assess the homes on the type of repairs needed and identify those applications to about 40 homes. Stage three is a 5-day work week with students to paint, repair, re-roof, etc., the 40 selected homes. I participated in stage two with approximately 30 other ...

Rob Sredl

14 Jan 2008 15:12:00 -08:00

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