Today's Gift

From the book, Today's Gift: Daily Meditations for Families


Friends are people who help you be more yourself, more the person you are intended to be.--Merle Shain


Sometimes a teacher, sometimes a neighbor, almost always our moms and dads encourage us to try new activities or to improve our schoolwork, sports, drawing, or gardening. Because they are our friends, they want us to be the best we can be.


Not everyone knows how to be a friend. Some people only criticize and never praise. People who never encourage or praise us are usually unhappy with their own achievements. They don't mean us harm. Perhaps they just need a friend, too. Not only do we each need friends to help us grow, we need to be friends to others. To encourage and praise those who need it will help us in return.


Whose friend can I be today?

Purple Fun-A-Thon

The Georgia Bid for ICYPAA held an event at Purple on Saturday; the Purple Fun-A-Thon aka Purple Field Day aka Purple Game Day, etc. It was a great success last year, so we decided to recreate the good feelings this year and we were not disappointed. Attendance was a little low because it looked like rain for the first half of the day. It only sprinkled a little bit and then cleared off completely by 2:00 so all that did show up were very happy.


The whole afternoon was reminiscent of days as a youngster when we all looked forward to field day at school; a break from the mundane day to day tasks, an opportunity to breathe new life into our tired little minds. And this modern day field day for "grown-ups" was no exception. Any game you could think of that involved a ball was going on: volleyball, kickball, softball, football, even croquet. To top it off, an industrial size slip and slide was constructed and broken in by one of the not-at-all-concerned-by-the-chilly-morning attendees. And what day outside playing games with friends would be complete without grilled hotdogs, hamburgers, plenty of potato chips, and way too many different kinds of desserts?


At one point, there was a little more excitement than I had planned on, when my dog, Wyatt, decided to run into the road. Thankfully, one of the guys was right there and didn't hesitate to run after him! Frogger reinvented!



All in all, it was a great day and I think it was a much needed break for the guys.








The doggy hero of the day!

Five Year Anniversary

Today was a great day because there is so much to celebrate. This morning I sent an email to Joel and Brett thanking them for all that they've done to make Purple what it is. There's been a lot of "trudging the road to happy destiny", ups, downs, and a lot of long hours. And I can imagine they both had doubts along the way. I encouraged them to give themselves pats on the back for not giving up. This line of work can be so rewarding, but so heartbreaking all at the same time. I thanked them for being complete oppostites of each other and balancing each other out. I can't imagine a more complimentary duo.

Most importantly, these boys work so hard, they sometimes have a hard time slowing down. So my wish for them today was that they both spend some time today taking a break from thinking about all that's left to accomplish but rather reflect on how far they've come. If they were women, they'd be on a Virgina Slims advertisement.

And I must admit, I even gave myself a pat on the back....afterall, behind every good man is a good woman, right?