please be nice to my friend (that's YOU!)

This is a call to action!!! The action: practicing not a random act of kindness directed at a stranger, but a purposeful act of kindness to yourself.

<< It's a mouse pad, a declaration, a belief system, and possibly an example of my bad judgment. 

In "NO shame on you!" I explored the awful and oedipal things that can happen to children when they are shamed. Immediately after that post, I had the pleasure of happening upon an interview by leading "shame researcher," Dr. Brene Brown. Her blog rocks BTW, and it is the biggest gift I can give you -- although back to the tacky boxed wine give-aways in the next post!

hey sister, can you spare some bling?

UPDATE: This event was a wonderful success. We raised $3500 due to your generous donations. There are still some pieces and checks coming, so it is not too late, if you are still interested in making a donation just email me. My friends are in actually in the process of bringing their baby home, so the timing is perfect. Again, thank you all from the warm cockles of my heart!!! Read on for the whole story....

You know how certain people in your life just warm the cockles of your heart? You're not sure what "cockles" are, but you know they exist because you feel them get warm when you think about those people?

I have the enormous blessing of being friends with just such a cockle-warming family. They have spent the first year of their daughter's life at Children's Mercy Hospital, exhibiting profound grace and forbearance throughout. Every day they demonstrate the enormous power of family. They have loved, supported, and held each other up during a very challenging year. All the while, they have afforded their daughter the routine and regular family experiences of the first year-- in an environment that naturally does not feel like a home. But they've made it unbelievably homey.