Stress Awareness Month

Did you know that? Focus on the family said:

The Health Resource Network, a non-profit health education organization, has designated April as Stress Awareness Month for the 16th consecutive year. Health care professionals, health promotion experts and caregivers across the country will join forces to raise public awareness about the cause and cures for our modern stress epidemic.

For this reason Community Chaplains of America, which provides care for individuals during difficult and stressful situations, have offered 10 simple suggestions on how to provide care and essentially reduce stress, according to christianpost.com.

·Provide a listening ear. Often, those who are going through stressful times simply need someone to talk to. Make an extra phone call or meet a friend for coffee and offer the opportunity for them to talk.

·Send an encouraging note. Words are powerful. In the age of emails and text messages, handwritten notes show that you took time and effort to show you care.

·Say "thank you." Offer your gratitude for people. Thank a coworker for his or her hard work or a waiter for serving you dinner. Everyone wants to feel appreciated.

·Laugh with someone. A good hearty laugh can relax you both and mentally lighten your load. Tell a joke or rent a funny movie with a friend.

·Perform a random act of kindness. Surprise someone with the unexpected. It can be as simple as paying for a friend's coffee or offering to watch the kids so a mom or dad can have that extra time to relax.

* Help someone organize. When the places and things around us are in order, we feel a little more put together. Take time to help a friend clean out a closet or scrub the bathtub.

·Take a walk. Exercise releases endorphins and makes us feel better all around. Walk around the mall with a coworker on your lunch break or meet a friend at a park after work and enjoy the fresh air.

·Share a smile. This contagious act can easily brighten someone's day. Smile to a passing stranger; it may make a big difference in his or her day.

·Get away. Get away from the everyday circumstances that may be causing stress. Plan a weekend getaway or a day trip with a friend.

·Pray. Say a quick prayer for your friend and put his or her stress in the hands of the Ultimate Provider and Healer.

Did you think we floated off?

Nope, we made it through the flood, and it wasn't to bad this time. We believe that the annual Memorial day flotilla will probably not happen this year, just too much rain. Oh well, maybe July 4th...I do have faith ;-)


Picture of Big Dam Bridge Raft up 2007

Water coming down? Maybe...

We should be seeing the water go down over the next day or so. Parking lot flooded, but still able to drive a pick up to the ramp. You got to love it ;-)

How high is the water?

I know that this picture means nothing to you, so let me tell you what this means to me. We are in for a ride over the next few days. We expect the river to rise over the next 24-36 hours to over the point it was a few weeks ago. We moved the cars tonight from the parking lot, (just in case) and expect to be taking boats to the cars by tomorrow night. They are predicting almost 400 thousand cubic feet per second by Saturday. In comparison we would normally be around 50,000 or less for this time of year. Oh well, the adventure of river living, will keep you posted.
And the week continues ;-)

Opening day 08

Have you ever noticed, the NLR Church seems to be a baseball church (by the way a game I never played ;-) Any rate today was quite a day. Mona was honored at the opening ceremony with a plaque, season named in her honor and to top it off the Mayor proclaimed today Mona Lawson day in North Little Rock. Mona wants to know how to turn it into a national holiday, Mona I don't have a clue, but keep up the work and just maybe, just maybe... Check out web pictures, and you will find a lot more of the NLR crew.
Repaired Link

April 6 thought

You may have heard of Mark Burnett. He is the creator of the shows “Survivor” and “Apprentice.” He recently wrote a book titled “Jump In!” In this book he outlines his philosophy of business. He says: “Nothing will ever be …perfect, and nothing can be totally planned. The best you can hope for is to be about half certain of your plan and know that you and the team you’ve assembled are willing to work hard enough to overcome the inevitable problems as they arrive. And arrive they will. The only thing you can be certain of is that the problems you have not thought of will eventually crop up—and always at the worst times.”

The week that won't quit...

Monday On the way to work I responded to an unconscious child to back up an ambulance. I arrived to find my medic hooking up a monitor and saying, “Greg this kid is gone” sure enough the child was beyond resuscitation efforts. I told the mom, “I’m sorry” and held her as she cried, I took physical punches from the grandmother who thought I had not done enough.

Tuesday- No big deal, but annual renewal time on insurance for all the ambulances as well as a meeting with the fire marshal to try to persuade him to allow the church to occupy a new location.

Wednesday- Scaffolding falls from the I/430 bridge taking three workers with it. We finally devised a plan to recover the bodies of the workers and low and behold it works, however we only recover one body. I am on the barge taking it back home to the Yacht Club, when we round a corner and hit heavy flow in the river (after all we are flooding) the barge starts taking on water and sinking and we cant make any head way. We call the Club for a pump and after some work finally pump it out and make it home after about 10 hours.
Thank you to Robert our youth Pastor who handled the Wednesday night study while I finished up the recovery.



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Thursday- Tornadoes hit our area. We coordinate search and recovery for four cities. I finally get to bed at 4AM. Hoping that Friday breaks the streak.





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Friday- All is well till the afternoon I hear that unit 422 was just hit by a city bus. Both crew members and three passengers go to the hospital. (all not critical)













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Saturday we will meet to discuss the river rescue/recovery called a “hot wash” this is a normal procedure. I am just hoping that this streaks finally ends.

What a week I thank God that they are not all like this.

A new Blogger

Lacinda is a member of NLR and now a Blogger. Welcome Lacinda!



Check her out!
http://lacindapage.blogspot.com/

I dont think you have to be a blogger to be a part of this group, but it helps:-)

Three more to the Youth Group

Sunday Taylor, Chandler and Justin all officially became a part of the Youth Group. Debbie had a special program complete with a video look back of them growing up. Guys we are proud of you!!

Youth Sunday

Sunday was youth Sunday. I think this was one of the best yet. Way to go Team 180!!