Posts Tagged ‘growth’


A Disney-ABC executive’s Love without agenda

by:
28
Jan
2011
It was hot, loud and crowded at Cornerstone Festival in Illinois. Young artists lined the streets to play loud but purposeful and passionate music, hardcore stuff. A lot of black clothing, a lot of tatoos and piercings, a lot of life wanting to burst forth. I love young people. The LWA kids were painting on second run t-shirts the word “Stop Consuming..”, when we met “Mama Dawn” A rocker herself, she was in a band called Crumbacher as a young adult. Now a single mom of teens and a Senior Management executive at Disney-ABC in California using her musical talents. The kids that hover around her call her Mama Dawn, she appears to have 20 or so kids. In listening to her amazing story, we found that she got her name Mama Dawn by sharing her “free Read more...



Our Thrifty Fun

by:
28
May
2010
Our Thrifty Fun We at LWA have been in “moving mode” for a month or so now. oh there’s a lot that we want to write about on our “moving from the suburbs to the city experience”: change-growth-home-challenge-creativity-people-diversity-needs-letting go-working hard……. but for today I just wanted to share some of our “thrifty fun” ideas. Whether rich or poor, we are committed to using monies wisely, trying to recycle, repurpose, DIY, work hard with our own hands and live on less. This takes us a wonderful world of creative and collaborative people, which is super inspiring. For me it feels “healthy” and somehow “right”. I even discover more creativity inside of my own self when in this space. In the past month we have: -taken our old poker table..and made it into Spencer’s desk, using only a saw, screwdriver, strong arms and our secret tool: industrial velcro ! -took an old piece of barnwood that we found and made it into a table with: sandpaper, wipe on polyurethane, random pieces of .25 cent Read more...



Because He’s a Boy

by:
10
Dec
2009
Because He's a Boy last cold and snowy sunday in chicago as the boys were carrying in the food from tim’s trunk, we adults who were cooking, look out the window to gaze upon this lovely family ritual, and see the youngest boy throwing dinner rolls into the snow. “why is he throwing dinner rolls at the snow?!”, one of the guys said. ” because he’s a boy i said” as i giggled inside with the joy for i now i see such illogical behavior as logical. Today my oldest of 3 sons turns 18. and i think back to all of the things that boys just do. because, they are boys. i guess. although of course, as we train our boys not to just throw food in the snow, i find a crazy beauty of manhood in such behaviors. and i know that without some of these male desires, the world would not have bridges or spaceships and airplanes, or meat. life is choked by control. it is fed by guidance and nurture. i wonder if we sometimes choke men and actually just squeeze the life so that if it cant do what it was made to do, it then does what it was not made to do, for desire is given by Read more...



LWA History

by:
24
Oct
2009
Since many of you don’t totally know me, I thought I would take one post and put a little history of me and what I do… so here we go. In 2003 I started working at a small church in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. To be brutally honest it was dead. Why I was working there is a story for another blog, and another time… but for now we will just say that I felt like my efforts were best placed in this small, conservative, white church in Chicago. My plan simple. I was going to open the church to the local kids, become friends with them and love them. I had no idea what was about to happen. In the next 2 and a half years I was going to be flooded with hundreds [300 to 400 or so] of students–and their parents. Students from broken homes, immigrant homes, alcoholic and drug using homes, physical and sexual abuse situations…the list goes on and on. Caucasians African Americans Mexicans Puerto Ricans Polish Russians Koreans I had 6 languages in this group, English, Spanish, Polish, Russian, Korean and Greek. Needless to say I was Read more...



consumerism breeds apathy

by:
02
Sep
2008
i am a people watcher. not the outside, but the insides, which reveal themselves. i am an observer and a listener. i have gleaned little cues from behaviors, im sure you have too… observed amongst a bunch of us who are growing and good people ..ways we are….things we do and say…. behaviors i see that made me ponder…..why?…what’s happening? to my generation. we exhibit: low expectation of self high expectation of others low self esteem high desire of control and position burdened leaders un-powered members indifferent to the grossest of global need desiring to be taught more than to learn most people too busy to help rich but no expendable income loving with an agenda more critical than grateful sense of entitlement independent mindset greater than whole group mindset need of external joy boredom within excess being hungry and obese addicts who who have graduated from the best help programs lack of self discipline giving sex then love -rather that love then sex apathetic christians and i guess the list could go Read more...



covering our crap

by:
22
Jul
2008
the shema house, where the LWA guys live and i work at, is quiet this week. perfect opportunity for me to throw away some garbage that weve collected, mostly old sofas and random stuff people give us as hand me downs, which is thoughtful, and the reason that it is hard to get rid of old crap. inevitably someone will give reason as to why we should hold onto this or that just a little more. i understand. but i also see the need for occasional executive decision. i did the same when my kids were little. we together decided to give away some of our one hundred stuffed animals to other kids who may have none. as we went thru the animals in order to share our over abundance of bunnies, cute puppies, beanie babies and pokemon, the children loved each one and found reason to keep each one, and “gave” what amounts to “not giving” a couple of animals from their cedar chest home. the animals were not played with, or even remembered until it was time to give them away. my lesson in learning to give was failing. and i gave up. i let the kids give what their little Read more...



can i make me a key

by:
13
May
2008
grace a place the only true key unlocking jails setting self made prisoners free addiction the prison walls slowly built a need that we feed a deadly way knowing full well slowly lead astray good hearts it is well we say its just for today i cant do it another way? first a lie then you try not to cry so you hide your face from your deed those who love you plead but in your greed for ecstasy you cant see love and life grace and the place in the honesty of community where together we can be free trust now bust a lot of pain will remain to all in reach of the breach of the promise somehow they must find a way to still be grace in the space where now pain has taken hold if not bold, we grow old angry and bitter finding the way we can stay fitter for  life filled with strife we become free of tangible reality we become able to see a place where joy is not contingent on what is happening to me how can we be grace for the pain seems to gain a place in our wounded hearts it numbs our emotion trashes hope instills Read more...



learning to lead

by:
18
Apr
2008
i just made it up another life step with my 18 year old son. this past 2 years have been a huge inner life change for both of us. I have watched him turn from: a silly 16 year old, part goofy kid, part responsible man a more serious 17 year old, having faced his gas bill, working for jewel foods, applying for college. into an 18 year old. he grew as he faced the joys of college acceptance and reality of rejection. he grew as he sifted through all of the advice thrown his way on what he needs to do to make it in this world. he thought about what “making it” means and what defines happiness and seeing that he is great fish yet a little one in a big pond He is ready to leave home in the summer. this is what we raise them to do, to be ready to go out on their own. as i saw the moment come where i realized that he is beyond ready for he will do better outside of my home i guess i did not expect this moment but i now see that real readiness is when his growth is possibly inhibited by my constant presence he is ready to go -to stand -to fall and to grow- Read more...



my favorite age is: in between

by:
01
Mar
2008
a friend of mine asked me what my favorite age was, either for myself or for raising my children. i answered : IN BETWEEN Because i love the process of growth. see, its not so much the plateau, the year, the ability, the freedom, the intelligence, the fun,the control or the lack of difficulty that i seek, but the process of going from one to the other. i find it interesting that people love: heros overcomers winners successes intimacy romance rags to riches underdogs bootstrap stories the mighty ducks disney movies we love to hear the story of the one who started low, and ended high. we dream romantic dreams of being one of “those” heros. we long for intimacy we value the athlete who overcame a weakness above the one with natural talent. yet we so often live our daily life rushing thru process ourselves. impatiently rushing to the next….anything. looking at the next step so much that we miss the one we are on. the real beauty is not when my son was 2 or my son was 16. it is that i saw him grow from a drooling 2 foot tall being into 6 Read more...