Archive for the ‘Others’ category

School Custodian Has Big Role — And Big Heart

October 23rd, 2009

I really like this story about how an ordinary custodian can have an impact on the children that he’s serving. Though he could not have his own children, he makes himself fully available to the children in the school. It shows me that the lack in my life can still be used by God for other people.

The two started by talking about Jefferson’s first days at the school, 23 years ago. He admitted to being a little nervous — “just like a new student,” he said.

“My first boss, she was a nun — I never had met a nun before,” Jefferson said. “She was a nice lady, though.”

Jefferson has been married to Annie Lois Jefferson for 25 years. They have no children.

“But God made up for it,” Jefferson said. “I got all you guys.”

Smith told him, “You feel like parents to all us students. And so, you’re like family.”

“I feel the same way,” Jefferson said. “It’s like the whole school, all the kids are my family. And I’m going to watch out for you, just like I watch out for them.”

via School Custodian Has Big Role — And Big Heart : NPR.

Chinese Couples Take Advantage of an Auspicious Day to Marry

September 13th, 2009

An interesting aspect about the Chinese people who believe in the “feng shui” and the sound of the numbers.

The number nine in Mandarin, jiu, has the same pronunciation as the word for “perpetual” or “forever.”In Beijing, 18,979 couples got married or received licenses, according to Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency. That broke the capital’s previous record of 15,646 couples who chose Aug. 8, 2008, because eight is a lucky number in China and is pronounced like the word for becoming rich. Aug. 8 also was the opening day of the Olympic Games in Beijing.The national one-day marriage record of 314,000, also set on Aug. 8 of last year, appeared likely to be broken as well Wednesday, as huge, starry-eyed turnouts were reported in cities throughout China, Xinhua said.

via Chinese Couples Take Advantage of an Auspicious Day to Marry – NYTimes.com.

The Story of Stuff

May 14th, 2008

Annie Leonard at the Tides Foundation created this video called the “Story of Stuff.” It was a very well-made video, packed with a lot of information about product life-cycle, consumer product politics, and environmental justice. This shows me the persuasive power of multimedia presentation based on good facts. Check it out here:

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

After you watch it, do you think twice about buying?