(from www.nationaldaycalendar.com) National Bagel Day is observed annually on February 9th.
Bagels are one of the few breads that are boiled then baked. This creates a soft inside while keeping a crisp outside. Bagels originated in Poland in the early 17th century and now sell over a billion dollars worth each year in the United States.
Here are a few unique and yummy bagel recipes to try from www.sheknows.com!
Rachel Rinehart of WNZR talked with Kathy Wantland, Bereavement Coordinator at Hospice of Knox County. They talked about the support groups available for 2017.
Click HERE to hear their conversation and find out more details about the following groups:
– Passage Group
– Parents Groups
– Men’s Breakfast Group
– Healing Hearts Group
– Doorways Group
– Camp Hope
To get in touch with Hospice, call 740-397-5188 or visit http://www.hospiceofknox.org/
Life is busy, especially for parents. How do you work in devotions with your kids, when you are trying to juggle a busy family schedule?
Rachel Wojo shared 5 fabulous ideas on www.faithgateway.com
There’s no perfect time for everyone, and being flexible is often the key to success. By thinking outside the box, children can learn through our example that time with God can be had anywhere and anytime. Check out these unique times to enjoy devotions with your kids!
Do you wait in line at the school once arriving? Maybe you carpool and have 10 minutes between pickup times. Or do you have a few minutes of downtime while waiting for the bus? Each of these times could be used to read a short devotional and pray for the day.
If your routine is to go straight from school to dance class, then perhaps those few minutes while waiting for class to start would be a great time to enjoy a Bible verse or devotional page together. Think about your schedule and reflect on any small time slots of 10-15 minutes when transitions are made. Maximize those minutes and choose to embrace the time you have.
Our family keeps a basket of devotionals close by the kitchen table. We typically read for a few minutes right after dinner. When evening activities are more flexible due to a holiday or vacation, we’ve found that even during dinner can be a great time to talk about Jesus and enjoy a short devotional.
For little ones, getting them to sit still long enough to listen can be a challenge. When mine were toddlers and preschoolers, we utilized bath time for a lot of things. We used to write out “Jesus (heart) Michael” using bath paint soap and then talk about how he washes our sins away as we washed the paint off the shower wall. Reading a Bible verse from a devotional while they play with tub toys and listen can be a wonderful devotional opportunity!
If your regular routine includes an after-school snack, incorporating a prayer and short devo might be a wonderful time for your children to reset and recharge after a day of school. Praying for the snack and then reading while your kids eat could be a wonderful time to rest in Jesus before the dinner prep or evening activities and routines begin.
While having devotions with our kids can seem like a lot of work, it doesn’t have to be! Capturing the time we have and enjoying a few minutes focused on Jesus and His Word is rewarding.
If you’re looking for devotionals that will meet your children on their level, our family has a few favorites:
Grace for the Moment, 365 Devotions for Kids is a fantastic daily devotional by Max Lucado. I Can Learn the Bible contains a wonderful weekly emphasis on 52 Scriptures every kid should know. Every Day a Blessing is a year of God’s love devotional that will provide a delightful experience.
Photo: Robert Daly / Getty Images
International Fun At Work Day is all about enjoying yourself. Have FUN today!
Here are 19 Ways to Have More Fun at Work from www.levo.com
1. Be the snack queen/king.
Whenever there’s free food in the office, people swarm like vultures. Being the go-to for snacks is beneficial: you’ll get to know your coworkers when they pop by for M&Ms, and you’ll have a reason to go grocery shopping during the workday.
2. Start the games.
Whether it’s a work-related contest or a quick game of darts, try to initiate spontaneity and competition into day-to-day tasks.
3. Plan outings with coworkers.
Some examples of team bonding include bowling, happy hours, and pizza Fridays. If your boss/manager is open enough, suggest these ideas as potential corporate-sponsored events to rile up the crowd. Spending time outside the office to catch up on topics other than work is a great way to get to know your peers on a personal level.
4. Give gifts.
Anything from Girl Scout cookies to coffee to really fun pens, taking the time to appreciate a coworker and give them a little thinking-of-you present is thoughtful—and the first step to making true friends among the humdrum.
5. Decorate your desk.
Choose a theme and go for it. If you’re really feeling bold, offer to decorate someone else’s desk (if you know them well!). People will get to know your personality better and ask questions that will lead to interesting conversation.
6. Take frequent breaks.
Give your eyes a rest from the computer screen to stretch your legs outside. Fresh air lets the body distress after long periods of Excel or Photoshop.
7. Create a recreational team.
Kickball, soccer, book clubs, salsa dancing. If you haven’t already, you’ll soon realize the working world is just like college, except you get paid. Might as well do something fun and productive.
8. Bring your plant to work.
It’ll freshen up your desk and add some calming greenery your space.
9. Bring your pet to work!
If you’re lucky enough to work in an office that allows dogs or cats, bring your pooch in for some inter-office cuddling and snuggling.
10. Celebrate.
Birthdays and holidays, milestone achievements such as promotions, newcomers, and movers; these should all be properly celebrated with lots of sweets.
11. Host a scavenger hunt.
For when you’re feeling particularly proactive, this activity is great for a group of interns and team bonding. Whether it’s just in the office or around a whole city, working together to solve problems and compete is a fun simulation of the workplace environment.
12. Play pranks (within reason).
Light-hearted pranks should be encouraged outside of April Fools’ Day—nothing says love like finding hundreds of Post-its on your desk area. Just be game to help clean up afterward!
13. Challenge a friend to be your accountability partner.
Whether training for a race or simply working out, the people you see every day are great for motivation.
14. Go out for lunch.
This one seems simple, but more often than not, people eat at their desks just to appear dedicated. Socializing is important, and so is food.
15. Personalize your desk space.
Bring in photos of your friends and family, significant other, and other trinkets as a reminder of what makes life worthwhile.
16. Have a Nerf gun contest.
One of my first internships was at TerraCycle, where one manager hosted a Nerf gun contest for the best poem. I wrote a haiku and a limerick and earned myself a Nerf gun, which I was allowed to use on anybody in the office—even the CEO.
17. Give handwritten notes.
Not just handy for interviews and thank-you notes, but also for random compliments and acts of kindness. Cheer up someone’s day with a sweet card!
18. Challenge yourself to obstacles.
While team sports are great, sometimes the most fun you can have in the office is to compete with yourself. I personally enjoy completing a task more efficiently, faster, or creatively than ever before (but yours can be a little more fun than that).
19. Show gratitude.
Above all, having fun at work is all about human connections. A corporation will never deliver more impact than the collective individuals who surround you each day, fighting the same fight. Living by this mantra will make for a harmonious workplace.
Here is a picture of Scott Potts’ car (Jenna’s Dad) covered in post-it notes. A friend of the family thought that this would be a “fun” way to show Scott how much he was loved and appreciated. It took over 5 hours to put all these post-it notes on the car! 🙂
From http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/ – National Spouses Day is observed annually on January 26th. Dedicated to recognizing spouses everywhere, the day reminds us to take time for our mate. From being thankful for fulfillment and security of a long-term relationship to the boost of morale and well-being provided by spouses, there are many reasons to celebrate. This day is a time to show your spouse that you care and appreciate all of the things that he or she does for you and the home.
Use #NationalSpousesDay to post on social media.
www.NationalToday.com gives us some great ideas on how to make this day special.
How to Celebrate National Spouses Day
1. Dine out at your favorite restaurant
Every married couple has a go-to restaurant. Whether it’s the local burger joint with the extra loaded cheese fries, or the fancy French establishment overlooking the river, treat each other to a quiet dinner. The topic of conversation? How much you love and support each other.
2. Enjoy a low-key night at home
If you have kids, hire a sitter for the night. This day is all about you and your spouse. Pop in a movie, cook dinner together, put together a jigsaw puzzle—it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as it’s in each other’s company, with no distractions.
3. Play the Newlywed Game
This game is all the more fun if you’re not a newlywed. You may live together, but how well do you and your spouse actually know each other? If you don’t have the board game, find some Newlywed Game questions online.
We also found 36 Bible Verses from www.intentionaltoday.com to Encourage Your Marriage!
Click HERE to see the complete list and start encouraging your spouse today.
Here are some of our favorites:
1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Colossians 3:14
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
1 John 4:7
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:19
We love because He first loved us.
Colossians 3:12-14
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
The Morning Thing shared some information about the upcoming CareerFest 2017.
It will be held on Friday, February 3 from 10am – 2pm at the Ohio Expo Center, 717 E. 17th Ave. in Columbus.
Find a job, internship, or graduate school at one of Ohio’s largest career fairs.
Gary Swisher from the Mount Vernon Nazarene University Career Development Office talks about how to get registered for this event and the benefits for students.
Click HERE to hear his conversation with Morning Thing co-host Jenna Potts.
January 24 is Global Belly Laugh Day. Today we can celebrate the GREAT Gift of Laughter.
Join The Morning Thing today for the “Belly Laugh Bounce Around the World”.
Today, at 1:24 p.m. (local time) smile, throw your arms in the air and laugh out loud.
When you join this Global Belly Laugh, please record it and send your video to wnzr@mvnu.edu
We would LOVE to keep sharing the laughter with you.
Laughs and smiles are sunshine that transform our moments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the 7 continents. Click HERE to read more about how to connect, create and celebrate laughter.
Today, Marcy, Dan and Andy shared some laughs with you as they told Christian jokes.
Click HERE for a list of these silly jokes.
Click HERE to hear these 3 silly radio DJs tell jokes and laugh. 🙂
What happens when we laugh?
We get the fuel to thrive and flourish when we laugh.
(From www.bellylaughday.com)
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A Good Hearty Laugh
A Sense of Humor
Smiling
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Laughter can help our health! Click HERE for the entire article about 7 benefits of laughter.
People who lower their blood pressure will reduce their risk of stroke and heart attack.
By reducing the level of stress hormones, you’re simultaneously cutting the anxiety and stress that impacts your body. Additionally, the reduction of stress hormones may result in higher immune system performance.
One of the benefits of laughter is that it can help you tone your abs. When you are laughing, the muscles in your stomach expand and contract, similar to when you intentionally exercise your abs.
Laughter is a great cardio workout, especially for those who are incapable of doing other physical activity due to injury or illness. It gets your heart pumping and burns a similar amount of calories per hour as walking at a slow to moderate pace. So, laugh your heart into health.
T-cells are specialized immune system cells just waiting in your body for activation. When you laugh, you activate T-cells that immediately begin to help you fight off sickness. Next time you feel a cold coming on, add chuckling to your illness prevention plan.
Endorphins are the body’s natural painkillers. By laughing, you can release endorphins, which can help ease chronic pain and make you feel good all over.
Laughter can increase your overall sense of well-being. Doctors have found that people who have a positive outlook on life tend to fight diseases better than people who tend to be more negative. So smile, laugh, and live longer!
It’s National Pie Day!
Everybody loves pie, arguably one of the greatest and most versatile food structures known to mankind. Sweet, savory, filled with gravy or sauce, pies come in all shapes, sizes and flavors. Why not celebrate this Pie Day by making a pie from scratch, using your favorite fillings? If you have a recipe that you would like to share with us, email it to wnzr@mvnu.edu
We found 10 super creative pie recipes for your celebrations!
Click HERE to access these yummy recipes.
Marcy’s favorite is a cake/pie – Red Velvet Fudge Pie.
Click HERE for the recipe.
Dan’s favorite is a recipe for S’mores and Marshmallows Pie
Click HERE for the recipe.
(picture from www.biography.com)
Today is a special day in the United States – it is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
(From www.nationaldaycalendar.com)
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is on the third Monday in January. Martin Luther King Jr
(January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience. King has become a national icon in the history of American progressivism. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor.
Click HERE for more on this special day. Plus check out the dates for this special day for the next several years.
DATES
January 16, 2017
January 15, 2018
January 21, 2019
January 20, 2020
How much do you really know about Martin Luther King Junior?
We found a list of 10 interesting facts about this amazing man from www.history.com
Click HERE to see the list and get to know Martin Luther King Jr. even better.
It is “Look on the Bright Side Day” – a day to look on the positive side of life and beat the holiday blues.
Click HERE to read more about the history of this special day.
A positive mindset can actually help in many different ways.
• Increased life span.
• Lower rates of depression.
• Lower levels of distress.
• Greater resistance to the common cold.
• Better psychological and physical well-being.
• Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
• Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress.
In honor of “Look on the Bright Side Day”, we shared 10 different ways to beat the holiday blues.
Click HERE for the full article from http://meanttobehappy.com/
By connecting to the deeper meaning of the season, your Christmas celebration can itself be deeper, more meaningful, and therefore more perspective-shifting and happiness-inspiring.
Sadness is inward-looking. Service is its opposite. So go make someone else’s life better, and watch what happens to yours. Joy will start to replace sorrow. Meaning and purpose will begin to reinsert itself into the holiday experience. Self-pity will give way to a growing appreciation for the bounty of life.
Of all the gifts you give this year, perhaps the most meaningful and life-changing will be the gift of forgiveness you offer someone who has offended you. And here’s the surprise: You will likely benefit the most from forgiving than the person you forgive; it’s as much a gift to yourself as it is to the offender.
Get out the lights. Put up the tree. Blast the tunes. Decorate. Dance around the house. Invite others over to dance with you. Sing carols. Pop some popcorn. Watch a funny holiday movie (Elf is our favorite). Laugh out loud.
Get into the season. Don’t wait around for the season to get into you!
If sadness overwhelms the holidays because of loss or divorce or estrangement or distance, start now to create a new “family” of friends you can celebrate Christmas with. If you don’t make friends very quickly, join a club and volunteer to participate on special projects. It’s often in such settings where people with shared interests and values engaged in meaningful service that relationships grow fastest.
Sometimes when we feel down, we mope around the house feeling sorry for ourselves and wonder why others don’t come by and pull us out of our funk. Well, stop waiting! Be your own funk-breaker! Paint. Run. Climb. Sing. Swim. Serve. Learn. Play. Give. And watch what starts to happen to your holiday spirit.
Bake some cookies. Buy some gift-cards. And start secretly making your neighbors’ day. Put a plate of cookies on a doorstep or put Christmas cards on the windshields of cars in your community. Or, of course, personally deliver the cookies or cards to your neighbors yourself.
We often tend to over-exaggerate the negative and under-accentuate the good. We’re just funny that way. But taking the time to write down all that’s sweet in life can act to underscore the good and paint a picture that’s not quite as dour as we would otherwise believe.
Gratitude is contagious. So do all you can to catch it. Then spread it. Liberally! I guarantee a happier Christmas season for the effort.
Some of the symptoms of depression include oversleeping, staying in bed, undressed, un-showered, self-ostracized. But such behaviors also cause the blues. They feed each other. When we’re down, we don’t get up and dressed. But when we don’t get up and dressed, we often feel worse.
So stop the cycle. Get up. Clean up. Shave. Put on your best duds and go somewhere and do something. Anything. But do it without alcohol. The blues and alcohol (a depressant) is not a match made in heaven.
As you’re out doing good to others, spreading Christmas cheer, spread some to yourself as well. Buy yourself a gift. Make it meaningful. Enjoy it. Be grateful you can afford it (no matter how inexpensive it may be). Believe you deserve it. Have fun with it. And then believe you were worth every penny you spent … and then some!
Our biggest cause of disappointment is when our expectations are not met. If you go into the season thinking this time things are going to be different, that no one will argue or get drunk or make offensive comments, that this Christmas will be the best one ever, and it’s not, the day will be a letdown, even if it was still mostly pretty okay!
Rise and Shine 