Birthday Traditions!

Aaron has asked me to share on the topic of birthdays. I would hope that most people look forward to their birthdays, I mean what’s not to like? There’s cake (or pie!), ice cream, family, friends, fire...I mean candles, and let us not forget PRESENTS!

When I think of birthdays, I think about traditions!  For some, birthday traditions might mean having those things I mentioned above: cake and candles, presents, and family. For me, it is all about my Grandma Ledebur. All of my favorite birthday traditions happen to involve my Grandma.  

See, my Grandma always wants to make your birthday extra special, so she has each of us over for our "birthday dinner". You even have a special seat at the table. You see, for as long as I can remember, and probably even before that my Grandma places coins under the birthday boy/girl's plate equaling how old they are. So when I turned 26, under my plate was a quarter and a shiny penny. Even though it is a small amount of money, we all look forward to it. It makes you feel loved. Additionally, my Grandma also insists on making whatever you want for your meal. My dinner is typically roast beef with and vegetables.  It doesn’t matter how many times I have my Grandma’s roast beef, it always tastes amazing and she always seems to put love into to making it. Then we finish each birthday meal with a delicious chocolate cake or dessert of your choice. She just recently turned 92 and so for her birthday I wanted to make her her own cake. It turned out well and was a pretty cool experience. And now I will hopefully one day get to continue these traditions she carried on with my family.

But traditions need to start somewhere. For instance, I am sure my Grandma had someone putting money under her plate when she was a little girl and therefore she carries on that tradition with us. It is often our family who implants the traditions in our lives. For me, these traditions carry over to my faith, my friends, and work. They get ingrained in my friendships and I think that traditions are most fun when you can share them with others.

So why do birthdays matter? Because they are a reminder, yes of how old we are, but also because they are a tradition you will celebrate each year with the people you care about the most. So if you have a birthday coming up, Happy Birthday and make sure to celebrate and carry on those traditions! (Insert funny have your cake and eat it too line!)

 

NHL CONFERENCE FINALS!

Clear eyes, Full hearts, Can't lose!

Round 2 was much friendlier to me. Went 4 for 4 on my pick of the Pens, Bruins, Hawks, and Kings and 13pts overall. I generally like all these teams, I really do! Pens have passion, Bruins have heart, Kings have resiliency, and Hawks have the will. They also have all been the last four Stanley Cup Champs! 

So this is going to be really hard to pick. There are favorites in each series, but if the hockey playoffs have taught us anything its that there are no rules when it comes playoff time.

However, this year the home ice has been an advantage. Each team has had big wins at home and struggled a bit on the road. But it really means nothing. So drop the puck fellas! Here we go with the picks, down to the final stretch...

Pens in 6
Hawks in 7

Above all, this pick 'em stuff doesn't matter in the end...it will be GREAT hockey. A reminder to those who bet on games, make predictions, and silly bets. Please, enjoy the games. We all root for "our" team, but it is a beautiful game so watch it and enjoy it for what it is. #hockeylove

Round 2

Pens in 6
Bruins in 7

Hawks in 7
Kings in 6

...a more complete analysis coming soon!

2013 NHL Playoffs! Drop the Puck!

Quick Recap:

This is the third year of my participation in the Aaron Reinard Hock-Blog Spectacular: Last year was not a complete wash as I was only one game under .500 and picked the Kings. But this is the year, I can feel it!

Here are the match-ups & my 2013 NHL playoff predictions:

 

1 Penguins v. 8 Islanders

2 Canadians v. 7 Senators

3 Capitals v. 6 Rangers

4 Bruins v. 5 Leafs

East: Pens (in 5); Canadians ( in 7); Capitals (in 7); Bruins (in 5)
 

1 Blackhawks v. 8 Wild

2 Ducks v. 7 Red Wings

3 Canucks v. 6 Sharks

4 Blues v. 5 Kings

West: Hawks (in 4); Ducks (in 7); Sharks (in 6); Kings (in 6)

Yes. I went chalk in the East. Are the Isles beating the Pens? No. It would be the upset of all upsets…but it also wont happen. Tavares will get hot in this series but no one else will step up enough to help him out. But watch for Marc-Andre Fleury throughout the playoffs. He blew it last year against the Flyers and will need to be strong the whole playoffs for the Pens to win the Cup. I honestly dont know who to pick between Montreal and Ottawa. I literally havent watched them, even when they did play Pittsburgh. I don't think Ottawa is strong mentally so I guess I will lean toward Canadians. Ovechkin can carry the team on his back and pull it off, at least for round 1. I feel like this is a TRAP pick, and no matter who I pick they other team will will. No Timmy Thomas, but hold on boys & girls, we are back on the Bruins bandwagon. On paper and on the ice, Boston should win. 

And if those reasons are not good enough, here is the best of the rest:

• A penguin spends 75% of its life on ice...clearly a sign.
• I hate picking the Caps, so why pick them? Reverse psychology friends.
• Senators bring us low employment, crappy healthcare, education cuts, etc. Canadians on the other hand bring us Tim Horton's! 
• With recent events there will be a lot of emotion, heart, and passion at the Garden #BostonStrong.

Chicago in four. Enough said. The Ducks/Wings match up is intriguing. After almost missing the playoffs for the first time in 22 or some odd years, the Red Wings have life. It should make for an up and down series and a long series too, but my gut says the Ducks. Both Vancouver and San Jose have the ability to blow this series and take an early vacation. That being said, lets have fun and go upset, I mean, why not the Sharks? The Blues have been on a hot streak and the Kings are the defending champs. Have some pride L.A.!  

 Other worthy points:

• In Mighty Ducks the nemesis of Charlie and the gang was who? - Yep, the Hawks!
• Keep the theme going...quack...quack...quack...quack..quack.quack.quack! The quack attack is back jack!
• 104 days, 41hours, 4mins, 12sec until SHARK WEEK 2013!
• Blues? Well, that's depressing....plus, the Lakers are out of the NBA playoffs so Jack Nickelson has to root for someone. right? Go Kings!

- Best of luck to my competitors! Lets go Pens!

PLAY!

So let me set this up. Last weekend I took a group of students from University of Pittsburgh at Titusville, where I work, to Jubilee, a christian conference for college students held each year in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. This was my 6th year going and pretty much love it every year! 

At Jubilee there are: large gatherings, where students from over 30 or so colleges all come together to hear from amazing well-known speakers and sing along and worship together.....then, there are also workshops - or breakout sessions where students go to hear different speakers talk about how we can connect our faith to our vocation, careers, & passions. 

This year, speakers included author & director of Restore International, Bob Goff (look him up!), Tullian Tchividjian (Billy Graham's grandson), and author, Derek Mellaby. There are also exhibition tables if you're interested in seminary or summer camps or mission/social activism. 

This year, Jubilee also held an essay contest asking for submissions about where God is working in your life as a college student and how you hope to serve him in your career as a result.

The following article is by the winner, Brittany Tietje, a student at Slippery Rock (SRU) who submitted her story to The High Calling, a Christian magazine. 

Play as Work

Recreation, simply put, is the grown-up way of saying “play.” Play relieves stress, increases physical and mental fitness, and introduces new ways of learning. And the public is becoming more aware of the benefits of recreation as part of a healthy lifestyle. But in a world filled with “go-getter” attitudes, competitive spirits, and the drive for “keeping up with the Joneses,” where is there time for leisure and play?

I have often wondered this myself. A college senior and an avid lover of the outdoors, I would much rather go hiking, spend the day rock-climbing, or even sit in a tree and read than go to work or class. As I draw closer to entering the work force, I view my future with significant trepidation.

Most discussions with working adults who intend to offer their advice and support for my future include the forewarning that “college is the best time of your life, so have fun now.” While I appreciate their concern, I can’t bring myself to believe that God calls us into careers that bore and frustrate us on a daily basis.

I deeply believe that, though this earth is broken due to the fall, God works in and through us so that we can experience His goodness in our everyday lives. That includes work. Recently, I began to realize the potential for recreation itself to be a kind of work that shows this goodness.

Imagine this scenario. Your office team has been working on a big project, and while the deadline is rapidly approaching, advancement has suddenly stopped. Unfortunately, the team seems unable to refocus as a unit to finish this project. Your boss decides to send everyone to a team-building workshop. You spend the day on a ropes course having fun and playing games that challenge you and the team mentally and physically. The facilitator works through the elements to increase communication, encourage negotiation, highlight varied strengths and weaknesses among the team, and promote overall ability to function at a higher level together. The next day at work you not only have some valuable memories and laughable moments to reflect upon, you also have an experience to draw from that sets you back on track for completing that big project on time.

I am a Parks and Recreation major. My career goal is to glorify God through play. As I look to my future, I see the opportunity to be the facilitator in the above scenario.
God is glorified by people experiencing a community that knows and cares about its members. God is glorified by people discovering the strengths He has given them and how to use those strengths. God is glorified by children and adults learning in nontraditional methods about valuable skills such as teamwork, acceptance, forgiveness, endurance, and patience; all skills that can be developed through experiential education activities. That is why I see this scenario, and others like it, as a way for me to glorify God.

I still expect life after college will be a lot of hard work. Life in college is a lot of hard work. More importantly, I’ve realized that the key to enjoying my future as much or more than the present will be to choose every day to find some little way to play, and then use that moment to serve others and glorify God.

Post written by Brittany Tietje, a senior majoring in Parks and Recreation Management.

-- This article is the first of four in a series that will introduce the next generation of young professionals to our High Calling readers.

Epic Fail!

So....clearly I am a horrible, procratinating blogger...

• I do not follow through on blog goals
• I blog maybe 5 times a year
• I usually have very little to say until it comes time for (NHL playoffs)

But one of my New Year's resolutions was to at the very least blog once a month, and maybe, just maybe that will turn into twice a month, and then hopefully once a week!

Well...wish me luck!