There are many differing points of view on New Years Resolutions, but I’m a supporter of the idea. Setting aside time to plan out how you might like to grow in your spiritual, physical, financial and emotional areas of your life can have tremendous benefit. “If you don’t know where you are going, how can you know when you’ve arrived?” is an old saw that accurately defines the problem. We need to plan to improve and grow in 09′. Not only is this true for us individually, but for our team at the Mission as well. How can we better serve our clients? How can we be more loving, encouraging and inspirational? How can we save more lives? These are quesitons that I hope you all will be asking; I know I will be.

There is a group of nay-sayers that don’t like to set goals for fear of “setting myself up for failure”, but it seems to me that this misses the point. We are all here for a purpose, designed and born for a reason. Finding and living that purpose to our best effort is an important part of having meaning in life. Living life on purpose, not on accident, is the calling of every follower of Christ.I hope you’ll take the time to consider New Year’s Resolutions, to setting out goals for yourself and for your position at work.

Here is a link to some stats on How Many People Keep Their Resolutions.

Happy New Year

David

We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas at the Tacoma Rescue Mission.  We are surrounded by great people, both volunteers and staff who are dedicating their time, talent and resources to helping serve those most needy in our community. Together we are able to really make a difference in the lives of hurting people.

These are definately challenging and uncertain times for many.  Indeed, it has been a tough environment for the Mission to be building and growing.  Yet I have no fear of the uncertainty and neither should you this Christmas.  Our trust is in God, not in our own wisdom or efforts.  We will do all we can to be wise and discerning in doing the work before us, but we must relax and know that it will all work out for good.

When I watch my kids stressing over presents that I have already wrapped and have ready to put under the tree I think of how God must look at us when we worry.  He’s already got the gift ready for you.

This Christmas I hope you are able to enjoy all the great things around you and count your blessings.  I’m counting you among my blessings this year.  I’ve got the best friends and teammates.  Thanks to all who make the work of the Tacoma Rescue Mission possible.

DC

One of the great advantages of twitter/Facebook is that it allows omnivore readers such as myself to get a wider variety of information from smart people I’d of otherwise not met.  If you are curious about my reading habits, here is my blog on Why I Love to Read.

The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are so crazy here at the Mission that I’ve not been able to write  a What I’m Learning blog in some time so I’m left with an unusually diverse group of blogs and articles that were really great, but that don’t fit any particular theme.  So I thought I’d just pass on some of them and let you see what’s inspiring me.

In no particular order:

Here’s a great blog from Michael Hyatt that brought my attention to a great video on change: How the Media World is Changing Fast

Loved this video from TED.com on learning Leadership from Conductors

Ever wonder about the jobless rate for people like you?  Daniel Pink sent a tweet that turned me onto this New York Times Interactive graph.

I’ve always known that creative people think differently.  this article from Psychology Today was really insightful

I’ve got a great idea on how to use social media to help the poor. It’s a secret. I can tell you I ripped it off from this great article on how Coca-Cola is using social media.

Hope you find this stuff fun and useful.

If you’d like to see other What I’m Learning blogs just type it into the search box in the upper right hand corner and enjoy.

DC

Hi friends, here is a transcript of the News Tribune article of December 10, 2009 on the Mission efforts to keep homeless safe in the freezing winters.

Finding shelter from the cold

BY JOYCE CHEN; THE NEWS TRIBUNE

Published: 12/09/09 7:59 pm | Updated: 12/10/09 8:38 am

The bed was simple – brown metal frame, bright floral blanket – but it was warm. For Jose Rodriguez, it was home for the night.

Rodriguez was one of about 150 homeless men who flocked to Tacoma Rescue Mission’s New Life Square shelter Wednesday evening to escape the cold.

“I think the Mission is good for a lot of people so they can come rest their heads,” said the 45-year-old, who is reconsidering moving back to Alaska to work in a fish processing plant. “You could freeze to death out there.”

The combination of clear skies and Arctic winds coming down from Canada led to record low temperatures across Western Washington. The National Weather Service said the previous record low in Tacoma was 27 degrees for the day. Wednesday, it was 18 degrees. Only a few towns in the western part of the state didn’t set records, said Johnny Burg, a meteorologist in Seattle.

As temperatures fell Wednesday night, the amount of weather-related problems rose. There were numerous reports of broken water pipes across the region.

Inside the South Tacoma Way shelter, which serves single men, the atmosphere was busy yet subdued Wednesday. In the day room, several dozen men — and several women — bundled in parkas watched the 1960 film “Joseph and His Brethren” on three plasma TVs while waiting for dinner. Tacoma Rescue Mission also operates a family shelter for families and single women.

Chief operations officer Alvin Helms said New Life Square ideally accommodates 75 to 100 people every night. This week, as temperatures have plunged, the shelter has been averaging 150 people per night, but no one gets turned away. If the facility’s 70 beds and 33 cots are filled, staff members roll out mats.

“We’re not going to send them out in below-freezing weather,” Helms said.

Mike Strang, who was born in Tacoma, washes sheets and blankets at the shelter in exchange for a place to stay. After his house in Summit burned last December, he ended up living on the streets until he came to the shelter in April .

“I was hungry and cold when the police found me,” he said. “Instead of taking me to jail, they brought me here.”

Strang expressed gratitude for the shelter giving him a stable home. “I have a son who lives in Eastern Washington, with a big family in a tiny house,” he said. “This was a godsend for me.” Chris Salcido, who came to Tacoma from Los Angeles in October, is also volunteering at the shelter while looking for more permanent housing.

“We all love each other, because we’ve all been out on the curb,” said Salcido, who plans to get ordained. “I’m standing on my feet because of Tacoma Rescue Mission.”

Outside the shelter, the cold will linger through the week. There’s even some snow in the forecast for the weekend.

Staff writer Brian Everstine contributed to this report.

I had the pleasure of meeting Karie Hamilton, a photo journalist and artist, a few weeks ago.  She’s an amazing person with an amazing gift.  Recently she did a special video about our Tyler Square program’s SHOP TILL YOU DROP day.  Check it out. Thanks Karie