...because if anyone needs a little pampering, it's you!
...you might need a little incentive to get used to sharing your ideas on a blog :)
So here's how it works.
1. You are already entered into the drawing for the GODIVA CHOCOLATE just because you're on the blog! Hooray for you. Yippee.
2. Look around the blog a bit, read a few posts, click on a few "labels" to see great ideas already posted....then click on the "TELL US WHAT YOU THINK" link and give us some feedback!
This will enter you into the drawing for this fabulous AVEDA RELIEF PACKAGE! These are my favorite lotions of all time. Seriously, you'll want to marry them.
3. Now if you're really getting into it, you might want to win an HOUR MASSAGE AT MASSAGE ENVY!
Now we're talking. Think back to something you've done in your ministry that other YoungLives women have to know about...then click the "Share Your Ideas" link to the right....BAM! You're entered in the third drawing.
Now let's get sharing ladies. October 19th, 2009 is the deadline for entry into the drawings.
In 2001, with funding from the MacArthur Foundation, sociologists Patrick J. Carr and Maria J. Kefalas traveled to Iowa to understand the rural brain drain and the exodus of young people from America’s countryside. Articles and books -notably Richard Florida’sThe Rise of the Creative Class- celebrate the migration of highly productive and creative workers to key cities. But what happens to the towns that they desert, and the people who are left behind?
To answer that question, Carr and Kefalas moved to “Ellis,” a small town of 2,000. Ellis is typical of many small towns struggling to survive, and Iowa is typical of many states in the Heartland, aging rapidly. One reason is that many small towns simply aren’t regenerating, but another is that its educated young people are leaving in droves.
In Ellis, Carr and Kefalas met the working-class “stayers,” struggling in the region’s dying agro-industrial economy; the high-achieving and college-bound “achievers,” who often left for good; the “seekers” who head off to war to see what the world beyond offers; and the “returners,” who eventually circled back to their hometowns. What surprised them most, was that adults in the community were playing a pivotal part in the town’s decline by pushing the best and brightest young people to leave, and by under-investing in those who choose to stay, even though these young people are their best chance for a future.
The emptying out of small towns is a national concern, but there are strategies for arresting the process and creating sustainable, thriving communities. Hollowing Out the Middle is a wake-up call we cannot afford to ignore- not only because 60 million Americans still live in rural communities and small towns, but because our nation’s economic health and future is tied to the Heartland.
When I visited Lake Champion's YLVS week this summer, I loved that they had a woman who did a play dough group showing teen moms how to interact and play with their kids. I brought this home and have been making play dough and playing with my three boys (6, 4 and 2 years) and they all love it! The six year old loves to make it with me, and the younger two love to play with it and eat it :). 
Tie ribbons around 1 of the rings and attach tag to 1 of the ribbons. Write the year “2009-2010” and “YoungLives” on the tag with the Sharpie pen. Now enjoy!
1st step: Pin the flowers around the whole ball
Step #1: pull out metal tabs from frame 
