I’m No Superstar is a blog for people like me who want to make a difference in the world but know they aren’t activists. Each post contains a social action idea that most of us could do, a book that’s worth reading, or a link to a website that offers other ideas. Oh, and it’s all introduced by a sometimes quirky story from my life.
Carol Cool Earlier this month my friend Mandy and I went to hear Shane Claiborne speak in Lancaster. We planned to get there early, figuring the place would fill up. Even with my I-know-exactly-where-this-church-is arrogance that got us lost, we were there a half an hour before the event started. The auditorium was already packed. As we
Les laughs at me for anthropomorphizing just about everything—the poor dinner plate at the bottom of the stack that never gets used, the soft soap bottle we’re trying to throw away (I called her Dee Spencer), always my laptop. Now I’m doing it with my blog. I imagine it feeling orphaned. After all, I haven’t
I love the intentional charitable choices Les and I make at Christmas. We give coats to a clothing closet so someone will have a warmer Christmas. We buy gifts for someone we know in need. We put together shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. And because of my parents’ Salvation Army background, I have trouble
This year the adults in our family are giving alternative gifts for Christmas. To make it more meaningful, we are choosing a charitable gift that somehow represents the person the gift honors. It’s been fun trying to figure out what to give that says, “I understand what matters to you.” And sometimes it’s just frustrating. I
We opened our Christmas presents from Joy while we were together in Williamsburg at Thanksgiving. Both Les and Ashlee got flannel jammy pants (I already had some). Earlier this week I bought us all new slippers with my $10 coupons for a couple of stores. It’s been so cold here this week, we’ve all changed
Okay, Thanksgiving and the parades, football and overeating are finished for most of us. Now we’re in Christmas shlepping, I mean shopping, mode. And that leads to whining when the store is out of stock on the sale item you drove there especially for. Or sarcasm when the salesperson is less than interested in helping
I’m not much of a photographer. I took some photos with my phone when I was at the Ghost Ranch in New Mexico last year. Les made fun of me because most of them have my finger in them, as you can see in the photo at the right where it looks like a giant
Several weeks ago Ashlee’s Sunday school class took on the Heifer Read to Feed program. As part of the program, which raises money to buy animals for families in need, the kids were to read books and ask for donations for each book read. Heifer provided a suggested list of books that would help kids
A few weeks ago we attended a missions conference where one of the speakers was Kurt Graff. Kurt and his wife Nancy spent years in Russia and Central Asia starting churches. Now they are working with an organization that encourages young people to invest their lives in countries within the 1040 window. (If you want
An accomplished and flexible speaker, Carol tailors her topics to fit the theme and timeframes of your meeting, conference, seminar or retreat.