Happy Labor Day 2011

The first Monday in September has been officially designated as Labor Day since 1892. Originally set aside as a day to honor organized labor, it has grown to a day for all workers—union laborers, nonunion workers, entrepreneurs, corporate employees, retail workers, small business owners and employees, and even freelancers—to enjoy a day of relaxation and fun.

This year, unfortunately, many people in the US who would like to be among those workers are unemployed, and the bleak jobs report that just came out shows it will not be easy for them to get back to work. Today, if you have a job, thank God for it and celebrate your blessings. If you among the many looking for work, thank God that you live in a land of opportunity  and vow to get back on your feet. Maybe you will update your resume and renew your efforts to find a job.  Or maybe you will decide to take charge of your own future—become a freelancer, start a small business, or come up creative new ways to earn a living.

Whatever your employment status, I wish you a joyous and peaceful holiday.

photo credit: foilman

September is a Busy Month

Take a look at any calendar of events that lists the special days and months, and you’ll discover that September is a very busy month.

In addition to several special days that I will recognize when they occur, September is the “National X Month” or “World Y Month” for a number of causes and activities.

Three of these national/world months have special meaning for me:

• National Be Kind to Writers and Editors Month: Now I have to admit that most people are kind to this writer/editor, and I appreciate their kindness. However, this is a good opportunity for me to say thank you to the writers and editors in my life. I would like to publicly thank all the writers who are my clients. Each one is talented and delightful to work with. I also want to publicly thank all the writers whose works I love to read. You can find great writers and great books in my reviews on Goodreads. Thanks to my many friends, both online and offline, who are writers and editors. I learn from them and share the ups and downs of the publishing world with them. Happy “Be Kind to Writers and Editors Month” to every writer and editor!
• International Update Your Resume Month: Career  Directors International, an organization for professionals in career services, sponsors this event. With the current economy and the latest job report showing new jobs aren’t being created, an effective resume is more important than ever. If you’ve lost your job or just entering the labor market, the need is obvious. However, even if you are employed today, you may face job loss tomorrow, or you may encounter an opportunity for a move upward. In either case, you don’t want to be caught unprepared—always have your resume ready to present to an employer. Even if you’re a freelancer, your resume is an excellent marketing tool, so everyone can benefit from learning how to how to write an interview-winning resume
• World Alzheimer’s Month: I’ve written before about my experiences as a caregiver for my father and another family member with Alzheimer’s. My associate Beverly Ellison has written here about caring for her mother with Alzheimer’s as well as sharing Alzheimer’s do’s and don’ts. I certainly have good memories of my father in the early stages of the disease, but I have also had painful experiences when people made fun of my loved ones or were ugly to them because the people didn’t understand Alzheimer’s. My dream, of course, is for the eradication of this disease—or at least effective treatment, and there is hope for the future. But for the present and immediate future, my dream is that the public will treat those who have this disease with respect and courtesy. My sister, a social worker who works with Alzheimer’s patients, has written a wonderful little book for caregivers. Help! What Do I Do Now?: Caring for Your Loved One with Alzheimer’s just won the Parenting/Family – Nonfiction category of the Global eBook Awards. This short, easy-to-read book is great not only for caregivers but also for anyone who knows an Alzheimer’s patient or anyone who wants to have a better understanding of how the disease affects those who have it and those who care for them.

September is National Chicken Month, National Coupon Month, National Self Improvement Month, and about four dozen other national months. But the three I’ve highlighted above merit special attention, and I hope you will take action as you find appropriate.

photo credit: Andreanna Moya Photography

National Library Week

April 10-16, 2011 is National Library Week, sponsored by the American Library Association.

Here’s John Grisham talking about the importance of libraries.

Read Across America on Dr. Seuss’s Birthday

Today is Dr. Seuss’s birthday and to celebrate Random House and the National Education Association are sponsoring Read Across America.

Schools and libraries are participating in special reading events, but one of the best ways to observe the day is for parents to read to children, grandparents to read to grandchildren, big brothers and sisters to read to little brothers and sisters, and friends and neighbors to read to kids they know and care about.

The National Education Assocation website says:

On March 2, the National Education Association calls for every child to be reading in the company of a caring adult.

Reading is so important for children that anything to make it fun and important is a good thing. And what could make reading more fun than Dr. Seuss!

Happy Valentine’s Day

I seldom watch TV or listen to the radio, but my husband always has the TV on in the house or the radio in the car. So I hear bits and pieces of programs—and lots of ads.

Recently, I’ve been hearing all kinds of advertisements for Valentine’s Day gifts. They all say something like, “Give your girlfriend or wife this <whatever the ad is selling>, and you’ll have a great Valentine’s Day because you’re going to like the way she shows her appreciation.”

Is Valentine’s Day only about romantic love? Why can’t we express our love to family and friends?

Even if the day is only about romantic love, why are girlfriends and wives the only ones to receive gifts on this special day about love? Shouldn’t women let their boyfriends and husbands know how much they love them?

Is a gift of love supposed to be given to receive something in return? Shouldn’t we give gifts to show our love without consideration for how much the recipient will appreciate the gift and show that appreciation?

I don’t expect my husband to send me roses or chocolates or cuddly toys—or anything else. I don’t measure love by material gifts. Just hearing “I love you” (which I do several times a day every day) is the only valentine I need.

I’ll send my husband a mushy e-card and tell him privately and publicly here on my blog, “I love you!”

And I’ll tell you, my readers, that I love having you as part of my blog family. I appreciate your comments, and even if you don’t comment, I appreciate your reading my words. Today, I’ll say, “Thank you! Happy Valentine’s Day!”

photo credit: LoneGunMan

National Religious Freedom Day 2011

January 16 is National Religious Freedom Day. The following explanation comes from A Guide for Commemorating Religious Freedom at School at ReligiousFreedomDay.com.

Each year, since 1993, the President declares January 16th to be Religious Freedom Day, and, as in 2005, calls upon Americans to “observe this day through appropriate events and activities in homes, schools, and places of worship.”

The day is the anniversary of the passage, in 1786, of the Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom. Thomas Jefferson drafted the legislation and considered it one of his greatest achievements. It stopped the practice of taxing people to pay for the support of the local clergy, and it protected the civil rights of people to express their religious beliefs without suffering discrimination.

The men who drafted the U.S. Constitution leaned heavily on Jefferson’s statute in establishing the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom. Today, that protection is as important as ever.

We are blessed in the United States to have religious freedom, and it is important that we protect freedom OF religion from those who advocate for freedom FROM religion. Each individual has the right to choose who or what to worship or whether to worship at all.

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15b, KJV)

Let us thank God for our religious freedom and pray for those who don’t have the same freedom.

O God, who art the giver of all good gifts; We bless thy Name and give thee thanks for the religious freedom guaranteed to us in these United States. Grant that we worship thee, the one true God, faithfully and reverently, and that we protect this freedom for future generations, ever mindful that we enjoy liberty that many have not. We offer supplications for thy children around the world who do not enjoy the freedom to worship thee openly and freely without fear of persecution. We beseech thee to remember them in thy mercy and spread religious freedom around the world. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, who liveth and reignth with thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Wishing You a Blessed New Year

May the Lord richly bless you and yours in the coming year!

May He open your eyes and inspire your heart by His wisdom.

May He sanctify all your thoughts and endeavors begun and continued with pure intentions and His blessings throughout 2011.

ALMIGHTY God, who alone gavest us the breath of life, and alone canst keep alive in us the holy desires thou dost impart; We beseech thee, for thy compassion’s sake, to sanctify all our thoughts and endeavours; that we may neither begin an action without a pure intention nor continue it without thy blessing. And grant that, having the eyes of the mind opened to behold things invisible and unseen, we may in heart be inspired by thy wisdom, and in work be upheld by thy strength, and in the end be accepted of thee as thy faithful servants; through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen. ~ 1928 Book of Common Prayer

photo credit: bbrown6

Wishing You a Blessed Thanksgiving

“‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts,
for the Lord is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!’ ~ Jeremiah 33:11 (NIV)

“Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted. ~ Isaiah 12:4 (NIV)

 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations. ~ Psalm 100:4-5 (NIV)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ~ Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

TO our prayers, O Lord, we join our unfeigned thanks for all thy mercies; for our being, our reason, and all other endowments and faculties of soul and body; for our health, friends, food, and raiment, and all the other comforts and conveniences of life. Above all, we adore thy mercy in sending thy only Son into the world, to redeem us from sin and eternal death, and in giving us the knowledge and sense of our duty towards thee. We bless thee for thy patience with us, notwithstanding our many and great provocations; for all the directions, assistances, and comforts of thy Holy Spirit; for thy continual care and watchful providence over us through the whole course of our lives; and particularly for the mercies and benefits of the past day; beseeching thee to continue these thy blessings to us, and to give us grace to show our thankfulness in a sincere obedience to his laws, through whose merits and intercession we received them all, thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. ~ 1928 Book of Common Prayer, Family Prayer

May the Lord shower you with blessings, and may you give thanks for every blessing, large and small.

The World’s Biggest Party for Writers: I Love to Write Day

Today is the 9th annual “I Love to Write Day,” aka the World’s Biggest Party for Writers.

I written before about my love affair with writing, and I believe writing is good for our health and well-being.

If you haven’t yet experienced the joys of writing for yourself, today is the perfect day to write something—an essay about a cause important to you, an article about something you know, a resume for a new job, a blog post, a character sketch of the main character of the novel you want to write, the opening of your memoir, or even a short journal entry.

If you, like me, are already passionate about writing, today is the perfect day to indulge your passion and write something—an essay about something you believe strongly, an article about something you’d like to learn about,  a news release about an upcoming event, a blog post, an action scene in your novel masterpiece, the middle of your memoir, or even a short journal entry about how much you love to write.

Or you could write a short story or a poem or a how-to guide or a letter to a loved one. If you love to write, then do it today.

Encourage children and teens to write something today. If they don’t already love to write, they will probably learn to like it better and certainly become better at it.

And if you love to write, leave a comment to let us know.

Happy National Authors Day!

Today is National Authors Day, though I can’t find any official website or sponsoring organization.

Virtual roses and chocolates to every author—whether you’re a famous, multi-published author or just starting your first book during NaNoWriMo.

Indulge yourself. Enjoy your day. Thank God for your talent, the joy of doing what you love, and the blessing of being able to touch the hearts and minds of readers with your words.

Updated 11/3/10: Thanks for commenter Jason for the following information:

Looks like it was started in 1929 by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (see this answers.com page) and made official by Congress in 1949.

photo credit: Daxis

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