Tag: health

Categories
motivation

Appropriate Modes of Transportation

Cartoon of of an angel waiting at a bus stop.

Commuting sure looks different this year as opposed to last year. Who would have thought a bus stop would be considered a risky endeavor before COVID-19?

Angelic transportation may be the way to go. We may feel safer at a bus stop if we knew a guardian angel was at our side. But would the angel be wearing a mask? Would he be giving you one?

Many people are considering what it will look like when they begin commuting to work once again. This article from Healthline.com says the CDC’s guidelines suggest solo commuting is the safest option. That’s what I’ve had to do most of my professional life, out of necessity. But what if that isn’t an option for you? What if you work in a city where public transportation is the only viable option?

In that case, the usual recommendations of wearing a mask, practice social distancing, and washing your hands frequently become that much more important. The article also says not to touch anything on your commute. Easier said than done, I know. Then again the trains and buses I have been on had quite a layer of gunk on surfaces. Maybe that layer would be great motivation to refrain from touching, or breathing anything while on that bus!

Cartoon of of an angel waiting at a bus stop.
Categories
Encouragement K! Magazine Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine motivation

The Many Ways We Find Comfort

Cartoon of a little brother and big sister. The boy says, "Why shouldn't I suck my thumb? After all, it's gluten free!"
Published in "K! Kidzmatter Magazine"

The last week has been a deluge of Coronavirus craziness. It’s been enough to make a grown man want to suck his thumb. Not that I’ve tried it. At least I didn’t before I washed my hands thoroughly for twenty seconds humming the ABC song so that I properly lathered up and washed away all the nastiness of my extremities!

There are many ways we find comfort during trying times. Here are a few I noticed this week.

We will get through this and come out better for it. In the meantime, we may have several weeks that will test our emotions and resolve. I feel for the parents that have to scramble to find ways to deal with their kids being out of school. And I know what it’s like to be concerned for aging parents since that is the age group that seems most vulnerable.

Acknowledge your feelings and let’s find ways to comfort each other even if we need to do it from a distance. I won’t fault a child or adult if they resort to thumb sucking while we barrel through. After all, a thumb is gluten free.

Cartoon of a little brother and big sister. The boy says, "Why shouldn't I suck my thumb? After all, it's gluten free!"
Published in “K! Kidzmatter Magazine”
Categories
CHOG News church cartoons Newsletters

Going Viral at Church

Cartoon of a pastor at his pulpit. There is a "Quarantine Area" sign at the front. The caption says, "That was the day Pastor Don's sermon went viral.

When I drew this month’s cartoon for the Church of God newsletter, I was thinking of how the coronavirus has dominated our news so far in 2020. It appears it isn’t going away anytime soon. Something viral can have good as well as bad connotations.

It seems the goal of most Internet influencers is to have something that goes viral. That makes someone an influencer after all, doesn’t it?

This week, the church I attend has experience a little viral moment. I’m quite proud of my local church, Salem Church of God, and our congregation’s generosity. We’ve raised over $40,000 to help local schools pay off school lunch debt across the Miami Valley! We have been able to help nine school districts so far!

And on top of that, it has caused our church to make the local and national news!

Here’s a link from ABC News

Here’s a link from WHIO TV 7 in Dayton

There are times when it is good to go viral. I hope the pastor in my cartoon gets things figured out before he has to spend two weeks on a quarantined pulpit.

Cartoon of a pastor at his pulpit. There is a "Quarantine Area" sign at the front. The caption says, "That was the day Pastor Don's sermon went viral.

I drew this for the February 2020 Church of God Newsletter.

Categories
Exercise motivation Running

No One Wants to be Just a Number… or do They?

Man running into a sunrise

Man running into a sunrise

This morning, I did something I know most guys my age don’t do. I ran eight miles. I don’t say this to brag, because I don’t consider myself an athlete. I didn’t run in high school or college. I only picked it up in my thirties when my weight was creeping up on me and my father-in-law poked my doughboy’s belly!

I say it because it is possible to be active in your fifties and beyond. This came to my mind when I read this Runner’s World article the other day:

5 Runners who Prove Age is Just a Number

In this article, it quotes a study that claims people felt they were too old to start exercising after they turned forty-one years old. Yet the article had five runners who began to run between the ages of fifty and eighty-four. Let that sink in! An eighty-four-year-old decided it was time to start running!

We put too many limits on ourselves. We’d like to start something but we make all kinds of excuses like:

  • I’m too old
  • I’m too young
  • I don’t have the money
  • I don’t have the time
  • I don’t have any talent
  • I don’t know anybody
  • The timing isn’t right

We claim we don’t want to be a number, yet do we allow numbers to limit ourselves? Do we give in to society’s expectations that are neither correct nor fulfilling?

Check with your doctor. If he or she gives you the okay, I encourage you to start exercising. It’s made a big difference in my life since I began this good habit.

Categories
education motivation

Feeding on Trash

Illustration of man about to empty a box of trash. He looks overwhelmed by a huge, full trash can.

We hear all the time about physical nutrition. We are told to avoid junk food if we want our bodies to be strong and to fight off disease. But we don’t hear near enough about mental nutrition. 

A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash.

Proverbs 15:14

What we put into our minds is every bit as important as what we feed our bodies. In fact, our mental well-being can also affect our physical health.

Let’s be sure we are feeding ourselves good knowledge and encouraging information. Beware of mental junk food!