The Power of Murals

People love passing by big beautiful graffiti murals. They identify art in something that is considered to be vandalism. But that's an obsolete point of view. Today, large and small cities seem to be more colorful than in the older days. And it's not because of the colorful flowers in Spring or change of colors in Autumn. Municipalities learned how to transform blunt, boring, gray walls, and support local talent.

Graffiti is still considered to be vandalism in some cities. What they need to see is the power of graffiti murals. They need to realize how beautifying can colorful walls and streets be. Your local talent can easily transform a regular small city with these graffiti mural designs, into a huge public canvas that attracts attention.

Travelers and tourists often visit the cities for their graffiti sightseeing. Some neighborhoods even gained their popularity through graffiti murals. You may have heard about ETNIAS by Eduardo Kobra in  Port District in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The artist painted the mural in 2016, and it has gained global popularity in no time. What seems to be just a pretty painting on a paper, is a great attraction and transforming sightseeing on the walls. The mural has its' own idea sewn in. It represents the unity of the people and five Olympic rings. You might also know about the popular "My god, help me to survive this deadly love" mural. It's one of the most widely recognizable works of art. Now tourists visit Berlin even often to see this mural.

The power of graffiti murals is in attraction and beautification. Their power describes the simple joy of our eyes when they see colors. The power of graffiti shows how a simple, talented folk can change the way we see boring canvases.

Graffiti murals are not only for the joy of the eyes. They also deliver a great social message. Sometimes the message is satirical. A lot of artists use murals to describe the tragedy of society. They describe today's situation and problems. Even with this dark and socially troubling messages, graffiti murals can be astonishing to look at.

Murals build the sense of community and bond. Some neighborhoods decided to copy others that had murals on their walls. Murals seem so friendly, and welcoming, every community wants to have one.

It's a form of art, and art is what humanity carries since the dawn of our existence. We have old forms of art, and we can also develop the definition of art. Graffiti is one of the best examples of how humanity can upgrade the list of art forms. Our creativity lives on, and we improve our skills and adaption.

After realizing that graffiti is not destruction, but it's something that gives birth to a beautiful piece of art, cities started funding projects to create murals. Nowadays, talented painters get paid to create something memorizing. They can enter the competitions and get approval for funding. Our society is creating something amazing and powerful in the form of art.

Happy Birthday to My Amazing Husband, Aron McLoughlin

My husband is 52 today. I can't believe I met him when he was 28, almost 29, and I was 24. Time has been kind to my guy ... he is still a totally hot babe and gets finer with age! I can't believe how blessed I was to find him and how good God has been to our family. I feel like the luckiest woman alive when I think about our 20-year marriage and family.

I have instructed our daughters to marry a guy who is handy around the house and who can also catch AND cook dinner.

Aron, thank you for selflessly traveling for work across the world to support your family. You are a true man of God and a blessing to all those who know you. I love that you can work on cars and plumbing and fix anything and teach our kids how to do it also. I love how you taught Joel how to drive (and worked so many hours with him on his Eagle Scout plans) and are now teaching Michael (plus building that canoe with him) and will teach three more kids before that part of our parenting journey is done. I love the respect you show for our daughters and for me. I love that you take Sam out to fish and fix his bike tires. I love so many things about you and find more to love all the time. You are the best father to our kids I ever could have dreamed up in my mind, and the husband I always knew was out there for me.

KCI airport leaving for another long trip to Kuwait to support his family

DisneyWorld in Florida, 2017 October

My man, 20 years married. Back off, ladies.

Teaching Confirmation class at our church. We weren't sure how to fit one more thing in, but he is so great at it, the kids love him, and we are both learning cool things and feel blessed by the whole experience.

With Sam on his birthday this year

With Eva on her birthday last year with her new haircut.

We love you, Aron McLoughlin!

Pulling Women Together

Joining or starting a ministry for women can lead to encouragement for each other, as well as friendship and a show of love for the Lord. There are a few ideas to consider for a women's ministry that are full of energy while keeping the faith that women usually want to pass along to others. 

One of the things that you need to keep in mind is that all women aren't designed the same. There are some who are opinionated while others are quiet and reserved, waiting to follow the lead of someone else. 

There are different lifestyles. Women have different lives at home, some who have children, some who are dealing with abusive relationships, some who are facing challenges with getting pregnant or raising their children. 

You need to keep an open mind about the women who are involved in the ministry so that everyone can be successful while feeling like they have a place to call home. The knowledge that is given about the Lord can stretch far and wide if you pay attention to the intellects of the women involved in the ministry. If you only focus on helping the emotional desires and needs of the women, then you likely won't succeed in the ministry. It needs to be a ministry that seeks to grow the knowledge of each woman while focusing on each woman's strengths. 

While there are some women who are married and have a home life, there are also women who don't have this kind of life and focus more on a career. They might want to find a spouse and start a family, but they aren't ready at the moment and are happy with discovering who they are in the world. Consider a few community projects that everyone can get involved with while instilling the love of God in the women who are involved in the ministry.

Natural Wonders of India

When we mention natural wonders in India, names like Mount Everest, the Amazon rainforest, the barrier reef, and the grand canyon will always click into our mind. But, there are a lot of natural wonders in India.  The most varied nation when it comes to geographical diversification is India with astonishing arrays of natural phenomenon.  Some of the Indian wonders are well known while others are not popular. But they all have one similarity: they will attract you.

The Indian nation offers the best landscape around the world along with some other amazing natural scenery and wonders. This article takes you through the natural wonders of India that you must know. You can also go to the India e-visa portal and apply for an e-visa if you wish to travel to India to witness the wonders of the world. Read about the wonderful attractions and get an India e-visa.

Lonar Lake

Lonar Lake is the best and the youngest preserved crater lake which is found in basalt rock, and it is 52,000 years old. This lake is the only one of its kind in the whole world, and it was formed when a gigantic meteor crashed down into the planet Earth at a high speed which was estimated at ninety kilometers per hour.

Over a  long period of time, the jungle was over and above the deep and great depression and later a stream transformed that crater lake into the tranquil space which is an emerald lake. Currently, the fringed lake, which is located around the Buldhana, is a wildlife habitat with an ecology which is different from its surrounding landscape. The water of this lake supports some of the rare micro-organisms which are rarely found in other parts of the world. Its surroundings have fragments containing some unique expensive minerals such as maskelynite.

Borra Caves

Most people around the world are not lucky enough to come across real caves in their lifetime. The formation of Borra Caves, which are based around the Ananthagiri hills, are proof that great and attracting things can develop when water comes into contact with the limestone.

Borra Caves are some of the deepest caves in India and the whole world. Borra Caves were formed many years ago due to the karstic actions of the river Gosthani. Some of the local tribes associate several and different myths associated with the cave. Borra Caves are recognized for anthropological study with excavations stone tools of  Paleolithic culture which confirms that there were people who were living there for many years ago to date back to 30,000 - 50,000 years ago.

Loktak Lake

This is the largest freshwater lake with natural water around the northern-eastern part of India. It is a lake of a unique ecosystem called phumdi meaning vegetation, organic matter and floating nets of soil. Phumdis appear in different forms which float on the freshwater lake serving as a lifeline for all the societies living around the lake.

The Kabul national park is located in the western region of this lake, which makes the lake to be more special. Lamjao National Park is the only floating park in the whole world. It is a home of the Manipuris brow-antlered deer in sangria. This area is also a home of more than 235 brands of aquatic plants, 430 breeds of animals and 120 species of birds.

Marble Rocks

This is a wonder of nature found in Jabalpur district. This is a common tourist attraction in India. The rocks are found on river Narmada, which is three km long.

Sangestar Lake

This lake was formed due to earthquake activities. The name of this lake is spelled as shoNgaseir by the local people after the shok community was transformed to the lake because of earthquake activities back in the year 1970. It is as well referred to as Madhuri Lake shortly after a famous actress took a video around here for the famous film Koyla and it is revered by Buddhists for both the Tibet and India. Many rotten tree trunks that were one time alive before the activities of the earthquake emerged from the waters of this lake to create haunting imagery before the visitors. It is very important to remember that you require special permission from the district commissioner's office which is approximately 30 kilometers away to be granted a permission to visit the Sangestar Lake.

Seek and Hide Beach

This beach is located around the Balasore district in Odisha and it is a home to a wonder which is rarely found in other areas around the world. Each day, the lake here recedes at ebb until it almost goes and then it comes back afterward to fill up the void during the high tide.

Note that this seek and hide of this lake appears only twice during the day and this is the purpose why this beach is a home that hosts unique and various species such as the red crabs and the horseshoe crabs. It is a good experience to see and watch the waters disappearing and coming back.

Magnetic Hill

This is a hill where Isaac Newton’s law of gravity does not apply. This hill is 14,000 feet high above the sea level and it is based on the Leh national highway, which is about 35 km from the Leh. As you reach the venue, a certain indication along the highway will invite you to stop over a marked square on the road before you switch off your car while in a neutral gear. When you can follow those instructions, the motor car will appear to roll up the hill without being driven at a low speed of between 10 and 20 kilometers per 60 minutes. The reason for it to happen is nothing strange but due to an illusion that the down to the hill highway is an up mountain road. This situation can also be seen at Kalo mountains of Bhuj.

Why Give Money to Churches?

Keep in mind this was originally posted 7/20/09 ... a long time ago and I had a lot more energy to be feisty. Oh, and I was pregnant.

I always hear people complaining about churches being money-hungry. But do they consider what it takes to actually run a church? They need money to pay their staff, pay for the air conditioning, someone to mow the grass, fix the parking lot, trim the bushes, mow, clean it, you name it.

Here in Overland Park, Kansas we have churches that are always struggling, like mine, for things like paying the bills, etc. BUT then they do a capital campaign to raise like 3 million dollars for crap they don't even need, like new carpet. The carpet is FINE! Fix the freaking front walk that I see kids falling down on and getting bloody on every week! Fix the air conditioning at the school first, people, and do it preferably BEFORE school starts in August!

Churches, like schools (don't get me started on that one), need to run themselves like we have to run our homes … in a thrifty manner, wasting as little as possible and recycling as much as possible for money.

Then there are churches just a few miles away that are RICH RICH RICH ... rolling in it. Why can't they all spread it out? Take what they NEED and put the rest in a kitty to share ... and to help parishioners out when they need it (job loss, health issues, fire).

What do you think about a big Catholic pot o’ money that can be put to good use? But then you have the problem of finding someone trustworthy to run the account. Those people are among us, but there are too many who would have trouble actually doing the TRUSTING.

Updated 11/5/18: We've moved since I posted this and we go to a church in Missouri that seems to know how to run itself very well. They take donations of items and sell them throughout the year at a Christmas shop and a garage sale. My family teaches Confirmation because we can't tithe right now. People at church help clean bathrooms, the Confirmation kids will rake leaves to help pay for their Confirmation workbooks, others chip in to clean up, paint, etc. It's a real community that runs in a frugal and impressive way.