Join Me At The Book Club!

I'm a contributing author to, The Ministry of Motherhood Summer Book Club, that has just started today over at Good Morning Girls!

When you consider that nearly 1,500 women from around the world have joined up to study this book with a desire to make a change in their home--we have something to rejoice about!

I'll be sharing an introductory post over there in just a couple of days, and I'll be sure to link to it from this blog. But there is also a button in the sidebar that brings you directly there as well. Hope you enjoy it!

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

For comments or questions, contact me at:
darlene[at]darleneschacht.net

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Pomp and Circumstance....and speeches!

Across the country, students are throwing on caps and gowns and marching across graduation stages to collect well-deserved diplomas. As important to a graduation ceremony as “Pomp and Circumstance”, commencement addresses have become a central component of the big day. From celebrities to humanitarians to heads of state, colleges and universities are putting a big focus on speakers that will inspire and entertain those gathered for the occasion.

Before online video, you would have to be a graduate or guest to receive these pearls of wisdom. Even then, you’d probably only be able to see a handful of commencement addresses in your lifetime. Now with YouTube, these speeches are available any day and to anyone seeking inspiration. With more than 5,000 videos for ‘commencement speech’, YouTube houses a vast repository of commencement addresses. Through YouTube EDU, colleges and universities have uploaded over 1,600 videos to their own channels.

You can hear J.K. Rowling share with Harvard University the impact failing early in her career had on ultimately achieving her life’s dream. You can join Ellen DeGeneres as she celebrates Tulane University’s graduating “Katrina Class” in her native New Orleans. For all history buffs out there, you can hear Sir Winston Churchill deliver his famous “Never Give In” speech at the Harrow School in London and John F. Kennedy discuss the importance of world peace in the context of the Cold War at American University. Try not to laugh watching Conan O’Brien’s address at Harvard University or Stephen Colbert’s at Knox College.

Here’s a small sampling of the speeches available on YouTube:

• Conan O’Brien, Harvard University, Part 1, Part 2, 2000
• Oprah Winfrey, Stanford University, 2008
• Ellen DeGeneres, Tulane University, 2009
• Steve Jobs, Stanford University, 2005
• Meryl Streep, Barnard College, Columbia University, 2010
• Lisa Kudrow, Vassar College, 2010
• Winston Churchill, Harrow School, 1941
• John F. Kennedy, American University, 1963
• Randy Pausch, Carnegie Mellon University, 2008
• Tom Brokaw, Stanford University, 2006
• Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barnard College, Columbia University, 2009
• Stephen Colbert, Knox College, 2006
• Tim Russert, U. of Mass, Boston, 2002
• President Barack Obama, Notre Dame University, 2009
• J.K Rowling, Harvard University, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, 2008
• Bono, University of Pennsylvania, 2004
• Bill Cosby, Carnegie Mellon University, 2008

Hats off to the graduating classes of 2011 from YouTube!

Angela Lin, YouTube EDU Manager, recently watched “Bill Cosby’s Keynote Speech”.

Discover The Gift of Solitude

Dear Darlene,

If I were to stay in our home with my man and my baby, I would be completely happy, but when I go out with my friends or go to our church, I feel so lost and like I don't have a friend in the world besides Jesus, my husband, and our child.

I guess I am at a stage in my life where there are a lot of changes and while I am trying to keep up, I’m not succeeding. There is obviously more to my story, but I'm sitting here crying as I type, and I finally feel like God is giving me a hope for something (though I don't even know what I've been looking for) to hang onto.

It may take me some time to read back through your blog posts, but I will try! I've signed up to receive them by email. I just felt I needed to share this with someone--you specifically. Thank you for sharing your heart and your views and your values.

Hope


Dear Hope,

I wanted to share your letter with my readers, because I suspect that a lot of women have felt the same way you do—I know that I have. Sometimes I feel like I'm all alone in this world. Even in a crowd I feel like people don't see me.

I wrote an article a while back called, “A Moment with Him,” that I'd like to encourage you to read. It's about a day when I drove, and I cried, and I wiped tears away from my face. I was lonely, but in that moment of isolation I felt God’s gentle whisper as He said, “I want to spend this time with you.”

That’s when I realized this time that we see as abandonment from the world is often a gift that goes unnoticed, until life slows down and we have a chance to look back. Not a wound waiting to be healed. Not a space needing to be filled--a gift of time spent alone with our Lord.

Language has created the word “loneliness”
to express the pain of being alone.
And it has created the word “solitude”
to express the glory of being alone.
~ Paul Tillich

Perhaps that's what's happening to you. Could it be that God is allowing this trial for a purpose? Maybe it's so that you dedicate your time to being the best mom and wife you can be. Maybe it's so that you step deeper into a relationship with God. Or maybe He is emptying your life for something greater than either you or I could imagine...

I don’t know the mind of God, but I do know that our cups can't be filled until they are empty. Empty of all this world has to offer. Use this time of solitude to trust--enjoy your family and rejoice knowing that He has more for you than you could ever hope for yourself.

Fear thou not; for I am with thee:
be not dismayed; for I am thy God:
I will strengthen thee; yea,
I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee
with the right hand of my righteousness.
~ Isaiah 41:10
A reader has also directed me to this post on the same subject that is wonderfully written and comforting for those of us who are feeling alone: When You Feel Lonely

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

For comments or questions, contact me at:
darlene[at]darleneschacht.net

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free motion graffiti

While I am finally back home from teaching at the CREATE retreat I want to dedicate a couple more posts to sharing peeks at some student work from my classes. Yesterday was spend painting and sewing fun and messy art quilts in my free motion graffiti class....

Lady Gaga unveils “Born This Way” on YouTube and VEVO

She’s got 32 million Facebook followers, 10 million Twitter fans, and a devoted legion of little monsters. But Mama Monster isn’t done with her quest for total pop domination: in a move in line with Gaga-esque surprises, Lady Gaga is posting audio tracks of the deluxe edition of her new album Born This Way on YouTube and VEVO on Sunday, May 22 at 9 p.m. PT to coincide with the album’s physical release. Go to her channel tonight to hear the new album from start to finish -- with five remixes thrown in for good measure.

While you're waiting, why not get a taste of what's to come?



Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched “Santa Claus Ain’t Comin’ By Lavalier and Everything Is Terrible.”

larger than life

Yesterday I taught my larger than life painting class and as usual we had a BLAST! Everyone was crawling around on the ground, painting big and making a huge mess!! So much fun- here is a peek at some student work...

How to Be Happy on the Bluest of Days

Are there days when things get under your skin and you say, “Why me?” Does it seem like the minute everything is going great, it all comes apart?"

Maybe it’s difficulty with your family or friends, perhaps it’s your husband’s attitude, or maybe it’s something as small as a traffic jam. Irritations whether big or small have a way of spoiling an otherwise beautiful day. Don’t they?

So how do we fix it? How can we make our world a better place so that we’ll be happy within it?

The answer is--we can’t and we shouldn't expect to.

There will be days where you wake up on the wrong side of the bed and wish you could crawl back in. There will be people who disappoint you so badly that all you’re left with are the shattered pieces of your heart. There will be pain, there will be loss, and there will be tears. But God in His wisdom is good.

Have you ever wondered why God cursed Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter three?


I will greatly multiply thy sorrow
and thy conception… cursed is the
ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt
thou eat of it all the days of thy life.
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring
forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the
herb of the field.
~ Genesis 3:16-19 (paraphrased)


We know that the curse is the result of man's sin. And why then are we, who are forgiven of sin, still living the curse?

Because the curse is a constant reminder that we are in desperate need of salvation. It was designed with a purpose--put there for our good—so that we might understand our need for a saviour.

We can’t change the world around us completely, but we can change the way we relate to it so that while we’re riding the waves, we keep an even keel.

All too often we have that reversed. We spend all of our energy focussed on changing our surroundings so that we’ll feel better, happier, content, and relaxed--when the reality is that this peace comes from within. No one can take that away, unless you give them that power. We develop that sense of inner peace when we trust in our saviour, the same way that the disciples learned to trust Him in the storm.


And there arose a great storm of wind,
and the waves beat into the ship,
so that it was now full. And he was
in the hinder part of the ship, asleep
on a pillow: and they awake him, and
say unto him, Master, carest thou not
that we perish? And he arose, and
rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea,
Peace, be still. And the wind ceased,
and there was a great calm.
~ Mark 4:37-39


You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

For comments or questions, contact me at:
darlene[at]darleneschacht.net

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