I’d like to say Friday Favorites is back with a bang. It’s back, but not with a bang.

I love doing this post, because it gives me an opportunity to highlight some really great posts that I’ve discovered as I’ve perused my MyBlogLog community, my own blogroll, or other sites that I’ve discovered in my weekly browsing. I’ve not had the opportunity to do a lot of browsing this week; nevertheless, I found a post that tugged at my heart.

Favorite #1 – Have you seen the movie “Pay It Forward”? If you haven’t seen it, but you love to see stories about how people help each other, you must rent this movie. In the meantime, Steve Harper encourages a similar concept called The Ripple Effect which says,

“Just like stones thrown into a pond, simple actions create ripples in the lives of all the people you touch and sometimes people you have never even met.”

So in his post, “The Breakfast Fairy Challenge” at The Ripple Effect, he illustrates the Ripple concept by sharing a touching incident which happened to his dad and mom while they were having breakfast at one of their favorite breakfast restaurants in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Not only does Steve relate a touching story, he also presents a challenge.

That’s it for this week’s edition of Friday Favorites. Hopefully I’ll have more for you next week, but take a look and comment at Steve’s blog. Let me know what you think.

It’s been a tough week on a lot of fronts, so my Friday Favorites list is a little short this week. In any event, I hope you enjoy my finds for this week.

Favorite #1 – Women are often thought of as nurturers and caregivers. This post highlights many qualities with which many women are gifted. However, we all have our imperfections as well (like we really needed to hear that!) Nevertheless, take a look at what belovedheart at Our Christian Friendship Journal discovered and is now sharing about one imperfection in particular many women possess in her post “One Flaw of Women.” What do you think? Do you agree?

Favorite #2 – If you could draw, paint, or photograph an image of a character trait, what would it look like? And how would you explain it? In his post “Courage,” Nicholas at Six Degrees of Inspiration provides a strongly intense portrait, along with beautiful poetry, of how he believes courage appears. This post sort of hit me in the face.

As always, take a look at the posts and leave comments! Enjoy your weekend!

It’s been a busy week, with the Imus controversy and all. I received some really great comments in response to “Sticks and Stones…”, so I’ll generate a separate post with those comments (partly because I lost some of them in the post and I can retrieve them by email) in the next couple of days.

But today’s feature is my favorites for the week. Highlighted in this week’s Favorites:

Favorite #1 – My blog exists to try to help us all (men too!) share and attain wisdom. Sometimes we want the latest and greatest revelation, thinking that “that something new” is the latest and greatest panacea for all our woes. But are those cures always so elusive? Wendy at eMoms At Home provides some insight in her post “Have You Bought Into the Lie of the Missing Piece?”

Favorite #2 – Have you ever walked by an individual on the street, the elevator, the job, and made an assumption about him or her, or prejudged that person because of his or her appearance? It’s human nature to do so – I don’t think any of us are immune. The author of Observations In Life shares an admission that he made an inaccurate assumption of, well… Read his post entitled “On Assumptions About People” to get the whole story.

Favorite #3 – Remember when your mother warned you, “Don’t cross your eyes. They’ll get stuck!”? Ririan at ririanproject reminds us of those warnings reassuring us that these are “15 Warnings From Mom That You Needn’t Worry About.” What do you think about those crossed eyes? See what Ririan says about it and other common motherly misconceptions.

I had one more post I was excited to share today, but when I double-checked the link, the site did not load. Hopefully the site authors will fix the problem because the post demonstrates such wonderful creativity and I think many of you would enjoy it. Maybe next week…

Favorite #4 – I was caught a bit off guard by this one. Do you think books are only meant for reading? Portachi at Fun Forever will show you that some people think differently in the post “Don’t try this at home!” I really enjoyed this post because it demonstrates the wonderfully creative things you can do with books in ways I’ve never seen before. Let me know what you think.

Favorite #5 – An addition that I just found that I couldn’t wait until next week to include.  Melanie at A Quiet Symphony posted “18 Ways to Maintain a Healthy Level of Insanity.”  Yes, insanity!  It is hilarious!

That concludes this week’s edition of my Friday Favorites. As always, take a look at the sites and leave comments!

I’ve discovered some very interesting posts this week as I’ve been attempting to come off my “hiatus.” There’s a mix of some spiritual, some practical, some humorous…Take a look…

Favorite #1 – I love this post. What Angela at Ang4Him encourages us to do in her post “Daily Blessings Challenge…” is to think about what we are thankful for, not just for one day, but for an entire week, starting on Easter Sunday. Read her post, and regardless of whether you are a “blogger,” regardless of whether you celebrate Easter, I want to encourage us all to reflect on that for which we are grateful each day this following week. It might become something we begin to do on a regular basis. In fact, I plan to personally commit to posting each day, starting Sunday, to take on this challenge. What about you?

Favorite #2 – In this next post written by Darren at Imaginality, “Winnie the Pooh philosophises on user response to creativity,” may speak to those writers and other creative people who doubt that which is inside them. Humorous, but so true. It’s amazing the wisdom we can get from a bear.

Favorite #3 – Many people have found God; yet many people are searching. Alexander at B.I.D.E. – Spiritual Commentary On Current Events provides the opportunity to discover where you fall on the spiritual spectrum in his post, “Spiritual Survey.” According to the survey, I fall in the “Lover” spectrum. When I told my husband, he laughed. I think I should take it again.

Favorite #4 – Need some inspiration to stay positive when the glass appears half-empty? Ndeyefatou at Nomore a girl, Not Yet a Woman!! A Taste of My Life lists some modern-day proverbs which might help us view the mundane in our lives in a humorous, upbeat sort of way in her post “Stay Positive.” (When you go to the site, make sure you scroll down a bit to get to the actual post.)

Favorite #5 – It’s been said that if you’re trying to lose weight, weigh yourself only once per week. Personally, if I do that, I’d feel less secure about myself. Nevertheless, I’ve discovered “How to weigh yourself accurately” by Star8278 at Life’s A Dance You Learn As You Go which might encourage those who believe in the “once per week” mantra to do it everyday. Really, it might work for you.

That concludes this week’s edition of Friday Favorites. Provide feedback, and most all of, when you visit the favorites I’ve chosen here, make sure you leave comments!!! We all love comments!!!

Hi everyone! Coming to you today is this week’s edition of my Friday Favorites. I’m featuring posts this week from two blogs that are new to me, one blog that I’m stuck on, and a wonderful movie that I hope you’ll love.

Favorite #1 – Are you in a state of stagnation, implementation, or imagination? According to Jessica Hagy at Indexed, she shows us that it’s all in the balance of reality and ideas in her post “Yes, there is always another option.” This entire blog is incredibly creative, as Jessica uses a unique way to communicate her ideas. You’ve got to check it out.

Favorite #2 – It’s exciting to have a dream, something you’re shooting for, isn’t it? Isn’t it exciting, also, to hear about someone’s aspirations? How should you react when your friends share their dreams with you? How should others respond when you share your dreams with them?  Kristian at Parable of Kristian offers some practical advice in a post entitled “when i tell you a dream, the Standard Operating Procedure is…” This is for those of you who’ve been looking for a way to answer your naysayers.

Favorite #3 – Do you want to make a difference in the world? How do you go about doing it? Manchild addresses this question and provides answers in his post, “Where Do You Get Your Ideas?” You don’t have to try to think of ways to make a difference all by yourself! Manchild tells you how. (Of course, for those of you who don’t know, Manchild is my wonderful husband.)

Favorite #4 – How will you spend the remainder of your dash? I discovered this beautiful movie entitled “The Dash” which will get you thinking about your life and how you will spend it. In fact, this movie and all the posts featured here compliment one another.  Sit back and enjoy for a few minutes.

Please take a look at these posts. I hope you find them as informative and inspiring as I did! And as always, make sure you leave comments! We all love comments, don’t we?

I indicated a couple of weeks ago that I may need to change this regular Friday post to “Four Favorites For Friday.” Actually, I’ve decided to change it to “Friday Favorites.” This week, I discovered four posts that I particularly enjoyed.

Favorite #1 – One of my favorites from this week comes from Jennifer at Goodness Graciousness. In her post, “The Law of Sacrifice…” she makes the point that regardless of one’s faith tradition, “we can each understand the idea of bringing into our lives something more lovely and powerful than the routine and mundane of life.” Take a look at her suggestions on how to make life sacred.

Favorite #2 – This past week I’ve been talking a bit about reclaiming our dreams. In her post “Negativity Halts Forward Progress,” Robyn at Brain Based Biz not only looks at the influence of negative conversation, but she examines a very important scientific link that will explain how are dreams and goals can get derailed. Thank you, Robyn.

Favorite #3 – I recently read about The BlogFathers. Yes, I know this is Women Walking In Wisdom’s Footsteps; nevertheless, this is a blog for Daddies “changing the way fathers are perceived in the ‘real world.’” One particular post I discovered from this site is entitled “Stories I’ll Tell Forever™” by a first time daddy who’s “making his way through…” at Baby Daddy. It’s an endearing post that I hope you’ll enjoy as much as I did.

Favorite #4 – Finally, if you’re a mother, a father, or someone who has been birthed at all (I think that includes almost everyone), Mamalee at Full Plate shares with her readers those wonderful “Things I Learned From My Mother.” Surely we all have learned these insightful lessons from our mothers. My favorite is #10.

As always, take a look, tell me what you think, and leave lots of comments at these posts!

As I stated in last week’s “Five Faves” post, this week I am featuring posts I discovered from blogs participating in “The Ultimate Blog Party” thrown by the folks at 5 Minutes For Mom. I met alot of great people with some great blogs. Here are 5 posts that I particularly enjoyed.

Favorites #1 – In “Vulnerability Exposed” at Experiencing The Journey, Rindy shares her personal experiences with Post-traumatic stress disorder, understanding that, as a Christian, God is thoroughly present with her in her sufferings. This is a message that everyone needs to hear, understanding that we will all experience difficulty, but that God is always available to see you through.

Favorites #2 – This next post is a little different than the subjects I usually post about. Nevertheless, it’s important, as it deals with the importance of having and using wisdom when dealing with one’s personal finances. In this post, “5 Things I Learned From Casey Serin, The Guy Behind, ‘I Am Facing Foreclosure’” from The Digerati Life, Silicon Valley Blogger features the story of Casey Serin, “…a 24 yr old ‘would-be real estate mogul’ from Sacramento CA. After going to a few seminars I bought 8 houses in 8 months in 4 states with no money down looking to fix ‘n flip. I made some mistakes and am now millions in debt, trying to avoid foreclosure, sell quickly, repay everyone, and share my lessons to help others in trouble.” This young man’s story evidently is well-known in the blogosphere (I am clueless about this guy), but Silicon Valley Blogger is taking a different spin on her reporting about him than traditionally taken. In addition to the lessons learned, the story in and of itself is fascinating.

Favorites #3 – As a Christian woman, one of the scripture passages that always intimidated me was Proverbs 31:10-31, what many refer to as “The Virtuous Woman.” The standard that is set up here was always one that I found to be somewhat unattainable, so I stayed away from it often. Nevertheless, I discovered a post that puts a “modern” spin on Proverbs 31:12, providing easy and fun tips that I (and anyone else) can actually put into practice. Jay at Echoes of Eden gives us “Ten Ways To Do Him Good,” listing 10 practical ways to bless your husband.

Favorites #4 – Has anyone out there ever experience rejection? Kuanyin from The Art of Living and Dying writes about her experience of receiving few visitors/commenters from the party in her post “I Threw A Party And No One Came.” If any of y’all have been rejected at any time in your lives, male or female, Kuanyin provides an interesting take on the subject.

Favorites #5 – As a woman (or a man), what would your reaction be to the following statement? “American women seem to think they are the only women on the planet. They think that God will only bless their country and that somehow they are more important than everyone else. They think they’re better than women every where else.“ Lindsey at Enjoy The Journey writes about our misunderstandings of one another stemming from ignorance in her post, “Shattering Stereotypes & Battling Ignorance”, as she recounts experiencing being stereotyped within her own family.

As always, check out the posts, comment on their blogs, and let me know what you think about this week’s “Five Faves.” Until next time…

Here are my Five Favorites For Friday (I might need to change this category to Four Favorites For Friday…” Take a look at my four favorite posts of the week:

Favorite #1 – It is now Spring Break for me, and I certainly have needed it. My First Favorite For Friday is a post written by Maggie of Ramblings Of Maggie entitled “I’m Not Dead!” complete with an image that sums up how I’ve been feeling the past two weeks. I’m sure many others feel the same way. I’d like to know, where did you get that image from?

Favorite #2 – Crunchy Carpets is reading a book entitled Good Kids, Bad Habits which she reviews at her blog. She says, “If you are more like me – a woman who can barely remember to feed herself and goes mental at thinking up healthy food 7 days a week. If you are a mom who struggles when it comes to activities or finding balance, or has no control over their chaotic households – then this book can be an inspiration.” Go to her blog and take a look at her insightful review.

Favorite #3 – When I came upon this post the other day, I said, “Wow…what an interesting way to look at prejudice and racism.” It’s all in how you define “colored.” Check out what Maria discovered about the word at her blog Maria Finds (the blog name is so appropriate!) in her post “You Calling Me Colored?” I chuckled.

Favorite #4 – This one is for all of us who blog. How many times have you written a post, published it, and looked at it again only to see you’ve misspelled a word or two or five (so simple, right?), used the wrong punctuation mark (ridiculous!), forgot a word (oh, come on!), wrote a sentence fragment by accident (yikes!!!), or used “to” instead of “too” (okay, so basic!)? It’s happened to all of us who write – I know it’s happened to me. Laura Spencer at Writing Thoughts has written some very practical suggestions entitled “Five Proofreading Tips That You Can Use Right Now By Yourself.” While her suggestions are geared toward “writers,” all of us who blog are writers. Take a look at Laura’s post and try implementing her suggestions right now! (By the way, if you spot any typos or egregious errors in any of my posts, please let me know!!!)

Next week, my favorites will be coming from blogs whose owners are going to the Ultimate Blog Party! If you want to join in the fun, click here.

See you next week. And, of course, when you check out the posts, please leave comments!

Time flies when you’re having fun!  It seems that it was just yesterday that I posted last week’s Five Favorites For Friday, and yet, another week is just about done.  I discovered some posts this week that generally covered the areas of personal growth and development, but I stumbled upon a very funny post as well.  In no order or preference, here are this week’s “Favorites.” 

Favorite #1 – Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!  Non-stop, never-ending, never-ceasing, email-driven, Blackberry-addicted, stressed-out, anxiety-ridden, and insomnia-laden…Do any of these compound adjectives describe anybody you know (of course, not you, and certainly not me!)?  For that person you know, Madena M. (whose mission in life is to encourage others to reach their fullest potential) at Soul To Soul provides a wonderful balm to soothe the savage trying to take over one’s soul in her post “What Are You Running From?”.

Favorite #2 – Here is a post by Jennifer Jones at Goodness Graciousness entitled “Losing Everything…And Surviving.”  It is one of those posts that helps to put things about life in perspective, at least for a moment.

Favorite #3 – Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant, M.P.H., writing at Cultivate Greatness states, “None of us wants to think of ourselves as toxic, and chances are, for the most part you are not. But there are certain times of our lives that all of us start to exhibit more noxious tendencies. If you’ve noticed any of the following signs, you may need to detoxify your life…”  Discover the signs and how you would go about flushing out the toxins poisoning your life in “Becoming A Non-Toxic Person.”  Don’t let that poison seep into the lives of those around you…

Favorite #4 – Chatty over at Chatty Crone discusses the importance of thinking about the miracles that occur around you each day in a post entitled…Well, it’s not titled.  A picture is truly worth a thousand words…

Favorite #5 – Now for a little humor.  For those of you who are teachers (and for those of you who aren’t), I highly recommend you read “Amazing Exam Papers” at The Barrister Blog.   Here you will find out what happens when students are clueless about concepts but have amazing creative ability.  For example, if by chance you ever wanted to discover how to use calculus to find the identity of Batman, you’ve found how to do it here.  Because I teach, this post is a little sad to me, but in a completely hilarious sort of way (sounds like there’s a little twistedness going on in my head, huh?).

That ends this week’s Five Favorites.   Let me know how you liked the posts.  And as always, please visit and comment on these blogs.  I know they’d love to hear from you (as would I!)!

While I know this post starts out with “Five Favorites,” this week, I only had time for ”four.”  Please accept my apologies – yet, enjoy the four I have listed.  And as always, please comment and let me know how you liked them and, by all means, comment on their sites as well… 

Favorites #1 – This week it seems many folks focused on Valentine’s Day.  I found several very good entries about the holiday, including one about the story of the bones of two people who appeared to have been cuddled up for the past 5000-6000 years found in Northern Italy this past week.  Chilihead over at Don’t Try This At Home gives the story a wonderfully flavorful spin in her post “What Really Happened:  Love Games.”

Favorites #2 – Staying with the Valentine’s Day theme, Peg over at Peggy, As She Is, dedicates a wonderful poem entitled “The Art of Marriage” to her husband of almost seven years.  I believe it all; nevertheless, it can sometimes be difficult.

Favorites #3 – Is your brain wired well?  Dr. Michelle Tempest at The Psychiatrist Blog provides a fun test at her post “Brain Questions…Keeping Alert!” where you’ll receive immediate answers on just how quick you are on your “brain feet.”  

Favorites #4 – star8278 at Life’s A Dance You Learn As You Go posted “Emails” which, I take it, represents several emails she has received.  Take a look at the first grouping which has to do with friendships.  If you like dogs and children, you’ll love this entry.  Scroll down a little further on the page, and you’ll discover an email she received that tells of a distinct sign that you’re driving too fast (especially if your dog is hanging out in the back seat!).  It’s just a plain funny post.

Have a great weekend!