Category: Miscellaneous

Is it time for a lifestyle change?

Twining Village resident Barbara DiEuginio’s favorite form of exercise is water aerobics.

“I exercise five times per week; sometimes I exercise multiple times a day,” she says. “I used to exercise because I needed it, but now I have reached the point where I actually enjoy it.”

We have all heard phrases such as I have a family history of… or I am genetically predisposed to…  and don’t get me wrong, these are legitimate facts proven by modern science. However, one thing we don’t hear as often is the fact that—regardless of family history or predisposition—we are not destined to suffer from any form of chronic disease. As the famous cardiologist Dr. Dean Ornish said, “There are two ways … you can control how long you live, one is to change your genes and the second is to change your lifestyle.”

If you eat healthier, manage stress, exercise, and love more, you can change the way your genes are expressed. In other words, your body can act as if it is suppressing the “bad” genes and activate the “good” ones.

A reflection on the journey to recovery …

Drinking and partying just become an everyday ritual when you do them for a long time. Drinking becomes part of every event. You simply must find a way to incorporate it because you are so used to it being part of everything you do. You try to change that, that pattern or direction. But it seems very difficult to do, because you believe drinking is part of you.

The drugs, the depression, and drinking increased, but none of that cured the pain. That’s when it got so bad for me. I was in such a dark place that I realized I needed to reach out for help. Stopping and looking at the reality of where I was emotionally, financially, and in terms of being able to support the people I care most about—my family—caused me to realize I needed help.

The ball drop (and how to avoid it)

It’s kind of funny when you think about it. Many of us gather in town squares or in front of TVs to watch a ball (or some other variation of that) drop each New Year’s Eve. It’s a time of festivity, cheering and celebrating a new year.

However, there are days when I “drop the ball” and there is nothing celebratory about it. My intentions and motives seem to be good, but the execution is seriously flawed. When I talk with other people, I often hear them say the same thing. I tried, but I just ran out of time or I meant to, but I forgot…

Why do we drop the proverbial ball? There are various reasons that you can probably relate to.

Sad occasion prompts a “Happy (Hollisters)” recollection

I can still remember the excitement as the package arrived each month.

I’d come home from school to find a small brown cardboard mailer on the kitchen table. I’d rip it open and out would slide a book—another in the Happy Hollisters series of family-based mysteries.

While I still have all of the books I received packed in a box in our basement, I had not thought of them in quite some time—even though I would credit the series with instilling in me a love for reading that helped to launch my own writing career—until today.

That’s when our news-clipping service emailed an obituary to me. The obituary was of Helen Stroud Hamilton, a resident of Diakon’s Twining Village in Bucks County, Pennsylvania—and the illustrator of the Happy Hollisters books!

Crossing the finish line…stronger and more confident

Girls on the Run for third- through fifth-grade girls and Girls on Track for sixth- through eighth-grade girls are non-competitive, curriculum-based programs designed to build self-respect and educate participants about issues affecting girls every day.

The girls play fun games to encourage physical movement with each lesson centered on an age-relevant theme such as healthy nutrition, gossiping, bullying, and how to stand up for yourself. The girls complete a community-service project and participate in a non-competitive 5k race, the culminating event for each session of the program.

Here are comments from mentors and the council director about the current program….

Feeling SAD?

Changing seasons and holidays can result in other changes …

Daylight savings ends, bringing an extra hour of sleep (at least for one day) and a little extra sunlight in the morning—but it sure gets dark early.

For me, the first thing I notice is that I have one fewer hour to let the kids play outside. One fewer hour to go for a run before it’s dark … so treadmill it is. Sometimes I feel as if I miss the sun altogether after sitting inside all day at work, just to get home as the sun is setting.

From warehouse to God’s house

The upcoming issue of Dialog, Diakon’s newsletter, features an in-depth profile of Diakon Kathryn’s Kloset, which solicits and stores corporate donations of personal care and related products and then makes those items available to other non-profit organizations to provide to people in need in their community, free of charge to the end-recipient.

In a typical year, the Baltimore-based warehouse ministry touches the lives of approximately 400,000 people locally, regionally, nationally and even internationally.

Happy Halloween…but first, let us take a selfie

Every few months we hold photo contests for our Diakon staff members. Originally, we launched a contest to obtain content for our 27 Diakon Facebook pages, but the process has evolved into a fun way of bringing staff together with one another and the people they serve.

Our last employee Facebook photo contest was themed as the “fall selfie” edition. We had so many terrific entries from a multitude of Diakon Child, Family & Community Ministries programs and Diakon Senior Living campuses that we wanted to share some of them here.

Fall family health and fitness

It’s Friday—so how about doing something healthy this weekend and enjoying what the season has to offer?

For example, take time to re-energize with family or friends. When we are too busy and distracted, it can be difficult to make good choices particularly concerning our health. I think our children—and ourselves as adults—often participate in so many activities that we’re all pressed for time. So it’s much easier to grab fast-food or a snack on the go instead of sitting down to a family meal or something homemade.

Those quick “grab & go” options are convenient and time-saving, but we miss out on valuable opportunities not only to teach our children about healthy eating and meal planning, but also to spend quality time together enjoying one another’s company.