And the cosmos say... ACE!

Song Stuck on the Brain: What Goes Around Comes Around by Justin Timberlake.

I must be in tune with the universe today.

For some odd reason, Ace Young crossed my mind this morning. He reached the 7th place spot on American Idol last year. I haven't thought or heard about him since last season ended. But this morning the thought crossed my mind, "I wonder what he's doing and if he's putting out an album." Then about a half hour later I got an email from VH1 with an article all about Ace and his upcoming album.

Freaky huh? Okay, maybe not. But it was a really interesting article. You can go here to read it yourself.

It also talks about his charity work and how he's already helped to raise $80,000 for a children's hospital in his home town Denver. I thought that was interesting, because my on-line Bible study group has been talking about finding Joy in your walk with Jesus. One point was that by helping others you bring joy to your own life. The question was aked, 'Can one person really make a difference?' I think the answer is absolutely yes, and we've been discussing ways we can reach out to others in our community. Whether it's through charities or just individuals reaching out to someone they know needs help, we can all impact someone. Seeing how Ace, a relatively unknown artist has managed to make that big of an impact is exciting. It kind of reinforced our discussion.

Plus, I'm just really excited to see he is working on music.

I haven't settled on my outreach project yet, although there is a Valentines card drive in our city. You make the homemade cards and then the radio stations deliver them to the sick kids at Children's Mercy and places like that. I think a lot of us will be doing that. Anything to make a kid smile.

The thing with charity work is that there are so many worthy ones out there to be a part of. Then, if you don't have a lot of money to donate, then you have to find other ways to get involved. Finding where you can be the most help can be a challenge too. And do you choose an organization or adopt a needy family or individual on your own? I've done both in the past. Both make you feel great. I'm just having trouble choosing right now.

I think I will do the Valentine's Day Card drive though. Anyone have any favorite charitable actvities?

A.

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