Long time IWN member Cindy Moriak lost her mom this past week. Bea Perry was a former member and would attend from time to time when her health would allow. Funeral for Bea is at Ben Brown Funeral Home this Tuesday at 10 am. Please keep Cindy and her family in your prayers as she travels through this period of grief and adjustment. Even though we only saw her ocassionally the past few years, Bea will be missed!
A Note from
IWN President
Monica Ellington
Relationships - The Cornerstone of Change
Mother. Teacher. Coach. Mentor. Regardless of the name we use when engaging in activities that guide the thoughts and footsteps of others, what anyone who has enjoyed the thoughtful nurturing, the diligent coaching, the firm instruction or inspiration of another can attest: is that relationships are key to personal development. From the time we are infants till the day we lie down to rise no more, our lives are influenced by the tutelage of others upon our lives. Be it a positive force or a negative diversion, relationships are the cornerstones upon which the foundation of lives are built.
Over the course of the last several months, this thought was brought home to me again as I worked with others to research and develop programs that would support cultural change in regions where the fabric of society had become so threadbare and torn that the framework for the future lay in tatters. What we found was that regardless of program, location, financial support, or educational level of those involved, the singular most defining component in making a significant difference in the outcome of shackled lives is when nurturing, caring individuals deliberately intervened in the life of another. A single individual committed to mentoring another can drastically change the flow of circumstances, perceptions, and – through agreements built on trust – permanently alter the life of another.
Individuals with healthy relationships develop a resiliency rate sufficient to face profound adversity and work through and beyond experiences: essentially breaking the bondage of extended exposure to stressors, including violence, poverty, substandard health conditions, or a host of other societal and personal ailments that we have seen leave lives encumbered even in a nation like ours that prides itself on the Rule of Law and provides our residents with access to an assortment of assistance programs and educational resources. Sustainable relationships can extend those results even further by allowing individuals mired in conflict to build emotional resources and stamina.
Pivoting lives through healthy relationships drastically reduces the time required for revolution in the hearts and minds of people to occur. Ralf Dahrendorm said that it takes “six months to reform the political systems, six years to change the economic systems, and sixty years to affect a revolution in the peoples’ hearts and minds.†We cannot wait sixty years for reform or a program to ignite within the hearts and minds of people. We must engage now, and even more, teach others to engage as well.
In this group of ladies, where we are each involved in our community, we can attest that while we do “good work,†the need can be overwhelming at times and we often find ourselves in a perpetual maintenance mode conducting fundraising, feeding programs, staffing events, and developing materials. And, if we are honest, losing sight that it is not the food, the clothes, the classroom that will make the undeniable, indomitable mark upon another – it is one person deliberately seeking to touch another human being.
Please be clear: “doing good work†is feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, encouraging the downtrodden, liberating the oppressed, educating our young, and providing families with the means to work and earn economic freedom – yet few will ever remember the Blue Christmas toy, what came in the grocery bag, what book they read in fifth grade, or what assignment it was at work that taught them a particular life skill or lesson. What these children, men, and women will remember for the next sixty years of their lives is someone sought them and reached out beyond his or her own world of influence to influence them personally in their world. It was, and is, the relationship that will inspire minds, rejuvenate hearts, and provide the will to press forward when the wind and waves of life threaten.
Personally and professionally we are called to do good work, and are compelled to teach others to do so as well. While we do not yearn to move beyond a life of service, teaching others how to live productive lives that bear fruit for more than one’s own dinner table is the only to ensure that – when our own fruitful lives are gone – the future is not left to famine and want for never having been taught the means of doing good. People must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good not only so that urgent needs may be provided for in the workplace, communities, and families, but so individuals themselves may live productive lives. We must teach so that people learn that engaging in good work liberates them from a lifetime shackled by barren and unfruitful lives – lives that leave a person, a family, a community in need. We must choose to teach our children, our staff, our volunteers, and those we mentor or advocate on behalf of the means by how they too may live fruitful and meaningful lives.
For Christian believers, the most central and pivotal relationship in our lives is with our Savior Jesus Christ. He is the cornerstone and there is simply no other way to understand the foundation of a believer’s life without proclaiming first His name. It is upon that relationship that many in this group are able to go forth, serve, and teach others so that an entire world may enjoy the fruit of those doing good work and develop relationships that bring joy, provide strength in hardship, and address the pressing needs of our time. “Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds (and occupations) to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful,†and people must learn now; we cannot afford to wait sixty years “to affect a revolution in the peoples’ hearts and minds.â€
IWN's Annual Appreciation Luncheon
for Teachers and Staff at Stipes Elememtary School
Friday, June 5
Luncheon is at 11 am
IWN helpers need to be there by 10 am
If you can be there to help us set up, serve, and clean up, thank you!
If you aren't able to attend, but would like to participate by providing a covered dish, that would be wonderful!
Contact Margie Stipes for a hint on what you can contribute
972-253-1404
Some suggestions: potato salad, barbecue beans, congealed salads, or that special side dish/casserole you make during the holidays .....
For a fun and relaxed time of fellowship with other IWN members, join us on Fridays at 11:30 am beginning May 22. Come when you can, stay as long as you can. Visitors are welcome. Don't have time for lunch? Come anyway and have a cuppa java! Lunch prices are $6.95 - soup and salad buffet; $8.95 - hot buffet; $9.95 - combo of both.
Glory House Bistro is in the heart of Irving's Heritage District on Main Street. Check out their ad in this newsletter for more info about them.
Hope to see you there!
Wanna be Uncle Sam?
Here's your chance to plant a little patriotism. Join with other Irving residents this year in The Great Flag Caper and help plant flags along a section of MacArthur Blvd. in Irving in celebration of the 4th of July.
If you've ever been in Irving around Independence Day, you've noticed the little flags lining the streets at curbside - a tradition started by local realtor Nell Anne Hunt 22 years ago.
If you want to volunteer to "plant" and/or "harvest" some of these flags, please contact long time Irving residents
Clyde and Beca DeLoach
deloaches@verizon.net
972-254-4703
The Great Flag Caper provides the flags.
We need you to provide the manpower!
IWN Membership is a privilege.
Are Your Dues Due?
$65 annually •Three ways to pay:
1. Pay at next luncheon
2. Mail check to Sharon Johnston, 600 Bellah Dr., Irving, TX 75062
3. Call with Credit Card info - Jodi Reynolds 972-579-1826
May Genelle Parra June Cindy Moriak
Margie Stipes
Pam Walker
May 18 – JoAnn Goin
15 – Ellen Sublett
20 – Linda Harper Brown
21 – Cynthia Dixon
Our next Coffee Break is July 17 at Irving Cares.
Refreshments, friendship, meeting new people.
How much fun is that?!
At the same time, take a tour around Irving Cares facility and help out by bringing a can or cans of fruit - or cash to donate so they can buy more of the same.
Door prizesare a great way to get noticed. Item doesn't need to be expensive - just donate something you'd like to receive yourself—something that represents your business - or a generic little gift item.
These generous individuals donated a door prize
at our previous luncheon:
Genelle Parra, Wellness and Counseling Service
Billie Coburn, Health Connection
Ginny Piendak, The Richey Company
The Main Place
IWN
Please contact Sloan Johnston to let her know you can bring a door prize.
Why doesn’t he ever tell me he loves me?!
Geese, she’s always so nit-picky! How can you stand to work with her?
If I could only get them to see things my way – they’re so uptight!
Any of these sound familiar?
We each have certain personality traits. Identifying them in ourselves and others provides us with insight into motivations, actions and communication approaches of ourselves and others.
The number one reason employees are dissatisfied or leave their jobs is workplace relationship struggles. More relationships (marital or friendships) are marred or destroyed because of “irreconcilable differences.†Learn how to embrace and value those differences in order to gain an increased understanding of a difficult spouse, belligerent boss, or fractured friendship. Improve your communication skills so you can improve your work or home environment—to be more harmonious and productive. These are some of the things you will gain when applying the True ColorsTM principles.
True Colors is: user-friendly: easy to use and remember—in all kinds of circumstances—from personal relationships to professional success practical: as a tool to foster healthy productive relationships valid: helping us find personal success and dramatically improve our interpersonal relationships useful: applicable for all ages and walks of life
We’ll all find out what our respective colors are—and learn how to identify them in those around us—as Alan Cassel presents True Colors, a model of personality identification, at our May luncheon with a fun, audience participation program. Mr. Cassel has presented this program to a variety of audiences including school administrators, teachers, as well as students. In addition to his career as a teacher and administrator, he is a Certified True Colors Facilitator. You won’t want to miss this one!
We Want YOU ..... to attend ..... our May Luncheon
Tuesday, May 26 • 11:30 am
Las Colinas Country Club • 4400 N. O’Connor Blvd map
Reservations due by Friday, May 22 • 12 Noon Reservations that come in after this will be
same price as a non-reservation.
Remember to include the name of any guest(s)
when you make your reservation.
Cancellations after deadline and no-shows are subject to invoicing.
Soup • Salad • Dessert Buffet
$18—Members & Members’ Guests - with reservations $25—Members without reservations & All Visitors Includes Tax and Gratuity
Cash • Checks • Credit Cards (Checks Payable to IWN)
