"God Bless the Dream, the Dreamer and the Result." 

FaithWalk Clothing by William Renae

In today's world and in times past collaboration and partnering has been an instrumental strategy.  Partnering helps us to grow, learn, change and exchange ideas.  Even the Bible endorses partnering based on the scripture that says, "Where two or three are gathered, I am there."

I want to introduce to you a mother/son partnership, which currently launched a new clothing line.  The clothing line is called FaithWalk. The new line is created to encourage others to save themselves and to take control of their own destiny.

Renae Parker Benenson is a Mom, certified Chaplin (spiritual listener and encourager), writer and co-founder of FaithWalk.  William Marshall Parker II is a Son, entrepreneur, writer and co-founder of FaithWalk.  Together they compliment each other and have found support for their individual and collective growth and development.

They started FaithWalk because they get it.  They have figured out that their life is to get better spiritually, emotionally, financially, intellectually and physically it will be because they have prayed to God and believe that the Creator will equip them for the journey and fill them with unfathomable power to be and to do more than they can ever imagine.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Yuto Miyazawa - 8-Year Old Japanese Guitar Phenom!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Oscar-Worthy Comebacks


Some stars combust and others fizzle, but a few are reborn. Metromix honors the second wave:

The Wrestler was made for Mickey Rourke, the "one-time '80s sex symbol" turned professional boxer.
Drug habits wrote off Robert Downey Jr. until the Iron Man returned with back-to-back hits.
Dennis Hopper suffered Downey's blues for 15 years before re-emerging as pure evil in Blue Velvet.
Muscle man Jean-Claude Van Damme is surprisingly heartfelt in French film JCVD, about an action star's fall from fame.
Sly Stallone reinvented himself as a fat cop in Cop Land after Cliffhanger was anything but.
The urban cowgirl is back in Rachel Getting Married after a disappearance so long that a documentary was named Searching for Debra Winger.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Wade Gives Displaced Family New Home


Christmas seemed destroyed for Dawn Smith’s family after her nephew accidentally burned down their Florida home, but Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade has saved it. He helped Smith move into a new home on Christmas Eve, providing furnishings, clothes, and gifts for the holidays, the AP reports. Wade’s foundation will make payments while the Smiths get back on their feet.

“Hopefully, you’ll like it,” Wayne told an emotional Smith, who repeatedly thanked him as she sobbed. “It’s not about what you’re going to receive, but what you can give to others from what you’ve received,” he added.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Panhandling MIT Grad Gets Job


Out-of-work investment banker Joshua Persky gained a lot of publicity when he hung a sign around his neck reading “EXPERIENCED MIT GRAD FOR HIRE,” and passed out resumes on the streets of Manhattan—but no job offers. His wife and kids left New York to live with family, the Los Angeles Times reports. But Persky kept the faith, and a year later, he’s got a new job.

“By the end of the summer, they were frozen,” Persky, who was laid-off last December, says of would-be employers. When he finally got a job, “it was like a miracle,” his wife says. The couple says they’ve learned to keep hoping, to never give up—and that wearing a sign and begging for a job probably won’t work.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Creating your own niche

The very act of admitting that you want more puts the balance of your existence in jeopardy. You feel tension between wanting to maintain the security of sameness, however mundane and boring it may be, and the hope and excitement of having what you really want. No matter what the circumstances of your life may be, even it its painful, disrupting the sameness can be scary.

~ Dr. Phil

Everyday or just about every other day I surf my computer to look at job possibilities. Some times I become discouraged when I see the same ole positions and read the same ole postings. The fact that lots of people are unemployed and seeking employment also looms large. After going through a number of these sites, I sigh thinking that my chances are slim too none. My body tenses but I don’t lose faith. I search for ways to stay positive and hopeful.

Call me silly. However I am not ashamed. I want more. I admit there is an ache, a longing of my soul’s desire to help create a world and to be a better person. Just recently my soul spoke and urged me to revisit some papers I received at a workshop. The workshop was called “Creating your own niche.” As I reviewed the papers there was a tug at my heart. I felt both the sensations of risk and utter satisfaction. The papers encouraged me to review work skills and experiences. It also suggested that I write down those gifts and talents that made me unique. The presenter also requested that I research various companies that caught my interest. There were other questions and leadings too. The next step that she asked her reader to do was to write a basic business plan and an executive summary.

I have not gotten to the plan and summary yet. I am still clarifying what I believe about who I am. What I know for sure…. I am a dynamic person. I am a skilled listener. I am also adaptable, self-motivated, passionate, creative and a team player. What am I looking for in a company? I want to work for a company that is equally dynamic and progressive. I want to work for a company that truly cares about their employees, their customers and their community. I want to work for a company that is open to education, new ideas and the expertise of a professional.

I don’t know if this process will work. What is true for now is that this process feels exciting, liberating and empowering. If I don’t go after what I want now, then when will I ever get what I want or at least try? I am ready to reclaim my life and to create new experiences? If you are too, let us do it together with the Creator who walks with us.

I am grateful to the Creator who offers us resources daily and in enormous ways. Each and every one of us can enjoy the benefits of the Creator’s resources if we stay aware. I pray you never lose sight of the Divine.

Sarina Cliff

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Amazing Kyle Maynad


Kyle Maynard was born with short appendages where most people have arms and legs, but nothing seems out of reach for him. He chose to start attend the University of Georgia, he says, because of the prestigious academic reputation and because of the great athletic programs. The winner of numerous national awards and recognition, Maynard graduated from high school with a wrestling record of 35 wins and 16 losses and a 3.7 GPA. At UGA, he continues wrestling and working as a professional motivational speaker with one of the nation's largest speaker's bureaus. He loves to help other people realize their potential, and is currently writing an autobiographical, motivationally-themed book entitled No Excuses that will be published by Regnery Publishing Company.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Manning Brothers Pair Up to Make Pro Bowl History


The Pro Bowl picks have been announced and they include a pair of record-busting firsts, AP reports. Eli Manning of the New York Giants and Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts will become the first quarterback-playing brothers to compete in the all-star game. Peyton's Giants teammate, 44-year-old kicker John Carney, will be the oldest Pro Bowl player ever.

The New York Jets have seven Pro Bowl picks, the most of any team. Behind the Jets with six picks each are the Giants, the Minnesota Vikings and the Tennessee Titans. The only rookie to make the roster this year is Chris Johnson of the Titans. Four teams, including the winless Detroit Lions, won't be sending any players to the Feb. 8 Honolulu game.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Cleveland Clinic Performs First US Face Transplant


Doctors in Cleveland have successfully completed the nation’s first near-total facial transplant on a on a patient disfigured by traumatic injury, the Plain Dealer reports today. The hospital, which said the patient didn’t want to be identified, was the first in the US to approve the controversial procedure, which some consider too risky for a non-life threatening condition. Maria Siemionow, who led the operating team, argued that patients should be allowed to take their chances.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Rapper Gravy Gets Another Shot at Fame, This Time as BIG


His debut album was shelved, but Jamal “Gravy” Woolard still has a shot a fame, the New Yorker reports. But he’s since been cast to portray the even more Notorious BIG on the big screen.

“Big called it best: ‘Mo money, mo problems,’” Woolard said. “I got jammed up. But the blessing is, later it put me in a better position.” Woolard worked hard for the role, doing serious time in “Biggie boot camp.” He took acting, choreography, and voice lessons—and had to strap on the feed bag to maintain his weight through it all. He won’t take success sitting down: After filming, he aims to drop the weight and stage a rap comeback.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Recession Packs 'Em in the Pews


Hard times are emptying company payrolls and government coffers, but they’re big business for churches, reports the New York Times in a look at America's renewed Sunday-morning religious fervor. Since September, evangelical pastors in particular have reported a burst of interest and standing-room-only congregations. “It’s a wonderful time, a great evangelistic opportunity for us,” says one.

One study found that the growth rate at evangelical churches jumped by 50% during recessions between 1968 and 2004. To capitalize, churches are offering special programs and sermons on how to cope with financial stress, while others hope to mount revivals rivaling the 19th century Great Awakenings. “We need to leverage this moment,” another pastor said.

Blind Comic Artist Battles On, Like Daredevil


Life as an independent comic artist is never easy. It's even harder when you’re legally blind, the Washington Post reports. Baltimore's Andre Campbell, vision-impaired since birth with a retinal-degeneration condition, has only sold about 100 copies of his company’s comics since the mid-'90s. But the artist, who idolizes the sightless superhero Daredevil, keeps plugging his Alpha Agents comics at conventions—blindly, some might say.

“I guess where things go, and they just seem to fall into place,” he says. His wife's work and his disability checks keep them afloat, and his business partner has hung in there. Still, a single distributor monopolizes the comic book market—and industry types say Campbell’s work just isn’t that good. "Do I get discouraged sometimes?" Campbell asks. "Yes, but it don't last that long."

Friday, December 12, 2008

Kanye Pursues 'Fashion Dream'


Days after Kanye West wrote on his blog that he's taking a break from releasing singles to let his latest songs “soak into the culture,” the star rapper is heading in a different direction—toward the London fashion world. The rapper will move to England next year to unveil his clothing line, and he’s applying for internships to learn his new craft, the Mirror reports.

The normally arrogant star is taking an uncharacteristically modest approach to his latest venture, saying, “I’m going to go and take an internship and just do something that’s like completely normal.” Sources say Kanye has applied to work at Louis Vuitton, Raf Simons, and other top fashion houses. “Everyone is surprised at just how seriously Kanye is taking his fashion dream,” one insider said.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Vet Helps Cat Save Face After Car Mishap


Not quite done with her lives, a Boston cat is recovering from what would typically be a fatal encounter with a car, the AP reports. Edgar, a 4-year-old long-haired female, went missing from her home for 3 days last week. When she finally reappeared, part of her face was detached. Her horrified owner promptly passed out, then raced her to a vet, who reattached the face with 35 stitches yesterday.

Remarkably, Edgar suffered neither major blood loss nor any permanent nerve damage from what the vets surmise as an encounter with a fan belt, when she crawled under an automobile for warmth. "She was purring and sticking her head up so we could pet her," said a surgical technician. I'd never seen anything like it." Another vet notes that car fan belts usually kill cats instantly. “She may have problems later,” she notes, “but the cat was saying, ‘I may have lost this life but, by golly, I have eight more.”

Indian Woman, 70, Is Oldest First-Time Mom


A 70-year-old woman in India says she gave birth to her first child in late November, making her the world’s oldest new mother, the BBC reports. Rajo Devi underwent fertility treatment so she and her husband, Bala Ram, could realize their 50-year dream of having a child. Ram is 72.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

9-Year-Old's Dating Book Headed for the Big Screen


Alec Greven, 9, knows more than How to Talk to Girls: He knows how to land a movie deal. Fox has purchased the rights to the fourth-grader’s self-help book, which offers advice like combing your hair and acting less hyper, the Hollywood Reporter notes. Fox paid in the low-to-mid six figures for the book, which Alec originally wrote for a school book fair.

Newsweek in Hot Water Over Gay-Bible Story


Social conservatives are lashing out against Newsweek’s current cover story, “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage,” for what they say is a flawed take on both the Bible and the root of their argument against such unions. The story was “yet another attack on orthodox Christianity” and “full of holes,” said the president of a conservative group. A Newsweek editor said “we welcome the debate,” Politico reports.

The article posits that the Bible isn’t so clear on gay marriage as some critics hold. But religious conservatives highlighted passages that they say make the Bible’s stance clear, such as God’s coupling of Adam and Eve; and anyway, one notes, social conservatives' arguments against gay marriage have a secular foundation and seek to define ”a civic and a social institution.”

Monday, December 8, 2008

Homeless dog tries to save dog hit by car in Chile



SANTIAGO, Chile – Chileans have a new hero: an apparently homeless dog that pulled the body of another dog through traffic off a busy highway.

A surveillance camera on a Santiago freeway captured images of a dog trotting past speeding cars to pull the lifeless body of the other canine, which had been run over by a vehicle, away from traffic and onto the median strip.

The scene was broadcast by Chilean television stations and then posted on Web sites such as YouTube.com, and hundreds of thousands of people had viewed versions of it by Monday.

Highway crews removed both the dead and live dogs from the median strip of the Vespucio Norte Highway shortly after the Dec. 4 incident. But the rescuer dog ran away.

Authorities say images of the rescue prompted some people to call and offer to adopt the dog, but neither highway workers nor a television crew could find they animal.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Detroit Churches Pray for ‘God’s Bailout’


The Sunday service at Greater Grace Temple began with the Clark Sisters song “I’m Looking for a Miracle” and included a reading of this verse from the Book of Romans: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

Worshipers at Greater Grace Temple, a Pentecostal church in Detroit, prayed on Sunday for an automobile industry miracle.

Pentecostal Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, who shared the sanctuary’s wide altar with three gleaming sport utility vehicles, closed his sermon by leading the choir and congregants in a boisterous rendition of the gospel singer Myrna Summers’s “We’re Gonna Make It” as hundreds of worshipers who work in the automotive industry — union assemblers, executives, car salesmen — gathered six deep around the altar to have their foreheads anointed with consecrated oil.

While Congress debated aid to the foundering Detroit automakers Sunday, many here whose future hinges on the decision turned to prayer.

Outside the Corpus Christi Catholic Church, a sign beckoned passers-by inside to hear about “God’s bailout plan.” Roman Catholic churches in the Detroit area distributed a four-page letter from Cardinal Adam Maida, the archbishop, offering “some pastoral insights and suggestions about how we might prepare to celebrate Christmas this year when economic conditions are so grim.”

In the letter, Cardinal Maida acknowledged that “things in Michigan will probably never be the same” but encourages the region’s 1.3 million Catholics to maintain their faith. “At this darkest time of the year, we proclaim that Christ is our light and Christ is our hope,” he wrote.

Last week Cardinal Maida gathered 11 Detroit-area religious leaders, representing Christian, Jewish and Muslim congregations, to call on Congress to approve the $34 billion in government-backed loans that the automakers have requested.

At Greater Grace Temple, an 8,000-member Pentecostal church in northwest Detroit, the Sunday service was dedicated to addressing the uncertainty facing workers whose livelihood depends on the well-being of General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler.

Greater Grace, the largest church in Detroit, invited officials from the United Automobile Workers union to speak before Bishop Ellis gave his sermon, titled “A Hybrid Hope.”

The S.U.V.’s on the stage, a Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Escape and Chrysler Aspen on loan from local dealerships, were all gas-electric hybrids, and Bishop Ellis urged worshipers to combat the region’s woes by mixing hope with faith in God.

Bishop Ellis encouraged the congregation to pray, not that Congress would “do the right thing” and approve loaning money to the car companies, but that Detroiters would “make it” through these tough times.

1st Vietnamese-American elected to US Congress


An election delay caused by Hurricane Gustav likely helped tip the vote away from scandal-plagued Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson, whose nine-term Congressional career came to an unexpected end yesterday, the Times-Picayune reports. Republican newbie Anh "Joseph" Cao unseated the 2nd district’s incumbent African-American Democrat in an election marked by much lower turnout than November’s general election, considered a disadvantage for Jefferson despite the district’s large black population.

"Never in my life did I think I could be a future congressman," Cao, the first Vietnamese-American ever elected to Congress, told his supporters. "The American dream is well and alive.” Internal Democratic challenges to Jefferson, indicted last year on bribery and corruption charges, weakened his candidacy and drove his party rivals’ supporters to Cao.

Lebanon farmer grows super-sized spud


TYRE, Lebanon – A farmer from Lebanon couldn't believe his eyes when he discovered he had grown a prize-winning potato on his land, he told AFP on Saturday, saying he was hoping to enter the Guinness World Records.
"This giant weighs 11.3 kilos (24.9 pounds)," Khalil Semhat said at his farm in the Tyre area, 85 kilometres (50 miles) south of Beirut.
"I've been working the land since I was a boy, and it's the first time I've seen anything like it."
Semhat, 56, said he had not done anything special to cultivate such a super-sized spud. "I didn't use any chemicals at all," he insisted, adding that he had to ask a friend to help him haul the huge tuber out of the ground.
Now he hopes the find will get a mention in the famous Guinness Book of Records, and said he will send in the details for possible inclusion next year.
He said he was "very proud" to have grown the enormous specimen on his farm, which took a pounding in 2006 during the war between Israel and Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Happiness Spreads Like the Flu


Happiness is contagious and spreads through social networks in much the same way the flu does, says a landmark new study that followed the fate of 4,700 people over 20 years. The research shows that a person's happiness can lift the mood of loved ones, neighbors, and even strangers with whom they don't have direct contact, the Washington Post reports. What's more, the ripple effect can last up to a year.

"You would think that your emotional state would depend on your own choices and actions and experience," said one of the researchers. "It also depends on the choices and actions and experiences of other people, including people to whom you are not directly connected. Happiness is contagious."

Ky. Atheists Fight 'Foolish' Security Law


Atheists are kicking up an almighty fuss about legislation that states Kentucky's safety and security can only be achieved through reliance on God, the Chicago Tribune reports. Bluegrass State unbelievers have filed a lawsuit seeking to have the offending law repealed, saying they fear their security may be in the hands of "fanatics, traitors, or fools."

"It's as absurd to me as it would be to a fundamental Christian if you told them the security of Kentucky is in the hands of almighty Zeus," said one plaintiff. The state rep who sneaked the bill into law 2 years ago is a former Baptist preacher who has long battled the separation of church and state, arguing that removing references to God from public places is suppressing American history.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

German churches find 'chocolate Jesus' tasteless


BERLIN– Germany's churches criticized a businessman on Tuesday for selling thousands of Jesus chocolates.
Frank Oynhausen set up his "Sweet Lord" chocolate Jesus-making business saying he wanted to restore some traditional religious values to Christmas in Germany.

But the German Protestant Church criticized the idea as "tasteless" and the Roman Catholic Church was not amused.
"I started thinking about how I could reintroduce traditional religious values into this commercial world," said Oynhausen, who had been unemployed since losing a recycling business two years ago.

Together with a friend, a local chocolatier, Oynhausen, 54, developed the concept of "Sweet Lord." It is growing fast in his home town of Duisburg and on the internet (www.goldjesus.com).

Oynhausen said thousands of people have put in orders for the figures wrapped in gold foil.
But church associations expressed dismay.

"It is terrible that Jesus is being wrapped up in gold foil and sold along with chocolate bunnies, edible penguins and lollipops," said Aegidius Engel, a spokesman for the archbishopric of nearby Paderborn.
"This is ruining the symbol of Jesus himself," he added.

Oynhausen is now custom-producing the chocolate Jesus figures, but by Easter he hopes to have a partnership with a mass producer.

"We're hoping to be able to export them around the world one day," Oynhausen said. He reckons there are parts of the United States where they will be especially popular.

In 2007, a life-size chocolate sculpture of a naked Jesus caused an outcry from Roman Catholics when an art gallery in New York wanted to exhibit it in a window.

Melody LaLuz and Claudaniel Fabien abstain kissing until wedding day


CHICAGO – Won't kiss on the first date? How about waiting until marriage?

Chicagoans Melody LaLuz and Claudaniel Fabien shared their first kiss Saturday at the altar. The two teach abstinence at the city's public schools and practiced what they preached to their teenage students.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the couple had never kissed and that they had never been alone together in a house.
A friend of LaLuz says wedding guests cheered and stomped during the two-minute smooch between the 28-year-old bride and the 30-year-old groom.

LaLuz and Fabien say they have no worries about how they will spend their honeymoon in the Bahamas.

Surgeon Amputates Using Texted Instructions


A volunteer surgeon in a Congolese war zone followed texted instructions to perform an amputation that saved a 16-year-old boy's life. The teen's badly injured and infected arm required that his collar bone and shoulder blade be immediately removed, but Dr. David Nott had never conducted such a procedure. He contacted a British colleague back home via phone text, "and he texted back step-by-step instructions," the Guardian reports.

"I had to think long and hard about whether it was right to leave a young boy with only one arm in the middle of this fighting. But in the end he would have died without it," Nott says. The complicated surgery would ideally have been carefully planned and prepped, but the circumstances required swift action in a rudimentary operating theater. The teen has made a full recovery.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Fans Get Prime Seats for Eternal Extra Innings


Die-hard baseball fans can now continue showing their team pride even in the afterlife. A Boston-area funeral home is offering its first-ever Red Sox casket, emblazoned with the team’s logo and accented with baseball-bat-type wood. “It's really a beautiful thing,” the funeral-home director, a Sox fan himself, tells the Globe.

The casket-making company unveiled its MLB-themed urns last year; Red Sox and New York Yankees fans have snapped up the most so far. An MLB exec insists the decision to allow the funeral products isn’t about money or branding, but about making customers happy. The funeral homes, he says, just “want to take care of the long-term fan.”