This is a new segment for my blog and I ask you to help me out by adding your comments and posting them on your blog as well. I have been doing a "Question of the Week" on my homeschool Yahoo group for a few years now. It's been a fun way to discuss issues and share ideas as well as get to know each other better.
How it Works:
Each Monday I'll ask a thought provoking question about life. Pose the same question to your blog readers on your own blog along with your answer to the question. Then come back here and post a comment with a link to your blog post so we can all read everyone's answers! Should be a lot of fun!
This week's question:
The Lord has given each of us different talents and experiences. He uses them to His Glory. What's your mission?
JoJo's Answer:
I have had a fascination with way people communicate since I was a young child in public school. I moved around a great deal, but everywhere I went, there were two kinds of kids in the class: the popular kids who always came off smelling like a rose and the unpopular kids who never quite seemed to do anything that would smell nearly as sweet. A rose by any other name? Hmmmm...
It wasn't the idea that was good in those days, it was the person who suggested it. It wasn't the clothes worn, it was the person who wore them. But more than that, it was the way in which that person carried himself.
Why was it that the popular kid would wear torn jeans and be thought cool when the "geek" was teased about being poor? It was his attitude, his communication of who he is. That started a lifelong study of communication skills in human behavior. What did I discover?
* Communication plays a large part in just about everything we do.
* The more effective you are in communicating, the more successful you are in life.
* Communication skills are mentioned HUNDREDS of times in the Bible.
* Communication skills are the most important part of The Great Commission.
* Communication skills cannot be mastered by taking one speech course.
* Each communication skill requires different techniques to master: speech is not all of communication.
* Social communication touches all areas of life, not just making friends.
* Communication skills are a core subject even more important than math, science and history.
* Employers are looking for those with good communication skills because it is something they can't fit in the two week training.
* Lack of effective communication is the reason cited most often as the cause for the break up of marriage!
* You may be able to get through your entire life without having to make a speech, but you will not get through 24 hours without communicating something to SOMEBODY!
Even today, this is a fairly new concept that most people don't fully understand. It is my mission to share these facts with the Christian community so that they may be more effective in the missions God has for THEM!
What's your mission?
Post your answers on your blog and come back here and put your link in so we can read it! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers here.
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon Learning Speech Communication Skills
can ALSO be fun with Art of Eloquence!
This is a new segment for my blog and I ask you to help me out by adding your comments and posting them on your blog as well. I have been doing a "Question of the Week" on my homeschool Yahoo group for a few years now. It's been a fun way to discuss issues and share ideas as well as get to know each other better.
How it Works:
Each Monday I'll ask a thought provoking question about life. Pose the same question to your blog readers on your own blog along with your answer to the question. Then come back here and post a comment with a link to your blog post so we can all read everyone's answers! Should be a lot of fun!
This week's question:
What is your PURSEonality? What does your purse (or wallet if you are of the male persuasion) communicate about you?
JoJo's Answer:
Everything we say and do (and everything we don't say and don't do) communicates something about us to those around us, from the clothes we wear to the books we choose to read and...the purse we like to carry. I found this a fascinating topic as I was listening to the discussion on the radio one morning several months ago. I will pose this very question at the KICKOFF to the Say What You Mean Convention on Wednesday so please come join the discussion here at 8am PST/11am EST as well!
I don't like a small purse. I like one that can hold a fair amount of things-not too big because I am only 5' tall and I don't need to fit inside! LOL I like a purse that you can just dump things into-not too many pockets or I'll forget where I put my cell phone. By the time i answer it, I'll have either missed the call or find others wondering why I would be talking into my son's Gameboy! I like a purse that has a closure. I can't have my cell phone MIA at a crucial stop sign moment because my purse fell over and it jumped, unnoticed, into the side pocket of the passenger front door! Yup! That happened once and it took me about 20 minutes of searching the car to find it!
I think that says that my life is fairly hectic and I like to keep things all in one place to make it easier for my aging mind to keep it straight where everything is I might need at any point. However, I don't like this so organized that in the confusion of a stressful moment, it would require too much additional brain power to discover its whereabouts in anything longer than 20 seconds. (Which, coincidentally, is my threshold for patience when I gotta get stuff done! LOL)
What does your purse say about YOU?
Post your answers on your blog and come back here and put your link in so we can read it! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers here.
And don't forget to mark your calendar to share your answers at the Say What You Mean Convention's KICKOFF on Wednesday!
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon Learning Speech Communication Skills
can ALSO be fun with Art of Eloquence!
This is a new segment for my blog and I ask you to help me out by adding your comments and posting them on your blog as well. I have been doing a "Question of the Week" on my homeschool Yahoo group for a few years now. It's been a fun way to discuss issues and share ideas as well as get to know each other better.
How it Works:
Each Monday I'll ask a thought provoking question about life. Pose the same question to your blog readers on your own blog along with your answer to the question. Then come back here and post a comment with a link to your blog post so we can all read everyone's answers! Should be a lot of fun!
This week's question:
What is the one thing you would most like to be remembered for?
JoJo's Answer:
There are many things I want to leave behind when I leave this earth to be with the Father in heaven. I want my children to remember their Lord and serve Him always. I want to leave behind a generation who is prepared with the communication skills to stand up and speak out in boldness and grace for the things of the Lord. But what I pray for most is more of a globalization of those things: that I will be remembered as someone who left behind a blessing wherever she was able.
I live my life by a code that I will always try to leave more than I take; that would leave a smile where there was sadness, hope where there was despair and anyone who meets me better off than they were before I came. If that only means a smile to a stranger from across a crowded street, I have accomplished my mission.
If I find a sister in need, may I fill it. If I find a brother burdened, may I uplift him. If I find a soul in unbelief, may I show him the way to salvation.
What is the one thing you would like to be remembered for?
Post your answers on your blog and come back here and put your link in so we can read it! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers here.
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon Learning Speech Communication Skills
can ALSO be fun with Art of Eloquence!
This is a new segment for my blog and I ask you to help me out by adding your comments and posting them on your blog as well. I have been doing a "Question of the Week" on my homeschool Yahoo group for a few years now. It's been a fun way to discuss issues and share ideas as well as get to know each other better.
How it Works:
Each Monday I'll ask a thought provoking question about life. Pose the same question to your blog readers on your own blog along with your answer to the question. Then come back here and post a comment with a link to your blog post so we can all read everyone's answers! Should be a lot of fun!
This week's question:
If being a Christian was a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
With all the sensitivities about evangelism, the ACLU (and others) working hard to take God out of everything in the public arena, the replacement of "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays" and all the media hoopla where folks like Rosie O'Donnel say that Christianity is just as much a threat as radical Islam, it's a bit more intimidating to display our Christianity at times. Does this influence you in any way? Does it make you think twice about wearing a Christian Tshirt? Does it make you careful about how much Christianity you want to show on your blog or website?
JoJo's Answer:
Being raised in a family where I am the only Christian, I know how intimidating it can be to be the odd man out. I just have always believed that if it wasn't worth showing on the outside, I must not believe it very much on the inside. I mean, I never did understand why someone would say they believed in something and never act on that belief. This applies not just to religion, but to all things like: smokers who say they know smoking is bad, but they don't really want to quit; people who make New Year's resolutions, but don't even remember what they were a day later; college students who say grades are important, but never crack open a book.
Though many people may say they believe something only because they think they should and not due to a strongly held belief, some actually believe it and don't actually live it. If you believe it, why not do it? Why say it if you don't really believe it? It just never made sense to me.
When I accepted Jesus, I began learning what He wanted me to do. I began making changes in my life. Sometimes the changes were slow, but they were all steps toward being the JoJo I felt God asking me to be. At this point in my life, there is so much more of me that is the Lord's and I can't help but show that on the outside. Here are a few of the things others can plainly see that identify me with Jesus. You're mileage may vary...
1. When I am asked what my favorite book is, I always say the Bible, even in a secular forum where that is not as welcome.
2. My website and blog clearly states my belief in Jesus as do all of my studies and articles.
3. I always give credit to God for my blessings even when talking to those who are not Christian.
4. When I am asked about what is good luck, I always say that I don't believe in luck, I beleive in God's miracles.
5. When I am asked why I won't take the "God parts" out of my studies because I could make more money if I made a secular version and what does communication have to do with God anyway, I always say that God invented communication and His Word is filled with hundreds of communication lessons and because a study of communication apart from the Lord is incomplete.
6. I love to wear Christian Tshirts and have a conversation start up because someone asks me what they mean.
I know that an outward show of Jesus doesn't make one a Christian, but being a Closet Christian doesn't minister to anyone either.
What do you do to identify yourself with Jesus?
Post your answers on your blog and come back here and put your link in so we can read it! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers here.
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon Learning Speech Communication Skills
can ALSO be fun with Art of Eloquence!
Have you ever been disappointed by a friend? My daughter and I were talking about this the other day. It seems that friendship has taken a back seat these days. Neighbors aren't as neighborly. Friends aren't as friendly. People don't feel the need to come help a friend or get involved. Has friendship suffered a transformation? Have we lost something in the translation? Is friendship what it used to be?
The topic has come up several times in my family. People don’t always act the way they say they feel in being a friend to others. We have noticed that people seem to feel differently than we do about what it means to be a good friend. We have pondered whether life is just too busy or if things are not as important to people as they used to be. As we discussed it, we came to understand how we define a friend:
1. A friend is someone who calls (or emails or texts or whatever) regularly to keep in touch on their own. I have had friends over the years who never contacted me and then made the excuse they were busy. Yet when we would talk, I found that they weren’t too busy to spend several “lovely afternoons this past several months just sitting around with nothing to do”. I even had one friend tell me that they were so bored after a while that they had to look for things to keep themselves occupied, yet they never called me because they were too busy.
2. A friend is someone who will stick with you in fair weather or storms. Meaning they don’t call only when they need something or only when they have great news and they don’t abandon a friend when they are in need because it’s too difficult to deal with.
3. A true friend is someone who will share with you when you have spinach on your teeth but not do so in public! It is important for friends to tell each other the truth especially when it might affect them or others around them, but I have seen “friends” share delicate matters with others around making it an uncomfortable situation for all concerned including the innocent “byfrienders”.
4. A friend is someone who includes you when they make plans for things. I have seen friends invite others to do the things that they had been planning with one friend. Yet they never did get around to inviting that friend to the event. When they are reminded, their answer is usually “Well, we didn’t know what you were doing that day?”
5. A true friend doesn't allow a little misunderstanding to destroy a friendship that has been build over so many virtually trouble free years. We had all compared notes and had found that there has been a recent trend where friends will "write each other off" after a brief misunderstanding. Instead of being willing to forgive, they would rather hold a grudge. Instead of extending grace, they would rather take revenge. Instead of valuing a long friendship, they would rather lose that friendship than work it out.
6. A true friend needs to send the communication that says they care. If their words and actions are not congruent, we believe the actions. Actions speak louder than words. When someone is going through a period of hard times or difficulty, that is quite a different story! In that case, THEIR friends need to understand. If a friend forgets once in a while, we should forgive. However, if the actions consistently speak of neglect without a valid reason, it is hard for their friends to feel they really care.
How do you define friend? What communication tells you they are your friend? Is it just the words they speak or their actions that make you feel they really care?
From JoJo'sPurple Crayon Teaching communication skills the FUN way!
I was raised by two Atheists of Jewish heritage, married a non practicing Catholic and became a non denominational Christian due, in part, to some Amway meetings and a Jehovah's Witness who came to my door. My purple crayon writes with humor and almost always a little out of the lines.
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This blog is my creative and fun way of sharing my thoughts on communication skills relating mostly to homeschooling and sharing and defending the faith. It also reveals a bit about how the Lord took this shy Agnostic girl and allowed her to find her voice and her purpose, a zany voice to the Christian community with insight as to what unbelievers need to hear about Christ Jesus.
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I'll share news items, quotes, family friendly humor, tips, trivia, and my newest feature: Question of the Week. I invite you to come share your thoughts!
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For more creative fun with JoJo you can visit www.ArtofEloquence.com
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"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." -Proverbs 25:11
