Clay Aiken: Clay Balls-something to ponder.

Wow, what a dream boat! But I get distracted,

sorry!
The following story really isn't about Clay Aiken,

Something to read and ponder.

Clay Balls

A man was exploring caves by the seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.

He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!

Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left.

Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time.. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!




It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it.

We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.

Hope we do not come to the end of life and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay.

I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have. Thank you for looking beyond My clay vessel.

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends, family and all people you love!

Life is too short and friends are too few.

Thanks to luvtigr (Donna in Wi) for this story.



This tale does relate to Clay Aiken after all, as so many haven't taken the time to find the treasures he provides, not only with his music but all the wonderful work he does to help others, especially children.

Only one of them is his program for inclusion. See:

The Bubel/Aiken Foundation - Inclusion the Right Thing To Do





Thank you Clay and friends, you are all jewels!

Technorati Tags: Clay Aiken Kids, Bubel/Aiken, inclusion, jewels, treasure

Clay Aiken Rockin' Robins

Happy 6th Year Anniversary Clay Nation

What a marvellous and exciting 6 years with Clay Aiken.

The Best is Yet to Come!






music clip from Clay's Jukebox Tour 2005



Rockin' Robins




Clay Aiken with autographed Sir Robin Teddy Bear representing Spamalot.

The Broadway Bears for BC/EFA auction for this teddy and other top Broadway bears began on January 23rd. The on-line bidding will continue until February 14th, 2009.





Thank you to ymarie for writing this beautiful and so true "What is the True Measure of a Man".





Katy4Clay, Thank you for this gorgeous photo of Clay from the GFI.





Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard, (2003 & 2009) buddies since American Idol 2.



ICI, Bubel/Aiken Foundation Unveil New Inclusive Service Learning Program for Youth

The Institute on Community Integration (ICI) and The Bubel/Aiken Foundation are unveiling a new inclusive service learning program, Together We Make a Difference, that brings together K-12 students with and without disabilities to make a positive difference in their communities. The program, developed through a three-year, $190,400 grant from the Foundation to ICI, has as its goals to engage all youth in service learning, and teach social and life skills to children of all abilities while helping to dispel stereotypes about people with disabilities.

Within the next month the first resource developed by the program will be released: Together We Make a Difference: An Inclusive Service Learning Curriculum for Elementary Learners With and Without Disabilities. It is the first of three curricula for use in schools and youth-serving organizations, with the other two designed for middle school and high school learners and due out later in 2009.

Read the rest of this great article here: Institute on Community Integration




video time

Right Here Waiting
tugger (BAF Gala 10-18-08....video by jojoct)

YouTube link: Right Here Waiting


GFI 2009 Medley-Enhanced
Yollie950 - video by Golden Girl

Awesome!




YT link:
GFI 2009 Medley-Enhanced
Yollie950







WINTER Poem

It's winter in Canada
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At thirty-five below.

Oh, how I love Canada
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Canada
Cuz I'm frozen to the ground!


Have a great day...