I’m reading John C. Maxwell right for my Emerging Leaders 3 Program.  I’m only into the second chapter so far, but it’s great.  I’m not surprised though because I always like John’s books (I’m saying his first name like I know him).  Here is an exerpt from the book:

“I am your constant companion.  I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.  I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.  I am completely at your command.  Half of the things that you do you might as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.  I am easily managed-you must merely be firm with me.  Show me exactlyhow you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically.

I am the servant of all great men; and alas, of all failures as well.  Those who are great, I have made great.  Those who are failures, I have made failures.  I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a man.  You may run me for profit or run me for ruin-it makes no difference to me.  Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet.  Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

Who am I?  I am habit!”

• Source unknown

2. Have a BBQ at Cultus Lake.

3.  Go to the PNE and ride the wooden roller coaster.  Twice.

4. Have a slo-pitch game

5. Go Swimming.  Lots.

6.  Have Gelato at Mario’s.

7.  Go antique shopping.

8. Read outside.

9. Walk the seawall at Stanley Park.

10.  Spend quality time with people I love.

Okay I realized that I have been chirping at people to get on Twitter, but I haven’t really helped people to learn more about Twitter.  I was having appetizers with a few friends on Saturday and I was trying to get my point across about how awesome Twitter is.  Basically I just ended up sounding like a fanatical lunatic and my friends seemed even more confused about Twitter than ever.  Hopefully this post will help to end some of the confusion and get some of my friends (you know who you are) on Twitter.  First watch this short video called “Twitter in Plain English”.

Now I’ll try to break down some of the Twitter lingo for you.  At first I really didn’t get it at all which really frustrated me.  So I decided to go to Chapters and check out some Twitter books.  I didn’t want to pay to buy one, so I spent about 10 minutes scanning the books until I had a pretty good grasp on things.  Here are some of the basics:

What is Twitter?

Twitter allows people to follow sources most relevant to them and access information via Twitter as it happens-from breaking world news to updates from friends.  It also allows you to share real time information with your own followers.

Quick Twitter Info

Twitter has been known as a micro-blogging application because you have 140 characters to share whatever you want.  You follow the people, or organizations that you’re interested in getting updates from all of their posts (tweets) show up in your homepage feed.  In return, people can become your followers to see what you’re up to as well.

Glossary

Tweet: The message that someone types in Twitter.

@username: Adding the @ symbol before someone’s screen name lets you make sure that whatever you are writing ends up on the person’s page.  When it’s at the beginning of the sentence it’s a public reply to someone.

ReTweet (RT): This is how you forward or share someone else’s message with your followers.  Just add RT to the beginning of the message that you want to pass along.

Direct Message (DM): You can send a private message to someone you follow this way.  This keeps the message out of your public feed, but it’s still limited to 140 characters.

Hashtag (#): Hashtags help you categorize things on Twitter like companies, conferences, discussion topics, TV shows etc.  This makes it easier to for users to search tweets that have a common topic.  Hashtags also help create groups of people who have the same interests.

Example:  I’m loving the speakers at the #TrueIdentity conference!

Trending Topics: The most popular things that people are tweeting about will appear on the right side of the screen.  They’re also on the bottom of the Twitter homepage.

Tweetup: This is an in person meeting or gathering of people who are connected on twitter.

Other technology for Twittering:

URL shorteners: If you want to send a website link of a link to your blog there are several services that shrink a long URL into a much shorter obne so you don’t have to use as many of the 140 characters.

Examples:

• http://bit.ly
• http://tinyURL
• http://tr.im

Some of these programs will let you directly post to Twitter as well as track how many people click on the link.

Third Party Programs: There are many third party applications that help you manage Twitter more effectively.  Some allow you to organize tweets, automate tweets, shorten URL’s and integrate with other social media tools and mobile devices.

Examples:

• Tweetie for Mac (www.atebits.com)
• TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com)
• Twitteriffic (www.twitterrific.com)
• Twitpic: (www.twitpic.com)
• Twitterfeed (www.twitterfeed.com)
• iPhone/Blackberry Apps: UberTwitter, Twitter for iPhone

So hopefully this helps clarify things a bit for y’all.  Please post any questions, comments or suggestions that you have and I will do my best to respond.  I suggest that you all go to www.twitter.com and sign up today!  Start playing around and you’ll get used to it in no time.

They had authority—authority they misused—authority that changed who she was. Nikki Duna was abandoned, betrayed, unloved and abused. Traumatized by her experiences, she became a heroine addict at age 13 and fled for the mean streets of Victoria, B.C.

Nikki grew up without any sense of what it means to be loved, wanted and cared for. At birth she was abandoned by her parents, who couldn’t afford or feed her, and placed in an abusive orphanage in Romania. At age three, she was adopted by a Canadian couple who promised her a safe and loving home in Victoria. What happened in this home altered the course of her life.

Members of Hells Angels, Nikki’s adoptive parents participated in organized crime. At home, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual and physical assaults, occurred daily. “I never called them mom and dad,” says Nikki. “They just used me. I was weak and they were powerful.” At age nine, in an attempt to dull hurt and pain, Nikki took to drinking and smoking cigarettes.

At age 11 Nikki was raped and became pregnant by her father. A couple years later she was again raped and became pregnant. This time by her adopted brother. Both times her mother enforced secrecy by threatening her with death.

At age 13 Nikki found the courage to report her father’s rape to the police and social services. She was removed from the home and placed in foster care. Over six years she was in 15 different foster homes. “I was tired of being passed around,” says Nikki. “I felt like an outsider, a mistake, and didn’t know why this was happening to me.”

When foster care didn’t work out Nikki took to the streets. “I slept in backyards, in bus shelters and bus stations,” says Nikki. “I craved attention and affection, and spent time with the wrong men, which resulted in four miscarriages. I started selling illegal drugs and was dependent on crack cocaine and heroine. I was initiated into a gang and participated in criminal activity for five years. I was tough as nails.”

Throughout her teens Nikki frequently questioned her self-worth and ability to cope with her issues. Many times she resorted to cutting, prescription drug overdose and alcohol abuse to the point of poisoning. “I just wanted out,” says Nikki.

Each suicide attempt found her in hospital emergency rooms. Doctors’ compassion eventually ran thin and they recommended long-term, residential psychiatric care. At this point Nikki took action. She was willing to get serious about moving forward with her life.

In 2009, she successfully completed Teen Challenge’s 14-month, faith-based, residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in Abbotsford B.C. She has been clean for more than two years.

Following graduation Nikki was employed at the centre for a year. Then, she was ready to return to society as a responsible citizen. She was referred to The Salvation Army’s Gateway of Hope in Langley, B.C. Here, transitional housing provides her a trustworthy, loving environment with good values while she searches for a stable home.

The Gateway of Hope, a modern, state of the art facility, officially opened its doors in late 2009. The three-storey development provides 30 emergency shelter beds and 25 supportive independent living transitional beds for the homeless or those at risk of homelessness in the community. But the facility offers more than shelter.

Since moving to the centre in April 2010, 22-year-old Nikki has completed the Food Safe course and is in the Cooking for Life program. Here she will learn how to budget and get the most out of her money when grocery shopping. She’ll get practical tips and hands-on experience. She also volunteers at the centre. “I’m excited to do this,” says Nikki, “and make positive changes in my life.”

While living in transitional housing she will also work on life skills, and a budgeting course. All of these services will get her on the right track to independency and moving out of transitional housing.

“The Salvation Army’s unconditional commitment is helping me to succeed in making good choices,” says Nikki. “Their encouragement makes me want to keep going. Here I feel loved, valued and part of a family.”

Nikki’s Before Picture on her first day at Teen Challenge:

This is Nikki today.  What a transformation!!  Praise God!

Yesterday I had the joy of watching this lovely couple tie the knot.  This was quite an emotional wedding for me and I think a lot of other people because of the triumph that Mike has had over drug addiction.  It is such a great testimony of God’s grace and redeeming power.  God can truly give us beauty for ashes.  God has restored Mike’s life and given him such a beautiful gift; Jessica!!  I’m so excited for them and I know that God is going to bless their life together.

I recently signed up for Twitter and I love it!!!  Twitter is totally different than Facebook and is awesome in a different way.  Twitter is a micro-blogging service and it lets you “tweet” short posts of up to 140 characters.  You can also “retweet” other peoples tweets and direct message people.  You aren’t friends with anyone, you follow people/businesses etc. and they follow you.  I can spend 5 minutes on Twitter and sift through a huge amount of information.  For example these are some of the people/organizations that I follow:

• Rick Warren
• Catalyst Leader
• Collide Magazine
• Food Network Channel
• Design Sponge
• Sean Sabourin
• Daniel Snyder
• Miss 604
• Vancouver Sun
• Mashable

And the list goes on!  I am able to catch up on the latest news, leadership trends, events, social media and technology info, recipes etc.  just by logging in to Twitter.  Twitter is also a great tool to meet and network with people from all over the world.  I am also able to share my ideas and thoughts, raise awareness about issues and events and drive traffic to my blog.  Seriously Twitter kicks butt; so sign up already!!!  For more info about Twitter go to: http://twitter.com/about.