COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL March 4, 2015
9A
G RANTS
Continued from page 3A
“Most people don’t realize
that food stamps pay for food
and not hygiene items,” said
Director Mike Fleck. “They’re
a huge expense, and we go
through them like crazy.”
Bohemia Mining Days, Inc.
– BMD Essential Equipment,
$1,000 grant: The Bohemia
Mining Days Board of Directors
will use this grant to purchase
tables, chairs and trash cans for
the annual festival that can also
be used by other community
groups.
Cottage Theatre – ‘Do You
Know What Your Neighbors
Are Doing Thursday Night?,’
$1,000 grant: Executive Direc-
tor Susan Goes said the Theatre
is extending special promotion-
al efforts to add Thursday shows
to its typical weekend lineups.
“We’ve had so many sold-
out weekend performances that
we’ll be adding Thursday shows
all year,” Goes said. Thursday
shows are also expected to ap-
peal more to Cottage Grove
residents who don’t have to
travel far to enjoy a show on a
weekday.
“Our attendance by locals
had decreased to about 30 per-
cent last year, but it used to be
closer to 45 percent,” Goes said.
“We’ve decided to do focused
promotion for the Thursday
shows, including direct mail-
ings to the local zip code.”
Family Relief Nursery
— Developmental Screening
Support, $1,000 grant: Fam-
ily Relief Nursery aims to use
its grant funding to ensure that
its young clients are screened
for any developmental delays
between the ages of birth and 60
months. Survey kits in English
and Spanish will be purchased
to provide an early development
assessment for each child, with
the hope that children who re-
quire early interventions can be
caught up with their peers by the
time they reach school age.
furnishes many South Lane
students with the backpack and
other supplies they’ll need to
start school that year.
Parent Partnership —
McKinney School Supply
Giveaway, $1,000 grant: Each
fall, Parent Partnership hosts
a school supply giveaway that
Cultural Grants
Womenspace — Direct Cli-
ent Aid for IPV Survivors,
$1,000 grant: Grant funding
helps Womenspace fund the
needs of victims of inter-part-
ner violence, needs such as bus
passes to remove a victim from
a diffi cult situation or hotel
room rentals in Eugene to help
victims fi nd a safe place follow-
ing an incident.
Coast Fork Willamette Wa-
tershed Council – STREAM
Watershed Education Pro-
gram, $1,000 grant: The Wa-
tershed Council will use its grant
funding to support its work with
local schools, including fi eld
days for students and water
quality and stream assessment
projects that utilize students’
energies, according to Director
Pam Reber.
Safety/Medical
Services Grant:
Warren
H
Daugherty
Aquatic Center – Family Fun
and Lifejackets, $750 grant:
Pool Manager Carrie McCasline
said the water basketball hoop
and innertubes purchased with
the grant should help the pool
attract more families. The pool
is purchasing life jackets for a
giveaway during its annual Wa-
ter Safety Play Day, scheduled
this year for May 30.
The Community Foundation
plans to celebrate with these
non-profi t organizations at a
Community Grant Awards cer-
emony on Tuesday, March 17
from noon to 1 p.m. in the Shep-
herd Room of the Community
Center. The public is invited to
attend.
The Foundation is a public
non-profi t organization to help
improve the quality of life for
residents of the City of Cottage
Grove and surrounding commu-
nities.
Pitiful or powerful? Learning to get our
minds off ourselves and bless others
D
o you want to be happy—
I mean, really happy? I
believe that deep down we all
want to be happy and enjoy our
lives. We can spend a lot of time
and energy trying to do things
that will make us happy, but
our own efforts will never truly
satisfy us. That’s because God
doesn’t want our minds to be on
ourselves all the time. He wants
us to look past the things that
are happening in our own lives
and reach out to others and bless
them. Because when our focus
is on ourselves, we can end up
feeling sorry for ourselves and
6
face the danger of self-pity.
I used to have a real problem
with self-pity. I felt sorry for
myself because I’d been abused
by my dad, and sometimes I felt
sorry for myself when my hus-
band, Dave, got to go out and
play golf while I stayed home
with our kids. I wasted so many
days having pity parties for all
types of reasons.
In the fi rst few years of our
marriage, Dave tried to keep
me happy, while I carried on
with a bad attitude. But one day
he fi nally told me, “You know
what? I’m not spending my life
-day
weather forecast
THURSDAY March 5
FRIDAY March 6
35° | 63°
36° | 65°
Mostly Sunny
Partly Cloudy
SATURDAY March 7
SUNDAY March 8
38° | 65°
41° | 66°
trying to make you happy. You
can get happy or not get happy,
but I’m going to be happy. I’m
not going to feel sorry for you
because it won’t help you.” And
you know, even though it was
really hard to hear at the time, it
was the best thing he could have
said to me. Because when you
struggle with self-pity, if other
people feel sorry for you it just
feeds the problem.
Now that doesn’t mean we
can never be sad. But we need
to understand that if we hang on
to our pain for too long, it can
become self-pity, and we can
become addicted to it. The good
news is God gives us the tools
to work through our feelings in
a healthy way and not let them
control us.
Years ago, when God was
dealing with me about this sub-
ject, He brought me to Galatians
5:19-21 (AMP), which gives
a list of things the Bible calls
sin. It says, “Now the doings
(practices) of the fl esh are clear
(obvious): they are immorality,
impurity, indecency, Idolatry,
sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy,
anger (ill temper), selfi shness,
divisions (dissensions), party
spirit (factions, sects with pe-
culiar opinions, heresies), envy,
drunkenness, carousing, and the
like….”
As I was studying those scrip-
tures, I thought, “Well, self-pity
is not on the list.” Then I got an
eye-opening revelation: It is on
the list because self-pity is actu-
ally idolatry. When we feel sor-
ry for ourselves, we turn inward
and idolize ourselves…essen-
tially everything becomes about
“me.” People who are focused
on themselves never see what
they can and should be doing
for other people.
We should have compassion
for other people who are hurt-
ing. In the Bible, we see times
when Jesus was moved with
compassion, and then He would
go and help people. If we can be
moved with sympathy toward
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others and keep our mind off of
ourselves, we will be much hap-
pier. We will also trust God to
meet our needs and bring justice
in our lives when we are hurting
or mistreated, rather than get-
ting into self-pity.
The Bible says in Hebrews
11:6 (AMP), “…For whoever
would come near to God must
[necessarily] believe that God
exists and that He is the re-
warder of those who earnestly
and diligently seek Him [out].”
That means God rewards those
who are faithful and who wait
on Him. If you’ve been hurt in
your life and you have put your
trust and confi dence in God and
you’re waiting on Him, you
have a reward coming!
I want to encourage you to
keep a notebook of your bless-
ings, the special little things that
God does for you, prayers that
He answers. And when you’re
tempted to have a pity party, go
get that book out and have a talk
with yourself.
King David talked to him-
self when he started to feel de-
pressed. He said, “Why are you
cast down, O my inner self?
And why should you moan over
me and be disquieted within
me? Hope in God and wait ex-
Mostly Sunny
MONDAY March 9
TUESDAY Nov. 10
40° | 64°
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Mostly Sunny
Partly Cloudy
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FIRE & RESCUE
The Only Emergency Medical
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Cottage Grove Dental
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pectantly for Him, for I shall yet
praise Him, my Help and my
God” (Psalm 42:5 AMP).
I am so thankful that God is al-
lowing me to take what has hap-
pened to me and use it to help
other people. The best treatment
in the world for sadness and
self-pity is to help somebody
else. That’s when we get our
minds off of our own problems
and trust God to help us and do
what’s best for us.
No matter what happens, be
determined—with God’s help—
to keep a good attitude, remain
thankful and avoid self-pity.
Then God will bring restoration,
peace, joy and real happiness to
your life.
Dr. Brent Bitner, DDS
350 Washington, Cottage Grove (behind Better Bodies)
541.942.7934
Community Public Education:
• CPR/AED
• Heart Attack Recognition
• Fall Prevention • Stroke Prevention
• Fire Prevention • Fire Extinguishers
• Fire-Med Membership
Call 541-942-4493 for info.
FOR EMERGENCY DIAL 911
South Lane County Fire & Rescue
@southlanefi re
www.southlanefi re.org
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Offer good thru April 2015