An excerpt from Create Anyway: The Joy of Pursuing Creativity in the Margins of Motherhood In the Gospel of John, there’s a story about a large crowd following Jesus that becomes hungry (hey moms, sound familiar?). A boy appears with […]

It’s no secret that culture is more important than vision. I’ve worked in creative, vibrant cultures where original thinking is valued, people listen to each other, and wonderful things happen. On the other hand, I’ve worked at organizations where you […]

He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers (Exodus 35:35). When I was a little […]

Mitali Perkins is the author of many novels and picture books for young readers, including National Book Award nominee “You Bring the Distant Near” and “Rickshaw Girl,” which was adapted as a movie. Her latest book is “Bare Tree and […]

Let’s talk for a minute about “perfect.” Perfect is brittle and unyielding, plastic, distant, more image than flesh. It keeps us isolated and exhausted, trying to reach some ideal that never comes.  And so, instead: present. If perfect is plastic, […]

And what to look for while you shop Have you ever walked into a thrift store, seen items in every direction and felt like you just didn’t know where to look or what to pick up? Or how you’d use […]

Sometimes when we’re stuck, we need to hire a therapist, and other times, we simply need to tell ourselves the truth. We might avoid the truth, dance around the truth, be terrified of the truth, or like to spin the […]

It’s Christmas 2020 and nothing is as it should be, it seems—or at least, it’s not the sort of holiday season we’ve come to expect. To provide some holiday encouragement this year, we’ve compiled a list of Christmas songs from […]

By Michael Card– The Nazarene had come to live The life of everyman And He felt the fascination Of the stars And as He wandered thru this weary world He wondered and He wept For there were so few Who’d […]

What was that certain kind of sleigh?  Or the gift from my one true love?  Or the prettiest sight to see?  Test your Christmas carols trivia in this 10-question quiz.  Complete the quiz to discover the correct answers!  Loading… Bonus […]

I’ve seen it 500 times. How rapt the listening faces are at hearing another’s words. How surprised writers are when they hear their own words aloud: Dave reading about his mother’s diagnosis of lung cancer. Joan telling about her daughter’s […]

This year, we commemorate 50 years of Earth Day, a celebration of our planet and all its beauty. And it all started half a century ago on April 22, 1970––a day that launched the modern environmental movement, according to the […]

The bulk of my education has come from something I can fit in my wallet. As a little girl, I got my first glimpse at what true passion feels like when I got a library card. I will never forget […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended life for literally billions of people across the world, confronting nearly every industry with a litany of decisions that might’ve seemed incomprehensible just three months ago. Many employers have adopted work-from-home policies as stopgap measures […]

If you’re home this week, self-isolating and helping to “flatten the curve,” here’s 10 episodes of the Do Gooders Podcast to help you use this “hard break” to find joy, define your core values, learn more about The Salvation Army’s […]

Did you know we have some 50,000 storage facilities in the U.S.? That’s more than the number of Starbucks and McDonald’s locations combined.  One estimate cites the number of items inside the average American home at 300,000. But what purpose […]

The idea of living a simple life with less stuff sounds attractive to many. But often, they begin to feel overwhelmed, anxious, and defeated around the idea of owning less. That’s too bad. Learning how to declutter your home and […]

Who knew social media could bring over 50 recovering addicts from The Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center to a place of hope, through art? After admiring the work of Bay Area artist Brian Arriaga, we reached out. Through different pieces […]

Halloween is quickly creeping up, and you don’t want to be left out in the dark without a costume! But no need to fear, The Salvation Army is here. For those last-minute costumes, look to your nearest Salvation Army Family […]

If you want to take a beautiful photograph, point your camera at a beautiful thing. That seems simple enough, but it is amazing how many people miss this most basic rule. Once you have found something beautiful to photograph, here […]

I’ve spent the past two years learning about zero-waste, melting ice in the Antarctic, tears in the ozone layer and our overall environmental crisis. The issues at hand seemed, to say the least, big. And the options we have to […]

One of the most inspiring perks we’re lucky enough to have at Buffer is a free Kindle for each teammate (and her family!) and as many free Kindle books as you like, no questions asked. When we share what we’re […]

Whether it’s a single stem or a bouquet, flowers make us feel emotion. The gift of flowers expresses love, joy, sorrow, and often so much more. For centuries, flowers have been given as gifts, and for good reason: They are […]

“Hygge,” pronounced hoo-gah, is a Danish word for capturing a moment of bliss and an arguably healthy obsession of the way one views and lives life. It’s “the Danish art of coziness,” as explained by VisitDenmark. You know when you’re […]

If you’ve ever taken a trip on the London Underground, you cannot have missed the myriad signs pointing travelers in the direction of the “way out.” In operation since 1863, this network of trains ferrying passengers through the subterranean circuits […]

Handmade quilts serve as empowerment for women in recovery.   When Barbara Kelly heard about The Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Program (ARP) in Chico, California, during a yoga class, she decided to encourage the women seeking treatment there the best […]

How art can heal and bring people together When art meets people where they are, magical things can happen. Even better: when art heals people in some of the most dark or unexpected places through song, dance, the written word […]

Our very first classroom was the nursery. Our first teachers were the voices who read the lines from someone’s imagination, the ones wild with hue. Children’s books have a peculiarly ingenious way of simplifying and beautifying the art of learning […]

Here are the brands and items we’re loving for the summer, because they are making an impact. Purchasing these items will help better the world, from partnering with nonprofits to empower women to funding park projects. Parker Clay In partnership […]

“Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no one else has thought.” –Albert Einstein It’s important for us, as parents, to promote creativity with our children, encouraging them to think out of the box to make […]

The season of summer can be an interesting one: it might be travel, more work, kids are out of school—or even boring. However, this season might be one where you find true rest. I used to think that “resting” meant […]

Employee and Salvationist Erick Rodriguez uses lettering for good Be kind. Be relentless. Be strong. If an artistic expression could choose its cause, Erick Rodriguez’s Instagram presence would be a call to a lifestyle of good, full of vim and […]

In St. Louis, a missional community builds young leaders.   They gathered around 6 p.m. on a balmy Sunday evening, in a large backyard rimmed by rustling trees, the shaggy carpet of grass underfoot growing slightly dewy with Midwestern humidity. […]

Chances are that your schedule is booked 9-5, calendar is filled with family activities and routines, and any extra hours are filled with miscellaneous necessities. Perhaps, a deep breath and one of these activities will be able to refresh your […]

Enabling creativity takes a few key ingredients, like courage, childlike wonder, and character. Courage will enable you to invest, sacrifice, risk. Childlike wonder unlocks the world around you in a new and imaginative light. Character will give you the confidence […]

We are created beings by our creator, God, therefore, we have creativity coursing through our very veins. Growing into the person God has made us to be is to grow into the mold of goodness and beauty that perpetuates and […]

Caught in the everyday routine of life, I realized I needed to renew my relationship with God and be spiritually challenged. I wanted to try a new way to worship the Lord—one that would take me out of my comfort […]

When I first watched the children’s movie “Coco” with my daughter, I got emotional, not just because of the beautiful story it tells about family, but also because my little girl’s Mexican culture was finally represented in mainstream cinema. There […]

Five creative date ideas to bond as a couple After having children, married couples may tend to get caught up in the routine of everyday life. Sometimes in the middle of the chaos of getting the kids ready for school, […]

After addressing the press and the American people on one of the darkest days in United States history, Sept. 11, 2001, Congress showed a rare expression of unity when it spontaneously burst into “God Bless America” on the steps of […]

Exploring a reel spirituality “If I am simply critical of the culture, the culture is going to be dismissive of me. If we’re going to be effective in our outreach and evangelism, and if we’re going to really know ourselves—because we’re […]

“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” – Albert Einstein When creatives and artists decide to make the community more beautiful or spread a message that we need to hear, we can’t help but join in, either through watching, helping or […]

Netflix is awesome. We all know it. We’ve all fallen down that dark hole where we forget what day it is and we just keep clicking and watching. But it doesn’t really give us life or get us out into […]

I most experience God when I am writing to and with him. The practice of Bible journaling was a breath of fresh air for me. It combines my love language with the one who gives me that love. However, I […]

In those things that appear to set us apart, you might uncover the beauty in our diversity and our shared humanity. Have you ever been afraid of failing at something, only to realize that the real trouble is you are […]

App collection lets kids create, test, play and learn Much like the way a good book can offer a new window to what is beyond our own domain, so too can interactive technology help kids make connections about their world. […]

It’s an important part of living a life of gratitude. Celebration breeds excitement. We celebrate recurring events such as birthdays, anniversaries and holidays as well as the milestones such as, graduations, promotions, weddings, adoptions and births. We throw large parties […]

“Elf” An accidental elf, raised in the North Pole, who brings holiday cheer to New York will have you singing carols and eating sweets in no time. “Miracle on 34th Street” A young lawyer defends a man claiming to be […]

“Without music, life would be a mistake.” – Friedrich Nietzsche Which songs connect with the deepest part of your being? Music is the language of the soul. Surely, at some point in your life you’ve connected—at the very deepest part […]

Over and over, the American palate has undergone major transformations. That’s because what we put in our mouths is directly related to how new immigrants help America reinvent its cultural identity. America loves to call itself a “nation of immigrants” […]

Art helped a former Los Angeles gang member find God It wasn’t until the beating stopped that 12-year-old Fabian Debora realized he was officially a gang member. “Covered in blood I walked over to my cousin and told him that […]

“There is a growing awareness of the impact of inequality…Young artists are connected to social movements or to their ideologies through social media, and this will inevitably affect their interests and their work.” – Suzanne Lacy A new wave of […]

For 66 years, The Salvation Army’s Los Angeles Red Shield has sat in the heart of the city’s Pico-Union neighborhood, a crowded community just west of downtown long plagued by poverty and gang violence. “There’s just a lot of history […]

Carving out a successful career in music can prove a tall task, but a growing number of musicians are discovering an unlikely launchpad: The Salvation Army. Special occasions at the White House often mean special performances from the United States […]

Colette Miller couldn’t help but notice all of the vast blank walls and canvases in Los Angeles. They’d look better covered with something there, she thought. But not ads. Instead, she envisioned big, bright angel wings. So one day in […]

Architectural designer Macy Miller downsized her home by 90 percent and lives larger than ever. For many Americans, one-third to one-half of their income is earmarked for the roof over their heads, and nearly half of Americans are living in […]

Disability is redefining genius Have I actually understood? This weird quirk I try To suppress or hide Is a talent that could Help me meet the Wizard – Stephen Schwartz (Lyrics from “The Wizard and I” in the Broadway Musical […]

Nigel Skeet has been photographing some of Rock & Roll’s greatest like Van Halen, Bon Jovi and Poison, to name a few, since arriving in L.A. in 1986.  But now, his focus has shifted to capturing the inner rock star […]

Kids In The Spotlight trains young filmmakers and connects them to industry opportunities. Dressed in a golden and navy sundress, and draped in a sapphire wrap, Tige Charity greets everyone—film directors, actors and producers—whom she rallied together. After listening intently […]

What is it that draws us in? Just west of Albuquerque, N.M., is Petroglyph National Monument. The centuries-old symbols inscribed in the rock faces are the art of people long ago. Archeologists and anthropologists studying petroglyphs ask not only with […]

Poverty and the Arts diminishes class lines and offers community.   Kateri Pomeroy, 63, has lived on the streets over two years. Arthritis limits her mobility, let alone her job prospects. Art provides solace. “I find it spiritually soothing…[and] therapeutic, […]

The Sacred Year Michael Yankoski shares his own story of experimenting with spiritual practices in “The Sacred Year” (Thomas Nelson, 2014), and how he found a meaningful faith. He guides the reader on a pilgrimage of exploring practices that usher […]

Art therapy communicates symbolically to aid in recovery. “Can I do this? What I see in my mind, what I feel in my heart, will it show up?” An artist stares at her canvas uncertain yet excited. She longs to […]

The Salvation Army builds character through music and art One of the greatest gifts a child can receive is the gift of creativity. Whether that gift is bestowed in the form of music, theater, dance or fine art, the ability […]

Everything is dark—you can’t make out figures and shapes, and you stumble to gather your footing. This is every day for Louis Posen; he’s legally blind. Yet Posen has been right at the helm of Hopeless Records for the last […]

Bridget Hilton doesn’t go a day without music in her life. The raw energy of live shows, the soft hiss of vinyl on a record player, the soul and grit of rock ‘n’ roll––it’s all second nature to her. Growing […]

After consistently seeing more women at events on trafficking than men, Stephanie Lorenzo, Project Futures founder, was surprised to hear a man speak about the issue. Canadian journalist Victor Malarek said the way to stop trafficking was through prevention. “Malarek […]

It started with a vibrant pocket on a simple shirt. A pocket with a purpose. “We worked into the hours of the early morning to create a single pocket,” Povertees founder Tyler Patterson said. “After hours of trial and error, […]

The Salvation Army is helping students in Kenya tap into their right-brain potential, improve their English and overcome stage fright—all through puppets. Sixty students at Kakamega Township Secondary School in Kakamega, Kenya, put on a show for over 200 individuals, […]

“This place is huge!” one student shouted––a sentiment echoed by twenty design students as they walked through the warehouse at The Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC) in Anaheim, Calif. These students would spend countless hours here over the next two […]

Nonprofits partner for photovoice workshops Three years following the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked Haiti, The Salvation Army continues to work in affected communities toward tangible recovery. The Army is rebuilding its own Delmas 2 compound, a mainstay in Port-au-Prince […]

Church redesign mixes coffee shop and living room [huge_it_slider id=”2″] Couches, coffee tables, state-of-the-art stage, art gallery and fair trade coffee bar—it sounds like the local coffee shop, but this is High Point Community Church. “High Point is comfortable,” said […]

Online sales turn a profit for the ARCs. [dropcap style=”normal or inverse or boxed”]D[/dropcap]on’t judge a book by its cover, just scan the ISBN. At one time, large cardboard boxes full of discarded books sat on the floor of Salvation Army […]

“Art and Shelter” exhibits paintings and photographs at Alegria. In the Silver Lake community of Los Angeles, The Salvation Army’s Alegria—a transitional housing program for homeless families affected by HIV and AIDS—is also home to a unique “Art and Shelter” series, […]