Ep. 32 - The Wax Apple Ft. Diana Vallette - Find the Good News with Oran Parker

I don’t think Diana Vallette knew that she was one of the many inspirations behind Find the Good News. How could she? We’d never met face-to-face, and we didn’t really know each other all that well. I’d been watching Diana’s activity online for quite a while before asking her to visit with me, and I was intrigued by the person so willing to share her spiritual journey. Who was this Catholic mother that was making these really personal videos, sharing her inner thoughts, questions, concerns, insecurities, and doubts? After doing a bit of digging what I discovered was a woman whose testimony revealed she had been an atheist, living in a framework that outlined any kind of God or Creator as a fictional story that adults like to tell themselves, not all that different from the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, or Santa Clause, a narrative that had been imprinted on her as a child. As all children do, Diana grew up, and eventually grew out of atheism and into a relationship with God. I might be wrong, but I believe that it was her doubt and insecurities about a Creator that has created her ability to reach people the way she does. Diana is on a path of authentic discovery, and what it seems she’s discovered is a way to approach friendship with God in a humble, authentic way, and she’s been called to share what she’s learned with others. That path isn’t always smooth or pretty. She’s doesn’t pretend to be a bright and shiny Catholic that has all the answers; she presents herself plainly and without a veil. She is showing other seekers that you can approach the Creator in doubt, fear, worry, and confusion. She’s found an embrace waiting on the other side of all those things. She’s been called to speak, to write, to share, even though she’s clearly been terrified to do any of those things. Regardless, she has stepped out front anyway,… and she’s sometimes taken the heat that comes with it. Her willingness to share encouraged me to share many things that I’ve kept to myself, things I’ve doubted, things I’ve feared. I share them for the same reason that she does, in the hope that by sharing the truth it will motivate another to find a spiritual path. I highly value people that allow themselves to be seen as they are; we need more of that in this world. By revealing our true faces we can have more authentic relationships. This is the face God sees, and if we’re being honest with ourselves it’s the face we recognize too, though we may fear to show it to the world. Diana Vallette is touching people by putting her true face forward and there are very real, very good fruits to picked from what she’s growing. 

==========

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT DIANA VALLETTE >> www.facebook.com/DianaVDorta or www.instagram.com/dianadivulges or www.dianadivulges.com

==========

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com

==========

SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS

•••••••••••••

BEN VON DUKE'S HANDYMAN SERVICE >> www.facebook.com/BenVonDukeMaint or Call (337) 540-1355

•••••••••••••

ASAP GLASS >> www.ASAPGlassCo.com or Call (337) 527-5455

•••••••••••••

BRIMSTONE MUSEUM >> www.brimstonemuseum.org or Call (337) 527-0357

•••••••••••••

Ep. 31 - The Windblown Seed Ft. Adley Cormier - Find the Good News with Oran Parker

I had no idea what was in store for me the day that local historian and author of “Lost Lake Charles" Adley Cormier sat down in my vehicle to do a ride along as part of a historic tour project in Lake Charles, Louisiana. At every stop, corner, street, and ally, Adley had some information or intimate knowledge. I was fascinated by how quickly he could reveal the history of seemingly insignificant places and landmarks, pointing out interesting and forgotten details the brought me back in time. I left that ride along wanting to hear more. Though many years had passed since we’d spoken, I wanted to get Adley on Find the Good News and continue that conversation. When I made the request, Adley enthusiastically agreed. That’s the thing that I enjoyed most about our conversation; his enthusiasm. When he speaks of Southwest Louisiana history there is an energy, joy, and honesty that makes the spaces come to life. Adley moves time backward and forward with ease, bringing you to the Spanish Louisiana coast when the Acadians arrived, on to the business exploits of the infamous privateer Jean Lafitte, through the great Lake Charles fire. These are the legendary people and events we’ve all heard of, the tales we think we know, but Adley reveals a minutia of details—tiny things—sprinkled through our history, binding one thing to the other, an infinite number of dominos falling in every direction building a chain of events that affect the lives of each person living in our region today. His uncanny ability to pull threads between seemingly disconnected moments in local history is really something to behold. Adley sees the web that weaves through the timeline and how it affects every generation in turn. hen you get a glimpse at if from Adley’s perspective you want to see more. What he shares helps generate a sense of place, culture, value, and honestly… tolerance. When we know where we come from we can see that we are not all that different from others. For me, that’s one of the first steps in generating understanding. That’s one of the gifts of Adley’s willingness to share. I’m glad that history put Adley and me together for that ride along all those years ago. That one little moment in my personal history led to Adley sharing his good news with me, and now I get to share that with you.

==========

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT ADLEY CORMIER >> www.facebook.com/adley.cormier 

==========

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com

==========

SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS

•••••••••••••

BEN VON DUKE'S HANDYMAN SERVICE >> www.facebook.com/BenVonDukeMaint or Call (337) 540-1355

•••••••••••••

ASAP GLASS >> www.ASAPGlassCo.com or Call (337) 527-5455

•••••••••••••

BRIMSTONE MUSEUM >> www.brimstonemuseum.org or Call (337) 527-0357

•••••••••••••

Ep. 30 - The Naturalist Ft. Irvin Louque - Find the Good News with Oran Parker

Irvin Louque, the Tuten Park Programs Manager for the City of Lake Charles, came by and visited me on Find the Good News. Through his job as Programs Manager, Irvin has an opportunity to impact and educate the community on exactly how important it is to kindly consider and engage the natural world with care. After talking with Irvin, I’ve learned that I need to change my language, because there is no "natural world" over there, around the corner, or in some faraway place that we have to visit. Irvin stresses that the beauty and diversity of the natural world is everywhere, not just in our city parks and nature retreats, and it’s certainly not something to be feared. He reminds that we can touch nature in our yards, our homes, and within ourselves. It seems to me that this is his mission, to cultivate an individual and social awareness about the relationships between people, creatures, and the environments we all share. He’s furthered that mission by forming the Southwest Louisiana Master Naturalists, a group that regularly offers nature observation, study courses, and events, including backyard bird counts, nature walks, insect studies, as well as plant species identification and management. To be honest, I didn’t know all of these activities existed right here in Southwest Louisiana and that I could take part. Making efforts to harbor a high consideration for nature and its processes is not just a paying job for Irvin Louque; It’s a way of life. He has turned his childhood interest in our flying feathered brethren into a profession and message that is sorely needed today more than ever; we share this world and we need to live like it. We should strive towards deeper looking, conscious production and consumption, and consider the relationships, the interbeing, between ourselves, our environments, and the tapestry of life that we engage with each and every day. From Irvin’s perspective, it seems, everything is important and is worth understanding. The energy Irvin Louque puts toward sharing his knowledge is good news for the places and spaces that make up our homes, our communities, and for the other children of creation, we share them with.

==========

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT IRVIN LOUQUE >> www.facebook.com/ilouque or www.instagram.com/ilouque 

==========

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com

==========

SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS

•••••••••••••

BEN VON DUKE'S HANDYMAN SERVICE >> www.facebook.com/BenVonDukeMaint or Call (337) 540-1355

•••••••••••••

ASAP GLASS >> www.ASAPGlassCo.com or Call (337) 527-5455

•••••••••••••

BRIMSTONE MUSEUM >> www.brimstonemuseum.org or Call (337) 527-0357

•••••••••••••

Ep. 29 - The Elemental Fusion Ft. Carl & Chelsea Boudreaux - Find the Good News with Oran Parker

Carl & Chelsea Boudreaux—the owners of the Yoga Center in Lake Charles and Stellar Beans Coffee House and Edibles—came in for a visit on Find the Good News. The three of us used to orbit some of the same friend-groups in high school. For as much as you think you know about people, there’s an ever-unfolding amount that you don’t. This was especially true for me regarding this couple. It had been over 20 years since I’d spoken to Carl or Chelsea, and as it turns out, we had a lot in common back in the 90s, and even more in common now. Most people open businesses to make money—I mean that’s the bottom line and quite the point—but in visiting with Carl & Chelsea I picked up on something else, a motivation outside the realm of profit-and-loss. Life, as it does, put stress on these two. They took the hint. They intuited that they needed to make a change in their professional lives, a change that would reduce their stress levels, increase their overall well-being, and refocus their energies toward being a service to others and to each other. That’s exactly what they did. With Carl’s early interest and practice of Zen Buddhist meditation and Chelsea’s adoption of Yoga for health benefits, they were poised to be the right people at the right time to do what they did next. Carl & Chelsea Boudreaux took the individual elements of their lives, the raw goods they’d gathered in their journey together and fused them into a direction that gave birth to The Yoga Center of Lake Charles, providing a solid center for peace, health, and equanimity in downtown Lake Charles. They’ve spread that energy from the Yoga Center to Stellar Beans—the living room of Lake Charles—which is right next door. Between the two spaces, you’ll find a karmic loop of events and activities open and accessible to everyone. Sometimes we know the spaces and the places that make a city home, but we don’t know the stories, the little details, the auspicious circumstances and synchronistic events that have to tumble into place to bring good things to life. With the pairing of this lovely couple—my new old friends Carl & Chelsea Boudreaux—the stars aligned, the bones fell just right, and some really good things were planted right here at home.

 ==========

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT CARL BOUDREAUX >> www.facebook.com/boudahhh  CHELSEA BOUDREAUX >> www.facebook.com/chelsea.g.boudreaux THE YOGA CENTER OF LAKE CHARLES >> www.yogalakecharles.com or STELLAR BEANS COFFEE HOUSE & EDIBLES >> www.stellarbeanscafe.com