Making An Impact

As always, Creation Health is apart of many different things all across the community! Here are a few things we have been involved in over the past few months...

First off, we have had the privilege of working with the fabulous kiddos of the GMS Devils on the Go program. In January, I gave them an overview of the CH letter principles C - Choice, R - Rest, E - Environment, A - Activity, T - Trust, I - Interpersonal Relationships, O - Outlook and N - Nutrition to encourage them on their wellness journey. Then again last week, I met them out on our beautiful trail, giving them a tote bag full of more CH goodies before sending them off on a little hike. I am so proud of these teachers and students who are modeling the importance of being active during this fantastic after school program!

We recently wrapped up Takoma's Biggest Loser contest, providing 25 CH tote bags full of goodies to those who completed the program. I am so proud of one of our awesome coaches, Jennie Smith (pictured far right) for winning the contest, and am so proud of another one of our awesome coaches, Tracy Green for coordinating the contest!

Over the past several months, we have been weeding out inactive coaches and have completed training for 7 new coaches, which gives us 17 strong, active CH coaches who are promoting and modeling CH principles in their departments to their co-workers and patients. New coaches also received CH tote bags full of goodies to help them get started!

Also, as you know, I am blessed to work with the fabulous kiddos of the Tusculum View Tiger Times program twice a month. In addition to this, I got to hand out CH tote bags full of goodies to the parents and kids who attended Parent Night back in February.

Finally, I had the privilege of speaking at the Roby Center once again, giving them an overview of the CH principles, encouraging them to make small changes that lead to big results. I hope you are staying dry during this crazy weather we have been having! Please let me know if you would like any CH materials (books, bookmarks, coloring books, crayons, pens, notepads, etc) for your organization!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County, the Head Volleyball Coach at Greeneville High School and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Minister of Music & Senior Adults at FBC Greeneville, and the momma of 2 sons, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

Tiger Times Fun

I have once again been given the opportunity to be a part of the Tiger Times program @ Tusculum View for the 3rd straight year. From January through May, I will be spending 2 afternoons a month with these awesome kiddos, teaching them the CREATION acronym principles C - Choice, R - Rest, E - Environment, A - Activity, T - Trust, I - Interpersonal Relationships, O - Outlook and N - Nutrition as they relate to our overall health and well-being, through the use of interactive games, videos and materials for them to take home with them. Working with students is one of my favorite things to do and I look forward to another semester of fun with them. So far, it is off to a great start!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County, the Head Volleyball Coach at Greeneville High School and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Minister of Music & Senior Adults at FBC Greeneville, and the momma of 2 sons, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

Tip of the Month!

We have some exciting new things going on around here these days! One of those things is our Monthly Newsletter, which contains a wellness Tip of the Month!

Our newsletter entitled Creation Health News circulates the hospital each month and in it, I report what has been going on with Creation Health as well as feature one of our fabulous coaches who has done a great job promoting the monthly wellness tip in their department.

Last month our tip was as follows:

As Easter approaches, make prayer a priority. A study of 560 households has shown that people who pray are happier, more satisfied and enjoy a deeper sense of well-being about the directions their lives are headed. Talking things through with God can help make situations clear. Today, make prayer your first response to a difficult situation. Not sure how to start? Begin by praising God for who He is and by thanking Him for your many blessings.

The above picture shows how Laurann Pierce promoted T - Trust in her unit at Takoma, by making these colorful Easter crosses and encouraging her co-workers to write what they are thankful for on each one. They now hang in the front office of Urgent Care/Industricare as a beautiful reminder of God's daily blessings!

For the month of April, our wellness tip is as follows:

As the days get longer and summer approaches, make exercise a priority in your schedule. Physical activity (also known as “The Fountain of Youth”) has been proven to prevent disease and enhance your quality of life. Today, try to be more active by parking farther away, by taking a 10 minute walk with a friend on your lunch break, or by adding strength-training to your workout routine.

I look forward to seeing what our coaches come up with this month to promote A - Activity!

As always, I am having a great time working with the kiddos at Tusculum View twice a month, teaching them how to be healthy and happy using the CREATION acronym along with fun, interactive games and videos. We are thankful for the gorgeous weather that has been allowing us to go outside during our last few times together!

Happy Spring, friends! Let's all add more active minutes and outside time to our daily routine! Who's with me?

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County, the Head Volleyball Coach at Greeneville High School and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Minister of Music & Senior Adults at FBC Greeneville, and the momma of 2 sons, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

Switching Gears: Back to Back Speaking Engagements!

As always, I had the privilege of working with these awesome kiddos after school, teaching them how to be healthy and happy using the CREATION acronym! This week we talked about the first 4 letters in the acronym C - Choice, R - Rest, E - Environment and A - Activity as they are related to our overall health and well-being. Next time we will discuss the last 4 letters T - Trust, I - Interpersonal Relationships, O - Outlook and N - Nutrition. It was so beautiful outside, we let them go out and play in the fresh air and sunshine for the final 10 minutes or so, to close out our fun time together!

The kids were probably wondering why I was so dressed up this time around, ha! But as soon as I left them, I headed to speak at the CHIP (Change is Possible) monthly dinner, held at the Greeneville SDA church. After enjoying a delicious healthy dinner, we discussed in depth R - Rest and how it directly impacts our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. Honestly, the Rest chapter is my favorite of all the Creation Health materials, I just love it when I get the chance to talk about it. I think it is because most of the time you hear about diet and exercise related to health and wellness, not rest. But there is a wealth of information out there about how much sleep and rest affect our weight, immune system, prevention of disease and overall well-being. I was pleasantly overwhelmed and fascinated the first time I heard it and it is so fun to be able to give myself and others permission to take a break, say no and simply enjoy life! God created rest in the beginning. It was a forethought, not an afterthought. It is not for the weak or faint of heart, but for all. It is a gift given at creation, so that we can enjoy all that God has done and made, and all that we have accomplished, while simultaneously being restored for the next thing He has for us to do.

That said, are you getting enough rest? In our busy, 24/7 connected society it is not something that is just going to happen. You must plan for it. Schedule it. Make it a priority. Go ahead, I am giving you permission!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County, the Head Volleyball Coach at Greeneville High School and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Minister of Music & Senior Adults at FBC Greeneville, and the momma of 2 sons, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

The One With The Whip Nae Nae!

This week when I went to Tusculum View Elementary School to work with the kiddos, it was my 2nd visit of the month so we discussed the last 4 letters in the acronym CREATION as they relate to our health & wellness, using interactive games & videos as usual. But this time, we finished a few minutes early which gave them the opportunity to share some of their favorite videos with me for "active" time. I just had to snap some shots of them dancing & singing to the music! So fun!

Wave your hands in the air like you just don't care!

Watch me Whip!

Watch me Nae Nae!

As always, I left them with a parting gift and counted it my privilege that I get to work with these awesome people twice a month!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County, the Head Volleyball Coach at Greeneville High School and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Minister of Music & Senior Adults at FBC Greeneville, and the momma of 2 sons, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

Tiger Times & GMS Tour

I always love working with the kiddos around town & this week I had the opportunity to work with them on 2 different occasions!

Once again, I have been given the privilege of leading Tiger Times @ Tusculum View Elementary twice a month after school this semester, which started back this week. On my first visit each month, we discuss the first 4 letters in the CREATION acronym related to our health & well-being & on the second visit, we discuss the last 4 letters. Each time we incorporate fun interactive activities & I leave them with a small gift. It is always a good time!

This week I also had the opportunity to work with a group from GMS during their tour of Takoma Hospital. I gave them a quick overview of the CREATION acronym, teaching them how Choices, Rest, Environment, Activity, Trust, Interpersonal Relationships, Outlook & Nutrition affect our overall health & well-being. I left them with bookmarks, as well as coloring books & crayons before they moved on to the next stop on their tour. They were a great group of listeners & participants!

Hope you are having a great 2016 so far, be sure to let us know if you need a speaker or materials for your next event!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County, the Head Volleyball Coach at Greeneville High School and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Minister of Music & Senior Adults at FBC Greeneville, and the momma of 2 sons, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

Rising Stars!

It has been a gorgeous spring week around here and the perfect weather for touring some of the finest health and wellness spots in the area, including Takoma's Creation Health Nature Trail, the Laughlin Walking Trail and Rural Resources. 

The Tennessee Department of Health's Rising Stars committee came into town, along with some business men and women from New York, to hear about the innovative things being done here in Greene County to promote health and wellness, not just through Creation Health but through our health department and health council, both of our hospitals, as well as Rural Resources.

It was a joy to spend the better part of a day with them, beginning with a round table discussion, followed by the tours and then ending with a picnic lunch. I am proud to report that this is (at least) the second time in the past year that groups of people have come here to study Greene County's health and wellness emphasis, so that they can use us as a model community on a national level.

It was another shifting gears kind of day, as I left there and headed to Tusculum View to lead the Tiger Times after school program as I have been doing twice a month all semester. Since it was my 2nd visit of the month, we talked about the last 4 letters in the CREATION acronym, T-I-O-N and then went outside to enjoy the beautiful fresh air and sunshine while getting in some activity time on the playground.

Unfortunately this was my final visit of the school year, because school is out next month. Crazy! I do look forward to the upcoming summer months though, since I get to spend most of my days working with kiddos. Last summer alone, I worked with 350+ kids through the YMCA, the Boys & Girls Club and the GCS summer program. I take my boys with me and we have a blast doing fun activities while learning about health and wellness!

Earlier this week, I was fortunate to be apart of the local March for Babies walk, where I set-up a booth of CH materials and talked with those interested in the program. It was another full week for Creation Health - Greene County!

Happy Weekend, friends!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County, the Head Volleyball Coach at Greeneville High School and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Minister of Music & Senior Adults at FBC Greeneville, and the momma of 2 sons, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

My Love/Hate Relationship...with spring!

I believe I remember saying something here a few weeks ago about "bring on spring."

Springtime has always been my absolute favorite time of the year...sunshine, flip flops, tulips, watching my son play baseball, worshiping a Risen Savior, the end of school and celebrating everyone in my family's birthday.

Well, I take it all back!!! ;) Ever since we moved to East TN, I suffer tremendously this time of year despite the year-round allergy shots and other treatments I am on! 

Okay, it's still my favorite time of year, BUT this week has been rough I will admit. In fact, I had to postpone my weekly seminar with the City of Greeneville as a result, which means I have nothing to report as far as that goes.

But I do have a few other exciting things to report!

Two of my awesome coaches helped me put up this lovely Creation Health display which sits right inside the entrance to the Takoma Cafe. It is our hope that people will learn and memorize what each letter in the CREATION acronym stands for and then we can have a fun little contest to see who knows their letters!

I also had the privilege of working with the kiddos out at Tusculum View two times again this month. As usual, I used fun activities and demonstrations to discuss letters C-R-E-A the first time I came to see them and then did the same for letters T-I-O-N during my second visit. And now that we are having such nice weather, we were able to go outside at the end of our time together both times I was there!

Hope you are enjoying this beautiful spring weather, maybe next week will not be so rough for all of us who suffer from allergies! :)

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County, the Head Volleyball Coach at Greeneville High School and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Minister of Music & Senior Adults at FBC Greeneville, and the momma of 2 sons, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

Office with a View

I believe I failed to mentioned that I now have an office space at both Takoma and Laughlin!

I have always worked from home and set my own schedule with this job, which makes it the perfect flexible job for our busy family life. At the same time, it is so nice to now have an office space at each hospital, where I can meet with people, get work done and store things, particularly on the days that I am on site or the days that I just need to get out of the house. ;)

This is the view from my Laughlin office. Isn't it lovely? Just this past week I hosted a meeting in it, my 3rd one so far, and it was very productive. Not only was I able to add another coach on site, but my new coach and I discussed ideas for some exciting things coming up inside the hospital, which I will share when there are more concrete details.

I got to work with a new group of kids during the Tusculum View Tiger Times after school program again this week and I held my 2nd seminar of the spring session (R - Rest) at Public Works for the city employees.

It was yet another great week in the life of Creation Health - Greene County!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County, the Head Volleyball Coach at Greeneville High School and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Minister of Music & Senior Adults at FBC Greeneville, and the momma of 2 sons, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

Tiger Times

Each month, I have the privilege of working with the Tiger Times students at Tusculum View Elementary School on the 2nd and 3rd Tuesday of that month. We have a great time together, learning about the 8 guiding principles that affect our overall health and wellness. On the 2nd Tuesday of the month, we discuss in detail the first 4 letter principles, C - Choice, R - Rest, E - Environment, A - Activity and how they specifically relate to our health.

This past week was the 3rd Tuesday of the month, so we discussed in detail the last 4 letter principles, T - Trust, I - Interpersonal Relationships, O - Outlook and N - Nutrition. As always, we played interactive games to teach these health principles, and I got to leave them with some Creation Health goodies on my way out.

Next month, I look forward to doing it all again with a new group of students!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County, the Head Volleyball Coach at Greeneville High School and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Minister of Music & Senior Adults at FBC Greeneville, and the momma of 2 sons, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.

Switching Gears

This past Tuesday, January 13th, I was honored to speak at the Andrew Johnson Women's Club and take part in their monthly morning meeting/luncheon.

There were 65+ women in attendance and I was in awe of the gorgeous facility/decorations.

The room was absolutely beautiful and the women were just as lovely.

Perfect winter decor if you ask me.

I gave an overview of Creation Health and the 8 guiding principles that affect our overall health and well-being, relating each one to the meeting's "Home Life" theme by showing easy ways to apply these principles at home and passing out all 80 books that I had with me. A few highlights of the event were the delicious catered meal, the wonderful company and the pretty piano accompaniment.

As soon as lunch was over, I switched gears, changed clothes and headed to Tusculum View Elementary, where I had fun teaching the kids about the 8 guiding principles using interactive games and videos. I will actually be working with this Tiger Times crew the 2nd and 3rd Tuesday of every month throughout the remaining school year and I look forward to seeing them again next week.

It has been so much fun for me to work with all kinds of groups and people related to Creation Health (even in the same day) and I am reminded that the principles apply to anyone who is looking to improve their overall health and well-being! Be sure to contact us if you need a speaker at your next event!

About the Author: Erin Franklin is the Creation Health Coordinator for Greene County, the Head Volleyball Coach at Greeneville High School and the Founder/Director at Worthy of the Prize Sports Ministries. Erin has a BBA in Marketing and Management from TCU and a Masters of Christian Education in Church Recreation from Southwestern Seminary. She is a published, award-winning author and poet. Purchase her book Worthy of the Prize Sports Camps: A Church's Guide to Implementing an Effective, Community-Reaching Christian Sports Camp to be used as an outreach tool for your church or mission organization, and her ebook find joy in the journey: how 12 women could face tomorrow just because He lives for inspiring stories of women who found overwhelming joy despite their circumstances. Erin is the wife of Aaron, the Minister of Music & Senior Adults at FBC Greeneville, and the momma of 2 sons, Anderson and EJ. Click here for full bio.