~MAY YOU~


~May you find serenity and tranquility in a world you may not always understand.~

~May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life facing each new situation with courage and optimism.~

~Always know that there are those whose love and understanding will always be there, even when you feel most alone. May a kind word, a reassuring touch, and a warm smile be yours every day of your life, and may you give these gifts as well as receive them.~

~May the teachings of those you admire become a part of you, so that you may call upon them. Remember, those whose lives you have touched and who have touched yours are always a part of you, even if the encounters were less than you would have wished. It is the content of the encounter that is more important than its form.~

~May you not become too concerned with material matters, but instead place immeasurable value on the goodness in your heart. Find time in each day to see beauty and love in the world around you.~

~Realize that what you feel you lack in one regard you may be more than compensated for in another. What you feel you lack in the present may become one of your strengths in the future. May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility.~

~Learn to view everything as a worthwhile experience. May you find enough inner strenth to determine your own worth by yourself, and not be dependent on another's judgement of your accomplishments.~

~Amen~
~Author Unknown~


~WHAT IF GOD HAD VOICE MAIL~


~Imagine praying and hearing this; "Thank you for calling My Father's House. Please select one of the following options: Press 1 for Requests Press 2 for Thanksgiving Press 3 for Complaints Press 4 for all other inquiries"~

~What if God used this familiar excuse: "I'm sorry, all the angels are helping other customers right now. Please stay on the line. Your call is important to us and will be answered in the order in which it was received." Can you imagine getting these kinds of responses as you call God in prayer:~

~If you would like to speak to Gabriel, press 1. For Michael, press 2. For a directory of other angels, press 3. If you'd like to hear King David sing a Psalm while you are holding, press 4. To find out if a loved one has been assigned to Heaven, press 5, enter his Social Security number followed by the pound key. For reservations to My Father's House, press the letters J-O-H-N, then 3-1-6.~

~For nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the earth, and where Noah's ark is, please wait until you arrive here. Our computers show that you have already called once today. Please hang up and try again tomorrow. This office is closed for the weekend. Please call again on Monday after 9:00 a.m.~

~Thank GOD, we can call on Him any time, day or night!~

~Author Unknown~


~HOW TO BE A ROLE MODEL~


      ~Hey, I have some great news for you. Anyone can be a role model. You don't have to be famous to be a role model. You don't have to be a superstar, an athlete, an actor, professional or a super-talented individual. All that it takes to be a role model is a sincere desire to do the right thing. A sincere love for yourself and for other people wouldn't hurt either. What are the benefits of being a role model? Well, you get a lot of respect from family and people, but most importantly, by being a role model you put yourself in a position to make an impact. You just never know who you might inspire to greatness! Will you inspire the next Nobel prize winner, will you inspire the next great athlete, will you inspire the next great leader?  You just never know. If you decide to take this oath, do it because you know it's the right thing to do. Join me and take the oath that will forever change your life. Here's The Official Role Model Oath:~

~I promise to always be honest, to always speak the truth. I promise to respect all people and to treat others how I would like to be treated. I will begin by treating myself with respect and with love. And by that I mean that I will only do those things that build me up, I will do things that make me a better person, I will do things that are good for me. I will avoid negative thoughts and I will avoid putting myself down. I believe in myself. I know I can do anything I set my mind on. I believe in my abilities. I will not believe people who put me down. I will not allow myself to think thoughts that bring me down; I will focus on positive thoughts, thoughts that will make me strong. I will learn more about how to be a positive person. I will read positive books. My goal is to be the greatest person that I can be, and no one and nothing will stand in the way of this. From now on, I will live my life with this goal in mind. There is no stopping me! I will make better decisions, I will treat myself better and I will be a nicer person to all.~

~I'm a brand new person. I promise to learn more about relationships, and I will be wiser in the area of relationships. I deserve to be treated  with respect and I deserve a great relationship, where I am truly loved. I promise to not settle for less and I will not tolerate less than the best. Someday I will be a great marriage partner.  If I'm single, I will be a happy single person. As a single person I will learn all I can about what makes a positive relationship and I will prepare myself for that special love relationship. I will not let myself be used or abused in a relationship. I will never rely on another person for my happiness. I rely on myself and on GOD for my happiness. This inner happiness that I have found I will someday share with a person who has also found this happiness and now wants to share it with me. I accept myself as I am, and I'm much happier with who I am because I have decided to live a positive life. I will continue to do good because I know that I have the power to make a difference in other people's lives. I believe one of the basic reasons we are all here is to help one another. I will pray when I need strength, and I will seek GOD for any help that I might need. I understand that I am not perfect, but I accept my faults and move forward with a new vision and a new direction. My faults will fade away with time because I will constantly be improving myself.  The day will arrive when I will be the masterpiece that GOD intended for me to be. And on that day I will know the big purpose for my being here. I________________Promise on this day of_______________to take control of my life and to live a positive life from this day on.~
__________________________________. Sign and Date. Print this out and save it in a special place!

~FORGIVENESS~


~Warning . . . don't go any further without a kleenex.~

~The hospital was unusually quiet that bleak January evening, quiet and still like the air before a storm. I stood in the nurses' station on the seventh floor and glanced at the clock. It was 9 P.M. I threw a stethoscope around my neck and headed for room 712, last room on the hall. Room 712 had a new patient. Mr. Williams. A man all alone. A man strangely silent about his family.~

~As I entered the room, Mr. Williams looked up eagerly, but drooped his eyes when he saw it was only me, his nurse. I pressed the stethoscope over his chest and listened. Strong, slow, even beating. Just what I wanted to hear. There seemed little indication he had suffered a slight heart attack a few hours earlier.~

~He looked up from his starched white bed. "Nurse, would you -- " He hesitated, tears filling his eyes. Once before he had started to ask me a question, but changed his mind. I touched his hand, waiting. He brushed away a tear. "Would you call my daughter? Tell her I've had a heart attack. A slight one. You see, I live alone and she is the only family I have." His respiration suddenly speeded up. I turned his nasal oxygen up to eight liters a minute. "Of course I'll call her," I said, studying his face. He gripped the sheets and pulled himself forward, his face tense with urgency. "Will you call her right away -- as soon as you can?"~

~He was breathing fast -- too fast. "I'll call her the very first thing," I said, patting his shoulder. I flipped off the light. He closed his eyes, such young blue eyes in his 50 - year -- old face. Room 712 was dark except for a faint night light under the sink. Oxygen gurgled in the green tubes above his bed. Reluctant to leave~

~I moved through the shadowy silence to the window. The panes were cold. Below a foggy mist curled through the hospital parking lot. "Nurse," he called, "could you get me a pencil and paper?" I dug a scrap of yellow and a pen from my pocket and set it on the bedside table.~

~I walked back to the nurses' station and sat in a squeaky swivel chair by the phone. Mr. Williams's daughter was listed on his chart as the next of kin. I got her number from information and dialed. Her soft voice answered. "Janie, this is Sue Kidd, a registered nurse at the hospital. I'm calling about your father. He was admitted tonight with a slight heart attack and -- "No!" she screamed into the phone, startling me. "He's not dying is he ?"~

~"His condition is stable at the moment," I said, trying hard to sound convincing. Silence. I bit my lip. "You must not let him die!" she said. Her voice was so utterly compelling that my hand trembled on the phone. "He is getting the very best care." "But you don't understand," she pleaded. "My daddy and I haven't spoken since my 21st birthday, we had a fight over my boyfriend. I ran out of the house. I-I haven't been back. All these months I've wanted to go to him for forgiveness. The last thing I said to him was, 'I hate you."~

~Her voice cracked and I heard her heave great agonizing sobs. I sat, listening, tears burning my eyes. A father and a daughter, so lost to each other. Then I was thinking of my own father, many miles away It has been so long since I had said, "I love you." As Janie struggled to control her tears, I breathed a prayer. "Please God, let this daughter find forgiveness." "I'm coming. Now! I'll be there in 30 minutes," she said. Click. She had hung up.~

~I tried to busy myself with a stack of charts on the desk. I couldn't concentrate. Room 712; I knew I had to get back to 712. I hurried down the hall nearly in a run. I opened the door. Mr. Williams lay unmoving. I reached for his pulse. There was none. "Code 99, Room 712. Code 99. Stat."~

~The alert was shooting through the hospital within seconds after I called the switchboard through the intercom by the bed. Mr. Williams had had a cardiac arrest. With lightning speed I leveled the bed and bent over his mouth, breathing air into his lungs (twice). I positioned my hands over his chest and compressed. One, two, three. I tried to count. At fifteen I moved back to his mouth and breathed as deeply as I could. Where was help? Again I compressed and breathed, Compressed and breathed. He could not die! "O God," I prayed. "His daughter is coming. Don't let it end this way."~

~The door burst open. Doctors and nurses poured into the room pushing emergency equipment. A doctor took over the manual compression of the heart. A tube was inserted through his mouth as an airway. Nurses plunged syringes of medicine into the intravenous tubing. I connected the heart monitor. Nothing. Not a beat. My own heart pounded. "God, don't let it end like this. Not in bitterness and hatred. His daughter is coming. Let her find peace."~

~"Stand back" cried a doctor. I handed him the paddles for the electrical shock to the heart. He placed them on Mr. Williams's chest. Over and over we tried. But nothing. No response. Mr. Williams was dead. A nurse unplugged the oxygen. The gurgling stopped. One by one they left, grim and silent. How could this happen? How? I stood by his bed, stunned. A cold wind rattled the window, pelting the panes with snow. Outside - everywhere -- seemed a bed of blackness, cold and dark. How could I face his daughter?~

~When I left the room, I saw her against a wall by a water fountain. A doctor who had been inside 712 only moments before stood at her side, talking to her, gripping her elbow. Then he moved on, leaving her slumped against the wall. Such pathetic hurt reflected from her face. Such wounded eyes. She knew. The doctor had told her that her father was gone. I took her hand and led her into the nurses'lounge.~

~We sat on little green stools, neither saying a word. She stared straight ahead at a pharmaceutical calendar, glass-faced, almost breakable-looking. "Janie, I'm so, so sorry," I said. It was pitifully inadequate. "I never hated him, you know. I loved him," she said. God, please help her, I thought.~

~Suddenly she whirled toward me. "I want to see him." My first thought was, Why put yourself through more pain? Seeing him will only make it worse. But I got up and wrapped my arm around her. We walked slowly down the corridor to 712. Outside the door I squeezed her hand, wishing she would change her mind about going inside. She pushed open the door. We moved to the bed, huddled together, taking small steps in unison.~

~Janie leaned over the bed and buried her face in the sheets. I tried not to look at her at this sad, sad good-bye. I backed against the bedside table. My hand fell upon a scrap of yellow paper. I picked it up. It read: My dearest Janie, I forgive you. I pray you will also forgive me. I know that you love me. I love you too, Daddy. The note was shaking in my hands as I thrust it toward Janie. She read it once. Then twice. Her tormented face grew radiant. Peace began to glisten in her eyes. She hugged the scrap of paper to her breast.~

~"Thank You, God," I whispered, looking up at the window. A few crystal stars blinked through the blackness. A snowflake hit the window and melted away, gone forever. Life seemed as fragile as a snowflake on the window. But thank You, God, that relationships, sometimes fragile as snowflakes, can be mended together again -- but there is not a moment to spare. I crept from the room and hurried to the phone. I would call my father. I would say, "I love you."~

~From me to you, do not wait until it is to late to tell those that you love that you do care. You might be missing the greatest joy of your life. This story touched me in a very profound way. I hope you gain as much joy as I did. So if you haven't talk to your father, mother, brothers, sisters. friends etc ... give them a call today and say ...~

~I LOVE YOU!!!~



~A TRUE STORY~


~Here is a true story about a nine year old boy who lived in a rural town in Tennessee. His house was in a poor area of the community. A church there had a bus ministry that came knocking on his door one Saturday afternoon. The child came to answer the door and greeted the bus pastor. The bus pastor asked if his parents were home and the small boy told him that his parents take off every weekend and leave him at home to take care of his little brother.~

~The bus pastor couldn't believe what the child said and asked him to repeat it. The youngster gave the same answer and the bus pastor asked to come in and talk with him. They went into the living room and sat down on an old couch with the foam and springs exposed. The bus pastor asked the child, "Where do you go to church?" The young boy surprised the visitor by replying, "I've never been to church in my whole life." The bus pastor thought to himself about the fact that his church was less than three miles from the child's house. "Are you sure you have never been to church?" he asked again. "I'm sure I haven't," came his answer.~

~Then the bus pastor said, "Well, son, more important than going to church, have you ever heard the greatest love story ever told?" and then he proceeded to share the Gospel with this little nine year old boy. The young lad's heart began to be tenderized and at the end of the bus pastor's story, the bus pastor asked if the boy wanted to receive this free gift from God. The youngster exclaimed, "OF COURSE!" The child and the bus pastor got on their knees and the lad invited Jesus into his little heart and received the free gift of salvation.~

~They both stood up and the bus pastor asked if he could pick the child up for church the next morning. "Sure," the nine year old replied. The bus pastor got to the house early the next morning and found the lights off. He let himself in and snaked his way through the house and found the little boy asleep in his bed. He woke up the little boy and his brother and helped get them dressed. They got on the bus and ate a doughnut for breakfast on their way to church. Keep in mind that this boy had never been to church before. The church was a real big one. The little child just sat there, clue less of what was going on. A few minutes into the service, these tall unhappy guys walked down to the front and picked up some wooden plates.~

~One of the men prayed and the child, with utter fascination, watched them walk up and down the aisles. He still didn't know what was going on. All of a sudden, like a bolt of lightning, it hit the child what was taking place. These people must be giving money to Jesus. He then reflected on the free gift of life he had received just twenty-four hours earlier. He immediately searched his pockets, front and back, and couldn't find a thing to give Jesus. By this time the offering plate was being passed down his aisle and, with a broken heart, he just grabbed the plate and held on to it. He finally let go and watched it pass on down the aisle.~

~He turned around to see it passed down the aisle behind him. And then his eyes remained glued on the plate as it was passed back and forth, back and forth all the way to the rear of the sanctuary. Then he had an idea. This little nine year old boy, in front of God and everybody, got up out of his seat. He walked about eight rows back,grabbed the usher by the coat and asked to hold the plate one more time.~

~Then he did the most astounding thing I have ever heard of. He took the plate, sat it on the carpeted church floor and stepped into the center of it. As he stood there, he lifted his little head up and said, "Jesus, I don't have anything to give you today, but just me. I give you me!"~

~Author Unknown~





~SOFTLY AND TENDERLY~