 |
(this story came by e-mail from my nephew. It is so true, that I just
had to share it with you)
Something to Keep in Mind
Philosophy
I don't know if Charles Shultz actually penned this.
But it offers a pretty healthy perspective for anyone.
Charles Schultz Philosophy
You don't actually have to take the quiz. Just read the email straight
through, and you'll get the point, an awesome one, that it is trying to
make!
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and
actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.
How did you do?
The point is, none of us remember the headliners of
yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in
their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are
forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.
Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.
Easier?
The lesson:
The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with
the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards.
They are the ones that care.
Pass this on to those people who have made a difference in your life.
Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in
Australia.
----- Charles Schultz
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a very touching story that is sure to warm the heart.
It came in my email from a friend......
THE WATER
It was one of the hottest days of the dry season. We had not seen rain in almost a month. The crops were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk. The creeks and streams were long gone back into the earth. It was a dry season that would bankrupt several farmers before it was through.
Every day, my husband and his brothers would go about the arduous process of trying to get water to the fields. Lately this process had involved taking a truck to the local water rendering plant and filling it up with water. But severe rationing had cut everyone off. If we didn't see some rain soon...we would lose everything.
It was on this day that I learned the true lesson of sharing and witnessed the only miracle I have seen with my own eyes. I was in the kitchen making lunch for my husband and his brothers when I saw my six-year-old son, Billy, walking toward the woods. He wasn't walking with the usual carefree abandon of a youth but with a serious purpose. I could only see his back.
He was obviously walking with a great effort... trying to be as still as possible.
Minutes after he disappeared into the woods, he came running out again, toward the house. I went back to making sandwiches; thinking that whatever task he had been doing was completed.
Moments later, however, he was once again walking in that slow purposeful stride toward the woods. This activity went on for an hour: walk carefully to the woods, run back to the house. Finally I couldn't take it any longer and I crept out of the house and followed him on his journey (being very careful not to be seen...as he was obviously doing important work and didn't need his Mommy checking up on him).
He was cupping both hands in front of him as he walked, being very careful not to spill the water he held in them... maybe two or three tablespoons were held in his tiny hands. I sneaked close as he went into the woods.
Branches and thorns slapped his little face, but he did not try to avoid them. He had a much higher purpose.
As I leaned in to spy on him, I saw the most amazing site. Several large deer loomed in front of him. Billy walked right up to them. I almost screamed for him to get away. A huge buck with elaborate antlers was dangerously close. But the buck did not threaten him...he didn't even move as Billy knelt down. And I saw a tiny fawn laying on the ground, obviously suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion, lift its head with great effort to lap up the water cupped in my beautiful boy's hand.
When the water was gone, Billy jumped up to run back to the house and I hid behind a tree. I followed him back to the house to a spigot to which we had shut off the water. Billy opened it all the way up and a small trickle began to creep out. He knelt there, letting the drip, drip slowly fill up his makeshift "cup," as the sun beat down on his little back. And it came clear to me: The trouble he had gotten into for playing with the hose the week before. The lecture he had received about the importance of not wasting water. The reason he didn't ask me to help him.
It took almost twenty minutes for the drops to fill his hands. When he stood up and began the trek back, I was there in front of him. His little eyes just filled with tears. "I'm not wasting," was all he said.
As he began his walk, I joined him...with a small pot of water from the kitchen. I let him tend to the fawn. I stayed away. It was his job. I stood on the edge of the woods watching the most beautiful heart I have ever known working so hard to save another life. As the tears that rolled down my face began to hit the ground, they were suddenly joined by other drops...and more drops...and more. I looked up at the sky. It was as if God, himself, was weeping with pride.
Some will probably say that this was all just a huge coincidence. That miracles don't really exist. That it was bound to rain sometime. And I can't argue with that... I'm not going to try. All I can say is that the rain that came that day saved our farm...just like the actions of one little boy saved another.
I don't know if anyone will read this...but I had to send it out. To honor the memory of my beautiful Billy, who was taken from me much too soon...
But not before showing me the true face of God, in a little, sunburned body.
-- Author Unknown
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(This came to me through email from a friend.)
Subject: Strange
This is pretty strange or odd how it
worked out this way. Or
IS IT???
What is the shortest chapter in the Bible?
Answer - Psalms 117
What is the longest chapter in the Bible?
Answer - Psalms 119
Which chapter is in the center of the Bible?
Answer - Psalms 118
Fact: There are 594 chapters before Psalms 118
Fact: There are 594 chapters after Psalms 118
Add these numbers up and you get 1188.
What is the center verse in the Bible?
Answer - Psalms 118:8
Does this verse say something significant about God's
perfect will for our lives?
The next time someone says they would like to find God's
perfect will for their lives and that they want to be in
the center of His will, just send them to the center of
His Word!
Psalms 118:8 (NKJV) -- "It is better to trust in the LORD
than to put confidence in man."
Now isn't that odd how this worked out (or was God in the center of it)?
When things get tough, always remember...
Faith doesn't get you around trouble,
it gets you through it !!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THIS CAME IN MY EMAIL. IT IS A WONDERFUL STORY.
I DO NOT KNOW THE AUTHOR.
This Flag 
It is the soldier, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the soldier,
who salutes the flag,
who serves under the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who allows the protester to burn the flag.
A protest raged on a courthouse lawn,
Round a makeshift stage they charged on,
Fifteen hundred or more they say,
Had come to burn a Flag that day.
A boy held up the folded Flag,
Cursed it, and called it a dirty rag.
An OLD MAN pushed through the angry crowd,
With a rusty shotgun shouldered proud.
His uniform jacket was old and tight,
He had polished each button, shiny and bright.
He crossed that stage with a soldier's grace,
Until he and the boy stood face to face.
"FREEDOM OF SPEECH," the OLD MAN said,
"is worth dying for, good men are dead,
So you can stand on this courthouse lawn,
And talk us down from dusk to dawn,
But before any Flag gets burned today,
This OLD MAN IS GOING TO HAVE HIS SAY!
My father died on a foreign shore,
In a war they said would end all war.
But Tommy and I wasn't even full grown,
Before we fought in a war of our own.
And Tommy died on Iwo Jima's beach,
In the shadow of a hill he couldn't quite reach
Where five good men raised this Flag so high,
That the WHOLE WORLD COULD SEE IT FLY.
I got this bum leg that I still drag,
Fighting for this same old Flag.
Now there's but one shot in this old gun,
So now it's time to decide which one,
Which one of you will follow our lead,
To stand and die for what you believe?
For as sure as there is a rising sun,
I 'm not gonna allow this Flag to burn son
Now this riot never came to pass
The crowd got quiet and that can of gas,
Got set aside as they walked away
To talk about what they had heard this day.
And the boy who had called it a "dirty rag,"
Handed the OLD SOLDIER the folded Flag.
So the battle of the Flag this day was won
By a tired OLD SOLDIER with a rusty gun,
Who for one last time, had to show to some,
THIS FLAG MAY FADE, BUT THESE COLORS DON'T RUN!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
God will lead us to do what will
bring Him the most glory.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If God brings you to it-----
He WILL lead you through it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Let us give Thanks
unto our Lord
For HE is Good!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(this story I received from a friend through email~~
something to think about)
Subject: the soldier
The following passage is from a sermon by John Hagee:
I want you to close your eyes and picture in your mind the soldier at
Valley Forge, as he holds his musket in his bloody hands.
He stands barefoot in the snow, starved from lack of food, wounded from
months of battle and emotionally scarred from the eternity away from his
family surrounded by nothing but death and carnage of war.
He stands though, with fire in his eyes and victory on his breath. He
looks at us now in anger and disgust and tells us this...
I gave you a birthright of freedom born in the Constitution and now your
children graduate too illiterate to read it.
I fought in the snow barefoot to give you the freedom to vote and you
stay at home because it rains.
I left my family destitute to give you the freedom of speech and you remain
silent on critical issues, because it might be bad for business.
I orphaned my children to give you a government to serve you and it has
stolen democracy from the people.
It's the soldier not the reporter who gives you the freedom of the press.
It's the soldier not the poet who gives you the freedom of speech.
It's the soldier not the campus organizer who allows you to demonstrate.
It's the soldier who salutes the flag, serves the flag, whose coffin is
draped with the flag that allows the protester to burn the flag!!!
"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect
us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us
in our time of need. I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
Amen."
Prayer Wheel:
When you read this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our
U.S. ground troops in Afghanistan, AND all over this world.
