From Your Father

Good Morning:

I am the Lord your God. Today I will be handling
all of your problems. Please remember that I do
not need your help. If the devil happens to deliver
a situation to you that you cannot handle, DO
NOT attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it in the
SFJTD (something for Jesus to do) box. It
will be addressed in MY time, not yours.
Once the matter is placed into the box, do not
hold on to it or attempt to remove it. Holding on
or removal will delay the resolution of your
problem. If it is a situation that you think you
are capable of handling, please consult me in
prayer to be sure that it is the proper resolution.
Because I do not sleep nor do I slumber, there is
no need for you to lose any sleep. Rest my child.
If you need to contact me, I am only a prayer away.

Love Eternally,

The Lord your God

P.S. Please pass this on to all my other kids.

Following the Leader

John Henry Fabre, the great French naturalist, conducted a most unusual
experiment with some processionary caterpillars. These caterpillars
blindly follow the one in front of them. Hence, the name. Fabre carefully
arranged them in a circle around the rim of a flowerpot, so that the lead
caterpillar actually touched the last one, making a complete circle. In
the center of the flowerpot he put pine needles, which is the food of the
processionary caterpillar. The caterpillars started around this circular
flowerpot.

Around and around they went, hour after hour, day after day, night after
night. For seven full days and seven full nights, they went around the
flowerpot. Finally, they dropped dead of starvation and exhaustion. With
an abundance of food less than six inches away, they literally starved to
death, because they confused activity with accomplishment.

Many people make the same mistake and, as a result, reap only a small
fraction of the harvest life has to offer. Despite the fact that untold
wealth lies within reach, they acquire very little of it because they
blindly, without question, follow the crowd in a circle to nowhere. They
follow methods and procedures for no other reason than “It’s always been
done that way.”

Zig Ziglar

Flying

Once upon a time there was a little boy who was raised in an orphanage.

The little boy had always wished that he could fly like a bird. It was
very difficult for him to understand why he could not fly. There were
birds at the zoo that were much bigger than he, and they could fly.

“Why can’t I?” he thought. “Is there something wrong with me?” he wondered.

There was another little boy who was crippled. He had always wished that
he could walk and run like other little boys and girls.

“Why can’t I be like them?” he thought.

One day the little orphan boy who had wanted to fly like a bird ran away
from the orphanage. He came upon a park where he saw the little boy who
could not walk or run playing in the sandbox.

He ran over to the little boy and asked him if he had ever wanted to fly
like a bird.

“No,” said the little boy who could not walk or run. “But I have wondered
what it would be like to walk and run like other boys and girls.”

“That is very sad,” said the little boy who wanted to fly. “Do you think we
could be friends?” he said to the little boy in the sandbox.

“Sure,” said the little boy.

The two little boys played for hours. They made sand castles and made
really funny sounds with their mouths. Sounds which made them laugh real
hard. Then the little boy’s father came with a wheelchair to pick up his
son. The little boy who had always wanted to fly ran over to the boy’s
father and whispered something into his ear.

“That would be OK,” said the man.

The little boy who had always wanted to fly like a bird ran over to his new
friend and said, “You are my only friend and I wish that there was
something that I could do to make you walk and run like other little boys
and girls. But I can’t. But there is something that I can do for you.”

The little orphan boy turned around and told his new friend to slide up
onto his back. He then began to run across the grass. Faster and faster
he ran, carrying the little crippled boy on his back. Faster and harder he
ran across the park. Harder and harder he made his legs travel. Soon the
wind just whistled across the two little boys’ faces.

The little boy’s father began to cry as he watched his beautiful little
crippled son flapping his arms up and down in the wind, all the while
yelling at the top of his voice,

“I’M FLYING, DADDY. I’M FLYING!”

Roger Dean Kiser, Sr., Florida
Found at: Heartwarmers4u

Healing Garden

This is my healing garden
where loving care resides,
everyone’s always welcome here
so please do come inside.
.
Know that you have friends here
that really truly care,
and will listen to your troubles
with sympathetic ears.
.
We are here to comfort you
our feelings most sincere,
with loving care within our hearts
we’ll put away your fears.
.
We’ll teach you how to understand
to let hate and anger go,
and let the sadness and the pain
away….so gently flow.
.
When you let the sadness slide
and let your heart forgive,
and accept the life God gave to you
then you have learned to live.
.
Welcome to my garden friend
where healing hearts reside,
it doesn’t matter who you are
you’re welcome here inside.

verse by shari

Good Corn

James Bender, in his book How to Talk Well (New York: McGraw-Hill Book
Company, Inc., 1994) relates the story of a farmer who grew
award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair
where it won a blue ribbon. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed
him and learned something interesting about how he grew it.

The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his
neighbors. “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your
neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each
year?” the reporter asked.

“Why sir,” said the farmer, “didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen
from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my
neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade
the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my
neighbors grow good corn.”

He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot
improve unless his neighbor’s corn also improves.

So it is in other dimensions. Those who choose to be at peace must help
their neighbors to be at peace. Those who choose to live well must help
others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it
touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find
happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must
help our neighbors grow good corn.

Author Unknown

Life (the long span)

The long span of the bridge of your life is supported
by countless cables called habits, attitudes, and desires.
What you do in life depends upon what you are and
what you want. What you get from life depends on
how much you want it – how much you are willing to
work and plan and co-operate and use your resources.
The long span of the bridge of your life is supported by
countless cables that you are spinning now, and that is
why today is such an important day. Make the cables
strong.

L.G. Elliott

Coach’s Speech, The

As he took the field, he glanced over all of his players. Some
had returned from last season, while others were playing
football for the first time. He said hello to a few of the
returning players and asked them if they were ready for a
week of hell. They laughed fondly at the coach saying, “Aw,
Coach, you don’t work us that hard.”

The coach smiled and said, “We will see about that.”

As practice began, the coach blew his whistle and in his
loudest and meanest voice, yelled, “Huddle up around me!”
Some players scurried over to the coach, while others ambled
along. The coach bellowed at the slower players, “What do
you think this is? This is not a country club! On my field we
hustle. We play like we practice. So if you walk around in a
daze at practice, come game day you will play in a daze.
Remember, PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT PLAY!”

As the players took a knee and gathered around the coach,
the coach announced, “Welcome to Panthers’ Football! For
those who know me, welcome back, it’s good to see you again.
For those who don’t know me, you will probably think of me as
an ogre. I will run you, exercise you and make you work like
you never have before. Yes, you will hate me when you leave practice everyday. For the next few weeks you will be getting
in shape to play your first game. When you walk on the field
to meet your opponents, rest assured, you will be ready to
play Panthers’ Football!”

“Now, some of you may be thinking ‘What is Panthers’ Football?’ Panthers’ Football is playing 110% every moment on the football field. That’s not just playing 110% during game time; at practice
we also give 110%. Remember this one thing, PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT PLAY! Throughout the season you will hear this from the entire coaching staff. If you are going
to give less than 110% at practice, don’t even bother coming to practice. Not only are you wasting my time, you are wasting
your own time as well.”

“I have some vocabulary words that I want you to learn,” the
coach continued. “The first word is GOAL. Our first GOAL
is to work hard at every practice. The second GOAL is to aim
for the top. Last season, the Panthers made it to the play-offs.
Not bad. However, this season, our GOAL is to become the
champions!”

“Now that you know what our goal is, you are probably wondering
how we are going to make it happen. All of you are going to have
to make a COMMITMENT to yourselves and to this team. Now, when I say the word COMMITMENT, I mean you are going to
be out here giving your all every practice and every game. When we exercise, you will do the exercises right. When we run, you will run hard and fast, and no matter what, you will not walk. When we hand out playbooks you will study them and know the plays by heart. You will listen to the coaches and do exactly what they tell you. During the game if we are losing, we will play as hard as we can until the final play is over. We will never give up. When we
are winning, we will not let up until after the game. We will start every game by playing hard and we’ll finish by playing even harder.”

“If you are to be part of a TEAM you must know the concept of
a TEAM. A TEAM is one whole unit. It doesn’t matter if you are
a starter or if you are coming off the bench; without a TEAM effort we cannot accomplish our goal. You must know your position and the responsibilities of that position. Then you must know your teammates’ positions and their responsibilities. Now, you may ask ‘why do I need to know someone else’s position?’ If your teammate fails to carry out his responsibility, someone else must step up and make the play. That is what a TEAM is all about, giving up personal glory for the sake of the TEAM! Each one of you plays an important part, but none of you is more important than the other. We can have the greatest quarterback in the league, but without a good offensive line the quarterback will be useless.”

“Enough of this talking, Panthers, now is the time to take the first step towards our GOAL. If you take heart to what I said, and make the COMMITMENT, there will be no stopping this TEAM. Now, are you ready to work hard to become champions?!”

“Yes, Coach!” the players screamed.

“Great,” said the coach. “Now let’s go work, Panthers, because this is where the fun begins. Line up team

Words of Wisdom (you’re good)

You

Chicken, The

Once upon a time, there was a large mountainside, where an eagle

Weakness or Strength?

Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength. Take, for example, the story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.

The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn’t understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move.

“Sensei,” the boy finally said, “Shouldn’t I be learning more moves?”

“This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you’ll ever need to know,” the sensei replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.

Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.

This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.

“No,” the sensei insisted, “Let him continue.”

Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.

On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.

“Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?”

“You won for two reasons,” the sensei answered. “First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grap your left arm.”

The boy’s biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.

Bits & Pieces
August 15, 1996
Economic Press Inc.

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