It is the nature of man to revere the man who has the most money.
It is the nature of God to revere the man who has the most heart.
~Nathaniel Bronner Jr.~

Safety is not found in the absence of danger,
but in the presence of God.

The grass is greener on the other side
because your neighbor's septic tank leaks.

“It's difficult to steer a parked car – So get moving!”
~Henrietta Mears~

It may not be for me to see
The meaning and the mystery
Of all that God has planned for me
Till “afterward”! —Anon.

I talk to myself because I like dealing
with a better class of people.
~Jackie Mason~

"During a test, the teacher is silent." Robert Earl Williams

Talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand.
~Unknown~

Move On

You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks or even months over-
analyzing a situation;
Trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could've
would've happened...
Or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move on.
~Tupac Shakur~

Life

To some life is a never-ending trial.
To others it is miracles each day.
Each often starts in identical circumstances.
One ends in a garden of delight.
The other ends in a pit of despair.

~from the series, The Secret Verse of Contentment~
http://theonlineword.com/series.html#secretverse

The Stuff

I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago whose
husband unexpectedly died suddenly of a heart attack. About a
week after his death, she shared some of her insight with a
classroom of students.

As the late afternoon sunlight came streaming in through the
classroom windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a
few things aside on the edge of her desk and sat down there.

With a gentle look of reflection on her face, she paused and
said, "Before class is over, I would like to share with all of
you a thought that is unrelated to class, but which I feel is
very important.

Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love,
appreciate and give of ourselves.

None of us knows when this fantastic experience will end.

It can be taken away at any moment.

Perhaps, this is God's way of telling us that we must make the
most out of every single day."

Her eyes beginning to water, she went on,
"So I would like you all to make me a promise.

From now on, on your way to school, or on your way home,
find something beautiful to notice. It doesn't have to be
something you see - it could be a scent-perhaps of freshly baked
bread wafting out of someone's house, or it could be the sound
of the breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the
way the morning light catches one autumn leaf as it falls gently
to the ground.

Please look for these things and cherish them for although it
may sound trite to some, these things are the "stuff" of life.

The little things we are put here on earth to enjoy.
The things we often take for granted.
We must make it important to notice them, for at any time ...
it can all be taken away."

The class was completely quiet.

We all picked up our books and filed out of the room silently.

That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school
than I had that whole semester. Every once in a while, I think
of that teacher and remember what an impression she made on all
of us, and I try to appreciate all of those things that
sometimes we all overlook.

Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today.

Go barefoot.
Or walk on the beach at sunset.
Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double-dip ice cream cone.
For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do.

~Author Unknown~

I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it. ~Author Unknown

Secrets To A Long Happy Marriage

An old woman was sipping on a glass of wine while sitting on the
patio with her husband and she says,
"I love you so much. I don't know how I could ever live without you."
Her husband asks, "Is that you or the wine talking?"
She replies, "It's me... talking to the wine."

We are to be channels of God’s truth— not reservoirs. RBC

“Which one is the possessor of heaven and earth: He who has a thousand houses, or he who, with no house to call his own, has ten at which his knock arouses instant jubilation?” George MacDonald

"There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,'
and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.'"
~C. S. Lewis~

Bends In The Road

A bend in the road is not the end of the road...
unless you fail to make the turn.
~from the message, Coming Back from A Setback,
www.BrothersofTheWord.com/mp3/7508.mp3 ~

In all the setbacks of your life as a believer,
God is plotting for your joy. —John Piper

Touch Me

The man whispered, "God, speak to me"
and a meadowlark sang.
But the man did not hear.

So the man yelled "God, speak to me"
and the thunder rolled across the sky.
But the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said, "God, let me see you"
and a star shone brightly.
But the man did not see.

And, the man shouted, "God, show me a miracle"
and a life was born.
But the man did not notice.

So the man cried out in despair, "touch me God,
and let me know you are here."
Whereupon, God reached down and touched the man.
But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.

I found this to be a great reminder that God is always around us
in the little and simple things that we take for granted...

Even in our electronic age... so I would like to add one more:
The man cried "God, I need your help"...
. . .and an email arrived
reaching out with good news and encouragement.
But, the man deleted it and continued crying...

Don't miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way
that you expect.

~Author Unknown~

Christianity, if false, is not important.
If Christianity is true, however, it is of infinite importance.
What it cannot be is moderately important.
~C. S. Lewis~

Love in deed is love indeed!

One of the most common causes of failure
is the habit of quitting
when one is overtaken by temporary defeat.
~Napoleon Hill~

Alwasy be more concerned about what's going on inside of you,
instead of what's going on around you. ~Jesse Duplantis~

The Green Thing

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she
should bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren't good
for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the
green thing back in my day."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. The former
generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its
day.

Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soda bottles and beer
bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to
be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same
bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an
escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the
grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every
time they had to go two blocks.

But she was right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they didn't have
the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy
gobbling machine burning up 220 volts - wind and solar power really
did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their
brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right, they didn't have the green thing back
in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house - not a TV in
every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a
handkerchief, not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the
kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have
electric machines to do everything for you.

When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used a
wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic
bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to
cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They
exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to
run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right, they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty instead of using
a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water.
They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new
pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of
throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their
bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their
moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in
a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances.
And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal
beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find
the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the
old folks were just because they didn't have the green thing back
then?

~Author Unknown~

The resurrection is a fact of history
that demands a response of faith.

Has the gospel of Christ become a gospel about Christ?

Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand,
Never foe can follow, never traitor stand;
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,
Not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there.
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest,
Finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest. —Havergal

It's not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong;
not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich;
not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned;
and not what we profess but what we practice that gives us integrity.”
~Francis Bacon Sr.~

"Watches are so named as a reminder,
if you don't watch carefully
what you do with your time,
it will slip away from you."
~Drew Sirtors~

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act". Proverbs 3:27