Forwarded Messages

1. Today, my sister and I were in a bad car accident. My sister is Mrs. Popular at school – she knows everyone. I’m a bit of an introvert – I hang-out with the same 2 girls all the time. My sister immediately posted a comment on Facebook about our accident. And while all her friends were commenting, my 2 friends showed up independently at the scene of the accident before the paramedics arrived. 2. Today, my fiancé returned home from his last tour of duty overseas. Yesterday he was just my boyfriend, or so I thought. Almost a year ago, he mailed me a package. He told me I wasn't allowed to open it until he got home in two weeks. But then his tour got extended for another 11 months. Today, when he got home, he told me to open the package, and just as I pulled the ring out of the box, he got down on one knee. 3. Today, my 12-year-old son, Sean, and I stopped by the nursing home together for the first time in several months. Usually I come alone see my mother who’s sufferin...

I recently read a little story about a little girl that touched my  heart. It seems that this little girl was late coming home for supper  one evening. When she got home her parents were understandably upset.  He questioned her about why she had been so late, after all they had  worried about her! The little girl said, "I stopped to help Marcie, she had a wreck on her  bicycle and it was broken." Her father said, "But you don't know  anything about fixing bicycles!" To which the little girls replied, "I  know, but I stopped to help her cry."

By Tom Norvell A friend of mine calls them dry times. Dry times are those times in  your life, more specifically in your spiritual life, when there seems  to be a void. A time when all the things you typically do to nourish  your soul seem to have stopped working. Some of you understand the dry  times very well. You have lived through them. You may be  going through  one right now. Maybe you have recently come out of such a time. Here  are a few examples of how a dry time may express itself. You are going through life pretty much like you always have, but one  day things seem different. The sky is not as blue. The breeze is not as  cool. The sunshine is not as bright. The snowfall is not as white.  Rainbows don't provide much of a thrill. And very few things seem to  give your heart much of a thrill. You are doing the same things you have always done. Except now you are  enjoying it less. Very few things seem to excite y...

by Russ Lawson The church had just completed the installation of a new sound system  which had a special "boost in volume" capability. All the speaker had  to do is push a button and the volume would increase.  The preacher was  commenting on the new sound system one Sunday morning and said: "If  your children get a little noisy, don't worry about it. I have a little  button now to take care of it."  A little girl who was usually very  noisy during services sat very quietly that morning and her mother  asked her, "Dear, are you not feeling well today?" The little girl  answered, "No, Momma, but what happens if he pushes the button?" Obviously, the preacher was not very effective in communicating his  message! I wonder sometimes how effective we are at communicating what is  important to us. If you are a Christian, sharing that fact should be at  the top of our list of things to communicate. How are you doing? The...

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. - Proverbs 13:20 Your companions are like buttons on an elevator. They will either take you up or take you down... Companionship choices are difficult to make. Jesus spent time with many people of low reputation, even to the point of being accused of being a low-life Himself. Yet, we are cautioned in Proverbs that "bad company corrupts good character." The key to following Jesus' example and protecting ourselves lies in discernment.

I walked into the grocery store not particularly interested in buying groceries. I wasn't hungry. The pain of losing my husband of 57 years was still too raw. And this grocery store held so many sweet memories. He often came with me and almost every time he'd pretend to go off and look for something special. I knew what he was up to. I'd always spot him walking down the aisle with the three yellow roses in his hands. He knew I loved yellow roses. With a heart filled with grief, I only wanted to buy my few items and leave, but even grocery shopping was different since he had passed on. Shopping for one took time, a little more thought than it had for two. Standing by the meat, I searched for the perfect small steak and remembered how he had loved his steak. Suddenly a woman came beside me. She was blonde, slim and lovely in a soft green pantsuit. I watched as she picked up a large package of T-bones, dropped them in her basket.. Hesitated, and then put them back. S...

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: 'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?' The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.' Then he told the following story: Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me pla...

I showered and shaved I adjusted my tie I got there and sat In a pew just in time. Bowing my head in prayer As I closed my eyes I saw the shoe of the man next to me Touching my own... I sighed. With plenty of room on either side I thought, 'Why must our soles touch?' It bothered me, his shoe touching mine But it didn't bother him much.

BEST FRIENDS   ---

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat, working on the lawn mower, and Mom in a housedress, dish-towel in her hand. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy, all that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more. But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more. Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away....never to return. So... while we have it... it's best we love it... and care for it.... and fix it when it's broken..... and heal it when it's sick. This is tru...

Although we like to think that the people in our lives are well-adjusted, happy, healthy minded individuals, we sometimes realize that it just isn't so. Personally, I've had moments where I'll be skipping through my day, happy as can be, thinking life is grand and BAM, I'll be blindsided by someone who manages to knock the happy wind out of my sails. Sometimes it is easy to write it off and other times, not so much. . Maybe you are a positive person, but when you are around a certain individual, you feel negative. Or, maybe you have an idealistic view of the world and when you are with certain people, you are made to feel silly, unrealistic or delusional. Or, maybe you pride yourself in being completely independent and in control of your life, but when you are around a certain family member, you regress into a state of childhood. . Some of these situations, and yes, these people, can have a tremendously negative impact on our lives. And, although we are all human and ha...

AND, just a thought for all the women out there.........? MENtal illness MENstrual cramps MENtal breakdown MENopause Ever notice how all of women's problems start with men? And? When we have real trouble it's HISterectomy!!!!? _____ A Friend Is Like A Good Bra... Hard to Find? Supportive? Comfortable? Always Lifts You Up? Never Lets You Down or Leaves You Hanging And Is Always Close To Your Heart!!!? ____________________ FORWARDED by ERGA TRIOL

You might be best friends one year... Pretty good friends the next year... Don't talk that often the next year... And don't want to talk at all the year after that. So, I just wanted to say, You are special to me and you have made a difference in my life. I look up to you, respect you, and truly cherish you. You can also send this to all your friends... No matter how often you talk... Or how close you are... And send you can also send this back to the person who sent it to you. Let old friends know you haven't forgotten them... And tell new friends you never will. Remember, everyone needs a friend. Someday you might feel like you have NO FRIENDS at all Just remember this and take comfort in knowing... that somebody out there cares about you.... _________________ FORWARDED by DIGIE SALAMAT Today

Because you are always there for me. Because I feel comfortable around you. Because you actually hear what I say. Because you bring out the best in me. Because you accept me for who I am. Because you are not afraid to tell it like it is. Because you make me smile.Because you are down to earth. Because you make me feel loved. Because we have so much fun together... I hope you call "ME"friend ____________________________ FORWARDED by DIGIE SALAMAT Date: 11 October 2007

A simple friend, when visiting, acts like a guest. A real friend opens your refrigerator and helps himself and doesn't feel even the least bit weird shutting your 'Coke drawer' with her foot! A simple friend has never seen you cry. A real friend shoulder is soggy from your tears. A simple friend doesn't know your parents' first names. A real friend has their phone numbers in his address book. A simple friend brings a bottle of wine to your party. A real friend comes early to help you cook and stays late to help you clean. A simple friend hates it when you call after they've gone to bed. A real friend asks you why you took so long to call. A simple friend seeks to talk with you about your problems. A real friend seeks to help you with your problems. A simple friend wonders about your romantic history. A real friend could blackmail you with it! A simple friend thinks the friendship is over when you have an argument. A real friend calls you after you had a fi...