Forwarded Messages

This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Please, LORD, please save us. Please, LORD, please give us success ( Psalm 118:24-25 NLT). The really good coaches are smart cookies. Forget the "dumb jock" jokes, and pay attention to their ability to motivate — and focus on what matters. One of several nicknames carried by the late UCLA basketball coach John Wooden was The Wizard of Westwood. During his eventful career, he mentored — not just coached — dozens of men who went on to success both in the NBA and in a variety of careers outside athletics. Along the way, his teams won a record ten national titles and set a record 88-game collegiate winning streak. He died in 2010 but remains one of the most respected figures in all of sports. Wooden was a reflective man whose speeches, books, and occasional interviews scattered gems of practical wisdom. A Christian who read his Bible daily, many of those tidbits mirror the teachings of the Master Tea...

1} Down days are completely normal, and not something you should feel guilty about having.   Happiness is never constant.   2} When you are at your lowest point, you are open to the greatest positive change.   Happiness is not the absence of problems, but the strength to deal with them.  3} There is a huge difference between giving up and moving on.   Moving on doesn’t mean giving up, but rather accepting that there are some things that cannot be.  4} Life rarely turns out exactly the way you want it to, but you still have an opportunity to make it great.   You have to do what you can, with what you have, exactly where you are. 5} Most people ask for happiness on condition, but long-term happiness can only be felt if you don’t set conditions.   Accept life unconditionally. 6} Too often, we carry around things from our past that hurt us  – regrets, shame, anger, pain, etc.  Don’t let these negative points from the past rob your ...

I thought I would start my speech by addressing you as the “new” family of my daughter. But I think it would be inappropriate because now that she is married, you are “the family” for her. Believe me; I don’t have a problem with that. I, in fact, want my daughter to have “you” as her priority now. It’s time for us to take a backseat in her life. We would happily accept it but would surely request one thing- please keep her happy! I am more than sure that you will keep her very happy. She will perhaps be happier than what she used to be here. But like all fathers, I obsess over my daughter’s happiness which is making me say this over and over again- please keep her happy! She never was and will never be a burden for me. She is in fact the reason why I breathe and smile. I am getting her married because this is what the law of nature demands. I am helpless in the face of our culture and therefore sending her to your home. She was the happiness of my home and will now light up ...

Steve Jobs was a revolutionary. He turned an industry around. He did it by doing things differently than how they were being done. His pitch was: Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. The early church was revolutionary in a different way — a much more important way. Their pitch could have been: Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in Jesus and living differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by living lives that are beautifully designed and simple. We just happen to live generous lives. 

Sometimes we say ...   "Lord, I am tired because there is too much ..."     * Too much stress.     * Too much stress over money.     * Too much stress over balancing, or trying to balance accounts.     * Too much stress over things that we cannot change.     * Too much stress due to talking about having a simpler life.     * Too much discontent.     * Too much time wasted on trivial and useless endeavours.     * Too much stuff.     * Too much stuff happening.

A veteran pastor began a custom during his Sunday service - a custom he continued for twelve years. Before dismissing the children for Junior church, he invited them all to the front of the sanctuary to march past his pulpit on their way to the special kid oriented service. As the kids walked past him, the pastor made a point to smile at each one. In return, all of them smiled at him. "It was one of the high points of the service," he once said.

An expert wood carver sat on his front porch, sipping lemonade and enjoying the view one spring afternoon. Around him on the porch sat his various creations. A friend of the carver's stopped by got a quick visit and was surprised to see the artisan relaxing. "It's only 1:30 in the afternoon," he observed,  "a little early for a break, isn't it?"

He met her at a party. She was so outstanding, many guys chasing after her, while he was so normal, nobody paid attention to him. At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him, she was surprised but due to being polite, she promised. They sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything, she felt uncomfortable, and she thought to herself, "Please, let me go home..." Suddenly he asked the waiter, "Would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee." Everybody stared at him, so strange! His face turned red but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She asked him curiously, "Why you have this hobby?" He replied, "When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea, I liked playing in the sea, I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have the salty coffee, I always think of my childhood, think of my hometown, I miss my hometown so much, I miss m...

The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect.” A group of graduates, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

1. SLOW DOWN If you often arrive places unable to recall the journey, it's time to check your internal speedometer. Take your time and be present in each moment. 2. MAKE 'ME TIME' Whether it's taking a solitary walk, soaking in the tub with your favorite music, or reflecting on your day in a journal, set aside time each day to check in with yourself and how you feel.  If you get into the habit, your awareness of your life desires will grow -- as well as your self-confidence. 3. DE CLUTTER

Envy takes the joy, happiness and contentment out of living. Jealousy isn't referred to as the "big green monster" for nothing. God hates jealousy so much that it made His top-ten list -- the Ten Commandments. He etched in stone the following words: "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." In workplace terms, this commandment from the book of Exodus could read, "You shall not covet your co-worker's salary, his corner office or award plaques, his title, budget, or privileges, or his favored status with the company president."

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...

Some people would rather endure an enema than love an enemy... Is there any tougher commandment than the one that instructs us to love our enemies? Not tolerate them or simply do kind things for them. Love them. Those obnoxious, cruel, hateful people. The boss who treats you unfairly. The co-worker who pretends to be your friend, then back - stabs you. The unhappy customer who unfairly criticizes you to your superiors. The technical support person who is consistently rude. Or that certain someone who is simply annoying.

Let's see if you can relate... My assistant is out sick today. The printer's out of toner. My car is in the shop again, So I'm forced to drive a loner. Two new software programs to learn, But the verbiage makes me dizzy. I've tried to call up tech support, But their line is always busy. The repairman's torn the copier apart, So my report will be quite late. With people swooping in like flies, How can I concentrate? The telephone rings endlessly. There's gossip in the hall. My candy dish is empty now. And a salesman's come to call. Sometimes I'd like to chuck it all. Trade this madness in for boredom. But the kids needs braces, clothes, and shoes. And how else can I afford them? * That day is lost in which one has not laugh.  Do not live to work... instead, work to live. ---o0o--- Humans are born with two eyes, but with one tongue, in order that they should see twice as much as they say.

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: ' I am blind, please help .' There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. The man said, 'I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.'

 A four-year-old child, whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman, who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old Gentleman's' yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he had  said to the neighbor, the little boy just said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry.' --- Teacher Debbie Moon's first graders were discussing a picture of a family. One little boy in the picture had a different hair color than the other members. One of her students suggested that he was adopted. A little girl said, 'I know all about adoption, I was adopted.'  'What does it mean to be adopted?', asked another child. 'It means', said the girl, 'that you grew in your mommy's heart instead of her tummy!' --- On my way home one day, I stopped to watch a Little League baseball game that was being played in a park near my home. As I sat down behind the bench on the first- ba...

There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer and he started his journey. When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman. She was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry, so he offered her a Twinkie. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer. Once again she smiled at him. The boy was delighted!

Tech Support: Yes... how can I help you? Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to install Love. Can you guide me though the process? Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed? Customer: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready.What do I do first?

Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple and the simple thing is the right thing. - Oscar Wilde

  Her name is Katie Kirkpatrick, 21 yrs old. Next to her is her fiance, Nick, 23. This picture was taken prior to their wedding January 11th, 2005.  Katie has terminal cancer and spends hours in chemotherapy. Here Nick awaits while she finishes one of the sessions...