A Legend of Gratitude

There is a legend about two angels who were sent to earth to gather up the prayers of mankind.

One was to fill his basket with their petitions and the other was to gather their expressions of thankfulness. Some time later they both went back to the heavens.

One had a basket heaped high and running over with the innumerable petitions of men. The other returned with a sad and heavy heart, for his basket was almost empty.

The thanks of men were heard rarely on earth, even though the angel had searched diligently.

Let us not forget to express our thankuflness in our prayers.

Email From God

God's Email

To: YOU
Date: TODAY
From: GOD
Subject: YOURSELF
RE: LIFE

Dearest One,

Hi there! This is God. Today I will be handling All of your problems for you. I do Not need your help. So, have a nice day.

I love you.

God

P.S. And, remember…

If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do Not attempt to resolve it yourself! Kindly put it in the “SFGTD” (Something For God To Do) folder. I will get to it in MY TIME. All situations will be resolved, but in My time, not necessarily yours.

Once the matter is placed in the folder, do not worry about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life right now.

If you find yourself stuck in traffic, don’t despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege.

Should you have a bad day at work; think of the man who has been out of work for years.

Should you despair over a relationship gone bad; think of the person who has never known what it’s like to love and be loved in return.

Should you grieve the passing of another weekend; think of the man or woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed their children.

Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance; think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.

Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror; think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes they had hair to examine.

Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking “what is my purpose?” Be thankful. There are those who didn’t live long enough to get the opportunity.

Should you find yourself the victim of other people’s bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities; remember, things could be worse–you could be one of them!

Now, you go ahead and have a nice day.

–Author Unknown

God loves you!

We thank thee…..

Happypizza: Here are two stories I came across with some good examples of positive and somewhat creative responses in the face of some unpleasant circumstances!

Dr. Alexander Whyte of Edinburgh was famous for his pulpit prayers. He always found something to thank God for, even in bad times. One stormy morning a member of his congregation thought to himself, “The preacher will have nothing to thank God on a wretched morning like this.” But Whyte began his prayer, “We thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this.”

Matthew Henry, the famous scholar, was once accosted by thieves & robbed of his money wallet. He wrote these words in his diary:

“Let me be thankful first, because I was never robbed before; second, because, although they took my wallet, they did not take my life; third, because, although they took my all, it was not much; & fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.”

The Guru said, Success = SPLAT ++

Here are excerpts of an encouraging article. It’s a short capsule of the very incredible story of Jean-Dominique Bauby. Also read the last anecdote about the guru and the traveler. Simple yet very meaningful.

–Happypizza

NEVER GIVE UP

French journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby suffered a massive stroke in December 1995. Twenty days later, the 43-year-old father of two awoke from a coma to discover the only muscles in his body unaffected by the stroke were those of his left eye. By blinking, he was able to make clear that although his flesh was unresponsive, his mind was unimpaired.
Through an amazing process, Bauby was soon able to communicate. A special chart was devised that listed the letters of the alphabet based on frequency of usage. As letters were pointed to, Bauby would blink to indicate his selection and thus spell out his communication.

Undaunted by his debilitating setback, Bauby continued to write.He worked daily in three-hour shifts, blinking his thoughts one letter at a time as a secretary pointed to the chart. Though the process was painfully slow, by the end of the summer of 1996, Bauby had “dictated” the text of a 137-page book. Titled “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” Bauby’s book was published in 1997. In it, he shares the experience of possessing a healthy mind that is trapped in a paralyzed body. He compares his own body to a diving bell – a mere container, providing only life support – in which his soul exists like a caged butterfly. I find Bauby’s determination to embrace life in spite of his tragic circumstance inspiring.

Winston Churchill is another leader worthy of admiration. The indomitable statesman stirred the hearts of the British during the dark days of World War II. It was Churchill’s “Never, never, never, never give up” attitude that enabled him to see beyond bombed – out buildings and smoldering rubble and envision a victorious England
Nelson Mandela possessed a determined “never give up” attitude toward life. He rose to become the leader of his nation after spending nearly half his life incarcerated. Unjust prison chains did not discourage him, nor did the stark reality of a date with death daunt him. He faced every obstacle with his goal clearly fixed in his mind, and his captors could not take from him the one thing they most sought – his freedom of thought and personal choice.The aforementioned men have one thing in common. They refused to give up on perusing a goal in spite of the fact that each encountered overwhelming and discouraging difficulties in life.

 

Which Way is Success?

Award winning cartoonist, Jules Feiffer, once presented a sketch that captures well the spirit of these men. The cartoon begins with a man encountering a guru sitting at a fork in the road:“Which way is success?” the man asks. The stoic sage points down the path to his left. The man, thrilled at the prospect of easy success, rushes off in the appropriate direction. From the distance comes a loud SPLAT! The man reappears. He is bruised and tattered. Again he asks the guru, “Which way is success?” Once again the wise man says nothing. He simply points down the path to his left. The man quickly races down the path a second time. From the distance comes a much louder SPLAT! The man returns crawling on his hands and knees. He is bloody and beaten. He yells at the guru, “Twice I have asked you about the path to success. Both times I followed your directions and both times all I have gotten is splatted!” He screams at the top of his lungs, “No more pointing, talk to me!” The wise man calmly replies, “Success is that way. It is just a little past SPLAT.”

 

Jean-Dominique Bauby was debilitated by a stroke. SPLAT!

Winston Churchill faced the ruthless Nazi war machine.SPLAT!

Nelson Mandela was beaten, imprisoned, and faced a death sentence. SPLAT!

Though each man encountered severe setbacks, they did not quit. Although they were knocked down, they refused to stay down. Although the faced tremendous odds, they rose above and overcame. They kept going, kept fighting, refused to give up, and persevered past the splats in their lives.

Faith and persistence in the face of adversity is the key to success. It doesn’t matter what obstacle you face, what disease or disability you confront, what setback you encounter. No matter how you’ve failed, or think you’ve failed, success is there for you if you’ll hang on, keep going, and continue to fight – just past what may look like failure to you.
Splat happens. Whatever shape, form or fashion it takes in your life, don’t quit.

Remember, success is just a little past splat!

Have You Hit Rock Bottom?

The mistake:

There was a beautiful phrase running through my head yesterday, amidst the blackened spot of some major failure on my part at work.

To backtrack, I did something that was a seemingly harmless risk, that ended up being, well…..really stupid and having a terrible outcome and resulting consequences. Now I have to face the music and accept responsibility for my mistake.

I won’t get into details, but at the time of the mistake, I just couldn’t believe what I’d done and just so wish I could go back in time and do it all over again, do the right thing. It also seemed to have happened at just the wrong time in my life (as I was also already facing some very intense personal difficulty) and I didn’t feel any good reason for this situation and everything else I was facing to happen all at once, it felt like an emotional “perfect storm”. Even though it was something I did, it just felt it all was so unfair that things had to turn out the way they did since a lot of it was beyond my control–I honestly felt like I completely hit rock bottom.

After this experience I came to the realization that:

All Occurs For a Reason…….

“All occurs for a reason”, such a beautiful phrase but also seems to be one of the hardest phrase to personally believe or accept when facing difficulty, lost, and disappointment. To be honest I’ve been going through some personal heartbreaks of late, that are too personal to post here, but what I can say is that it’s been a bit like one of your worst fears coming upon you and then not really knowing whether it’s here to stay or it will pass, but all the while waiting in agonizing limbo.

It’s been a real struggling. Sometimes it’s hard—no, almost impossible, to keep on going, taking that next step to make it through the day. I feel at the best of times I’m just running through the motions–a zombie, sorta. Though I’ve heard that “there is always a light at the end of every tunnel” or “the darkest hour is just before dawn” it just doesn’t always look or seem that way in reality.

I think that if it weren’t for the love and mercy of God and His angels of comfort, and the promises in His Word—which gives me the faith and hope to meet these challenges, I’d just be overwhelmed by the weight, the negativity, and despair of it all. Now I don’t want this blog post to spread despair and hopelessness to you. I’m pretty sure that everybody has enough troubles of their own without needing to wade through someone else’s private negativity. So that’s why I wanted to post these beautiful lyrics that really put some interesting perspectives to disappointments and nonsensical occurrences. I mean if you look at troubles in the positive, the way the lyrics below bring out; it certainly takes the edge off the monsters of despair and hopelessness which try to undermine your happiness, faith, and sanity.

If you are going through any personal tragedy in your life right now, I totally feel for you especially after battling myself through some recent long and lonely trials. If sorrow, injury, loneliness, loss, heartbreak, tragedy, death, sickness, confusion, hopelessness, suffering, deprivation, or anyone of the myriad of difficulties of life are crushing down on you and threatening to take everything good away from you—don’t’ give up hope. There is Someone who cares for you and loves you–Jesus, the greatest and most wonderful, loving spirit of light, who loves you more than anyone else in the whole word can and will help you if you need Him. Call out to Him and He will answer you. Trust me He is there in your darkest night. Keep hope alive. Don’t give up the fight. I hope this poem below will encourage you in some special way. You can also listen to a the song at this link:

Rhyme of Life.mp3–Net Radio

Rhyme Of Life Lyrics

If every thought that came to mind came true,
What kind of world would it be?
If every promise sworn by man was kept,
What would divine words mean to me?

If every chance to succeed had gone my way,
What personality would I have today?
If my first romance had granted me life’s every passion,
Would I have ever crossed your way?

Looking through the book of my life,
Turning pages of passing years,
I see a perfect rhyme throughout my life line.
Through the good times I hold dear,
And through my heartaches, through my tears,
My life has moved in time to the Creator of the design.

If every kiss had promised something more,
Would I have ever felt let down?
If my every desire had ended in satisfaction,
Would I still be satisfied now?

If my every dream had become reality,
What would I be dreaming of today?
If every wish I’d wished had come to be,
Would I be happier today?

I take from life all it has to give, given by the One for whom I live.
All occurs for a reason,
And for this reason I live a life that was given to me to give.
Through the good times I hold dear,
And through my heartaches, through my tears,
My life has moved in time to the Creator of the design.
Music & lyrics: Andrew V., Katrina L.

Thank God for my big nose.

Okay, here is some “positive thinking therapy!” I have a big nose….hahahahaha….. Yeah seriously, and when I was younger it really bothered me. I know it sounds stupid but it was a big deal. I mean most things about my physical appearance bothered me and I’d always get on a big bummer when I’d think about it but I won’t get into that right now…heh heh! Lets just focus on one aspect….my big nose. Now for those of you who have an even bigger nose, you might be wondering….”Hey, what the @$#% is his problem?”, “That ain’t a big nose!” If so the answer is: yes and no—depends on who you comparing it with.

For a Caucasian male it’s not that big, maybe slightly bigger than average, but I have a smaller head and narrow face so it ends being a rather prominent feature on my face.

I grew up in Asia–my parents were posted overseas a good majority of my life, and we lived mostly in South East Asia where pretty much everybody has a small or flat nose. My big nose coupled with my blondish hair and white skin was a rare and curious spectacle.

It often happened when I would meet someone for the first time (in S.E.A.) that I would invariably get questions and fascinated inquiries about the size, length and what-have-you about my nose. So I kind of grew too loath my big nose and all the unwanted attention it brought.

Thankfully though I got to the point where I stopped thinking about it and I’ve kinda learned to accept my nose the way God gave it to me. Since I’ve gotten over that hurdle I’ll go a step further and honestly say “Thank God for my big nose”. Phew, what a milestone in my life….heheheh…now let’s get down to the reasons to be thankful for a big nose. Impossible, you might think, but I’m sure I can come up with something.

Here are a few cool things about my large proboscis.

I’m thankful for my big nose because……

• It makes everyone with a small or flat nose envious…hahahaha–cool huh?
• Due to its size it makes for a good stroking location when I’m nervous or in an awkward situation
• It can make one helluva blow, when snorting out impurities, and that always feels good, rather manly I would say
• I can breathe , inhale, and snort in copious amounts of air and that always feels nice…can’t imagine what it would be like to have pinhole nostrils
• Sneezing is awesome with a big nose, when it “blows–it really blows!”
• I know there is no scientific proof but I’m sure a big nose helps me have a better sense of smell, I mean I can sample a lot more air in one go than someone with a small snout
• It’s a great identifier, ie: I’m the tall guy with a big nose, can’t miss me
• My nose can become an instrument of pleasure when
• Even though it’s big, thank God it doesn’t block my eyesight
• I can use it for eye exercise, esp. for focusing on near objects
• It’s the first part of me to enter a room
• Shades and glasses sit well on it with no danger of falling off or sliding down
• I think it has real “character”….even though that’s hard to explain–”how?”
• And it’s not as big as some others I’ve seen
• It serves as a warning sensor when my face is getting to close to something
• It has helped me perfect the sidewards French kiss
• It draws static attention to me, which–if handle correctly–can be positive attention
• As long I’m comfortable with it, as I found in S.E.A., it’s a great conversation topic or even a way to break the ice…..ie: “Hahaha, how cute, you think I’m a sacred white elephant”….etc

So all that to say, “Thank God for my big nose!” I’d like to add that having a big nose is not always a bad thing for you ladies. There are many ladies I know with big noses that are really hot and those with noses that are slightly more hooked can be pretty hot too! Anyhow that’s just my personal opinion. Lastly, to all those with big noses, both guys and girls I encourage you to: Hold up that big nose proudly and show the world what you’ve got.

If you have a big nose or you can think of anything else to be thankful for or helpful info in regards to a big nose–feel free to comment! Show the world that you can still have it “big and beautiful”.

And if you have a flat nose–I pity you……hahahahaha

One giant nose--Mr Mehmet Ozyurek

The Magic Mask…..

Did you or do you ever wish to change some feature of your face or your body? Or maybe go for thousands of dollars of expensive plastic surgery? I know I have many times. I’ve often looked at myself in the mirror and moped about all my flaws. I’ve often complained to the Lord about the way He made me. I’ve almost habitually looked at myself negatively for as long as I can remember.

Maybe looks isn’t the thing that is such a problem, maybe your personality is gruff, overbearing, to serious, severe, combative, nasty or unpleasant. Maybe you were born that way, or maybe over the years and the different choices you’ve made you’ve become like that, and people have a hard time being around you.

I’ve often read about medical studies that seem to link our spiritual and mental thoughts, with our physical health, wellbeing, and even some, that say: physically appearance can be effected by either positive or negative thoughts. So if you struggle with a physical flaw or a difficult personality, don’t give up, there is still hope. Just keep smiling, try to stay positive, and pray and ask God to help you start transforming the negative into the positive. It might even make you feel and be more attractive. Read this story that has encouraged me:

Oh yeah, and don’t stop smiling.

 

 

THE MAGIC MASK

A great and powerful lord once ruled over thousands of soldiers, and with them he conquered vast domains for his own. He was wise and brave, respected and feared by all, but no one loved him. Each year as he grew more severe he grew lonelier, and his face reflected the bitterness in his greedy soul, for there were deep, ugly lines about his cruel mouth which never showed a smile, and a deep frown permanently furrowed his forehead.

It happened that in one of the cities over which he ruled there lived a beautiful girl whom he had watched for many months as she went about among the people, and he loved her and wanted to make her his wife. He decided to go and speak to her of this love. Dressing in his finest robes and placing a golden crown on his head, he looked into his mirror to see what kind of picture he would make for the beautiful girl. But he could see nothing but what would cause fear and dislike for himself–a cruel, hard face which looked even worse when he tried to smile.

Then a happy notion came to him, and he sent for a magician. “Make for me a mask of the thinnest wax so that it will follow every line of my features, but paint it with your magic paints so that it will look kind and pleasant. Fasten it upon my face so that I shall never have to take it off. Make it handsome–attractive. Use your greatest skill and I will pay any price you ask.”

“This I can do,” said the magician, “on one condition. You must keep your own face in the same lines which I paint or the mask will be ruined. One angry frown and the mask will be ruined forever, nor can I replace it.”

“I will do anything you say,” said the lord eagerly, “anything to win the admiration and love of my lady. Tell me how to keep the mask from cracking.”

“You must think kindly thoughts,” replied the magician, “and to do this you must do kindly deeds. You must make your kingdom happy rather than powerful. You must replace anger with understanding and love. Build schools for your subjects and not just prisons, hospitals and not just warships. Be gracious and courteous to all men.”

So the wonderful mask was made, and no one would have guessed that it was not the true face of the lord. Months passed, and though the mask was often in danger of ruin, the man fought hard with himself to keep it. The beautiful lady became his bride, and his subjects wondered at the miraculous change in him. They attributed it to his lovely wife, who, they said, had made him like herself.

As gentleness and thoughtfulness entered the life of this man, honesty and goodness were his also, and soon he regretted having deceived his beautiful wife with the magic mask. At last he could bear it no longer and he summoned the magician.

“Remove this false face of mine!” he cried. “Take it away! This deceiving mask that is not my true self!”
“If I do,” said the magician, “I can never make another, and you must wear your own face as long as you live.”
“Better so,” said the lord, “than to deceive one whose love and trust I have won dishonorably. Better that I should be despised by her than to go on doing what is unworthy for her sake. Take it off, I say, take it off!”

The magician took off the mask and the lord in fear and anguish sought his reflection in the glass. His eyes brightened and his lips curved into a radiant smile, for the ugly lines were gone, the frown had disappeared–and lo, his face was the exact likeness of the mask he had worn so long! And when he returned to his beloved wife she saw only the familiar features of the man she loved.

Yes, it’s an old story this legend tells: that a man’s face soon betrays what he is inside his soul, what he thinks and feels, and the thoughts of his heart. The wise and true Scripture tells us, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7), and “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8). It might transform your life in more ways than you think.