This is where I will share things that I found amusing, inspirational, interesting, thought-provoking, but that are less personal than my blog-journal.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Holy Alphabet
(when Ginger sent it to me, it had pretty fonts and pictures, but somehow I lost that in copy in paste. The message is still beautiful)
Although things are not perfect
Because of trial or pain
Continue in thanksgiving
Do not begin to blame
Even when the times are hard
Fierce winds are bound to blow
God is forever able
Hold on to what you know
Imagine life without His love
J oy would cease to be
Keep thanking Him for all the things
Love imparts to thee
Move out of 'Camp Complaining'
No weapon that is known
On earth can yield the power
Praise can do alone
Quit looking at the future
Redeem the time at hand
Start every day with worship
To 'thank' is a command
Until we see Him coming
Victorious in the sky
We'll run the race with gratitude
X alting God most high
Yes, there'll be good times and yes some will be bad, but...
Z ion waits in glory...where none are ever sad!
'I AM Too blessed to be stressed!'
The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor.
The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything.
Love and peace be with you forever, Amen.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy!
(who did not write it herself, but kindly passed it on)
My little guy, Cade, is quite a talker. He loves to communicate and
does it quite well. He talks to people constantly, whether we're in the library,
the grocery store or at a drive-thru window. People often comment on how clearly
he speaks for a just-turned-3-year-old. And you never have to ask him to turn up
the volume. It's always fully cranked. There've been several embarrassing times
that I've wished the meaning of his words would have been masked by a
not-so-audible voice, but never have I wished this more than last week at
Costco.
Halfway, through our shopping trip, nature called, so I took Cade
with me into the restroom. If you'd been one of the ladies in the restroom that
evening, this is what you would have heard coming from the second to the last
stall:
'Mommy, are you gonna go potty?
Oh! Why are you putting toiwet paper on the potty, Mommy?
Oh! You gonna sit down on da toiwet paper now?
Mommy, what are you doing?
Mommy, are you gonna go stinkies on the potty?'
At this point I started mentally counting how many women had been in
the bathroom when I walked in. Several stalls were full ... 4? 5? Maybe we could
wait until they all left before I had to make my debut out of this stall and
reveal my identity. Cade continued:
'Mommy, you ARE going stinkies aren't you?
Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy!
Are you gonna get some candy for going stinkies on the potty?
Let me see doze stinkies, Mommy!
Oh ... Mommy! I'm trying to see In dere.
Oh! I see dem. Dat is a very good girl, Mommy. You are gonna get
some candy!'
I heard a few faint chuckles coming from the stalls on either side
of me. Where is a screaming new born when you need her?
Good grief. This was really getting embarrassing. I was definitely
waiting a long time before exiting. Trying to divert him, I said, 'Why don't you
look in Mommy's purse and see if you can find some candy. We'll both have some!'
'No, I'm trying to see doze more stinkies.
Oh! Mommy!'
He started to gag at this point.
'Uh - oh, Mommy. I fink I'm gonna frow up.
Mommy, doze stinkies are making me frow up!!
Dat is so gross!!'
As the gags became louder, so did the chuckles outside my stall. I
quickly flushed the toilet in hopes of changing the subject. I began to
reason with myself: OK. There are four other toilets. If I count
four flushes, I can be reasonably assured that those who overheard this
embarrassing monologue will be long gone.
'Mommy! Would you get off the potty, now? I want you to be done
going stinkies! Get up! Get up!'
He grunted as he tried to pull me off. Now I could hear full-blown
laughter. I bent down to count the feet outside my door.
'Oh, are you wooking under dere, Mommy?
You wooking under da door?
What were you wooking at?
Mommy? You wooking at the wady's feet?'
More laughter. I stood inside the locked door and tried to assess
the situation.
'Mommy, it's time to wash our hands, now. We have to go out now,
Mommy.'
He started pounding on the door. 'Mommy, don't you want to wash your
hands? I want to go out!!'
I saw that my 'wait 'em out' plan was unraveling. I sheepishly
opened the door, and found standing outside my stall, twenty to thirty ladies
crowded around the stall, all smiling and starting to applaud.
My first thought was complete embarrassment, then I thought,
'Where's the fine print on the 'motherhood contract' where I signed away every
bit of my dignity and privacy?' But as my little boy gave me a big, cheeky grin
while he rubbed bubbly soap between his chubby little
hands, I thought, I'd sign it all away again, just to be known as
Mommy to this little fellow.
(Shannon Popkin is a freelance writer and mother of three. She lives
with her family in Grand Rapids , Michigan , where she no longer uses public
restrooms).
~~~~~
I read this aloud to a couple of my sons who came running when they heard me burst out laughing. One of them asked, "20-30 people in the bathroom?" I said, "It was Costco." Joseph commented, "Wow, even their embarrassment is in bulk."
Can I borrow $25?
A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.
SON: 'Daddy, may I ask you a question?'
DAD: 'Yeah sure, what it is?' replied the man.
SON: 'Daddy, how much do you make an hour?'
DAD: 'That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?' the man said angrily.
SON: 'I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?'
DAD: 'If you must know, I make $50 an hour.'
SON: 'Oh,' the little boy replied, with his head down.
SON: 'Daddy, may I please borrow $25?'
The father was furious, 'If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don't work hard everyday for such childish frivolity's.'
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.
The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?
After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down , and started to think:
Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and he really didn't ask for money very often The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.
'Are you asleep, son?' He asked.
'No daddy, I'm awake,' replied the boy.
'I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier' said the man. 'It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $25 you asked for.'
The little boy sat straight up, smiling. 'Oh, thank you daddy!' he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.
The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.
The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.
'Why do you want more money if you already have some?' the father grumbled.
'Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,' the little boy replied.
'Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.'
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.
It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $50 worth of your time with someone you love.
If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours... But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
at a stoplight
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Fwd: Fw: Friends
TWO FRIENDS WERE WALKINGTHROUGH THE DESERT.DURING SOME POINT OF THEJOURNEY, THEY HAD ANARGUMENT; AND ONE FRIENDSLAPPED THE OTHER ONEIN THE FACE.
THE ONE WHO GOT SLAPPEDWAS HURT, BUT WITHOUTSAYING ANYTHING,WROTE IN THE SAND:TODAY MY BEST FRIENDSLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.THEY KEPT ON WALKING,UNTIL THEY FOUND AN OASIS,WHERE THEY DECIDEDTO TAKE A BATHTHE ONE WHO HAD BEENSLAPPED GOT STUCK IN THEMIRE ! AND STARTED DROWNING,BUT THE FRIEND SAVED HIM.AFTER HE RECOVERED FROMTHE NEAR DROWNING,HE WROTE ON A STONE:'TODAY MY BEST FRIENDSAVED MY LIFE 'THE FRIEND WHO HAD SLAPPEDAND SAVED HIS BEST FRIENDASKED HIM, 'AFTER I HURT YOU,YOU WROTE IN THE SAND AND NOW,YOU WRITE ON A STONE, WHY?'THE FRIEND REPLIED'WHEN SOMEONE HURTS USWE SHOULD WRITE IT DOWNIN SAND, WHERE WINDS OFFORGIVENESS CAN ERASE IT AWAY.BUT, WHEN SOMEONE DOESSOMETHING GOOD FOR US,WE MUST ENGRAVE IT IN STONEWHERE NO WINDCAN EVER ERASE IT.'LEARN TO WRITEYOUR HURTS INTHE SAND AND TOCARVE YOURBENEFITS IN STONE.DO NOT VALUE THE THINGSYOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE, BUT VALUEWHO YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE !'Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.'....AMEN
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