Holy Alphabet

Thank you, Ginger
(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.

Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy!

Thank you for sharing this, Eva Aurora!
(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?

Thank you Kathy B -


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.

at a stoplight

He was flashing his lights and waving. I didn't think in time to turn off the radio and roll down my window, so I don't know if he was singing, too.

Fwd: Fw: Friends

Thank you, Ginger,

 

 

TWO    FRIENDS    WERE    WALKING

THROUGH    THE    DESERT.

DURING    SOME    POINT    OF    THE

JOURNEY,    THEY    HAD     AN

ARGUMENT;    AND    ONE    FRIEND

SLAPPED    THE    OTHER    ONE

IN    THE     FACE.

 

THE    ONE    WHO    GOT    SLAPPED

WAS    HURT,    BUT    WITHOUT

SAYING    ANYTHING,

WROTE    IN    THE    SAND:

TODAY    MY    BEST    FRIEND

SLAPPED   ME    IN    THE    FACE.

 

THEY  KEPT    ON    WALKING,

UNTIL  THEY    FOUND     AN    OASIS,

WHERE    THEY    DECIDED

TO  TAKE    A     BATH

THE    ONE     WHO    HAD    BEEN

SLAPPED     GOT    STUCK    IN    THE

MIRE !    AND    STARTED    DROWNING,

BUT    THE    FRIEND  SAVED    HIM.

AFTER    HE    RECOVERED    FROM

THE    NEAR    DROWNING,

HE    WROTE    ON    A    STONE:

'TODAY    MY    BEST    FRIEND

SAVED    MY    LIFE  '

THE    FRIEND    WHO    HAD    SLAPPED

AND    SAVED    HIS    BEST    FRIEND

ASKED    HIM,    'AFTER   I  HURT    YOU,

YOU    WROTE    IN    THE    SAND    AND    NOW,

YOU    WRITE    ON    A     STONE,    WHY?'

 

THE   FRIEND    REPLIED

'WHEN    SOMEONE    HURTS    US

WE    SHOULD     WRITE    IT    DOWN

IN    SAND,   WHERE    WINDS    OF

FORGIVENESS    CAN     ERASE    IT AWAY.

 

BUT,    WHEN  SOMEONE    DOES

SOMETHING    GOOD    FOR    US,

WE    MUST    ENGRAVE    IT   IN   STONE

WHERE    NO    WIND

CAN    EVER    ERASE    IT.'

 

LEARN    TO     WRITE

YOUR    HURTS    IN

THE    SAND    AND    TO

CARVE    YOUR

BENEFITS    IN    STONE.

 

DO    NOT     VALUE    THE    THINGS

YOU  HAVE    IN    YOUR    LIFE,     BUT    VALUE

WHO  YOU  HAVE    IN     YOUR    LIFE !

 

 

'Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.'

 

....AMEN

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Mystery Piano

Check out this report: Mystery Piano Found Deep in Cape Cod Woods

Butch and Eddie

Thank you, Ginger!

 

I checked it out at Truth or Fiction.com http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/b/butchandeddie.htm and it is absolutely true.  B

 

Story # 1  Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare.

He was a fighter pilot assigned to an aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.

One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank. He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship. His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet. As he was returning to the mothership, he saw something that turned his blood cold. A squadron of Japanese bombers were speeding their way toward the American fleet. The American fighters were gone on a sortie and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn't reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor, could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the flaeet.

Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber's blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch weaved in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until finally all his ammunition was spent. Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to at least clip off a wing or tail, in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible and rendering them unfit to fly. He was desperate to do anything he could to keep them from reaching the American ships. Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction. Deeply relieved, Butch O'Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier. Upon arrival he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch's daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had destroyed five enemy bombers. That was on February 20, 1942, and for that action he became the Navy's first Ace of WWII and the first Naval Aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor. A year later he was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the memory of that heroic action to die. And today, O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man. So the next time you're in O'Hare visit his memorial with his statue and Medal of Honor. It is located between terminal 1 and 2.

Story number two:

Some years earlier there was a man in Chicago called Easy Eddie. At that time, Al Capon virtually owned the city. Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic. His exploits were anything but praiseworthy. He was, however, notorious for enmeshing the city of Chicago in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder. Easy Eddie was Capone's lawyer and for a good reason. He was very good! In fact, his skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time. To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big; Eddie got special dividends. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago city block. Yes, Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him. Eddy did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddy saw to it that his young son had the best of everything; clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object. And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Yes, Eddie tried to teach his son to rise above his own sordid life. He wanted him to be a better man than he was. Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things that Eddie couldn't give his son. Two things that Eddie sacrificed to the Capone mob that he could not pass on to his beloved son: a good name and a good example.

One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Offering his son a good name was far more important than all the riches he could lavish on him. He had to rectify all the wrong that he had done. He would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Scar-face Al Capone. He would try to clean up his tarnished name and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this he must testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. But more than anything, he wanted to be an example to his son. He wanted to do his best to make restoration and hopefully have a good name to leave his son. So, he testified. Within the year, Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago street. He had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer at the greatest price he would ever pay.

I know what you're thinking.

What do these two stories have to do with one another?

Well, you see, Butch O'Hare was Easy Eddie's son.

♥ We can make good even after making big mistakes.♥