Monday, February 22, 2010

Being a mother....

After 17 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to
take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She
said, 'I love you, but I know this other woman loves
you and would love to spend some time with you..'
* * *
The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit
was my MOTHER, who has been alone for 20 years,
but the demands of my work and my two boys had
made it possible to visit her only occasionally.
* * *
That night I called to invite her to go out for
dinner and a movie.
* * *
'What's wrong, aren't you well,' she asked?
* * *
My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a
late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign
of bad news.
* * *
'I thought it would be pleasant to spend some
time with you,' I responded. 'Just the two of us.'
She thought about it for a moment, and then said,
'I would like that very much.'
* * *
That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick
her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her
house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous
about our date. She waited in the door. She had curled her hair and was wearing the
dress that she had worn to celebrate her last
birthday on November 19th.
* * *
She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an
angel's. 'I told my friends that I was going to go
out with my son, and they were impressed,' she said,
as she got into the car. 'They can't wait to hear about our date'.
* * *
We went to a restaurant that, although not
elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my
arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat
down, I had to read the menu.. Her eyes could only
read large print. Half way through the entries, I
lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at
me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips.. 'It was I
who used to have to read the menu when you were
small,' she said. 'Then it's time that you relax and
let me return the favor,' I responded.
* * *
During the dinner, we had an agreeable
conversation- -nothing extraordinary but catching up
on recent events of each other's life. We talked so
much that we missed the movie.
* * *
As we arrived at her house later, she said,
'I'll go out with you again, but only if you let me
invite you.' I agreed.
* * *
'How was your dinner date ?'
asked my wife when I got home.
'Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined,'
I answered.
* * *
A few days later, my mother died of a massive
heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn't
have a chance to do anything for her.
* * *
Some time later, I received an envelope with a
copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place
mother and I had dined. An attached note said: 'I
paid this bill in advance. I wasn't sure that I
could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two
plates - one for you and the other for your wife.
You will never know what that night meant for me.
I love you, son.'
* * *
At that moment, I understood the importance of
saying in time: 'I LOVE YOU' and to give our loved
ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is
more important than your family. Give them the time
they deserve, because these things cannot be put off
till 'some other time.'
* * *
Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back
to normal after you've had a baby.... somebody
doesn't know that once you're a mother,
'normal' is history.
* * *
Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by
instinct ... somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.
* * *
Somebody said being a mother is boring .....
somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver's permit.
Somebody said if you're a'good' mother,
your child will 'turn out good'....
somebody thinks a child comes with
directions and a guarantee.
* * *
Somebody said you don't need an education to be a
mother..... somebody never helped a fourth grader
with his math.
* * *
Somebody said you can't love the second child as
much as you love the first ..... somebody doesn't
have two children.
* * *
Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother
is labor and delivery....
somebody never watched her 'baby' get on the bus
for the first day of kindergarten ...
or on a plane headed for military 'boot camp.'
* * *
Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her
child gets married....somebody doesn't know that
marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a
mother's heartstrings.
* * *
Somebody said a mother's job is done when
her last child leaves home.....
somebody never had grandchildren.
* * *
Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so
you don't need to tell her....
somebody isn't a mother.

Communion on the Moon

How many of you knew? I will have to admit...I didn't.
> Too bad this type news doesn't travel as fast as bad.
>
> Communion on the Moon: July 20th, 1969 Jul 19, 2009
> Forty years ago today two human beings changed history by walking
> on the
> surface of the moon. But what happened before Buzz Aldrin
> and Neil Armstrong exited the Lunar Module is perhaps
> even more amazing, if only because so few people know about it
>
> I'm talking about the fact that Buzz
> Aldrin took communion on the surface of
> the moon. Some months after his return,
> he wrote about it in Guideposts magazine.
> And a few years ago I had the privilege
> of meeting him myself. I asked him
> about it and he confirmed the story to
> me, and I wrote about in my book
> Everything You Always Wanted to Know
> About God (But Were Afraid to Ask).
>
> The background to the story is that
> Aldrin was an elder at his Presbyterian
> Church in Texas during this period in his
> life, and knowing that he would soon be
> doing something unprecedented in human
> history, he felt he should mark the
> occasion somehow, and he asked his pastor
> to help him. And so the pastor
> consecrated a communion wafer and a small
> vial of communion wine. And Buzz Aldrin
> took them with him out of the Earth's
> orbit and on to the surface of the moon.
>
> He and Armstrong had only been on the
> lunar surface for a few minutes when
> Aldrin made the following public
> statement: "This is the LM pilot. I'd
> like to take this opportunity to ask
> every person listening in, whoever and
> wherever they may be, to pause for a
> moment and contemplate the events of the
> past few hours and to give thanks in his
> or her own way." He then ended radio
> communication and there, on the silent
> surface of the moon, 250,000 miles from
> home, he read a verse from the Gospel of
> John, and he took communion. Here is his
> own account of what happened:
>
> "In the radio blackout, I opened the
> little plastic packages which contained
> the bread and the wine. I poured the wine
> into the chalice our church had given me.
> In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the
> wine slowly curled and gracefully came up
> the side of the cup. Then I read the
> Scripture, 'I am the vine, you are the
> branches. Whosoever abides in me will
> bring forth much fruit.. Apart from me
> you can do nothing.
>
> I had intended to read my communion
> passage back to earth, but at the last
> minute [they] had requested that I not
> do this. NASA was already embroiled in
> a legal battle with Madelyn Murray
> O'Hare, the celebrated opponent of
> religion, over the Apollo 8 crew
> reading from Genesis while orbiting the
> moon at Christmas. I agreed
> reluctantly. I ate the tiny Host and
> swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for
> the intelligence and spirit that had
> brought two young pilots to the Sea of
> Tranquility .. It was interesting for
> me to think: the very first liquid ever
> poured on the moon, and the very first
> food eaten there, were the communion
> element And of course, it's interesting to think
> that some of the first words spoken on
> the moon were the words of Jesus Christ,
> who made the Earth and the moon - and
> Who, in the immortal words of Dante, is
> Himself the "Love that moves the Sun and
> other stars."
>
> WOW!!!!

Monday, February 15, 2010

Good Luck? Bad Luck? Who Knows?

There is a Chinese story of a farmer who used an old horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when the farmer's neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?" A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?"

Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg, they let him off. Now was that good luck or bad luck?

Who knows?

Everything that seems on the surface to be an evil may be a good in disguise. And everything that seems good on the surface may really be an evil. So we are wise when we leave it to God to decide what is good fortune and what misfortune, and thank him that all things turn out for good with those who love him.

Author Unknown

Depends On Whose Hands It's In...

A basketball in my hands is worth about $19.
A basketball in Michael Jordan's hands is worth about $33 million.
It depends whose hands it's in

A baseball in my hands is worth about $6.
A baseball in Roger Clemens' hands is worth $475 million..
It depends on whose hands it's in.

A tennis racket is useless in my hands..
A tennis racket in Roger Fedral's hands is worth millions.
It depends whose hands it's in.

A rod in my hands will keep away an angry dog.
A rod in Moses' hands will part the mighty sea.
It depends whose hands it's in...

A slingshot in my hands is a kid's toy.
A slingshot in David's hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends whose hands it's in.

Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in Jesus' hands will feed thousands.
It depends whose hands it's in.

Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse..
Nails in Jesus Christ's hands will p roduce salvation for the entire world.
It depends whose hands it's in..

As you see now, it depends whose hands it's in.
So put your concerns, your worries, your fears, your hopes, your dreams, your families and your relationships in God's hands because...
It depends whose hands it's in.

This message is now in YOUR hands.
What will YOU do with it?

Monday, February 8, 2010

Butterfly Circus

Click part 1 and part 2 to see this amazing clip. It's 20 minutes long but well worth the time to watch!! Do you recognize anyone in it??

Choose Your Words Well

Author unknow

A certain good woman one day said something that hurt her best friend of many years. She regretted it immediately, and would have done anything to have taken the words back. But they were said, impulsively, in a moment of thoughtlessness, and as close as she and her friend were, she didn’t consider the effects of her words before hand. What she said hurt the friend so much that this good woman was herself hurt for the pain she caused.

In her effort to undo what she had done, she went to an older, wiser woman in the village. Explaining her situation, and asked for advice. The older woman listened patiently in an effort to determine just how sincere the younger woman was, how far she was willing to go to correct the situation.

She explained that sometimes, in order put things back in order, great efforts must be made. She then asked: “Just what would you be willing to do, to repair the harm done?”

The answer was heartfelt. “Anything.” Listening to her, the older woman, sensed the younger woman’s distress, and knew she must help her. She also knew she could never alleviate her pain by living her life for her, but she could teach, if the younger woman would first listen, and then learn. She knew the outcome would depend solely on the character of the younger woman.

She said, “There are two things needed to do to make amends. The first of the two is extremely difficult. Tonight, take your best feather pillows, and open a small hole in each one. Then, before the sun rises, you must put a single feather on the doorstep of each house in town. When you are through, come back to me. If you’ve done the first thing completely, I’ll tell you the second.”

The young woman hurried home to prepare for her chore, even though the pillows were very dear to her, very expensive. All night long she labored alone in the cold. She went from doorstep to doorstep, taking care not to overlook a single house. Her fingers were frozen, the wind was so sharp it caused her eyes to water, but she ran on, through the darkened streets, thankful there was something she could do to put things back the way they once were. Finally, as the sky was getting light, she placed the last feather on the steps of the last house.

Just as the sun rose, she returned to the older woman. She was exhausted, but relieved that her efforts would be rewarded. “My pillows are empty. I placed a feather on the doorstep of each home.”

“Now,” said the wise woman, “Go back and refill your pillows. Then everything will be as it was before.”

The young woman was stunned. “You know that’s impossible! The wind blew away each feather as fast as I placed them on the doorsteps!! You didn’t say I had to get them back!! If this is the second requirement, then things will never be the same.”

“That’s true,” said the older woman.

“Never forget. Each of your words is like a feather in the wind. Once spoken, no amount of effort, regardless how heartfelt or sincere, can ever return them to your mouth. Choose your words well, and guard them most of all in the presence of those you love.”

Monday, February 1, 2010

God & Dog

Clickhere to listen to this fantastic song by Wendy Francisco....it's really cool!!!!