The Sanctuary

Thanksgiving Everyday

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 01:29:00 +0000

Even though I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm rings, thank you, Lord, that I can hear.

There are many who are deaf.

Even though I keep my eyes closed against the morning light as long as possible, thank you, Lord, that I can see. Many are blind.

Even though I huddle in my bed and put off rising, thank you Lord, that I have the strength to rise. There are many who are bedridden.

Even though the first hour of my day is hectic, when socks are lost, toast is burned, and tempers are short, my children are so loud, thank you, Lord, for my family. There are many who are alone.

Even though our breakfast table never looks like the pictures in magazines and the menu is at times unbalanced, thank you, Lord, for the food we have. There are so many who are hungry.

Even though the routine of my job is often monotonous, thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to work. There are many who have no job.

Even though I grumble and bemoan my fate from day to day and wish my circumstances were not so modest, thank you, Lord, for life.

Author: Unknown

The Taxi Ride

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:56:00 +0000

I arrived at the address and honked the horn.
after waiting a few minutes I walked to the
door and knocked.. 'Just a minute', answered a
frail, elderly voice.. I could hear something
being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in
her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print
dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it,
like somebody out of a 1940's movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment
looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the
furniture was covered with sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, no knick-knacks or
utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard
box filled with photos and glassware..

'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said.
I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to
assist the woman.

She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I
told her.. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I
would want my mother to be treated.'

'Oh, you're such a good boy, she said.
When we got in the cab, she gave me an address
and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?'

'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly..

'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry.
I'm on my way to a hospice.

I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening.
'I don't have any family left,' she continued in a soft voice..
'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached
over and shut off the meter.

'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city.
She showed me the building where she had once worked as an
elevator operator.

We drove through the neighbourhood where she and
her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She
had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had
once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular
building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness,
saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly
said, 'I'm tired. Let's go now'.

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was
a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway
that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up.
They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move.
They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door.
The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

'How much do I owe you?' She asked, reaching into her
purse.

'Nothing,' I said

'You have to make a living,' she answered.

'There are other passengers,' I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.
She held onto me tightly.

'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she
said 'Thank you.'

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning
light.. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life..

I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove
aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk.
What if that woman had got an angry driver, or one who was impatient
to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked
once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything
more important in my life.

We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve
around great moments.

But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully
wrapped in what others may consider a small
one.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID,
OR WHAT YOU SAID ~BUT~THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER
HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL

Author: Unknown

The Praying Hands

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:02:00 +0000

Many of you would have seen the picture of “The Praying Hands”, which is present in many Christian homes, but would almost certainly not have heard the moving story behind this popular picture. Here is the story....

The Story Behind The Picture Of The Praying Hands

Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood.

Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of the elder children, Albrecht and Albert, had a dream.

They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full well that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the academy.

After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact.

They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy.

Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines.

They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg.

Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation.

Albrecht's etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.

When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht's triumphant homecoming.

After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition.

His closing words were, "And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you."

All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, "No ..no ...no ..no."

Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, "No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg.

It is too late for me. Look ... look what four years in the mines have done to my hands!

The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush.

No, brother ...for me it is too late."

More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer's hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world, but the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer's works.

More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home or office.

One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother's abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward.

He called his powerful drawing simply "Hands," but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love "The Praying Hands."

The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second look.

Let it be your reminder, if you still need one, that no one - no one - - ever makes it alone!

Author: Unknown

A Thousand Marbles

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Mon, 09 May 2011 01:50:00 +0000

Contributed by: Jason Lee
Author: unknown

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement shack with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning, turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it.

I turned the dial to the phone-frequency portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning conversation. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whoever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles."

I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say. "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well, but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital."

He continued, "Let me tell you something, Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy.

"So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away.

"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.

"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. 73 Old Man, this is K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."

"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.

"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."

My Best Friend

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 02:21:00 +0000

By Andrew Galanopulos
Contributor: Jason Lee

The language of friendship is not words but meanings. ~ Henry David Thoreau

The agony of the final round set in off the first tee. It wasn't Sunday. There was no tournament. It was just me and Matt, my golf partner of three years, not to mention my best friend since the third grade.

We had entered the world of golf as two youngsters with cheap clubs, inspired by our fathers' stories of birdies, three-hundred-yard drives, and near-holes-in-one. For some reason these tales failed to hold true when we played with them.

Expecting to go out and conquer the game, Matt and I were quite surprised (not to mention angry) when we found ourselves humbled by a little white ball. Over time though, our swings became more controlled, good shots became more frequent, scores lower and our friendship stronger.

That summer, we entered a junior golf tour. We soon realized how much we had to learn, and how much we wanted to win. We had been in the game for two years already, and we figured all we needed was some fine-tuning to give our game the extra edge.

We played almost every day after school that year with the hope that the hard work would pay off with victory on the tour next summer. Then we got the news.

"Andrew, my dad's being transferred to Charlotte right after school," Matt said when he broke the news to me. He was moving away following our freshman year and right before the golf season would start. We had only a month left together, so we decided to make the most of it. Golf was the only way we knew how to enjoy ourselves without facing the sorrow of separation. No matter what is going on, golf helps you forget by making you concentrate on the task at hand―beating the guy you're playing with―and that was good enough for us.

We played and the time flew, and soon we found ourselves in what we realized was our final round together. We had tried to ignore it for so long, but now it hung over us. The only way to shake it was to continue the eighteen.

When all was said and done, we finished the game. Our scores were average. He beat me by three strokes.

Matt had to be home so he could wake up early in the morning and head out. We stood at the practice green waiting for his mother to come get him. Finally, she arrived.

"It was a pleasure playing with you." I held out my hand. He shook, and then I half-hugged him, like boys do when they want to be men. I saw him off the next morning.

He played on a tour at his new home, and I competed also. One day, I received a letter in the mail. It was a scorecard and a picture of the leader board. Matt was atop it. He finally won.

Over the years, I received many scorecards from Matt (unfortunately more than I sent him). I keep them in my golf bag for good luck.

I guess the magic of golf isn't the course, or the swing, or the sound you hear when you hit a solid 3-iron. It's the feeling you get when you beat your best friend, or lose to him, for that matter.

And sooner or later you realize that you didn't play every week because you were golfers; you played because you were friends.

The Moment My Life Began

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 01:31:00 +0000

By Michelle McCormick
Contributor: Jason Lee

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.~ Maori Proverb

Monday morning, 8:15 A.M. is when it happened. I lost my job. Not just any job, my first real job. This was my first professional experience outside of graduate school. I worked almost two years before my vice president called me into her office to relay the life-altering news.

It didn't take long. In fact, I kind of knew it was coming. I just sat there listening to the sad tone of my boss' voice and the other vice president who accompanied her as they talked about how much they'd miss me, how sad they were, what my severance options were and how they knew whatever I did, I would succeed. The more they spoke, the more I started to drift into a moment of complete surrender to my faith.

Just a week prior to the news, I was in Hawaii enjoying a vacation with my close girlfriends. During our weeklong getaway, we decided to skydive. I had always been a planner―a control freak―and yearned to let go of that characteristic. As I fell from the plane, I let go of all my worries and just lived in the moment. I didn't worry about deadlines, relationships, the things of this world. Instead, I took in the beauty of the sea, the mountainside and the unexplainable peace that comes from just floating and having no clue what the next moment will hold or feel like.

It was in my boss' office that morning that I reverted to the feeling I had as I took a step of faith and fell. Fell and let go of all things in my control, and trusted that life isn't about me and my plans. Instead it's about following what I believe to be true and trusting the one I believe created me.

That day was the first day of the rest of my life. I often tell my old co-workers that the day I lost my job was the best day of my life. It's the day I stopped living in a nine-to-five box and started living life as it was meant to be lived: adventurously.

The next couple of weeks were trying. But I couldn't let circumstances get me down. I was a woman who yearned to enjoy life, and no matter what my income now was, I was determined to make that dream a reality.

Two weeks after I was let go, I found myself surrounded by middle school students on a bus heading to North Carolina. I had always wanted to volunteer with youth, but never had the time due to my job and prior commitments. But since I was no longer constrained, I went on a weeklong trip as a chaperone. I was blessed to get to know some amazing girls as we shared a hotel room, and even more blessed as I watched these kids perform for various non-profits throughout the city.

Next, I went to camp as a leader. Again, I developed relationships that would benefit the middle and high school students. I was in fellowship with them, along with growing internally myself. But even more exciting things were on the horizon.

I had always wanted to go overseas on a mission trip, and in fact there was one I was very interested in. We would set up a sports camp for orphans in a desert town clear across the world. The kicker? The trip was scheduled for the same week as my biggest event at work. I could never have gone.

I applied for a passport and started to prepare for the trip. My new passport showed up in July, just days before I was asked to accompany a group of teenagers to the Dominican Republic on another mission trip. The trip would be free, since I would go as a leader and there was nothing holding me back.

My life only continued to get better. I travelled across the country. I visited London for the first time. I learned about culture, others, and myself. I had made a commitment to myself in the beginning of 2008 to make it a year of no fear, and for the first time in my life I had a free schedule to play with. I had no classes, no meetings, no work.

I had gone to school to be a writer, I was born to be a writer, and for the first time I could take the time to be a writer. My job interviews focused on writing. Continuing my education was also a big dream of mine, and I enrolled in online courses for another graduate degree. I was chasing my dreams at a time when the world was telling me to be depressed and settle for whatever I could get. The loss of my job opened doors I never would have foreseen or even attempted to venture through.

Worry vs Prayer & Praise

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:36:00 +0000

Worry! Why worry? What can worry do?
It never keeps a trouble from overtaking you.
It gives you indigestion & woeful hours at night,
And fills with gloom the passing days, however fair & bright.
It puts a frown upon your face & sharpness in your tone;
You're unfit to live with others & unfit to live alone.
Worry! Why worry? What can worry do?
It never keeps a trouble from overtaking you.

Pray! Why pray? What can praying do?
Praying really changes things, arranges life anew.
It's good for digestion, gives peaceful hours at night,
And fills the grayest, gloomiest days with rays of glowing light.
It puts a smile upon your face, & the love-note in your tone,
Makes you fit to live with others & fit to live alone.
Pray! Why pray? What can praying do?
It brings God's Love & power from Heaven to live & work with you.

Praise! Why praise? What does praising do?
Praise satisfies the heart of God & brings new joy to you,
Provides a tonic for the soul, & keeps you always bright
With memories of blessings sent, & joyful songs at night.
And when there's "Thank you" on your face, & the praise-note's in your tone,
Folks all will want to live with you: you'll never be alone.
Praise! Why praise? What does praising do?
Praise always says that God is good: Experience proves it true.
(Phi.4:6-7)

Author: Unknown

Have A Blessed Day

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 03:17:00 +0000

Have a Blessed Day ! ...
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.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.
That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were.
The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning?
What did you write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way."
What he had written was: "Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it."

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind.
The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind.
Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story:

Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.

Invite others towards good with wisdom. Live life with no excuse and love with no regrets. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.

Great men say, "Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness…. In the journey of life, if you want to travel without fear, you must have the ticket of a good conscience."

The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling…
And even more beautiful is, knowing that you are the reason behind it!!!

Author: Unknown

Appreciation

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 03:22:00 +0000

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company.

He passed the first interview; the director did the last interview and made the final decision. The director discovered from the CV, that the youth's academic result is excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduate research - never was there a year he did not score. The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarship in school?" and the youth answered "None".

The director asked, "Was it your father who paid for your school fees?"

The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one-year-old. It was my mother who paid for my school fees."

The director asked, "Where did your mother work?"

The youth answered, "My mother worked as a washer-woman."

The director requested the youth to show him his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect to the director.

The director asked, "Did you ever help your mother wash the clothes before?"

The youth answered, "Never! My mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than me."

The director said, "I have a request, when you go back today, go and help to clean your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning."

The youth felt that as the chance of landing the job was high, when he went back, he happily wanted to clean his mother's hands. His mother felt strange. She was happy but with trepidation, she showed her hands to the youth.

The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly, his tears flowing as he did that. It was the first time he saw his mother's hands so wrinkled, and there are so many scars in her hands. Some wounds were still raw and incurred pain so intense that his mother's body shuddered when cleaned with water.

This is the first time the youth realized and experienced that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes every day to earn for him the school fees. The scars in the mother's hands were the price that the mother paid for his graduation and academic excellence and probably his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother's hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office.

The director noticed the redness in the youth's eye, asked, "Can you tell what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?"

The youth answered, "I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes"

The director asked, "Please tell me how you felt."

The youth said:

"Number 1, I learnt what is appreciation. Without my mother, there would not be the successful me today.
Number 2, I learnt how to work together with my mother. Only then could I understand how difficult and tough the job was.
Number 3, I learnt the importance and value of family relationship."

The director said, "This is what I am looking for. I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who understands the suffering of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life to be my manager. You are hired."

Later on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team, the company's results improved tremendously.

A child who had been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted will develop an "entitlement mentality" and will always put himself first. He will be ignorant of his parents' efforts. When he starts working, he will assume that everybody must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he would never know how his employees suffer and will always blame others for anything that goes wrong. For such people, he may achieve good results and may be successful for a while, but will never realise it is team effort that resulted in the achievements. He will be self-centred and always be wanting more for himself. If we are this kind of protective parents, are we loving our children or destroying them?

You can let your children live in a big house, eat good food, learn piano, watch a big-screen TV, etc., but when you are mowing the grass, please let them experience it. After a meal, let them wash their own plates and bowls together with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love them in the right way. You want them to understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day it is their own efforts that will matter - especially to their own children.

The most important thing is that your children learn how to appreciate the efforts, experience the difficulty and learn the ability to work with others to get things done.

Contributor: Jason Lee

To Begin Again – By The Amazing Grace of God

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 03:54:00 +0000

The restaurant was crowded, and I waited at the bar until my wife's and my table was called. A fire roared nearby and a real tree stood simply in the corner, covered in small white lights and nothing else. I ordered my wife a glass of wine and sipped at my draft beer while she lingered in the bathroom.

No doubt she was drying her eyes and reapplying a third coat of mascara, I thought bitterly as I remembered the heated words and nasty barbs we had exchanged on the first leg of our trip from North Carolina to Florida.

We were going home to get a divorce. There was nothing pleasant about it. Neither of us was even trying anymore.

We had pulled over at the first nice restaurant we saw. Of course, we had passed a hundred others that either hadn't lived up to her expectations or my price range. We blamed each other the more our hunger grew.

I grunted when the hostess told us that the wait was over an hour. My wife sighed and disappeared into the ladies' room.

As I chewed on stale peanuts and ordered another beer, I watched the happy couples at the bar, basking in the firelight and looking forward to the new year that they had no doubt roared in together romantically.

My wife and I had spent the first day of the new year storming around the house, dividing the CD collection and credit card bills. We had been married for four years, so there was a lot to go over.

I watched a young couple kiss. An older couple held hands. I recalled a happier time, not too long ago, when my wife and I would have been right there with them. Lingering over cocktails at the bar on purpose instead of just rushing in to get a table, eat and get it over with.

I thought of the past year and its few ups and many downs. It had started with a job transfer, and things had gone downhill from there. My wife said goodbye to her fourth-grade students, and we packed up the car and moved ten hours away. We had no friends, no family, and our first month's phone bill was enormous.

She found a job quickly and advanced easily, while I soon realized my new job was a big disappointment. She missed her family and her students, I missed my old job, and nothing worked out right. The move cost more than we expected, we rented an expensive apartment we really didn't need, and there was nothing to do in our new town but eat and watch TV. And fight..

Resentment grew with each passing month. But instead of talking to each other and sharing our problems as we had in the past, we turned to grumbling and grousing, fussing and fighting.

How could I tell her I felt unfulfilled and defeated at my new job? The job that had caused her to uproot her whole life and follow her husband to a small town in the mountains of North Carolina?

How could she tell me she hated going into work every morning and felt unfulfilled without being in a classroom?

In the end, neither of us told the other anything. When we spoke at all, it was to yell or accuse or snipe or bark.

My wife appeared at the bar, looking beautiful despite her puffy, cried-out eyes. I felt guilty at her tears, and each drop was like a knife in my heart. There was a time in our life when the thought of making her cry had brought tears to my own eyes. But now each drop was like some stupid point on an invisible scoreboard.

I watched her cross the room and felt a lurch inside my stomach as I thought of my life without her.

"How do I look?" she asked instinctively, and I had to laugh. It was a question she asked constantly, all through the day and night. An inside joke we'd shared for years, soon to be shared no more.

She thought I was laughing at her makeup, and she quickly downed her wine with a sour expression on her face that had nothing to do with the vintage.

Our last name was finally called, and we rushed through soup and rolls. Silver clinked on fancy plates and we chewed in silence. There was so much I wanted to say to her, but after all that we had decided, what was the point?

Telling her I still loved her would only make our decision that much more difficult.

After ordering dinner I excused myself to go to the men's room, stopping on the way to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Not surprisingly, her body clenched at my touch.

While inside the men's room I heard the door burst open behind me and then the sound of water running, but my flushing couldn't cover the sound of sobbing as I emerged from the stall.

A middle-aged man in a collared shirt and Dockers stood blubbering in front of the sink. He snuffled and snorted when he saw me, and I reached for paper towels and handed them to him in an unceremonious lump. He used them all and still the tears flowed. His face looked ruddy and flushed, and his washed-out eyes beseeched me to understand as he explained himself through his sobs.

"I'm sorry," he choked. "It's just... the tree and the lights. I thought I was ready. I thought I could do all this. But then I heard the Christmas music and I just... it's the new year already. Why do they have to keep playing them? I just couldn't do it. I'm sorry. I tried."

"Tried to do what?" I asked gently, hoping I wasn't prying. His pain seemed so intense, it was all I could do not to join him myself.

"Be... normal," he explained, blowing his nose shortly after. "My wife. You see... she died six weeks ago and I―"

"Six weeks!" I shouted, fear clutching my young heart. "I couldn't get out of bed if my wife had passed away six weeks ago." Despite the current state of affairs of my marriage, I suddenly realized this statement was all too true.

He nodded, as if I had any idea what kind of pain he was experiencing.

"I know," he nodded again. "I know. But... I managed to make it through Thanksgiving by drinking my way through a tropical cruise. I even managed to eat and sleep my way through Christmas. And... I thought I should be well by now.

"But Christmas was always her favorite. I never stopped to listen to all of those silly Christmas songs until this very night. My appetizer came, my drinks, my salad. It all just sat there while I listened to the words. Over and over. Then I just started bawling. I'm sorry, you must think me a fool."

Just then the men's room door burst open again, nearly knocking me to the ground. Two young men of college age rushed to surround the crying man. They wore expensive sweaters and grave expressions and called him "Dad."

They asked if he was all right and turned their backs to me as they cleaned their father up in private.

The small room grew crowded, and I left them to their task. I wanted to ask the man how long he and his wife had been married, but by the age of his grown sons I assumed it was well beyond twenty years.

I watched my wife's young face aglow in the candlelight, her fine hands curved around the stem of her wine glass. My legs felt leaden as I joined her at her seat, taking the chair beside her and pulling her into my arms just as the tears came.

"What's wrong?" she whispered into my hair as I clung to her chest. Her tone held no scorn, only bare and naked concern that her husband should feel pain.

After so many hateful words, so many petty barbs, I was still her husband.

"I'm sorry," I said, looking into her eyes.

Her tears spoke her truest fears, and in seconds we were tripping all over each other's apologies. Relief overflowed our hearts as we spoke.

"I'll find a job back home," I sputtered. "I'll work two jobs, whatever it takes. I miss our family, I―"

"We'll both find jobs," she joined. "You'll see. We'll be fine. We'll start all over. Last year was horrible. This year will be fresh and..."

When our apologies and plans were spent, she held me close and whispered two words in my ear: "What happened?"

But how could I explain that in one quick bathroom visit I had lost her, and then found her, all at the same time?

Author: Rusty Fischer
Contributor: Bro Jason Lee

YEAR 2011- THIS IS WEIRD BUT IT IS TRUE

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 05:11:00 +0000

This year we will experience four unusual dates, 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, and 11/11/11.

NOW...go figure this out:-

Take the last two digits of the year you were born

Plus the age you will be THIS year, and it will equal to 111

Example: Born 1941
Birthday this year: 70
Add: 41 + 70 = 111

Fortunately, it did not turn out to be 666, else we have to bring in 777.....

What Did You Miss In Life?

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 02:01:00 +0000

Life Is A Process.
It Is Sad That It Does Not Come The Same Again;
It Is Glad That The Same Does Not Have To Come Back Again.

In This Life, What Did You Miss?

The Wife Asked The Husband When She Was 25 .
Despondently, The Husband replied: I Missed A New Job Opportunity.

When She Was 35,
The Husband Angrily Told her That He Had Just Missed The Bus .

At 45, The Husband Sadly Said:
I Missed The Opportunity Seeing My Closed Relative Before His Last Breath.

At 55, The Husband said disappointingly:
I Missed A Good Chance To Retire.

At 65, The Husband Hurriedly Replied:
I Missed A Dental Appointment.

At 75, The Wife Did Not Ask The Husband Anymore,

The Husband Was Kneeling In Front Of The Very Sick Wife.
Remembering The Question The Wife Used To Ask Him,

This Time He Asked The Wife The Same Question.
The Wife With A Smile And Peaceful Look, Replied:
In This Life, I Did Not Miss Having You!

The Husband Was Full Of Tears.
He Always Thought That They Could Be Together Forever.
He Was Always Busy With Work And Trifles.
So Much So He Had Never Been Thoughtful To His Wife.

The Husband Hugged The Wife Tightly And Said:
Over 50 Years, How I Had Allowed Myself To Miss
Your Deep Love For Me.

In The Busy City Life, There Are Many People
Who Are Always Busy With Work.
These People Revolve Their Lives Around Their Jobs.
These People Sacrifice All Their Times And Health
To Meet The Social Expectations.
They Are Unwilling To Spend Times On Health Care.

They Miss The Opportunity To Be With Their Children
In Their Growing Up.
They Neglect The Loved Ones Who Care For Them,
And Also Their Health.

Nobody Knows What Is Going To Happen One Year From Now.
Life Is Not Permanent, So Always Live In The Now.

Express Your Gratitude To Your Loved Ones In Words.
Show Your Care With Actions.
Treat Everyday As The Last Episode Of Life.

In This Way, When You are Gone,
You Loved Ones Would Have Nothing
To Feel Sorry About.

Author: Unknown

No Second Chance

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 05:25:00 +0000

There's No Second Chance in Life...

TO THOSE OF US WHO ARE ALREADY THERE
AND TO THOSE WHO WILL SOON BE THERE...

The Secrets of Old Age

Before middle age – Do not fear!

After middle age – Do not regret!

Enjoy Your Life While You Can!

Do not wait till you cannot even walk just to be sorry and to regret.

As long as it is physically possible, visit places you wish to visit.

When there is an opportunity, get together with old classmates,

Old colleagues & old friends.

The gathering is not just about eating; it’s just that there is not much time left.

Money kept in the banks may not be really yours.

When it is time to spend, just spend, & treat yourself well as you’re getting old.

Whatever you feel like eating, just eat! It is most important to be happy.

Food which are good for health – eat often and more - but that is not everything.

Things which are not good for health – eat less but once in a while

Do not abstain from them totally.

Treat sickness with optimism. Whether you are poor or rich,

Everyone has to go through the birth, aging, sickness and death.

There is no exception, that’s life. Do not be afraid or worried when you are sick.

Settle all the outstanding issues before hand

And you will be able to leave without regret.

Let the doctors handle your body,

God handles your life & loves you,

But be in charge of your own moods

If worries can cure your sickness, then go ahead and worry.

If worries can prolong your life, then go ahead and worry.

If worries can exchange for happiness, then go ahead and worry.

If worries cannot solve the above (which it cannot), then kick it out of your mind

Our kids will make their own fortune.

Look After Four Old Treasures:

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

1. Your old body – pay more attention to health,
You can only rely on yourself on this.

2. Retirement funds – money that you have earned,
It is best to keep them yourself.

3. Your old companion – treasure every moment with your other half,
One of you will leave first.

4. Your old friends – seize every opportunities to meet up with your friends.
Such opportunities will become rare as time goes by.

With Friends, Everyday you MUST laugh, dance and be happy !~!~!

5 Running water does not flow back.
So is life, make it happy !~!~!

***ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF YOUR LIFE***

Author: Unknown

Smile

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 04:48:00 +0000

Breakfast at McDonald's

This is a good story and is true, please read it all the way through until the end! (After the story, there are some very interesting facts!):

I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology.

The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with.

Her last project of the term was called, 'Smile.'

The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.

I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway. So, I thought this would be a piece of cake, literally.

Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's one crisp March morning.

It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.

We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did.

I did not move an inch... an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved.

As I turned around I smelled a horrible 'dirty body' smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men.

As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was smiling'

His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance.....

He said, 'Good day' as he counted the few coins he had been clutching...

The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation. I held my tears as I stood there with them.

The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted...

He said, 'Coffee is all Miss' because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).

Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes.

That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action.

I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray.

I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand.

He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, 'Thank you.'

I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, 'I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope.'

I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son... When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, 'That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope....'

We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give.

That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love.
I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand.

I turned in 'my project' and the instructor read it.

Then she looked up at me and said, 'Can I share this?'
I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class.

She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed.

In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald's, my son, the instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student.

I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn:

UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.

Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to:

LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS -

NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.

There is an Angel sent to watch over you..

In order for her to work, you must pass this on to the people you want watched over..

An Angel wrote:

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart

To handle yourself, use your head..

To handle others, use your heart.

God Gives every bird it's food, but He does not throw it into its nest.

A box of gold

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

With a secret inside that has never been told

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

This box is priceless but as I see

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The treasure inside is precious to me

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Today I share this treasure with thee

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It's the treasure of friendship you've given me.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Author: Unknown

Pencil & Eraser

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 12:15:00 +0000

Pencil: I'm sorry

Eraser: For what? You didn't do anything wrong.

Pencil: I'm sorry because you get hurt because of me. Whenever I made a mistake, you're always there to erase it. But as you make my mistakes vanish, you lose a part of yourself. You get smaller and smaller each time.

Eraser: That's true. But I don't really mind. You see, I was made to do this. I was made to help you whenever you do something wrong.

Even though one day, I know I'll be gone and you'll replace me with a new one, I'm actually happy with my job. So please, stop worrying. I hate seeing you sad.

I found this conversation between the pencil and the eraser very inspirational.

Parents are like the eraser whereas their children are the pencil. They're always there for their children, cleaning up their mistakes.

Sometimes along the way, they get hurt, and become smaller / older, and eventually pass on.

Though their children will eventually find someone new (spouse), but parents are still happy with what they do for their children, and will always hate seeing their precious ones worrying, or sad.

All my life, I've been the pencil. And it pains me to see the eraser that is my parents getting smaller and smaller each day.

For I know that one day, all that I'm left with would be eraser shavings and memories of what I used to have.

This is to all the parents out there.

TIME

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 01:15:00 +0000

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." - Psalm 90:12

Time is God's gift to mortal man;
It is that fleeting little span
Between our birth & Heaven's door
Where we begin God's evermore
When time is o'er.

How then should we our time employ,
In service, or, in passing joy?
Can we afford to throw away
And squander time in passing play,
O men of clay?
--Rev. R. E. Neighbour, D.D.

* Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once.

* "Time is the coin of your life.
It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.
Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you."
--Carl Sandburg

* To comprehend a man's life, it is necessary to know not merely what he does, but also what he purposely leaves undone. There is a limit to the work that can be got out of a human body or a human brain, & he is a wise man who wastes no energy on pursuits for which he is not fitted; & he still wiser who, from among the things that he can do well, chooses & resolutely follows the best.
--William E. Gladstone

* "The less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in." --Lord Chesterfield

* You may delay, but time will not.--Benjamin Franklin

* 1,440 Minutes A Day

What if you were given $1440.00 at the start of each day to use as you see fit,
the only stipulation being that you must give back what you haven't spent by the end of the day?

We master our seconds and minutes, or we become slaves to them; we use time, or time uses us.
More time is wasted not in hours but in minutes.
A bucket with a small hole in the bottom gets just as empty as a bucket that is deliberately kicked over.
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift.
That's why it's called the present!

* "We are always complaining that our days are few, and acting as though there would be no end." --Seneca

* "I have so much to do today that I shall spend the first 3 hours in prayer." --Martin Luther

* What Happened to Time

When as a child I laughed and wept, time crept.
When as a youth I dreamed and talked, time walked.
When I became a full grown man, time ran.
And later as I older grew, time flew.
Soon I shall find while traveling on, time gone.

* Most of us spend a lot of time dreaming of the future, never realizing that a little of it arrives each day.

USE THE BEST OF YOUR TIME FOR GOD. IT IS A PRECIOUS GIFT FROM HIM. DON'T WASTE IT!

Author unknown

Regaining Your Joy

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 08:31:00 +0000

"Joy of the Lord" is really just a state of mind and a state of heart.

It is being thankful because you know, first and foremost, that God has given you eternal life in a world of happiness. It is remembering that, above all the frustration and turmoil you may be experiencing in your present state, or the lethargy or boredom that you have with your present circumstances, when it comes down to it, you realize what the priorities of life are—what your life is all about.

To regain your joy of the Lord, you have to look past all your other priorities; all the things that keep you busy, all the things that bore you. You have to realize that, despite all those things‚ you have already obtained the most valuable prize you could possibly gain in any walk of life: Eternal life!

Whether you are a successful world leader or a simple person, because you know the Lord, you have the asset of the joy of the Lord deep within your heart. You can keep this asset no matter what anybody does to you, and no matter what circumstances you may find yourself in. It's like you've already won the main, top prize, Eternal life in Heaven and the extremely wonderful thing about it is: You can never lose it!

This time period you are living in is very short and temporary and "passes away" (Matthew 24:35), day by day, but your spirit is saved and lives on forever.

The joy of the Lord is to realize: That you are a sinner, but God has forgiven you; That He unconditionally loves you & will never give up on you; That at any point when you reach out and take His hand, He will take it immediately into His and forgive you.

The Joy of the Lord is realigning your priorities in proper order and proper perspective. All these other nagging, incomplete, and sometimes frustrating details, that are imperfect and that tend to get you down‚ are really insignificant points that will some day pass away. Yet your spirit will remain and live for eternity.

The Joy of the Lord is fixing your gaze, which determines your attitude and actions, on the eternal values that you'll be living by forever, and cut yourself loose from the temporary setbacks.
You will be among those who fulfill the Scripture, "The spirits of just men made perfect" (Hebrews 12:23). Perfect in love, perfect in joy, perfect in creation—that's you! That's where you're headed. ‘Regaining your joy’ is realizing the truth of this, and not being set back by the façades of the temporal!

The Joy of the Lord is your strength! (Nehemiah 8:10b)

Author: Unknown

Psalm 23 - what's in it for you?

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 10:36:00 +0000

The Lord is my shepherd.—That's relationship.
I shall not want.—That's supply.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures.—That's rest.
He leads me beside the still waters.—That's refreshment.
He restores my soul.—That's spiritual healing.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness… —That's guidance.
… for His name's sake.—That's purpose.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death… —That's tribulation.
… I will fear no evil… —That's protection.
… for You are with me.—That's faithfulness.
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.—That's discipline.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.—That's hope.
You anoint my head with oil, my cup runs over.—That's abundance.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.—That's blessing.
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord...—That's security.
… forever.—That's eternity.

—David the psalmist, with comments by an unknown author

Happiness Formula

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 08:28:00 +0000

It's not your circumstances that determine your happiness; it's your state of mind.

Happiness and contentment are in your attitude! It's all in your perspective and your outlook. It's a matter of taking on God’s mind, of looking at situations and circumstances and even yourself through His eyes, seeing things from His view—even if you have to take it by faith.

There's just no reason to be discouraged, to feel down, and to let the things of this world get to you. Why should such trivial things muddy your view, steal your joy, and bring defeat and discouragement?

Seek to be triumphant, and that spirit of victory will become alive in you. Search for ways to see the good in all that is happening, and you will begin to live the good.

Turn to God for your happiness and stability and that's what you will find. Desire contentment in how things are today, not how they could be, and you will find the satisfaction you long for.

The Enemy of your soul only has claim to what you give him. He cannot steal your joy and happiness away; it's your choice whether he can take it. He will taunt you, he will hit you with everything, and he will haggle you until you give in, or better yet, until you turn around and tell him to get lost.

Happiness, fulfillment, satisfaction, contentment, peace, and joy are not contingent on the things of the physical, on your surroundings, on your lacks or problems, but they are contingent on your choices.

Choose to be victorious regardless of how you feel in the physical and that choice will become reality. Choose contentment over all the things the Enemy's pointing out to you to get your eyes off of the Lord, and as you make that decision you will find contentment.

Life's greatest lessons are mastered through learning to make something good out of the seeming bad. It's being faced with a difficult and troublesome time and rather than getting down about it, rejoicing for the good that can be found, or if none can be found, then being thankful for the sunny days and the happy times that you have known and that are yet to come.

That is how you will find the victory. The difficulties and struggles will not necessarily vanish, but the weight of them will not seem as heavy, for you will have placed them in God’s hand. Remember, victory is a state of mind.

What's your state of mind?

Author: Unknown

Kneeling to pray

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:24:00 +0000

A minister passing through his church in the middle of the day, decided to pause by the altar and see who had come to pray. Just then the back door opened, a man came down the aisle.

The minister frowned as he saw the man hadn't shaved in a while. His shirt was kinda shabby and his coat was worn and frayed, the man knelt, he bowed his head, Then rose and walked away.

In the days that followed, each noon time came this chap,
each time he knelt just for a moment. A lunch pail in his lap.
Well, the minister's suspicions grew, with robbery a main fear, he decided to stop the man and ask him, 'What are you doing here?'

The old man said, he worked down the road..
Lunch was half an hour..
Lunchtime was his prayer time,
For finding strength and power.

'I stay only moments, see, because the factory is so far away; as I kneel here talking to the Lord. This is kinda what I say:

'I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD,
HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY.
SO, JESUS, THIS IS JIM CHECKING IN TODAY.'

The minister feeling foolish, told Jim, that was fine..
He told the man he was welcome to come and pray just anytime. Time to go, Jim smiled, said 'Thanks.' He hurried to the door.

The minister knelt at the altar, he'd never done it before.
His cold heart melted, warmed with love, and met with Jesus there. As the tears flowed, in his heart, he repeated old Jim's prayer:

'I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. I DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY..
SO, JESUS, THIS IS ME CHECKING IN TODAY.'

Past noon one day, the minister noticed that old Jim hadn't come. As more days passed without Jim, he began to worry.
At the factory, he asked about him, and learned that he was ill.

The hospital staff was worried too. But Jim had given them a thrill. The week that Jim was with them, he brought changes in the ward. His smiles, a joy contagious, touched and changed the people. This was Jim’s reward. The head nurse couldn't understand why Jim was so glad, when no flowers, calls or cards came. Not a visitor he had.

The minister stayed by his bed. He voiced the nurse's concern:
No friends came to show they cared. He had nowhere to turn. Looking surprised, old Jim spoke up and with a winsome smile; 'the nurse is wrong, she couldn't know, that He's in here all the while everyday at noon He's here, a dear friend of mine, you see. He sits right down, takes my hand, leans over and says to me:

'I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, JIM, HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP, AND I TOOK AWAY YOUR SIN. ALWAYS LOVE TO HEAR YOU PRAY, I THINK ABOUT YOU EACH DAY, AND SO JIM, THIS IS JESUS CHECKING IN TODAY.'

If this blesses you, pass it on. Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

May God hold you in the palm of His and angels watch over you. Live in peace and peace will live in you.

Time Where Are You

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:01:00 +0000

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." - Psalm 90:12

Time is God's gift to mortal man;

It is that fleeting little span

Between our birth & Heaven's door

Where we begin God's evermore

When time is o'er.

How then should we our time employ,

In service, or, in passing joy?

Can we afford to throw away

And squander time in passing play,

O men of clay?

--Rev. R. E. Neighbour, D.D.

* Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once.
* "Time is the coin of your life.
It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.
Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you."
--Carl Sandburg

* To comprehend a man's life, it is necessary to know not merely what he does, but also what he purposely leaves undone. There is a limit to the work that can be got out of a human body or a human brain, & he is a wise man who wastes no energy on pursuits for which he is not fitted; & he still wiser who, from among the things that he can do well, chooses & resolutely follows the best.

--William E. Gladstone

* "The less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in." --Lord Chesterfield

* You may delay, but time will not.--Benjamin Franklin

* 1,440 Minutes A Day
What if you were given $1440.00 at the start of each day to use as you see fit, the only stipulation being that you must give back what you haven't spent by the end of the day?

We master our seconds and minutes, or we become slaves to them; we use time, or time uses us.
More time is wasted not in hours but in minutes.
A bucket with a small hole in the bottom gets just as empty as a bucket that is deliberately kicked over.
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift.
That's why it's called the present!

* "We are always complaining that our days are few, and acting as though there would be no end." --Seneca

* "I have so much to do today that I shall spend the first 3 hours in prayer." --Martin Luther

* What Happened to Time

When as a child I laughed and wept, time crept.
When as a youth I dreamed and talked, time walked.
When I became a full grown man, time ran.
And later as I older grew, time flew.
Soon I shall find while traveling on, time gone.

* Most of us spend a lot of time dreaming of the future, never realizing that a little of it arrives each day.

USE THE BEST OF YOUR TIME FOR GOD. IT IS A PRECIOUS GIFT FROM HIM.

DON'T WASTE IT!

Your Turn to Love

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:21:00 +0000

Do you have parents, grandparents, or other loved ones who are suffering from any of the long-term troubles that occur naturally in old age? Here are five ways that you can return their love and support:

1. Empathize.

Put yourself in their place. You may think you have problems, but if you stop to think about what it might be like to be their age, that would probably give you a much greater appreciation for what some elderly go through.

Many seniors no longer have the physical capacity to do some things they've always done, which can be discouraging and lead to feelings of uselessness. Some are not able to see or hear or even to eat or walk on their own, so they feel ashamed, humiliated, stripped of their dignity. Others are in almost continual pain or discomfort. Due to their weakened immune system, even minor ailments can turn into serious problems. Their bones are more fragile and their organs more delicate, and when those are broken or damaged, they require more time to heal.

Depending on their circumstances, they may worry about what will happen if their condition worsens and they don't have anyone to take care of them, or they may dread becoming a burden to others.

Understanding and sympathy go a long way in easing those hardships and alleviating those fears.

2. Take an interest.

Some seniors may not be as strong or sharp as they once were, but the intangibles that matter most, those personal qualities that make them the unique people they are, have not diminished. In fact, it is often in the later years that qualities such as love, thoughtfulness, loyalty, humility, humor, optimism, and wisdom come to full fruition.

That makes seniors some of the most fascinating people in the world. So does the fact that they have lived through times that those who are younger can never experience firsthand. Take the time to unearth their latent treasures, and you'll be surprised at what you'll find. They may even surprise themselves.

3. Show love and appreciation.

Sometimes simply knowing that we are loved can make all the difference in how we view and deal with our present circumstances. Knowing that they are appreciated for past efforts can also help seniors put their lives in perspective and counter feelings of regret over failures and shortcomings, both real and imagined.

Some of the saddest words ever spoken are heard at funerals: "I hope he knew how much he meant to me," or, "I wish I'd told her more often how much I loved her." Show love and appreciation while you can.

4. Help them stay active.

Numerous studies have shown that physical activity slows the aging process, which results in both prolonged life and improved quality of life. Conversely, a sedentary lifestyle increases the chances of age-related disease and premature death. Even a short walk in the fresh air is beneficial. (Recommendations vary, but a sensible approach is to start low and gradually increase the duration and frequency of exercise to at least 20 minutes, five days a week.)

Other studies have shown that intellectual stimulation can bolster the mind and stave off memory loss in the same way that physical exercise strengthens and protects the body.

Asked why they aren't more active physically and intellectually, many seniors say it's because they don't have anyone with whom they can exercise or engage in mentally challenging activities. Help them stay active, and you will be investing in your own future at the same time.

5. Pray for them.

It has been said that praying for others is not the least we can do for them, but the most. Prayer moves the heart and hand of God to take action according to our requests, to do things that we couldn't possibly do ourselves. "Things which are impossible with men are possible with God" (Luke 18:27).

Prayer opens a two-way channel of communication between us and God, and it works both ways. When we're asking God for His ear, it's easier for Him to get ours. Some of His most immediate answers to our prayers come when He is able to involve us.

The very fact that you pray for others shows that you're concerned about their happiness and well-being, and this puts you in a position to better understand His loving plan for their lives and how you can help bring it to pass. When you pray for someone to not be lonely, for example, God may give you some ideas as to how you can help alleviate that loneliness—perhaps a visit or an afternoon out together, or a phone call, email, or card.

Greater Love

Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (John 15:13).

Greater love means taking the initiative to reach out; to feel what the other person is feeling; to dry their tears; to bear their burdens; to feel their afflictions; to minister to those who are sick and nurse them back to health; to listen with a loving, open ear to those who need to pour out; to be a caring and understanding friend to those who need a friend; to pray for those in need; to let their heartaches be your heartaches; to make their hopes and dreams your hopes and dreams.

Knowing that you're loved gives you hope and faith. It cheers up your whole outlook!—David Brandt Berg

What God Has Promised

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:42:00 +0000

Great Poems by By Annie Johnson Flint

God has not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways,
All our lives through.
God has not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.

God has not promised
That we shall not know
Toil and temptation,
Trouble and woe;
He has not told us
We shall not bear
Many a burden,
Many a care.

God has not promised
Smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel,
Needing no guide;
Never a mountain,
Rocky and steep,
Never a river
Turbid and deep:

But God has promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor,
Light for the way,
Grace for the trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying love.

Renewing Your Mind

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:53:00 +0000

By Virginia Brandt Berg

I once talked with a woman who said she tried very hard to think only positive thoughts, but she was never able to keep it up for long. Even when she managed to appear optimistic, inwardly she was often in turmoil. Her self-help approach to positive thinking excluded God, so when things went wrong, she didn't have anything solid to hold on to.

That may seem paradoxical—faith in God being something substantial—but it's true. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). In the face of difficulty and disappointment, faith is far more effective than mere mental exercise because it is backed by promises that God has made in His Word—promises that bring about tangible results when believed and applied to real-life situations.

These promises not only have the power to change problem situations; they also have the power to change us. The Bible tells us to "be transformed by the renewing of the mind" (Romans 12:2). It is through those "exceedingly great and precious promises" that we "may be partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4).

We can, by an act of our will, take our mind off of negative thoughts. Unless we fill that void, however, the negative thoughts will rush back in. What should we replace those negative thoughts with? What is more positive or more powerful than the living Word of the living God? When coupled with prayer, the uplifting, transforming Word of God can give you victory over every ugly, negative thought and its consequences.

As you make a consistent effort to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts from God's Word, it will become a habit; you will learn to—as the Bible puts it—"bring your thoughts into captivity" (2 Corinthians 10:5).

This is very difficult to accomplish in the tumult of the world. We don't find the mind of God on the streets of social life or in the hobby shop. To connect with Him, find a place where there are no distractions. "When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly" (Matthew 6:6).

When we come aside from the temporal things that distract and harass us, and there in the presence of God we put our mind on the things of God, the transforming power of God then begins to work in us, and we are changed, renewed. There is no place where the mind can be as fully renewed as in the secret place of prayer, alone with God

Keep on the sunny side of life

noreply@blogger.com (Sonny Oh) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:07:00 +0000

KEEP ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF LIFE

Well there's a dark and a troubled side of life.

There's a bright and a sunny side too.

But if you meet with the darkness and strife,

The sunny side we also may view.

Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side,

Keep on the sunny side of life.

It will help us every day, it will brighten all the way,

If we keep on the sunny side of life.

Oh, the storm and its fury broke today,

Crushing hopes that we cherish so dear.

Clouds and storms will in time pass away.

The sun again will shine bright and clear.

Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side,

Keep on the sunny side of life.

It will help us every day, it will brighten all the way,

If we'll keep on the sunny side of life.

Let us greet with a song of hope each day.

Though the moments be cloudy or fair.

Let us trust in our Saviour always,

To keep us, every one, in His care.

Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side,

Keep on the sunny side of life.

It will help us every day, it will brighten all the way,

If we'll keep on the sunny side of life.