A little girl went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet.
She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times, even the total had to be exactly perfect. No chance here for mistakes.
Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall's Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door.
She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention, but he was too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good.
Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it!
"And what do you want?" the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages," he said without waiting for a reply to his question.
"Well, I want to talk to you about my brother," Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. "He's really, really sick...and I want to buy a miracle..."
"I beg your pardon?" said the pharmacist.
"His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?"
"We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I'm sorry but I can't help you," the pharmacist said, softening a little.
"Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn't enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs."
The pharmacist's brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, "What kind of a miracle does your brother need?"
"I don't know," Tess replied with her eyes welling up. I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can't pay for it, so I want to use my money."
"How much do you have?" asked the man from Chicago.
"One dollar and eleven cents," Tess answered barely audibly.
"And it's all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to."
"Well, what a coincidence," smiled the man. "A dollar and eleven cents---the exact price of a miracle for little brothers."
He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said, "Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the miracle you need."
That well dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed free of charge and it wasn't long until Andrew was home again and doing well. Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place.
"That surgery," her Mom whispered. "was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?"
Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost….one dollar and eleven cents....plus the faith of a little child.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Laws of Adversity
If life is a journey, then we all at some point pass through the valley of the shadow of death.
I’d like to share with you ten principles that I consider to be the Laws of Adversity. I hope that adversity doesn’t strike you this week, but if it does I hope that someday you’ll be able to look back and say that it was the best thing that every could have happened.
Law #1: Adversity is not optional; bad things do happen to good people. Fortunately, as Harold Kushner writes in his book of that title, “The ability to forgive and the ability to love are the weapons God has given us to live fully, bravely, and meaningfully in this less-than-perfect world.”
Law #2: You might not be able to choose whether or not you pass through the valley of the shadow, but you do choose whether or not to take up permanent residence down there in the darkness.
Law #3: We learn and grow more from our setbacks than we do from our successes. Adversity prepares you for bigger challenges and accomplishments in the future.
Law #4: Surviving adversity is a great way to build self-confidence, and to give you a more positive perspective on future adversity (if we survived that we can survive anything!).
Law #5: Adversity helps prevent hubris, arrogance, and complacency.
Law #6: When things aren’t working, it forces you to look at more creative solutions. There is opportunity hidden in every single adversity if you have the strength and courage to search for it and to pursue it when you’ve found it.
Law #7: What you’ve fought to gain you’ll fight to keep and vice versa – easy come, easy go – but what you had to fight to gain you will fight doubly hard to retain.
Law #8: Without the valleys, you won’t appreciate the mountains.
Law #9: Adversity keeps teaching – it provides great stories for the grandchildren! Your setbacks can, if you’re committed to learning from them and teaching about them, be the source of great learning for others.
Law #10: Adversity is a quiet teacher; you have to probe carefully for its lessons.
I’m a big believer that adversity and challenges don’t occur simply to try and keep us from the good things in life. My own experiences have shown me that life’s challenges are in many cases opportunities through which we can grow and gain the skills necessary to attain a higher level of success then would likely have been possible without the skill set acquired from having overcome the given adversity.
The key is we have to be willing to work through whatever adversities come our way (and keep in mind the basic understanding that there’s a lesson in every challenge we’re faced with).
What’s your opinion? Do you have any experiences you would like to share where by overcoming or working through a challenge you found yourself better prepared as a result?
I’d like to share with you ten principles that I consider to be the Laws of Adversity. I hope that adversity doesn’t strike you this week, but if it does I hope that someday you’ll be able to look back and say that it was the best thing that every could have happened.
Law #1: Adversity is not optional; bad things do happen to good people. Fortunately, as Harold Kushner writes in his book of that title, “The ability to forgive and the ability to love are the weapons God has given us to live fully, bravely, and meaningfully in this less-than-perfect world.”
Law #2: You might not be able to choose whether or not you pass through the valley of the shadow, but you do choose whether or not to take up permanent residence down there in the darkness.
Law #3: We learn and grow more from our setbacks than we do from our successes. Adversity prepares you for bigger challenges and accomplishments in the future.
Law #4: Surviving adversity is a great way to build self-confidence, and to give you a more positive perspective on future adversity (if we survived that we can survive anything!).
Law #5: Adversity helps prevent hubris, arrogance, and complacency.
Law #6: When things aren’t working, it forces you to look at more creative solutions. There is opportunity hidden in every single adversity if you have the strength and courage to search for it and to pursue it when you’ve found it.
Law #7: What you’ve fought to gain you’ll fight to keep and vice versa – easy come, easy go – but what you had to fight to gain you will fight doubly hard to retain.
Law #8: Without the valleys, you won’t appreciate the mountains.
Law #9: Adversity keeps teaching – it provides great stories for the grandchildren! Your setbacks can, if you’re committed to learning from them and teaching about them, be the source of great learning for others.
Law #10: Adversity is a quiet teacher; you have to probe carefully for its lessons.
I’m a big believer that adversity and challenges don’t occur simply to try and keep us from the good things in life. My own experiences have shown me that life’s challenges are in many cases opportunities through which we can grow and gain the skills necessary to attain a higher level of success then would likely have been possible without the skill set acquired from having overcome the given adversity.
The key is we have to be willing to work through whatever adversities come our way (and keep in mind the basic understanding that there’s a lesson in every challenge we’re faced with).
What’s your opinion? Do you have any experiences you would like to share where by overcoming or working through a challenge you found yourself better prepared as a result?
Just a Thought
There is no such thing as a perfect person or life. So don't judge others or separate yourself from someone because they are different in your eyes. We all have something that another can learn from. Live for today, love for tomorrow and give one another a chance before giving up; you just might be surprised that you did
KILL YOUR EGO..!!!
There was once a scientist. After a lot of practice & efforts, he developed a formula & learned the art of reproducing himself. He did it so perfectly that it was impossible to tell the reproduction from the original.
One day while doing his research, he realized that the Angel of Death was searching for him. In order to remain alive he reproduced a dozen copies of himself. The reproduction was so similar that all of them looked exactly like him.
Now when this Angel of Death came down, he was at a loss to know which of the thirteen before him was the original scientist, & confused, he left them all alone & returned back to heaven.
But, not for long, for being an expert in human nature, the Angel came up with a clever idea. He said to the scientist addressing all thirteen of them, "Sir, you must be a genius to have succeeded in making such perfect reproduction formula of yourself. However, I have discovered a flaw in your work, just one tiny little flaw."
The scientist immediately jumped out & shouted, "Impossible! where is the flaw?"
"Right here" said the Angel, as he picked up the scientist from among the reproductions & carried him off.
The whole purpose of the scientist & his formula of reproduction failed as he could not control his pride, so he lost his life.
So when man's Knowledge & Skills takes him to the top of the ladder & makes him successful, however the three letter word "EGO" can pull him down to earth immediately at its double speed.
So don't allow Ego to kill yourself,
Instead; KILL YOUR EGO..!!!
One day while doing his research, he realized that the Angel of Death was searching for him. In order to remain alive he reproduced a dozen copies of himself. The reproduction was so similar that all of them looked exactly like him.
Now when this Angel of Death came down, he was at a loss to know which of the thirteen before him was the original scientist, & confused, he left them all alone & returned back to heaven.
But, not for long, for being an expert in human nature, the Angel came up with a clever idea. He said to the scientist addressing all thirteen of them, "Sir, you must be a genius to have succeeded in making such perfect reproduction formula of yourself. However, I have discovered a flaw in your work, just one tiny little flaw."
The scientist immediately jumped out & shouted, "Impossible! where is the flaw?"
"Right here" said the Angel, as he picked up the scientist from among the reproductions & carried him off.
The whole purpose of the scientist & his formula of reproduction failed as he could not control his pride, so he lost his life.
So when man's Knowledge & Skills takes him to the top of the ladder & makes him successful, however the three letter word "EGO" can pull him down to earth immediately at its double speed.
So don't allow Ego to kill yourself,
Instead; KILL YOUR EGO..!!!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Why We Live as Long as We Do...
On the first day God created the cow. God said, "You must go to the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer I will give you a life span of sixty years."
The cow said, "That's a kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. Let me have twenty years and I'll give back the other forty."
And God agreed.
On the second day, God created the dog. God said, "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. I will give you a life span of twenty years."
The dog said, "That's too long to be barking. Give me ten years and I'll give back the other ten."
So God agreed (sigh).
On the third day God created the monkey. God said, "Entertain people, do monkey tricks, make them laugh. I'll give you a twenty year life span."
The monkey said, "How boring, monkey tricks for twenty years? I don't think so. Dog gave you back ten, so that's what I'll do too, okay?"
And God agreed again.
On the fourth day God created man. God said, "Eat, sleep, play. Do nothing, just enjoy, enjoy. I'll give you twenty years."
Man said, "What? Only twenty years? No way! Tell you what, I'll take my twenty, and the forty cow gave back, and the ten dog gave back and the ten monkey gave back. That makes eighty, okay?"
"Okay," said God. "You've got a deal."
So this is why for the first twenty years we eat, sleep, play, enjoy, and do nothing;
for the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family;
for the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain our grandchildren;
and for the last ten years we sit in front of the house and bark at everybody.
The cow said, "That's a kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. Let me have twenty years and I'll give back the other forty."
And God agreed.
On the second day, God created the dog. God said, "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. I will give you a life span of twenty years."
The dog said, "That's too long to be barking. Give me ten years and I'll give back the other ten."
So God agreed (sigh).
On the third day God created the monkey. God said, "Entertain people, do monkey tricks, make them laugh. I'll give you a twenty year life span."
The monkey said, "How boring, monkey tricks for twenty years? I don't think so. Dog gave you back ten, so that's what I'll do too, okay?"
And God agreed again.
On the fourth day God created man. God said, "Eat, sleep, play. Do nothing, just enjoy, enjoy. I'll give you twenty years."
Man said, "What? Only twenty years? No way! Tell you what, I'll take my twenty, and the forty cow gave back, and the ten dog gave back and the ten monkey gave back. That makes eighty, okay?"
"Okay," said God. "You've got a deal."
So this is why for the first twenty years we eat, sleep, play, enjoy, and do nothing;
for the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family;
for the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain our grandchildren;
and for the last ten years we sit in front of the house and bark at everybody.
Funny story about a an old lady who has no money...
A man worked in a post office. His job was to process all mail that had illegible addresses. One day a letter came to his desk, addressed in shaky handwriting to God. He thought, "I better open this one and see what it's all about." So he opened it and it read: "Dear God, I am a 83 year old widow living on a very small pension. Yesterday someone stole my purse. It had a hundred dollars in it which was all the money I had until my next pension check."
"Next Sunday is Mother's Day, and I had invited my last two friends over for dinner. Without that money, I have nothing to buy food with." "I have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope. Can you please help me?" The postal worker was touched, and went around showing the letter to all the others. Each of them dug into his wallet and came up with a few dollars. By the time he made the rounds, he had collected 96 dollars, which they put into an envelope and sent over to her.
The rest of the day, all the workers felt a warm glow thinking of the nice thing they had done. Mother's Day came and went, and a few days later came another letter from the old lady to God. All the workers gathered around while the letter was opened. It read, "Dear God, How can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me?" "Because of your generosity, I was able to fix a lovely dinner for my friends. We had a very nice day, and I told my friends of your wonderful gift. " "By the way, there was 4 dollars missing. It was no doubt those thieving people at the post office!!!!!!
"Next Sunday is Mother's Day, and I had invited my last two friends over for dinner. Without that money, I have nothing to buy food with." "I have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope. Can you please help me?" The postal worker was touched, and went around showing the letter to all the others. Each of them dug into his wallet and came up with a few dollars. By the time he made the rounds, he had collected 96 dollars, which they put into an envelope and sent over to her.
The rest of the day, all the workers felt a warm glow thinking of the nice thing they had done. Mother's Day came and went, and a few days later came another letter from the old lady to God. All the workers gathered around while the letter was opened. It read, "Dear God, How can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me?" "Because of your generosity, I was able to fix a lovely dinner for my friends. We had a very nice day, and I told my friends of your wonderful gift. " "By the way, there was 4 dollars missing. It was no doubt those thieving people at the post office!!!!!!
We'll see..............
Once upon a time, there was a farmer in the central region of China. He didn't have a lot of money and, instead of a tractor, he used an old horse to plow his field.
One afternoon, while working in the field, the horse dropped dead. Everyone in the village said, "Oh, what a horrible thing to happen." The farmer said simply, "We'll see." He was so at peace and so calm, that everyone in the village got together and, admiring his attitude, gave him a new horse as a gift.
Everyone's reaction now was, "What a lucky man." And the farmer said, "We'll see."
A couple days later, the new horse jumped a fence and ran away. Everyone in the village shook their heads and said, "What a poor fellow!"
The farmer smiled and said, "We'll see."
Eventually, the horse found his way home, and everyone again said, "What a fortunate man."
The farmer said, "We'll see."
Later in the year, the farmer's young boy went out riding on the horse and fell and broke his leg.
Everyone in the village said, "What a shame for the poor boy."
The farmer said, "We'll see."
Two days later, the army came into the village to draft new recruits. When they saw that the farmer's son had a broken leg, they decided not to recruit him.
Everyone said, "What a fortunate young man."
The farmer smiled again - and said "We'll see."
Moral of the story: There's no use in overreacting to the events and circumstances of our everyday lives. Many times what looks like a setback, may actually be a gift in disguise. And when our hearts are in the right place, all events and circumstances are gifts that we can learn valuable lessons from.
As Fra Giovanni once said:
One afternoon, while working in the field, the horse dropped dead. Everyone in the village said, "Oh, what a horrible thing to happen." The farmer said simply, "We'll see." He was so at peace and so calm, that everyone in the village got together and, admiring his attitude, gave him a new horse as a gift.
Everyone's reaction now was, "What a lucky man." And the farmer said, "We'll see."
A couple days later, the new horse jumped a fence and ran away. Everyone in the village shook their heads and said, "What a poor fellow!"
The farmer smiled and said, "We'll see."
Eventually, the horse found his way home, and everyone again said, "What a fortunate man."
The farmer said, "We'll see."
Later in the year, the farmer's young boy went out riding on the horse and fell and broke his leg.
Everyone in the village said, "What a shame for the poor boy."
The farmer said, "We'll see."
Two days later, the army came into the village to draft new recruits. When they saw that the farmer's son had a broken leg, they decided not to recruit him.
Everyone said, "What a fortunate young man."
The farmer smiled again - and said "We'll see."
Moral of the story: There's no use in overreacting to the events and circumstances of our everyday lives. Many times what looks like a setback, may actually be a gift in disguise. And when our hearts are in the right place, all events and circumstances are gifts that we can learn valuable lessons from.
As Fra Giovanni once said:
"Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, or a duty, believe me... the gift is there and the wonder of an overshadowing presence."
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