We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes. --John Fitzgerald KennedyWE CAN DO THE IMPOSSIBLE. . . One voice, one heart, two hands can cause positive ripples of change; imagine what many people can do. . .They'll try to stop the dream we're dreamin', but they can't stop us from believing; They will fill your head with doubt; But that won't stop us now. So let them say we can't do it; Put up a road block, We'll just run right through it.. Cause... We can, do the impossible; We have the power in our hands, And we won't stop 'cause we've got To make a difference in this life - With one voice, one heart, two hands, we can. They say the odds are stacked against us, but that can't hold us back, we will be relentless. There's a voice they're gonna hear; A voice so loud and clear. So let them say we can't do it, give us a mountain, and we're gonna move it.. cause.. We can, do the impossible; We have the power in our hands, and we won't stop - Cause we've got to make a difference in this life With one voice, one heart, Two hands, we can.(Song lyrics that inspire me to the core to believe that ONE voice can be heard above the crowd). I love this song; I love the message; I love the inspiration). I hope you do too.TURNING FROM GOD. . .At times in life, tragedy strikes unexpectedly leaving one lost and, for me, questioning my faith. When my son, Trey, died at the age of 7 1/2 months, unexpectedly, I arrived FIRST at the hospital. The helicopter had just landed and the lady at the front desk told me to calm down and that the doctors were working on Trey. I HAD HOPE, then. I leaned against the wall, alone, and prayed and prayed and prayed that Trey live. He did not and to be honest, I turned my back on God. I was angry at my unanswered prayers and I pretended God no longer existed. He did, of course, and he was right there with me. I felt him, but I ignored him. I cried myself to sleep every night and every day I spent time in Trey's room holding the outfit he wore the day he died - desperately wanting to remember his scent - the smell of powder and formula on his breath. I thought, I will ignore and punish God now. He did this to me to punish me, somehow. That seems ridiculous, doesn't it? Of course, God did not cause Trey's death, but he was there - even when I ignored him, comforting me. For God, too, knew my pain and anquish. He gave his only son to all of us so that we may be saved. God related to me but it took quite some time before I forgave God. I had no right to punish him; to hide my face from him but even in my anger, he loved me, he comforted me and he NEVER left my side. I now thank him for being there with me through it all. Sometimes in life, I think we feel that, "Okay, I have gone through this, so now I am immune to further tragedies somehow believing that God proportions events so that we are all equal. It does not work this way, however. I learned this sadly when my daughter was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 7. As strange as it sounds, I thought that losing Trey meant that there would be no other tragedies in my life. This was a very immature belief that I had. When Taylor was born healthy and lived past the age of 7 1/2 months (the age Trey died), I somehow felt safe. I sadly realized that was not true. When Taylor was 7 she started wetting the bed and was extremely thirsty. I believed she just had a urinary tract infection. After a few tests at the doctor, she was immediately rushed to the hospital and we were told that she had diabetes. I couldn't believe what I heard and I felt similar feelings that I did when the doctors told me that they could not save Trey's life.FACING FEAR AND OVERCOMING IT. . .At the time of Taylor's diagnosis, I learned that she would need to take injections - 3 to 4 times a day. It is difficult to admit, but I was desperately afraid of needles. I didn't know how I was going to conquer my fear but knew that I HAD TO OVERCOME IT because Taylor's life depended on me properly administering her insulin. Taylor spent 10 days in the hospital and I would leave every time the nurse gave her her shot. The day before Taylor was to leave the hospital, the nurse finally said, "You have got to learn how to give Taylor her insulin. We cannot send her home with you until you are comfortable." Everyone else knew how to adminster her shots - my ex-husband, my sister, my mom, everyone but me. I did not want Taylor to see my fear but I was terrified. I took the needle in my hand, shaking out of fear and finally Taylor said, "Mom, it's not a big deal. She took the needle out of my hand - she had never given herself a shot but the nurse gave me a look that let me know it was okay. Taylor stuck the needle in her leg so couragously.She taught me the greatest lesson that day - to not let fear overtake your life. Sometimes we just have to do things even when it is uncomforable and frieghtening. The next time Taylor needed insulun, I JUST DID IT, confidently, AND MY FEAR WENT AWAY. Taylor is my hero. She takes 4-5 shots a day without fear. Her diet is very restrictive but that is okay. She just gave up what she had to give up and is grateful for the foods she can eat. I admire her. I love her. And this time, with Taylor's diagnosis, I did not turn from God as so many thought I would. I turned to him knowing that he was there to comfort me through it all.My mom was just recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She is a fighter and I know in my heart she will survive it. I believe in the power of prayer and trust God to protect her. I ask for all of your prayers. Together, we can stand together in faith and our prayers can turn things around. -toni-What is the power of prayer?The power of prayer is the constant renewal of perspective. Prayer opens our eyes. It extends our horizons. It sheds light into the darkness of our fears and our sorrows, our hopes and joys, our shame and our pride. It gives us new ways of seeing life and relationships, of understanding work and the cost of growing.The power of prayer is real and palpable. You can feel it and know it and depend on it. It comes to us as a gift, but we need to do our part as well. God calls us to pray and through our prayer, God empowers us and gives us strength.--The Rev. Margaret B. GunnessStory confirming the Incredible Power of PrayerA poorly dressed woman with a look of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store. She humbly approached the owner of the store and asked if it would be possible for her to have a few groceries on credit. She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work and they have seven children to feed. The grocer, scoffed at her and told her to leave the store immediately. Thinking of her hungry children, the woman pleaded: “Please, sir, I will bring you the money just as soon as I can.†The grocer told her he could not give her credit since she did not have a charge account in his store. Standing beside the counter was a male customer who overheard the conversation between the two. The customer walked forward and told the grocer that he would pay for the woman’s groceries. Having heard the man, the grocer said in a very reluctant voice to the woman: “Do you have a grocery list?†The woman replied, “Yes, sir.†In a most sarcastic voice, the grocer said: “OK, put your grocery list on the scales and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give you the equivalent in groceries.†The woman hesitated for a moment. Then with a bowed head, she reached into her purse, took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. She then carefully laid the piece of paper on one side of the scales with her head still bowed. The grocer was amazed when the scales went down and stayed down. Staring at the scales, he turned slowly to the male customer and said, “I can’t believe this.†The male customer just smiled as the grocer started putting the groceries on the other side of the scales. The scales did not balance so he put more and more groceries until the scales would hold no more. The grocer stood there in utter disgust. Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper from the scales and looked at it. He was dumbfounded to find out that it was not a grocery list, it was a prayer, which said: “Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am leaving this in your hands.†The grocer gave the woman the groceries and stood in stunned silence. After profusely thanking the kind customer, the woman left the store. The male customer handed a fifty-dollar bill to the grocer and said: “It was worth every penny of it. Only God knows how much a prayer would weigh.â€Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart. —Mahatma Gandhi “May you always have work for your hands to do. May your pockets hold always a coin or two. May the sun shine bright on your windowpane. May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain. May the hand of a friend always be near you. And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.â€A very inspiring story about the power of believing in another.A grade-school boy was judged by the teacher because he was unkempt and unmotivated and had bad hygeine. The teacher almost delighted in writing an "F" with a big red pen when his assignments were failing. In time she read his files and saw that in the first year the other teacher wrote:"He is such a bright student. His grades are excellent and he is an example to the entire class." The second year: "He is having a harder time this year, as his Mother has taken ill." Third year: "He is losing motivation, as his Mother died this year and his Father does not give him as much attention or help him with schoolwork."With this knowledge, the teacher felt ashamed at how she had judged him.That Christmas, the students gave the teacher gifts and some laughed at how the boy wrapped his gift in brown bag paper. Others laughed when she opened the gift and pulled out a rhinestone bracelet, missing a few stones, and a partially empty perfume bottle. She thanked him, then put the bracelet and a dab of perfume on in front of the class. After school when everyone had left, the boy came to the teacher and was so happy she liked her gift---the same bracelet and perfume his mother wore.The boy grew up and wrote the teacher all through the different years of school, until he became so studious he completed a doctorate degree. She attended his final graduation and he thanked her for being so supportive. But she thanked him for being a part of such a valuable lesson to her.The lesson is that sometimes one person can believe in someone and make a world of difference."We can do no great things, only small things with love." -- Mother Theresa- “Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared.†Edward Vernon RickenbackerIn my life, I have lost much but I have a grateful heart for all that I have gained. I thank God for walking with me through life. With Him, I believe all things are possible. Without Him, I am lost. Life is a beautiful gift God has given all of us that is meant to be cherished.AND GOD SENDS HIS ANGELS TO EARTH TO COMFORT AND HEAL THE BROKEN HEARTED. . .BELIEVE!!Hope is one of the three main elements of Christian character (1 Cor. 13:13). It is joined to faith and love, and is opposed to seeing or possessing (Rom. 8:24; 1 John 3:2). "Hope is an essential and fundamental element of Christian life, so essential indeed, that, like faith and love, it can itself designate the essence of Christianity (1 Pet. 3:15; Heb. 10:23). In it the whole glory of the Christian vocation is centred (Eph. 1:18; 4:4)." Unbelievers are without this hope (Eph. 2:12; 1 Thess. 4:13). Christ is the actual object of the believer's hope, because it is in his second coming that the hope of glory will be fulfilled (1 Tim. 1:1; Col. 1:27; Titus 2:13). It is spoken of as "lively", i.e., a living, hope, a hope not frail and perishable, but having a perennial life (1 Pet. 1:3). In Rom. 5:2 the "hope" spoken of is probably objective, i.e., "the hope set before us," namely, eternal life (comp. 12:12). In 1 John 3:3 the expression "hope in him" ought rather to be, as in the Revised Version, "hope on him," i.e., a hope based on God.6The Bible is God's Love Letter to Us All. Everytime I read from it, my heart feels peace and love. What a great gift he left us.YOUR TALENT IS GOD'S GIFT TO YOU. WHAT YOU DO WITH IT IS YOUR GIFT BACK TO GOD.- Leo Buscaglia -“The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is light, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.â€There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.- George Sand -Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. Louisa May AlcottFINDING LIFE'S BEAUTIFUL MEANING. ."I hope you come to find that which gives life a deep meaning for you. Something worth living for - maybe even worth dying for something that energizes you, enthuses you, enables you to keep moving ahead. I can't tell you what it might be ~ that's for you to find, to choose, to love. I can just encourage you to start looking and support you in the search."Ita Ford, M.M.(Excerpt from a letter written to Ita's niece and godchild--Jennifer Ford, on her sixteenth birthday, three months before Ita diedSURVIVING THE STORM AND FINDING BEAUTY AFTER THE DARKNESS CLEARS. . .The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart. Helen KellerWISDOM. . .“Trouble brings experience, and experience brings wisdom.â€TURN BACK AND FOLLOW YOUR LIFE'S CALLING. . .DON'T GIVE UP. . .Don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong. -- Ella FitzgeraldSometimes in life we get overwhelmed. . . we look too far ahead forgetting to just look down and take one step at a time. WE CAN PERSEVERE and follow the dreams of our heart. Breathe in, breathe out and walk with faith.GOD OUR SILVERSMITHSerenity received the following story from a gentlemen in Michigan. His good friend in Florida shared it with him. It beautifully explains God's refining process in all of our lives.Malachi 3:3 says: 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.'This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: 'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?' He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it.' If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you unti He sees His image in you.This very moment, someone needs to know that God is watching over them. And, whatever they're going through, they'll be a better person in the end.
Butterfly GraphicsTHE BUTTERFLY. . .A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress.It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body (or head) and small, shriveled wings.The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that at any moment the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved it's freedom from the cocoon.Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly.The TALE OF TWO WOLVESOne evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence,empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."May the good in all of us be fed daily.THE BEAUTY OF BROKEN CHAINS OF ADDICTION. . .I was addicted to a substance I knew had a claim on my life. Every time I used, I felt possessed, angry, scared, like I wanted to end it all. I fought against the demons of this addiction, HARD. The substance at times seemed to beckon me back - like an old friend. "Just surrender" were the words I heard. It tempted me night after night but I was determined it would not claim my life. I knew I was stronger. I prayed and prayed for God to take the temptations away from me. With God's help, I broke the chains of this life threatening addiction and am now FREE and living a beautiful life.Annoymous submission-ONCE THE TIES OF ADDICTION ARE BROKEN. . . WHAT NEXT?So, now you are clean. You should be happy. Your life should now be in order. What if it is not. Everyone around you is so excited. You have finally broken the addiction and you, too, are happy but in many ways you are lost. For many, the addiction, as sad as it sounds, defined you. Now, you may feel lost. Your hand may long to hold that item you gave up. Sometimes you may have to pretend that everything is okay, desperately longing for the taste of what you so desperately gave up. You can do it though. You have done it. You are in the state of transformation. You have given something detrimental up and now you can receive beautiful gifts. For one, the gift of clarity. You have won the battle. You are the victor and there is much to celebrate. Understand, there will be times that you are tempted to once again surcome to that evil substance; that is normal. But, you are strong. You are a fighter. That substance may tempt you, but it no longer has a hold on you. YOU ARE FREE. YOU HAVE FOUGHT AN AMAZING FIGHT OVER THIS SUBSTANCE AND WON. WE ARE PROUD OF YOU. By turning your back on this addiction, you have saved your life. Good job. MY GRANDMOTHER'S HANDS. . .I still remember how they looked. So soft, so fragile, yet so strong. When I think of my beautiful grandma, Big Mama, my mind immediately remembers her hands. I know, we called her Big Mama, but she was anything but that. A very small woman with a heart of gold. She taught me so much. Lessons I wish I could now thank her for. I know, though, in my heart, that the day will come that I see her again and thank her for ALL of the lessons she taught me and my two sisters. Her hands were so gentle as she read the bible to me, pointing beautifully to scripture with her scarred pointer finger. You see, she picked cotton from the time she was a child. She lived through the depression and would tell of story after story of deprivation. She lived with us for a while and every Sunday morning would pull my sisters and I out of bed to watch Billy Graham. I am now sad to say this, but we hated Sundays. I did not want to see or hear anything Christian. To me, at that time, the Bible was boring and only old people read it. On one afternoon, she was breaking peas in the kitchen and my sisters and I were fighting over a Milky Way candybar. She had had enough. She grabbed all of us and sat us down to a lesson I will NEVER forget. She was so kind in her tone but the message was strong. She explained that EVERYTHING in life can be shared. She then took one of the tiniest peas out of the pod and split it with a knife in three pieces. She gave each of us a piece and taught us an invaluable lesson - to share. I will never forget my grandmother, Big Mama. A few years after I came to know Jesus - in approximately 2003, I found my grandmother's bible. I now read from her bible and see her beautiful, soft, scared, but strong hands holding it. God Bless You. I love you, Big Mama.This was her favorite verse in the bible and "this" verse is beautiful underlined in her old bible. It reminds me to share one's faith, even if it is as small as a mustard seed.And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.Matthew 17:20-IT'S UP TO YOU. . .One song can spark a moment, One flower can wake the dream. One tree can start a forest, One bird can herald spring.One smile begins a friendship, One handclasp lifts a soul. One star can guide a ship at sea, One word can frame the goal.One vote can change a nation, One sunbeam lights a room, One candle wipes out darkness One laugh will conquer gloom.One step must start each journey, One word must start each prayer. One hope will raise our spirits, One touch can show you care.One voice can speak with wisdom, One heart can know what's true, One life can make the difference.
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“God is the all powerful Creator, the Cause of causes. He preserves the whole world, reaching out with His hand.â€And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness.2 Corinthians 12:9 -When you feel overwhelmed; like you are all alone and do not know where to turn, reach out to God and he will save you."While I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else are also God's creation." - -- Maya Angelou a