Beautifully Stated

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back. So send this to all of your friends (and me) in the next 5 minutes and a miracle will happen tonight  

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Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.  

~anonymous~ 

Rite Of Passage

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage? 

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. 

He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. 

He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own. 

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. 

Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blows the grass and earth, and shakes his stump, but he sits stoic ally, never removing the blindfold. It is the only way he can become a man! 

Finally, after a horrific night the sun rays warm him and he removes his blindfold. It is then that he discovers his father sitting on the stump next to him. He has been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm. 

We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, our Heavenly Father is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him. If you liked this story, pass it on to someone you are thinking about. If not, you took off your blindfold before dawn... 

Work for the Lord – The pay isn’t much but the retirement is out of this world!!!

Wet Oatmeal Kisses

One of these days you'll explode  

And shout to all the kids,  

"Why don't you just grow up and act your age!"  

And they will,  

Or, "You guys get outside and find something to do-  

Without hurting each other  

And don't slam the door!"  

And they don't.   

You'll straighten their bedrooms  

Until it's all neat and tidy,  

Toys displayed on the shelf,  

Hangers in the closet,  

Animals caged.  

You'll yell,  

"Now I want it to stay this way!"  

And it will...   

You will prepare a perfect dinner  

With a salad that hasn't  

Had all the olives picked out  

And a cake with  

No finger traces in the icing  

And you'll say,  

"Now this is a meal for company."   

And you will eat it alone...  

You'll yell,  

"I want complete privacy on the phone.  

No screaming, do you hear me?"   

And no one will answer.  

No more plastic tablecloths stained  

No more dandelion bouquets.  

No more iron-on patches.  

'No more wet, knotted shoelaces,  

'Muddy boots or rubber bands for ponytails.  

'Imagine. ...a lipstick with a point,  

No babysitters for New Years Eve, 'washing clothes only once a week,  

No PTA meetings or silly school plays .where your child is a tree, no car pools,  

Blaring stereos or forgotten lunch money.  

No more Christmas presents made of library paste and toothpicks,  

No wet oatmeal kisses,   

No more tooth fairy,  

No more giggles in the dark, scraped knees to kiss  

Or sticky fingers to clean  

Only a voice asking,  

"Why don't you grow up?" And the silence echoes:  

"I did"  

--Author Unknown

Let Go And Let God

God never tells us that OUR need to forgive is contingent on another's genuine repentance. Christ didn't die ONLY for those who would be REALLY sorry. He didn't forgive ONLY those who could eventually prove their worthiness. And He certainly didn't set up a record-keeping system for tracking our screw-ups! Once forgiven, ALWAYS forgotten. And forgetting is the essence of true forgiveness: the sweat aroma that melts resentment and builds love. 

Remember back to that first time you felt unconditionally accepted by someone who REALLY knew you. That acceptance could not have been possible if resentment had grabbed a foothold. Resentment amounts to hatred, and that resentment would have been against YOU! 

I love that old maxim, "Let go, and let God." It's the things we can't handle that God promises to take on for us! WE don't have to learn to overcome or overlook someone else's shortcomings, that's God's job. WE are called to love. WE are called to forgive. Once we realize this, what a heavy burden is lifted from our shoulders! 

If by chance, the FACT that you're right and someone else is wrong is your justification for harboring resentment, remember the principles of love in  

I Corinthians 13: 4-8: 

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last for ever." 

With this in mind, dare we waste any more time harboring resentments and burying our heads, when we should be enjoying life, embracing love and living more fully? Let's do ourselves a favor - let's let go. and let God! 

Steve Goodier, publisher of Your Life Support System 

I Am What God Says I Am

Have the words and opinions of other people caused you to water down your dreams? One of the most important things you can learn is that other people don’t set the limits for your life. Other people don’t have to believe in you in order for your dreams to come to pass. There will always be critics and naysayers. The negative voices come at everyone. But other people don’t determine your destiny, you do. 

The Apostle Paul says in Romans 3:3, “What if they don’t believe? Will their lack of faith make the faith of God of no effect?” This verse is saying, “It doesn’t matter if other people don’t believe. Their unbelief is not going to keep me from believing in my dreams.” When God puts a promise in your heart, it’s not up to other people to bring it to pass, it’s up to you! You don’t need everyone to validate you. You don’t need to get confirmation from all your friends. You have to follow the voice of God for yourself and allow Him to order your steps. God sees the hidden treasures that you’ve had buried on the inside of you. He wants to bring those treasures out and make your dreams reality!  

As you stir your faith up and water those seeds they will take root, and you will accomplish things that you never even thought possible! It doesn’t matter what negative things have been spoken over you in the past, God’s blessing is greater than any curse! Begin to speak words of life and faith over yourself. As you get rid of those old, defeated thoughts, and replace them with what God says about you, you will rise higher and live the abundant life God has in store for you!  

That's Dying

By: Henry Van Dyke I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone"

Gone where?

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"

And that is dying...

Death comes in its own time, in its own way.
Death is as unique as the individual experiencing it.

Anonymous

A Prayer For Time Management

Dear God,

Sometimes I find it hard to manage my time well. There is so much to do. Please help me to prioritize my daily activities to align with your will, your plan, your purpose, and to do what is most important as well as the little mundane tasks that must be done. Help me to know when to say "no" to projects and requests that come along that would overwhelm me or take away from what you want me to do. Please help me to always love and care for those lives you have entrusted to my care and circle of influence.

In Jesus' name I pray, amen.