I just wanted to share this lovely story. Have a terrific day.
-v

The Other-Centered Principle

A young lady was waiting for her flight in the boarding room of a big airport. As she would need to wait many hours, she decided to buy a book to spend her time. She also bought a packet of cookies. She sat down in an armchair, in the VIP room of the airport, to rest and read in peace. Beside the armchair where the packet of cookies lay, a man sat down in the next seat, opened his magazine and started reading. When she took out the first cookie, the man took one also. She felt irritated but said nothing. she just thought, “What nerve! If I was in the mood I would punch him for daring!”

For each cookie she took, the man took one too. This was infuriating her but she didn’t want to cause a scene. When only one cookie remained, she thought, “What is this rude man going to do now?” The man, taking the last cookie, divided it in half, giving her one half. That was too much! She was angry now! In a huff, she took her book, her things and stormed off to board her plane. When she sat down in her seat, inside the plane, she looked into her purse to take her eyeglasses and to her surprise, there was her packet of cookies…unopened!

She felt so ashamed! She realized that she was wrong and had forgotten her cookies were kept in her purse. The man had divided his cookies with her, without feeling angered or bitter while she had been very angry, thinking that she was dividing her cookies with him. And now there was no chance to explain herself…nor to apologize.

Embarrassingly enough, we are like that woman. All too often we find it very difficult to step outside ourselves to serve another not to mention just casually share our lot with someone who has less or nothing at all. Like that man who shared his cookies, God is quick to share His love! And like that last cookie, love is the only thing that by being divided is multiplied. Natural law. Natural Love. Naturally.

Several years ago, a preacher from out-of-state accepted a call to a church in Houston, Texas. Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, ‘You’d better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it.’ Then he thought, ‘Oh, forget it, it’s only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a ‘gift from God’ and keep quiet.’

When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, ‘Here, you gave me too much change ‘

The driver, with a smile, replied, ‘Aren’t you the new preacher in town?’

‘Yes’ he replied..

‘Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I’ll see you at church on Sunday.’

When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, ‘Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter.’

Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read. This is a really scary example of how much people watch us as Christians, and will put us to the test! Always be on guard — and remember — You carry the name of Christ on your shoulders when you call yourself ‘Christian’.

Watch your thoughts; they become words.

Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions; they become habits.

Watch your habits; they become character.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny..

I’m glad a friend forwarded this to me as a reminder. So, I choose to forward it to you – my friend. God bless you; I hope you are having a wonderful day!

If you don’t pass this on to anybody, nothing bad will happen; but, if you do, you will have ministered to someone.

The Will of God will never take you to where the Grace of God will not PROTECT you…

Stay FAITHFUL and Be GRATEFUL

One of my favorite songs, Reach One More for Jesus which was sung (as far as I know) by Ms. Jaime Rivera.

REACH ONE MORE FOR JESUS

As I looked in my father’s eyes
Sat by his bed and held his hand
And I said my last goodbyes
He just held on for as long as he can
And I heard him say

Reach one more for Jesus
Before I close my eyes
I must reach one more for Jesus
I won’t let another day go by
That’s what I’m living for
To reach one more
One more for Jesus

As I sat by my father’s side
I lay down my head upon his bed
And he felt the tears I cried
And he placed his hand upon my head
And I heard him say

Reach one more for Jesus
Before you close your eyes
You must reach one more for Jesus
Don’t let another day go by
That’s what you’re living for
To reach one more
One more for Jesus

Before he closed his eyes
For the final time
And left this earth
For home he said

Reach one more for Jesus
Before we close our eyes
Reach one more for Jesus
Don’t let another day go by
That’s what we’re living for
To reach one more
One more for Jesus

That’s what we’re living for
To reach one more
For Jesus

©1999 CanCope Publishing Inc. (BMI)
Alva Copeland

Back from a Marriage Enrichment Retreat I (MER I) – this time as part of the Service Team!

During our sharing, I mentioned how blessed I felt because of the opportunity given to serve in the MER. Knowing you made a positive difference in a person’s life is truly heart warming.

Another thing I enjoyed were the talks – yes I heard it before, but they sound different, in a sense. Maybe because this time I know what the speakers are talking about and can actually apply them now.

The 2-day retreat was such an eye opener. I just hope that this isn’t just a retreat high. Carry the torch

Marlon and I are truly blessed to be a part of this community – yes we have, and continue to go through ups and downs, moments of weaknesses and harassments. But the great opportunities, blessings and wonderful, awesomeness of God brightens, sheds light, and places all of these things in perspective.

We had our Christian Life Program last year, started on April 27 and graduated July 6. We had our Covenant Orientation 3 months later and our Marriage Enrichment 1 this March. We were called to early service – Yes, Lord, Thank You, Lord! – as we were called to become kids coordinators for our unit and members of our chapter’s music ministry.

But that wasn’t enough, God called us to serve further, in Corinthians music ministry of our cluster and now as facilitators for a new Christian Life Program! Ang galing Nyo, Lord, salamat po, salamat!

****

Father God, in Your infinite goodness, greatness, and wisdom, You know best. You brought us to where we are because of Your majesty, because of Your grace, because it is Your Will! Help us Father, that we will not seek to question, rather, that we may fully, wholly, faithfully and continually trust and accept Your challenges. Allow us to remain in Your presence. Father, fill us with Your most Holy Spirit. Let us seek comfort, consolation and strength from Your most awesome sacrifice, Your Son, Jesus Christ. Father, we trust in You. We Love You. We Adore You. We Serve You. To You be all Praise and Glory. Amen.

This is a beautiful piece by an unknown author. God bless.

Safely Home
by Unknown

I am home in Heaven, dear ones;
Oh, so happy and so bright!
There is perfect joy and beauty
In this everlasting light.

All the pain and grief is over,
Every restless tossing passed;
I am now at peace forever,
Safely home in Heaven at last.

Did you wonder I so calmly
Trod the valley of the shade?
Oh! but Jesus’ arm to lean on,
Could I have one doubt or dread?

Then you must not grieve so sorely,
For I love you dearly still;
Try to look beyond earth’s shadows,
Pray to trust our Father’s Will.

There is work still waiting for you,
So you must not idly stand;
Do it now, while life remaineth–
You shall rest in Jesus’ land.

When that work is all completed,
He will gently call you Home;
Oh, the rapture of that meeting,
Oh, the joy to see you come!

On December 12, we honor Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In 1531 a “Lady from Heaven” appeared to a humble Native American, Juan Diego, at Tepeyac, a hill northwest of what is now known as Mexico City. The Lady identified herself as the ever virgin Holy Mother Mary. Mother Mary asked Diego to request the local Bishop to build a church on the site she appeared. However, the Bishop hesitated, and requested for a sign. Mother Mary adhered to the request – the Bishop had asked for roses, it was mid-December, winter, and roses were impossible to find – and without delay or question to the Church’s local Bishop, Mother Mary sent her messenger, Juan Diego, to the top of the hill to gather an assortment of roses for the Bishop.

Juan Diego had placed the roses in his tilma, a poor quality cactus-cloth. Upon returning to the Bishop and presenting the roses, the image of our Mother Mary was left miraculously imprinted on Juan Diego’s tilma, which should have deteriorated in 20 years but shows no sign of decay, and until now still defies all scientific explanations of its origin. Also, the image on the tilma reflects in Mother Mary’s eyes what was in front of her in 1531.

Let us always remember her message of love and compassion, and her universal promise of help and protect all mankind.

From Yahoo: http://health.yahoo.com/news/_176635

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June 21, 2007 02:58:00 PM PST

The telltale signs are ominous: teens holing up in their rooms, ignoring friends, family, even food and a shower, while grades plummet and belligerence soars. The culprit isn’t alcohol or drugs. It’s video games, which for certain kids can be as powerfully addictive as heroin, some doctors contend.

A leading council of the nation’s largest doctors’ group wants to have this behavior officially classified as a psychiatric disorder, to raise awareness and enable sufferers to get insurance coverage for treatment.

In a report prepared for the American Medical Association’s annual policy meeting starting Saturday in Chicago, the council asks the group to lobby for the disorder to be included in a widely used mental illness manual created and published by the American Psychiatric Association. AMA delegates could vote on the proposal as early as Monday.

It likely won’t happen without heated debate. Video game makers scoff at the notion that their products can cause a psychiatric disorder. Even some mental health experts say labeling the habit a formal addiction is going too far.

Dr. James Scully, the psychiatric association’s medical director, said the group will seriously consider the AMA report in the long process of revising the diagnostic manual. The current manual was published in 1994; the next edition is to be completed in 2012.

Up to 90 percent of American youngsters play video games and as many as 15 percent of them — more than 5 million kids — may be addicted, according to data cited in the AMA council’s report.

Joyce Protopapas of Frisco, Texas, said her 17-year-old son, Michael, was a video addict. Over nearly two years, video and Internet games transformed him from an outgoing, academically gifted teen into a reclusive manipulator who flunked two 10th grade classes and spent several hours day and night playing a popular online video game called World of Warcraft.

“My father was an alcoholic … and I saw exactly the same thing” in Michael, Protopapas said. “We battled him until October of last year,” she said. “We went to therapists, we tried taking the game away.

“He would threaten us physically. He would curse and call us every name imaginable,” she said. “It was as if he was possessed.”

When she suggested to therapists that Michael had a video game addiction, “nobody was familiar with it,” she said. “They all pooh-poohed it.”

Last fall, the family found a therapist who “told us he was addicted, period.” They sent Michael to a therapeutic boarding school, where he has spent the past six months — at a cost of $5,000 monthly that insurance won’t cover, his mother said.

A support group called On-Line Gamers Anonymous has numerous postings on its Web site from gamers seeking help. Liz Woolley, of Harrisburg, Pa., created the site after her 21-year-old son fatally shot himself in 2001 while playing an online game she says destroyed his life.

In a February posting, a 13-year-old identified only as Ian told of playing video games for nearly 12 hours straight, said he felt suicidal and wondered if he was addicted.

“I think i need help,” the boy said.

Postings also come from adults, mostly men, who say video game addiction cost them jobs, family lives and self-esteem.

According to the report prepared by the AMA’s Council on Science and Public Health, based on a review of scientific literature, “dependence-like behaviors are more likely in children who start playing video games at younger ages.”

Overuse most often occurs with online role-playing games involving multiple players, the report says. Blizzard Entertainment’s teen-rated, monster-killing World of Warcraft is among the most popular. A company spokesman declined to comment on whether the games can cause addiction.

A woman in the New Haven, Conn., area who bought the game for her 15-year-old son last year, says he got hooked on it.

“Now that I look back on it, it’s like I went out and bought him his first Jack Daniel’s,” said the 49-year-old woman who didn’t want her name used to spare her son from ridicule.

Dr. Martin Wasserman, a pediatrician who heads the Maryland State Medical Society, said the AMA proposal will help raise awareness and called it “the right thing to do.”

But Michael Gallagher, president of the Entertainment Software Association, said the trade group sides with psychiatrists “who agree that this so-called ‘video-game addiction’ is not a mental disorder.”

“The American Medical Association is making premature conclusions without the benefit of complete and thorough data,” Gallagher said.

Dr. Karen Pierce, a psychiatrist at Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital, said she sees at least two children a week who play video games excessively.

“I saw somebody this week who hasn’t been to bed, hasn’t showered … because of video games,” she said. “He is really a mess.”

She said she treats it like any addiction and creating a separate diagnosis is unnecessary.

Dr. Michael Brody, head of a TV and media committee at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, agreed. He praised the AMA council for bringing attention to the problem, but said excessive video-game playing could be a symptom for other things, such as depression or social anxieties that already have their own diagnoses.

“You could make lots of behavioral things into addictions. Why stop at video gaming?” Brody asked. Why not Blackberries, cell phones, or other irritating habits, he said.

Marlon and I finished our 1st Christian Life Program module (4 sessions) – 3 more to go!

***

It’s amazing how a few talks can make a difference. I’m not saying I’ve totally changed – but I believe that I’m more aware now and that I am more open to the positive changes that will happen in life.

5 Reasons why we are Weak:

1. We do not let go of our sin
2. Frail relationship with God
3. Lack of commitment
4. No support groups
5. Do not believe in the Power of the Holy Spirit