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My Quilt of Holes

As I faced my Maker at the last judgment, I knelt before the Lord along with all the other souls. Before each of us laid our lives like the squares of a quilt in many piles. An angel sat before each of us, sewing our quilt squares together into a tapestry that is our life __

As my angel took each piece of cloth off the pile, I noticed how ragged and empty each of my squares were. They were filled with giant holes. Each square was labeled with a part of my life that had been difficult – the challenges and temptations I was faced with in everyday life. I saw hardships that I endured, which were the largest holes of all. __

I glanced around me. Nobody else had such squares. Other than a tiny hole here and there, the other tapestries were filled with rich color and the bright hues of worldly fortune. __

I gazed upon my own life and was disheartened. My angel was sewing the ragged pieces of cloth together, threadbare and empty, like binding air. __

Finally, the time came when each life was to be displayed – held up to the light and the scrutiny of truth. The others rose; each in turn, holding up their tapestries. So filled their lives had been. __

My angel looked at me and nodded for me to rise. My gaze dropped to the ground in shame. I hadn’t had all the earthly fortunes. I had love in my life, and laughter, but there had also been trials of illness and wealth and false accusations that took from me my world as I knew it. __

I had to start over many times. I often struggled with the temptation to quit, only to somehow muster the strength to pick up and begin again. I spent many nights on my knees in prayer, asking for help and guidance in my life. I had often been held up to ridicule, which I endured painfully, each time offering it up to the Father in hopes that I would not melt within my skin beneath the judgmental gaze of those who unfairly judged me. __

Now, I had to face the truth. My life was what it was, and I had to accept it for what it was. I rose and slowly lifted the combined squares of my life to the light. __

An awe-filled gasp filled the air. I gazed around at the others who stared at me with wide eyes. Then, I looked upon the tapestry before me. Light flooded the many holes, creating an image – the face of Christ. Then our Lord stood before me, with warmth and love in His eyes. He said, “Every time you gave over your life to Me, it became My life, My hardships, and My struggles. Each point of light in your life is when you stepped aside and let Me shine through, until there was more of Me than there was of you.” __

May all our quilts be threadbare and worn, allowing Christ to shine through!

 

 

 

 

 

Our Hope for Years to Come

 

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.” – Psalm 28:7

This verse provides a happy formula for the New Year. Notice the progression.

First, we realize that the Lord is our strength and shield. No matter what unfolds from day to day or from month to month, He’ll give us sufficient strength, and His presence will surround us as a shield.

Second, our hearts can fully trust Him. We can relax, rest, and lean on Him, knowing He is fully able to do all He has promised.

Third, as we recognize who He is and trust Him, we are helped. There’s no sense of panic as it relates to the uncertain future. He helps us in everything at every time. The past, the present, and the future are His.

Fourth, our heart can therefore rejoice. Today is a day for a joyful and glad attitude. And that leads to a song of praise. We can have a hymn in our hearts today – like this one: “O God our Help in ages past, our hope for years to come; be Thou our Guide while life shall last, and our eternal home.

 

Violin:-

Imagine this. A concert violinist is performing a difficult piece in front of a large audience. Suddenly there is a loud snap that reverberates throughout the auditorium. The audience immediately knows that a string has broken and fully expects the concert to be suspended until another string, or instrument, is brought to the musician.

But instead, the violinist composes herself, closes her eyes and then signals the conductor to begin again. The orchestra resumes where they had left off and now the musician plays the music on three strings. In her mind she works out new fingering to compensate for the missing string.

A work that few people can play well on four strings, the violinist with the broken string plays on three. When she finishes, an awesome silence hangs in the room. And then as one, the crowd rises to their feet and cheers wildly.

The violinist smiles and wipes perspiration from her brow. When silence returns to the great room, she explains why she continued to play in spite of a broken string. “You know,” she says, still breathless, “sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.”

We know what she means, don’t we? Maybe we’ve lived most of our lives and we have only a little time left. Can we still make music? Maybe disease has robbed us of our capacity to work. Can we still make music?

Perhaps a financial loss has left us impoverished. Can we still make music?

Or maybe a meaningful relationship has ended and we feel alone in the world. Can we still make music?

There will come a time when we all experience loss. Like the violinist, will we find the courage to discover just how much music we can still make with what we have left? How much good we can still do?

How much joy we can still share? For I’m convinced that the world, more than ever, needs the music only you can make. And if it takes extra courage to make the music, many will applaud your effort. For some people have lost more than others, and these brave souls inspire the rest of us to greater heights.

Just how much music can you make with what you have left? Let the Music Begin...

 

 

 

    

Purpose – As you complete your daily tasks, may you understand how they contribute to the larger purpose of your life. May you experience deep satisfaction as you discover and carry out your unique role. (Psalms 25:12, 139:16; Jeremiah 29:11)

Fulfilling Work – May you take pleasure in all your work. May every task you undertake succeed, and may you enjoy the good things your labor supplies. (Ecclesiastes 1:24; Psalms 41:3)

Physical Health – May you and those you love remain strong in body and free from disease. May those who suffer from injury or illness recover quickly and completely. (3 John 1:2; Deuteronomy 7:15; Psalms 41:3)

Peace of Mind – May you mind and heart always be at rest. May gratitude and peace replace every anxious, fearful thought. (2 Thessalonians 3:16; Philippians 4:6)

Good Relationships – May you be surrounded by loving, faithful, and supportive friends. Where relationships have been broken, may you find reconciliation and forgiveness. (Proverbs 17:17, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; Matthew 5:23-24)

Sufficient Resources – May you have exactly what you need for each day. May you become rich in every way so that you can share generously with others. (Proverbs 20:8-9; Luke 11:3; 2 Corinthians 9:11 

 

Getting Things Done

“If any of you lacks wisdom... ask God.” – James 1:5 (NIV)

Large tasks tend to overwhelm us. And overwhelmed people seldom get things done.

So ask God to help you, then apply these principles:

1. Focus on the task. The secret of success is making every action count – being intentional. That kind of focus helps you live without regrets because it directs you and makes the most of your talents and your opportunities. If you know you have talent, and you are energetic and active, but you don’t see concrete results, then lack of focus is likely your problem.

2. Prioritize it by importance. When we don’t prioritize what we must do according to its importance, the tasks begin to arrange themselves according to their urgency. And when the urgent drives you instead of the important, you lose your edge. Instead of activating your talent it robs you of the best opportunities to use it.

3. Order it by sequence. Create a timetable, give yourself deadlines, and stick with them. The biggest lie we tell ourselves is, “I’ll do it later.”

4. Assign it by abilities. When you divide a large task into smaller ones you begin to understand what kinds of people you’ll need to get the job done. The most important step in accomplishing something big is determining who will be on your team. Jesus spent three and a half years discipling 12 men, then He delegated responsibilities to them. And the job got done!

5. Accomplish it by teamwork. Even if you break a task down, strategically plan it, and recruit great people, you still need one more element to succeed. Teamwork! Teamwork is the glue that can bring it all together

 

 Divine Interruption

 It was business-as-usual for Moses the day he noticed the burning bush, an event that wasn’t uncommon in the hot desert. Except this time the bush kept burning. And “when...he turned aside to look, God called to him.” You’ll have some of your greatest Spiritual experiences in the midst of your everyday life – if you’re open to a divine interruption.

 

 

In Luke, Chapter 10, Mary ministered to Jesus’ divine nature while Martha ministered to His human needs. But Martha’s ‘kitchen agenda’ made it almost impossible to interrupt her, while Mary was so heavenly minded she’d probably have forgotten to turn the stove on! Now it takes both to achieve a balance. But if Jesus has to choose, He’ll take foot-washers over master-chefs every time. That’s because one of our primary focuses should always be praise and worship, (expressed appreciation) resulting in greater intimacy with God.

Are you so busy working on your ‘to-do list’ that it would take fire from heaven to get your attention? A well-known pastor writes: “You can be in the midst of a common moment, only this time the activity is filled with the presence of God. When in the middle of your harried day you notice something unusual...your first reaction might be, ‘I’m too tired to investigate... I’m not going to disrupt my life.’ Yet in that moment you may have the opportunity for a unique encounter with God. When you see the unusual in the midst of the business-as-usual. God may have ordained that moment to be life-changing for you and those around you.”

The First Ten Lessons I Learned
About Prayer

 

1. The only real mistake we can make in prayer is in not praying.
If we pray earnestly, almost anything we do is better than not praying. After all, no father rejects the child’s plea because she did not use the right words or form. He welcomes his child into his arms. Someone has said, “Nothing never happens when we pray.”

2. No matter how much you pray, you will never be completely satisfied with
your prayer life.
You will always feel the goal is out there beyond you somewhere. We must work against perfectionism, that mental disease that convinces us because we’re not doing something perfectly, that we should stop it altogether. No matter how ineffective you think your prayers are, believe that they matter to God and keep on praying.

3. The Holy Spirit helps us in our prayer.
Romans 8:26 assures us “He helps us in our weakness because we do not know how to pray.” The Greek word translated “helps” is a compound Greek verb “synantilambanomai.” The “syn” means “together, with us.” The “anti” means “opposite to, in front of.” And the “lambanomai” is a form of the verb “to lift.” Together they tell us the Holy Spirit gets on the other end of our task, opposite to us, and together with us lifts the burden. He does not do this in our place, but works with us.

4. Keep on praying.
Persistence in prayer is taught so many times in scr i pture. My favorite is blind Bartimaeus in Luke 18. Let nothing stop you from praying. Not your own inadequacy (of which there is much), your own needs (which can be overwhelming), not your fears (which never tire of assaulting you), and most definitely not other people (discouragement is all around us). Just keep at it.

5. Our emotions and feelings are irrelevant to effective praying.
We need to rescue our prayer life from bondage to our emotions. You know, “I don’t feel like my prayers go beyond the ceiling,” or “I don’t feel like praying today.” When you turn to the Father in prayer, how you feel has nothing to do with anything. Pray anyway.

6. Heaven places the same value on our prayers that we do.
If it matters to us, it matters to our Heavenly Father. The widow’s mite did not mean much to anyone else in the Temple that day, but because it mattered a great deal to her, it was precious to the Father. This principle holds true for our prayers, our offerings, and anything else we give to the Lord: when it arrives in Heaven, it carries the same value there we placed on it here.

7. Throw away your clock.
Jesus said it’s the heathen who think they will be heard for their much speaking. The goal in our prayer time is to be real, to touch Heaven, and not to log so much time. Think how insulted your sweetheart would be if you brought along a clock on your next visit, and you kept looking at it to see how much time had gone by so you could feel good about the investment you were making in the relationship. How much time you spend in prayer has little to do with anything. This assumes, of course, that you are spending some quality time with Him each day in prayer.

8. It’s not necessary to know the will of God in order to ask for something.
Go ahead and ask for healing, for that new job, for this blessing, or that condition to change. What if it’s not the will of God? Then, friend, He won’t do it. Do not think you are tying God’s hands by your prayers. That’s why Jesus ended His prayer in Gethsemane with “Not my will, but Thy will be done.” He taught us to pray “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” My job is to ask. It’s the Father’s place to sort things out and decide what He wishes to answer and grant.

9. There is a mystery involved whenever we come into the presence of God.
We are kneeling before the Almighty Sovereign God, Lord of the universe. Be quiet. Be still. Get alone with Him. Humble yourself. Wait on Him. Respect Him as having sense and quit insulting Him with your pet memorized phrases. Tell Him the truth, what you’ve been up to and what you’re thinking now. Tell Him what blesses you about Him, and what areas of your life you need particular help with.

Jesus said He already knows our needs before we ask, but He likes to see if we have figured things out, too. So, go ahead and make your requests to Him. Whatever answer comes, accept that as His will, at least for the time being. And keep on praying.

10. Always keep paper and pen handy when you are praying.
My experience is that when you come into the Father’s presence in prayer, He will frequently call your attention to something He wants you to know or do. He may tell you someone to see, something to do, someone to call, something to forgive, a verse to look up, a text to remember, a debt to pay, or a neighbor to help. Write it down. Then, go back to your prayer. Expect to receive from Him every time you turn to Him in prayer.

How much more when we come to pray, entering into the very presence of the loving Heavenly Father, should we be eager and expectant about what is about to happen.

Just Look Up!

Life is like playing in an orchestra. First, God gives you your instrument and some music, and you sit down to play, but you say, “God, I’ve never played this piece before! Look at all of those notes! I’ll never be able to do it!” But God gets up on the pedestal and holds His baton in His hand. He winks at you and says calmly, “Just follow me.”

You say, “But God, that will be too hard... can’t we play this other song? It looks a whole lot easier and a lot more fun to play,” but God says, “No, follow MY lead”

Well, you decide that it doesn’t matter what God says, you want to play the other song. So, as He raises His baton and begins to conduct, you ignore Him and begin wailing away at the piece you wanted to play. However, it just doesn’t quite work. The music doesn’t sound beautiful at all, because it’s not the way God wanted you to play. After a little more playing and a whole lot more frustration, you realize that it would be better just to listen to your Conductor. So, with a red face you silently search for the piece God wants you to play.

“But God, it looks so hard.” But God just smiles caringly and taps the baton on His stand. “No matter what, follow Me. Just look up at Me, and I will lead you,” He whispers. So, you begin to play. In the beginning, it seems as though you will never be able to play this piece. All you can see are those notes rushing by. Then you remember what God said... “LOOK UP”... so you look up and see God carefully counting out the beats for you, and if you listen really carefully, you can hear His Voice humming your part.

The song is the most beautiful song that you have ever heard, and you find that as long as your eyes are fixed on the Conductor, you are able to play along. All you have to do is look up! Sure, some parts are REALLY tough, but as long as you follow the Conductor and listen to His steady rhythm, you can make it through. All you have to do is LOOK UP!

 

To Those I Love

 If I should ever leave you
To go along the silent way, grieve not,
Nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk
Of me as if I were beside you there.
(I'd come - I'd come, could I but find a way!
But would not tears and grief be barriers?)
And when you hear a song or see a bird
I loved, please do not let the thought of me
Be sad .. For I am loving you just as I always have .
You were so good to me!
There are so many things I wanted still
To do - so many things to say to you .
Remember that I did not fear . it was
Just leaving you that was so hard to face .
We cannot see beyond . But this I know:
I loved you so - `twas heaven here with you!

Tags: Hello swalk1955

They may resemble pandas, buffalos and camels - but these animals are actually poodles, all competing for the title of top dog at 'creative grooming' shows across the U.S.

Something of a canine fancy dress contest, it takes just two hours for owners to transform their pets, which are sheared and coloured to achieve each look.

The incredible transformations were captured by photographer Ren Netherland, who travels thousands of miles each year to attend each competition.

 

Some of the most imaginative ideas have included a snail, an American football player and even Pirates of the Caribbean character Jack Sparrow.

Mr Netherland, 48, said: 'When these dogs come into the arena for a show or a competition you have absolutely no idea what they are going to be turned into.

'The groomers do colour them before they arrive but basically all you see at first is an extremely fluffy poodle that has weird coloured patterns on it.

 

 'The transformation they go through is simply spectacular. There's no other word for it. It's amazing what they can do in so little time.'

But it is not just the owners who enjoy the grooming shows.

'The dogs seem to love the whole experience,' added Mr Netherland. 'One of the reasons I love my job is because I love animals so much. I much prefer working with them than people.

'By the time the dogs get to me after they have been through the tournament they are bounding around and very happy.

'I think all the attention that gets bestowed upon them through the whole process must be nice for them.' 

 

Mr Netherland, who has been touring the U.S. for 10 years, is the only professional photographer allowed to capture images of the winning poodles on behalf of show organisers.

 

He said: 'I love my job. I get a really big kick out of it. Watching the owners turn these balls of hair into something so intricate and detailed really does baffle anyone watching.

 

'The one that shocked me the most was the horse. The way it looked when it arrived at the show you had no clue whatsoever what they were planning.

 

'When they finished I was blown away.'  The artistic owners - almost entirely women - colour their beloved dogs with powdered paint sprayed on using blow pens which is non-permanent.

Mr Netherland thinks the last thing owners are after is money.

'I think these girls must just love the artistry that's involved,' he said.

'In creative grooming shows the maximum prize is about $1000 (£611) so you couldn't earn a living from it.

Tags: Poodle doodles: Dogs are transformed into pandas, horses swalk1955

Are you ready to be astounded by vinegar's power over that grunge in your bathroom or on your hardwood floors? Believe it or not, vinegar is an extraordinary cleaning and deodorizing agent. This article includes various hints on how you can use vinegar to help clean your house. We'll start in the bathroom, which generally is among the home's toughest cleaning jobs.

Bathtubs

A bathtub ring requires a strong solvent. Try soaking paper towels with undiluted vinegar and placing them on the ring. Let the towels dry out, then spray with vinegar and scrub with a sponge.

Once a year, dump 1 gallon vinegar into your hot tub, and run it. This will help keep the jets from clogging with soap residue.

Showers

Showerheads can get clogged with mineral deposits from your water. Remove the deposits by mixing 1/2 cup vinegar and 1 quart water in a large bowl or bucket. Remove the showerhead and soak it in vinegar solution for 15 minutes. For plastic showerheads, soak for 1 hour in a mixture of 1 pint vinegar and 1 pint hot water.

Loosen soap scum on shower doors and walls by spraying them with vinegar. Let dry, then respray to dampen. Wipe clean. If needed, reapply and let it sit for several hours. Then dampen and wipe clean again.

Shower curtains or liners can become dulled by soap film or plagued with mildew. Keep vinegar in a spray bottle near the shower, and squirt the shower curtains once or twice a week. No need to rinse.

Sometimes mildew will leave a stain on shower curtains if not promptly removed. To remove these stains, mix borax with enough vinegar to make a paste, then scrub the stained area.

Sinks

Hard-water and mineral deposits around the sink and tub faucets can be removed by covering stained area with paper towels soaked in vinegar. Cover and leave on for 1 hour, then wipe with a damp sponge.

Vinegar can improve the smell of the bathroom.

Toilets

Pour vinegar into the toilet and let it sit for 30 minutes. Next sprinkle baking soda on a toilet-bowl brush and scour any remaining stained areas. Flush.

As you'll see in the next section, vinegar also can do a bang-up job as an aid for cleaning other parts of your house.

Vinegar vs. Bathtub Decals
Those sunflower decals may have looked cute when you stuck them on the tub to prevent slips and falls, but now they're chipped, stained, and probably out of fashion.

To get rid of them, loosen the glue by saturating each decal with vinegar. (Warm the vinegar in the microwave for about 3 minutes for even better results.)

Let the vinegar sit for a few minutes, then peel off the decals. You should be able to remove any leftover glue with a damp sponge.

Tags: Vinegar: Cleaning Your House swalk1955

There can be few men who have never given a bunch of flowers at some point in time to someone that they love. What do the flowers say? Whatever the giver desires perhaps; but within that gift is surely the appreciation of beauty, both of the flowers and the one to whom they are given.

In the UK during the month of November a particular flower, the poppy becomes the focus of a nation's thoughts. This time it is remembrance, not of beauty but of horror - of wars fought, battles won and lost and lives sacrificed for the cause of freedom.

Flowers, of course, were created for neither of these purposes, but simply to be the means through which reproduction of might take place and the species continue through to another generation - their colour and complexity merely the means by which a pollinating insect or bird might be attracted, and the reproductive process initiated. I say 'merely' but of course the word is wholly inappropriate when you take into account the sheer wonder of the variety of different tactics employed by plant and pollinator, and the delicate balance between the two.

Plants display many wonderful adaptations and mechanisms developed for the purpose of aiding pollination. Some are entirely dependent upon bees and other insects, their flowers often possessing special features that attract insects like colour, odour, and nectar. Others are dependent upon mammals such as bats or hummingbirds. Or it may be the wind that facilitates pollen transfer (Imagine pollen floating for hundreds of miles on the wind currents of the upper atmosphere before reaching a receptive stigma). Then there are plants which are so designed that only the pollen from their own stamens can reach their stigma.

Often a plant and pollinator evolve together, adapting to changes in each other to improve their own survival. The US National Honey Board states that 'bees may travel as far as 55,000 miles and visit more than 2 million flowers to gather enough nectar to make just 1 pound of honey'

The picking of flowers is referred to in the Bible only once: "My beloved has gone to his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies" (Song of Songs 6:2). Jesus knew how to connect with the people to whom he was talking, particularly with the use of picture language "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

Of all plants in the Bible, the lily is most famous and the one about which there has been the most differences of opinion. Modern scholars believe that at least five or six kinds of plants are referred to by that name. It is thought that one of them was actually yellow flag, an iris common in the Holy Land. Hebrew botanists have argued that the "lilies of the field" were actually the chamomile, a small daisy-like plant. The lilies in the Song of Solomon may well have been the hyacinth with deep blue, fragrant flowers, native in Palestine and Lebanon.

So having established how wonderful, and indeed useful, are the flowers that we so often take for granted in our gardens and in the countryside, what can we gain by looking at them through the lens of our spiritual eye?

Let's consider ourselves as individuals, created (we believe) by God and (again, the Bible tells us) in the image of God. That indicates that our lives radiate elements of God's beauty and creativity. You need to believe that!

We bear the watermark of our Creator, and just as we might look at the shear complexity and beauty of an orchid's flower in wonderment so we must do the same when we consider our own lives.

We are also created fit for purpose, though some, including I may say many Christians, struggle to come to terms with this. It's not just a question of self worth. We are bombarded with advertisements, news reports and documentaries aimed at radically altering both our lifestyle and physical appearance - and so rarely told that the differences between you and I are intended and part of the rich tapestry of God's created world.

We find fulfilment and happiness when we can step through the world view, see ourselves as God intended and rest content with that. I am reminded of the story about Oliver Cromwell who, when sitting for an artist insisted that rather than present his portrait as 'perfect' in appearance on the canvas, which was the accepted practice of the day, that he be painted as he really was - warts and all

Tags: Flower swalk1955

If you get melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly. 

Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices and strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want. 

The problem: How to get two pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car. 
The solution: Eat it in the parking lot. 

Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. 
It'll take the edge off your appetite and you'll eat less. 

A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Isn't that handy? 

If you can't eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But if you can't eat all your chocolate, what's wrong with you? 

If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge. Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves. 

Money talks. Chocolate sings. 

Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger. 

Why is there no such organization as Chocoholics Anonymous? 
Because no one wants to quit. 

Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done. 

Chocolate is a health food. Chocolate is derived from cacao beans. Bean = vegetable. Sugar is derived either from sugar beets or cane, both vegetables. And, of course, the milk/cream is dairy. So eat more chocolate to meet the dietary requirements for daily vegetable and dairy intake.

Tags: The Rules Of Chocolates swalk1955

I’m looking down from up above, my heavenly home I am growing to love. Surrounded by flowers. With an abundance of friends.
Whilst you have your time on earth, each and every day, give flowers a hug and a smile to your friends along the way.
Don’t wait until you get that call, to tell you they have gone. You would be surprised what a difference you can make.
Just pick up the phone and give them a call. Quality time is what we should share to show each other we truly care.
Whilst on earth I was lonely you see. No one seemed to be there for me. No knock on the door, No ring on the bell, nothing and no one seemed to care.
Many a day I sat by the phone waiting for someone to call, I called around but no one home or I’m busy right now, I will give you a call.
Then I died and looked down from abov,e watched all the people I so dearly loved. Gather together to say there goodbye’s. But a hello would have been better when I was alive. The abundance of flowers delivered to my door. I just wish I could be there to take them in. O come on now what I’m trying to say.. all this attention, tears of affection would have meant so much to me in the living years.
Now God provides for me he is at my side. I will never be lonely never be sad.
So please don’t feel so bad, don’t shed a tear for me.

Tags: Living Flowers swalk1955

Could you describe the sky
to a person without sight,
the gift of shades and shadows
you receive each day and night?


Could you depict the freedom
of walking down the street
to a person who has never had
the use of their two feet?


Could you express the comfort
of sleeping in a bed
to someone who has never found
a place to lay their head?


Could you explain the pleasure
of a satisfying meal
to a child who has never known
the fullness that you feel?


Could you, in all honesty,
with good and truthful measure,
say that you are thankful
and consider life a treasure?

Could you?

Tags: Could you? swalk1955

Seven Wonders of the World

 

Sometimes in life there are more wonders than you thought...

 

A group of students were asked to list what they thought were the present Seven Wonders of the World. Though there were some disagreements, the following got the most votes:

1. Egypt's Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter's Basilica
7. China's Great Wall

While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one quiet student hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list.

The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many."

The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help."

The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are:

1. to touch
2. to taste
3. to see
4. to hear

(She hesitated a little, and then added:)

5. to feel
6. to laugh
7. and to love."

The room was so full of silence you could have heard a pin drop.

Those things we overlook as simple and "ordinary" are truly wondrous.

 

A gentle reminder -- that the most precious things in life cannot be bought.
I hope your life is filled with the world's Seven Wonders

 

Tags: Seven Wonders of the World swalk1955

I am still a tiny bud,
a small and unformed flower,
nourished by your guiding love
and growing more each hour.

Every tender word you say,
each kind and gentle touch,
respects my childhood innocence
and honours it as such.

I listen and I watch you
and I learn - just who I am.
You're the lion of my strength
and I'm your little lamb.

If I'm scared, I turn to you,
and when I find you there,
I feel secure and safe from harm
in your protective care.

I have no bigger hero
than the person that you are.
You're my total universe
and I, but one small star.

Tags: guiding love swalk1955

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