Hello my friends!!! Things got finished here today - Linus got the fence, two risers, and arbor all stained and it looks very nice!!! We do have some painting to do yet on the house, too. He used a spray painter and that worked faster!!! Today was Ollie time again, and when I want to use the swifter, he gets wild and wants to bark and bite it, but this time I took it out and just told him I'm going to use the swifter and he'd better be a good boy, and he went right to the rocker and stayed out of my way!!! He was a bit more challenged when I got the vacuuming going, but I just told him to get away, and no, he cannot bark, and he listened to me and got away and didn't bother me either. Not like he used to be!!! He's learning and I told Lori this, that's all she has to do. Hot day today - but nice!! Got a lot done, and now we can relax. Prayers for you all!!!
We don't choose how or when we will die, but we do decide how we will live.
Lord, forgive my frequent drifting and help me to see clearly the best path
for me.
Scripture for the day:
"But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of
God dwells in you." ~Romans 8:9
Meditation for the day:
I cannot ascertain the spiritual with my intellect. I can only do it by my
own faith and spiritual faculties. I can sometimes think of God with my
heart as well as with my head. I can breathe in God's very spirit in the
life around me. I can keep my eyes turned toward the good things in the
world. I can empty my mind of all the limitations of material things. I
can sense the eternal.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that whatever is good I may have. I pray that I may leave to God the
choice of what good will come to me.
Graces Through the Intercession of Saint Pio
TO THE TOP OF THE DOME
When my daughter Sarah was still suffering from the pains of fibre myalgia,
I asked Ana if she would still be willing to take her on pilgrimage which
was due to leave shortly.
Of course, Ana said yes, but when I told my daughter she said that she would
only be a nuisance as she was still having such bad pain could limit her
ability to keep up with the other pilgrims. Anyway Ana did not mind so Sarah
went.
According to Ana, she hardly saw our daughter once she got to Rome. She was
up to the top of the dome of St. Peter's, and visiting all the other
wonderful sights of this great city.
Thanks be to God and to our dear friend Saint Pio.
S.M.J.
A PRISONER SET FREE
During my life in prison I was in desperate need of comfort. Every day I
became more and more aware of Padre Pio's presence with me, I was glad
because I needed him badly.
At night the lights from the search lights shone around the prison wall, it
reflected through the windows of my cell and I saw Padre Pio's face before I
went to sleep every night. I had a true friend.
I, like many other Christians, did not really know how to pray or meditate,
but slowly with the help of Padre Pio I could sit for hours praying through
Padre Pio to Our Lord.
As weeks passed by, I was becoming whole again and I was beginning to
reflect an image to others that I was being re-habilitated. But I knew it
was because Padre Pio had found me and he was not going to let me go.
I know now that the Devil had his own way with the first part of my life,
but by the grace of God and intercession through Padre Pio, God will have
the second part.
From a Prisoner released from Durham Jail.
Living a Life that Matters
Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten
will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally
disappear.
So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won´t matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you
lived on at the end.
It won´t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought but what you built,
not what you got but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage
or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your
example.
What will matter is not your competence but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many
will feel a lasting loss when you´re gone.
What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those
who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn´t happen by accident.
It´s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters
(Michael Josephson 2003)
A young woman was packing a suitcase for a long trip.
She said to a woman who was watching her, "I'm just about finished. I only
have to put in a guidebook, a lamp, a mirror, my favorite love letters, a
microscope, a telescope, a volume of fine poetry, a song book, a few
biographies, a package of old letters, a sword, and a set of books I have
been studying."
The onlooker gasped, "How do you intend to get all that in your suitcase?
It's almost full now!"
The young woman replied, "Oh, all that won't take much room."
She then walked over to a table, picked up her Bible, placed it in the
corner of her suitcase, and closed the lid.
Winking at her friend, she said, "And I even got in a loaf of living bread,
too."
Share this traveling secret with all you know!
Remind them that HIS word is All They Need
The Rose Within
A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully and before it
blossomed, he examined it.
He saw the bud that would soon blossom, but noticed thorns upon the stem and
he thought, "How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so
many sharp thorns? Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose,
and just before it was ready to bloom... it died.
So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose. The God-like
qualities planted in us at birth, grow amid the thorns of our faults. Many
of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects.
We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect
to water the good within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our
potential.
Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it
to them. One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to
reach past the thorns of another, and find the rose within them.
This is one of the characteristic of love... to look at a person, know their
true faults and accepting that person into your life... all the while
recognizing the nobility in their soul. Help others to realize they can
overcome their faults. If we show them the "rose" within themselves, they
will conquer their thorns. Only then will they blossom many times over.
The Stolen Biscuits [Cookies] Magic of kindness
A small boy at summer camp received a large package of cookies in the mail
from his mother. He ate a few, then placed the remainder under his bed. The
next day, after lunch, he went to his tent to get a cookie. The box was
gone.
That afternoon a camp counselor, who had been told of the theft, saw another
boy sitting behind a tree eating the stolen cookies. "That young man," he
said to himself, "must be taught not to steal."
He returned to the group and sought out the boy whose cookies had been
stolen. "Billy," he said, "I know who stole your cookies. Will you help me
teach him a lesson?"
"Well, yes--but aren't you going to punish him?" asked the puzzled boy.
"No, that would only make him resent and hate you," the counselor explained.
"I want you to call your mother and ask her to send you another box of
cookies."
The boy did as the counselor asked and a few days later received another box
of cookies in the mail.
"Now," said the counselor, "the boy who stole your cookies is down by the
lake. Go down there and share your cookies with him."
"But," protested the boy, "he's the thief."
"I know . But try it--see what happens."
Half an hour later the camp counselor saw the two come up the hill, arm in
arm. The boy who had stolen the cookies was earnestly trying to get the
other to accept his jack-knife in payment for the stolen cookies, and the
victim was just as earnestly refusing the gift from his new friend, saying
that a few old cookies weren't that important anyway.
Judge Me by the Footprints I Leave Behind
A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after
having fought in Vietnam.
He called his parents from San Francisco.
"Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've got a favor to ask.
I have a friend I'd like to bring with me."
"Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him."
"There's something you should know the son continued,
"he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped
on a land mined and lost an arm and a leg. He has
nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us."
"I'm sorry to hear that, son.
Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live."
"No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us."
"Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking.
Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us.
We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something
like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just
come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to
live on his own."
At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard
nothing more from him.
A few days later, however, they received a call from the
San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a
building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide.
The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken
to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They
recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something
they didn't know, their son had only one arm and one leg.
The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy
to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but
we don't like people who inconvenience us or make us feel
uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who
aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are.
Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way.
Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that
welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how
messed up we are.
Tonight, before you tuck yourself in for the night, say
a little prayer that God will give you the strength you
need to accept people as they are, and to help us all be
more understanding of those who are different from us!!!
There's a miracle called -Friendship- that dwells in the heart.
You don't know how it happens or when it gets started. But you
know the special lift It always brings and you realize that
Friendship Is God's most precious gift!
Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile
and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a
word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us.
Show your friends how much you care....
Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND!
If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a friend for
life.
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