Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Hello my friends - Hope you all are having a great Friday evening and night. It's been cold - but no snow, yet! After our Mass at the Cathedral this noon we stopped at the Good Earth Food store again for their ham - now we have a bunch of ham sliced for many future meals and will be put in the freezer! Good ham, only 1 gram sugar! All natural. What a blessing to have now, so many recipes I can make with it, scalloped potatoes, bean soup with the ham bone, and all kinds of other recipes I know by heart! It's also very good in making a salad a good meal for lunch. Some will go for Thanksgiving with the Turkey that will be grilled. We now know what the girls want for Christmas - Lori wants a Willow Nativity Set you can find on Amazon, Darla wants one too, but that Lori got her, and for Darla we'll get her a gift cert. to a salon when she's home so she can go to it here. Praying for you all who read this thread. May God touch you in a very special way is my prayer for you all.

If everyone thought alike, no one would have to do much thinking.

Lord, bless me with the strength of my convictions and the ability

to disagree when necessary without being disagreeable.

Scripture for the day:

"Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and

say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of

mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.' And he

answers from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been

locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give

you anything.' I tell you, even though he will not get up and give

him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his

persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. 'So I say

to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find;

knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks

receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who

knocks, the door will be opened.'"

Meditation for the day:

We can pray--and keep praying until it brings peace and serenity and a

feeling of communication with God who is near and ready to help. The

thought of God can be a balm for our hates and fears. In praying to

God, we can find healing for hurt feelings and resentments. In

thinking of God, doubts and fears can leave us. Instead of those

doubts and fears, there can flow into our hearts such faith and love

as is beyond the power of material things to give, and such peace as

the world can neither give nor take away. And with God, we can have

the tolerance to live and let live." ~Luke 11:5-10

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may have true tolerance and understanding. I pray that

I may keep striving for these difficult things.

A TRICK

Author Unknown

A young man, a student in one of our universities, was one day taking a walk

with a professor, who was commonly called the students' friend, from his

kindness to those who waited on his instructions.

As they went along, they saw lying in the path a pair of old shoes, which

they supposed to belong to a poor man who was employed in a field close by,

and who had nearly finished his day's work.

The student turned to the professor, saying: "Let us play the man a trick:

we will hide his shoes, and conceal ourselves behind those bushes, and wait

to see his perplexity when he cannot find them."

"My young friend," answered the professor, "we should never amuse ourselves

at the expense of the poor. But you are rich, and may give yourself a much

greater pleasure by means of the poor man. Put a coin into each shoe, and

then we will hide ourselves and watch how the discovery affects him."

The student did so, and they both placed themselves behind the bushes close

by.

The poor man soon finished his work, and came across the field to the path

where he had left his coat and shoes. While putting on his coat he slipped

his foot into one of his shoes; but feeling something hard, he stooped down

to feel what it was, and found the coin.

Astonishment and wonder were seen upon his countenance. He gazed upon the

coin, turned it round, and looked at it again and again. He then looked

around him on all sides, but no person was to be seen. He now put the money

into his pocket, and proceeded to put on the other shoe; but his surprise

was doubled on finding the other coin.

His feelings overcame him; he fell upon his knees, looked up to heaven and

uttered aloud a fervent thanksgiving, in which he spoke of his wife, sick

and helpless, and his children without bread, whom the timely bounty, from

some unknown hand, would save from perishing.

The student stood there deeply affected, and his eyes filled with tears.

"Now," said the professor, "are you not much better pleased than if you had

played your intended trick?"

The youth replied, "You have taught me a lesson which I will never forget. I

feel now the truth of those words, which I never understood before: 'It is

more blessed to give than to receive.'"

The Important Things in Life

Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were

meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to

help you figure out who you are or who you want to become.

You never know who these people may be - a roommate, a neighbor, a

professor, a friend, a lover, or even a complete stranger - but when you

lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment they will affect your life

in some profound way.

Sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful, and unfair

at first, but in reflection you find that without overcoming those obstacles

you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower, or heart.

Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity

all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests,

whatever they may be, life would be like a smoothly paved straight flat road

to nowhere. It would be safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly

pointless.

The people you meet who affect your life, and the success and downfalls you

experience, help to create who you are and who you become. Even the bad

experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are sometimes the most

important ones.

If someone loves you, give love back to them in whatever way you can, not

only because they love you, but because in a way, they are teaching you to

love and how to open your heart and eyes to things.

If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart, forgive them, for

they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious

to whom you open your heart.

Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and take from those moments

everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it

again. Talk to people that you have never talked to before, and listen to

what they have to say.

Let yourself fall in love, break free, and set your sights high. Hold your

head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great

individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, it

will be hard for others to believe in you.

You can make anything you wish of your life. Create your own life and then

go out and live it with absolutely no regrets.

And if you love someone tell them, for you never know what tomorrow may have

in store.

Learn a lesson in life each day that you live! Today is the tomorrow you

were worried about yesterday.

Think About it? Was it worth it?

EYE OPENER

Author Unknown

I saw him in the church building for the first time on Wednesday. He

was in his mid-70's, with thinning silver hair and a neat brown suit.

Many times in the past I had invited him to come. Several other

Christian friends had talked to him about the Lord and had tried to

share the good news with him.

He was a well-respected, honest man with so many characteristics a

Christian should have, but he had never put on Christ, nor entered the

doors of the church.

"Have you ever been to a church service in your life?" I had asked him

a few years ago. We had just finished a pleasant day of visiting and

talking.

He hesitated. Then with a bitter smile he told me of his childhood

experience some fifty years ago. He was one of many children in a

large impoverished family. His parents had struggled to provide food,

with little left for housing and clothing. When he was about ten, some

neighbors

invited him to worship with them.

The Sunday School class had been very exciting! He had never heard

such songs and stories before!

He had never heard anyone read from the Bible! After class was over,

the teacher took him aside and said, "Son, please don't come again

dressed as you are now. We want to look our best when we come into

God's house."

He stood in his ragged, unpatched overalls. Then looking at his dirty

bare feet, he answered softly, "No, ma'am, I won't ever."

"And I never did," he said, abruptly ending our conversation.

There must have been other factors to have hardened him so, but this

experience formed a significant part of the bitterness in his heart.

I'm sure that Sunday School teacher meant well. But did she really

understand the love of Christ? Had she studied and accepted the

teachings found in the second chapter of James?

What if she had put her arms around the dirty, ragged little boy and

said, "Son, I am so glad you are here, and I hope you will come every

chance you get to hear more about Jesus."

I reflected on the awesome responsibility a teacher or pastor or a

parent has to welcome little ones in His name. How far reaching her

influence was!

I prayed that I might be ever open to the tenderness of a child's

heart, and that I might never fail to see beyond the appearance and

behavior of a child to the eternal possibilities within.

Yes, I saw him in the church house for the first time on Wednesday. As

I looked at that immaculately dressed old gentleman lying in his

casket, I thought of the little boy of long ago. I could almost hear

him say, "No, ma'am, I won't ever."

And I wept.

LUCKY

Author Unknown

Anyone who has pets will really like this. You'll like it even if you

don't and may decide you need one. Mary and her husband Jim had a dog,

Lucky.

Lucky was a real character. Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for

a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage

open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy.

Inevitably someone would forget and something would come up missing.

Mary or Jim would go to Lucky's toy box in the basement and there

the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky's favorite toys. Lucky always

stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys

stay in the box.

It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told

her she was going to die of this disease...she was just sure it was fatal.

She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders.

The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky.

A thought struck her...what would happen to Lucky? Although the three-

year-old dog liked Jim he was Mary's dog through and through. If I die Lucky

will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won't understand that I didn't want to

leave him. The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.

The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had

anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for

his

evening walk faithfully but the dog just drooped, whining and miserable. But

finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived home,

Mary was so exhausted she couldn't even make it up the steps to her bedroom.

Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap. Lucky stood

watching Mary but he didn't come to her when she called. It made Mary sad

but

sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.

When Mary woke for a second she couldn't understand what was wrong.

She couldn't move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. Panic soon

gave way to laughter though when Mary realized the problem. She was covered,

literally blanketed in every treasure Lucky owned! While she had slept

the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement and back

bringing his beloved mistress his favorite things in life. He had covered

her with

his love. Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living

again, walking further and further together every night.

It's been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky? He still

steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his

greatest treasure.

Live everyday to the fullest...because every day is a blessing from

God! He covers you with His treasures and His love!