Hello my friends! Well we went to the doctor this morning - nothing bad to report, antibiotics wouldn't help any, but we found out that I don't have strep and he doesn't have bronchitis, his lungs are clear. I felt good enough to go to the birthday celebration with his brothers and sisters - and they all liked the restaurant he chose. After the visit at the clinic, I went right to bed and really slept good, and felt much better then. Now, I'm very tired and as soon as this thread is out, I'll be in bed!
Recognize the joy that comes from the simple things in life like a smile, a
hug,
or a good meal. Lord, help me think about the good things in my life and
how my life would change without them.
Scripture for the day:
"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to
do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love."
~John 4:18
Meditation for the day:
I can trust God. This lesson has to be learned. My doubts and fears can
continually drive me back into the wilderness. Doubts can lead me astray,
because I am not trusting God. I can trust God's love. It will never fail
me, but I can learn not fail it by my doubts and fears. We all have much to
learn in turning out fear by faith. Our doubts can arrest God's work
through us. I need not doubt. I can believe in God and continually work at
strengthening my faith.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that I may live the way God wants me to live. I pray that I may get
into that stream of goodness and love in the world.
EMERGENCY NUMBERS
Emergency numbers may be dialed direct. No operator assistance is necessary.
EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
When in sorrow, ......................................... call John 14
When men fail you, ..................................... call Psalm 27
If you want to be fruitful, ............................. call John 15
When you have sinned, .................................. call Psalm 51
When you worry, ................................. call Matthew 6:19-34
When you are in danger, ................................ call Psalm 91
When God seems far away, .............................. call Psalm 139
When your faith needs stirring, ...................... call Hebrews 11
When you are lonely and fearful, ....................... call Psalm 23
When you grow bitter and critical, ............. call I Corinthians 13
For Paul's secret to happiness, .............. call Colossians 3:12-17
For understanding of Christianity, ....... call II Corinthians 5:15-19
When you feel down and out, ......................... call Romans 8:31
When you want peace and rest, .................. call Matthew 11:25-30
When the world seems bigger than God, .................. call Psalm 90
When you want Christian assurance, ................ call Romans 8:1-30
When you leave home for labor or travel, .............. call Psalm 121
When your prayers grow narrow or selfish, .............. call Psalm 67
For a great invention/opportunity, .................... call Isaiah 55
When you want courage for a task, ...................... call Joshua 1
For how to get along with fellow men, ................. call Romans 12
When you think of investments and returns, .............. call Mark 10
If you are depressed, .................................. call Psalm 27
If your pocketbook is empty, ........................... call Psalm 37
If you are losing confidence in people, ........ call I Corinthians 13
If people seem unkind, .................................. call John 15
If discouraged about your work, ....................... call Psalm 126
If you find the world growing small and yourself great,..call Psalm 19
Alternate numbers:
For dealing with fear, ............................... call Psalm 34:7
For security, ....................................... call Psalm 121:3
For assurance, ........................................ call Mark 8:35
For reassurance, ................................... call Psalm 145:18
All lines to Heaven are open 24 hours a day! Feed your faith, and doubt will
starve to death!
-- Author Unknown
THE APPLE BASKET
Author Unknown
One day an elderly man entered into a hospital. He was grumpy from
being on medication and the nurses thought him to be insane, as he
yelled for his wife to get the apple basket. By the time they had
checked him into his room the nurses were exhausted from the fight he
was putting up.
"Sir you have to calm down we are doing everything we can for you"
they would try to explain.
"I don't need your help" the grumpy man would yell "I want my apple
basket". He finally slept. The nurses sighed with relief and talked
among themselves whether they should call the hospital psychologist
about the old man and his obsession with the apple basket.
As they talked and laughed about the situation the wife came in
carrying the basket of apples. They looked kind of stunned as she
asked if she could see her husband and deliver his basket. Sure, they
agreed as they watched her slip past into his room.
Curiosity consumed them over the next few weeks as they tended to the
elderly man. He was eaten with cancer and the doctors had given him no
hope of survival. He turned out to be a very calm, happy man once he
had his basket. His wife, they noticed, would come in with apples and
go out with apples and the curiosity grew even more till one nurse
couldn't stand the suspense.
One night as he was nearing the end, the nurse sat down in a chair by
the wife." May I ask why do you have that apple basket? I just don't
understand the significance."
"I am an apple farmer by trade he sighed. From the time I was 20 till
the day I do die I will forever have my apples." The nurse nodded
thinking she understood. He just likes his work, she thought, assured
now he was a little bit crazy.
As she started to leave, the old man asked her to sit down. "At age 20
I was saved, I accepted the Lord as my Savior." Oh no, the nurse
thought. Here comes the lecture on religion. The old man continued.
"The day I accepted the Lord as my Savior I got this basket, and each
time I had a problem or concern that I could not handle, I put an
apple in the basket un-shined."
"Why?" the nurse said shaking her head.
"Because it reminded me to give those problems to the Lord for him to
shine. See my basket now, he stated. As my problems disappear so do
the apples. As I get new problems, ones I cannot handle alone, I put
an apple in."
The humble nurse looked into the basket...only one apple was there.
With that, he took a big breath and grabbed his wife by the hand and
faded into eternal sleep. The wife paused for a moment and got up from
her place to take from the basket the last remaining apple. She
whispered in his ear that his reward awaits him in heaven.
The nurse stayed still and asked with tears in her eyes, "what do you
think his riches will be?"
The wife knew what they were, eternal life with Jesus Christ. But she
could see the concern and sadness upon the young nurses' face and
handed her the apple and said "the biggest apple pie you can
imagine!"
That was the day the young nurse was saved, and from that day on she
always had a basket by her bed.
Meditations by Padre Pio
Yes, I love the Cross, the Cross alone; I love it because I see it always on
Jesus' shoulders (Letters I, p. 377).
Mother Teresa Said...
Believe in Jesus trust in Him with blind and absolute confidence because He
is Jesus.
Believe that Jesus and Jesus alone is life and sanctity is nothing
but that same Jesus intimately living in you; then His hand will be free
with you.
Give yourself unswervingly, conforming yourself in all things to His holy
will.
Love Jesus generously.
Love Him trustfully, without looking back and without fear.
Give yourself fully to Jesus.
He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition
that you believe much more in His love than in your weakness.
Father O'Malley was pastor of a small parish in Grass Valley, California.
One evening while he was preparing his homily for the coming Sunday, his
telephone rang.
The weather was stormy, and all the electrical lines were down. A voice on
the other end of the telephone said, "Fr. O'Malley, I am calling from the
local hospital and we have a terminally ill patient here who is asking to
see a priest about the last rites, can you come quickly?"
The trip was 30 miles, the going was rough as trees and power lines were
down. The nurse met Fr. O'Malley at the door, and thanked him for coming.
The person who wants to see you, Father, is an alcoholic, but he is still
coherent but is slipping fast. Fr. O'Malley asked the nurse what the
patients name was. She answered, the hospital calls him Tom.
Fr. O'Malley went into Tom's room and said to Tom, "I was just passing thru
and thought I would visit you before you sleep."
"Don't give me any of that garbage", Tom replied, "I asked that nurse to
call someone to give me the last rites because I know my time is done and
its my turn to go. Now get with it."
"Would you like to make a confession?" the priest asked Tom.
"Absolutely not" Tom answered. They talked for a long time and occasionally
Father would ask Tom if he was ready for confession. After some time Tom
told Father that he had done something in his life that was with him every
day and he did not feel that God would forgive him. Finally after some
time, Tom agreed to tell the priest his story.
"Thirty-two years ago, two months and eleven days ago, I was working for the
railroad. It happened in a bad storm. It was two days before Christmas and
the whole crew was drunk. Someone had to go out and push the switch for the
train to go northbound. I guess I was more drunk than the rest because I
pushed the switch in the wrong direction. At 45 miles per hour the freight
train slammed into a passenger car at the end of the next crossing and
killed a young man, his wife, and their two daughters. I have had to live
with that all of my life," Tom said.
There was a moment of silence as Tom's confession of this tragedy hung in
the air. After what seemed like an eternity, Fr. O'Malley gently put his
hand on Tom's shoulder and said very quietly. "If I can forgive you, God
can forgive you, because in that car were my mother, my father and my two
sisters.
Do we still find it difficult to forgive anyone?
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