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"Loyalty is very important when things get a little tough, as they often do when the challenge is great. Loyalty is a powerful force in producing one's individual best and more so in producing a team's best." -- John Wooden. UCLA
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Ship Wreck
A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men on it were able to swim to a small, deserted island. The two survivors, not knowing what else to do, agreed that they had no other recourse but to pray to God.
However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.
The first thing they prayed for was food.
The next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the land, and he was able to eat its fruit. The other man's parcel of land remained barren so he went hungry.
After a week, the first man was lonely and he decided to pray for a wife.
The next day, another ship was wrecked, and the only survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the land. On the other side of the island, there was nothing.
Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes, and more food. The next day, like magic, all of these were given to him. However, the second man still had nothing.
Finally, the first man prayed for a ship, so that he and his wife could leave the island. In the morning, he found a ship docked at his side of the island.
The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave the second man on the island. He considered the other man unworthy to receive God's blessings, since none of his prayers had been answered.
As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from heaven booming, "Why are you leaving your companion on the island?"
"My blessings are mine alone, since I was the one who prayed for them," the first man answered. "His prayers were all unanswered and so he does not deserve anything."
"You are mistaken!" the voice rebuked him. "He had only one prayer, which I answered. If not for that, you would not have received any of my blessings."
"Tell me," the first man asked the voice, "What did he pray for that I should owe him anything?" The voice answered, "He prayed that all your prayers be answered."
For all we know, our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone, but those of another praying for us.
The Plus Sign
> >
> >
> > Little Saheed Stanfield was doing very badly in math.
> > His parents had tried everything... Tutors,
> > Mentors, flash cards,
> > Special learning centers. In short, everything
> > They could think of to help his math.
> >
> > Finally, in a last ditch effort, they took
> > Saheed down and enrolled him
> > in the local Catholic school. ! After the first
> > day, little Saheed came home with a very
> > serious look on his face. He
> > didn't even kiss his mother Hello.
> > Instead, he went straight to his room and
> > started studying. Books and papers were spread
> > out all over the room and little Saheed was hard
at work.
> > His mother was amazed. She called him down to
dinner.
> >
> > To her shock, the minute he was done, he marched
back
> > to his room without a word, and in no time, he was
back
> > hitting the books as hard as before. This went on
> > for some time, day after day, while the mother
> > tried to understand what made all the difference.
> > Finally, little Saheed brought home his report
> > card. He quietly laid it on the table, went up to
his
> > room and hit the books. With great trepidation,
> > his Mom looked at it and to her great surprise,
> > little Saheed got an "A" in math. She could no
> > longer hold her curiosity.
> > She went to his room and said, "Son, what was it?
> > Was it the nuns?" Little Saheed looked at her and
> > shook his head, no. "Well, then," she replied,
> > Was it the books, the discipline, the structure,
the
> > uniforms? "WHAT WAS IT ALREADY?"
> >
> > Little Saheed Stanfield looked at her and said, "Well, on
> > the first day of school when I saw that guy nailed
to
> > the plus sign, I knew they weren't fooling
around."
Olny srmat poelpe can.
cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
if you can raed tihs psas it on !!
S O M E T I M E S
Sometimes...
when you cry...
no one sees your tears.
Sometimes...
when you are in pain..
no one sees your hurt.
Sometimes...
when you are worried...
no one sees your stress.
Sometimes...
when you are happy...
no one sees your smile.
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But FART!! just ONE time...
And everybody knows!!
Gotcha!! You thought it was going to be one of those heart-touching stories!
Attitude,
"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...
I am Convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how i react to it. And so it is with you... Wa are in charge of our Attitudes."
Charles Swindoll
Only in America......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the
back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy
cigarettes at the front.
Only in America......do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and
a diet coke.
Only in America......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens
to the counters.
Only in America......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the
driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in
packages of eight.
Only in America......do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process
so
well: 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking
creatures'.
Only in America......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille
lettering.
EVER WONDER ..
Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?
Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?
Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made
with real lemons?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't
they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!
Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?
The P United Way
Everyone who doe's evil hates the light, And will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
But who ever lives by the truth comes into the light, So that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through god.
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A Small Boy's Witness
Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at their church, the
Pastor and his eleven year old son would go out into their town and hand out
Gospel Tracts.
This particular Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the Pastor and his son
to go to the streets with their tracts, it was very cold outside as well as
pouring down rain. The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and
said--- "OK dad, I'm ready."
His Pastor dad asked---"Ready for what ?" "Dad, it's time we gather our
tracts together and go out." Dad responds, "Son, it's very cold outside and
it's pouring down rain." The boy gives his dad a surprised look, asking "But
Dad, aren't people still going to Hell, even though it's raining?"
Dad answers, "Son, I am not going out in this weather."
Despondently, the boy ask "Dad, can I go? Please?" His father hesitated for
a moment then said, "Son, you can go. Here are the tracts, be careful son."
"Thanks Dad! " And with that, he was off and out into the rain.
This eleven year old boy walked the streets of the town going door to door
and handing everybody he met in the street a Gospel Tract
After two hours of walking in the rain, he was soaking, bone-chilled wet and
down to his VERY LAST TRACT.
He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a tract to, but the
streets were totally deserted. Then he turned toward the first home he saw -
and started up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the door bell. He
rang the bell, but nobody answered. He rang it again and again, but still no
one answered. He waited but still no answer.
Finally, this eleven year old trooper turned to leave, but something stopped
him. Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked loudly on
the door with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front
porch.
He rang again, and this time the door slowly opened. Standing in the doorway
was a very sad-looking elderly lady. She softly asked " What can I do for
you son?" With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little
boy said, "Ma'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to tell you
that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU, and I came to give you my very last Gospel
Tract which will tell you all about JESUS and His great LOVE."
With that, he handed her his last tract, and turned to leave. She called to
him as he departed. "Thank you, son! And God Bless You!" Well, the following
Sunday morning in church Pastor Dad was in the pulpit. As the service began,
he asked, " Does anybody have a testimony or want to say anything?"
Slowly, in the back row of the church, an elderly lady stood to her feet. As
she began to speak, a look of glorious radiance came from her face as she,
"No one in this church knows me. I've never been here before.
You see, before last Sunday I was not a Christian. My husband passed on some
time ago, leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday, being a
particularly cold and rainy day, it was even more so in my heart that I came
to the end of the line where I no longer had any hope or will to live. So I
took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my home.
I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof, then stood on the
chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. Standing on
that chair, so lonely and brokenhearted I was about to leap off, when
suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me. I thought,
"I'll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.
"I waited and waited, but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more
insistent, and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly. I
thought to myself again, "Who on earth could this be?! Nobody ever rings my
bell or comes to see me."
I loosened the rope from my neck and started for the front door, all the
while the bell rang louder and louder. When I opened the door and looked I
could hardly believe my eyes, for there on my front porch was the most
radiant and angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life.
His SMILE, oh, I could never describe it to you! And the words that came
from his mouth caused my heart, that had long been dead, TO LEAP TO LIFE as
he exclaimed with a cherub-like voice, "Ma'am, I just came to tell you that
JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU."
Then he gave me this Gospel Tract that I now hold in my hand. As the little
angel disappeared back out into the cold and rain, I closed my door and read
slowly every word of this Gospel Tract. Then I went up to my attic to get my
rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing them any more.
You see, "I am now a Happy Child of the KING and since the address of your
church was on the back of this Gospel Tract, I have come hereto personally
say THANK YOU TO God's little angel who came just in the nick of time and,
by so doing, spared my soul from eternity in hell."
There was not a dry eye in the church. And as shouts of praise and honor to
THE KING resounded off the very rafters of the building, Pastor Dad
descended from the pulpit to the front pew where the little angel was
seated. He took his son in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Probably no
church has had a more glorious moment, And probably this universe has never
seen a Papa that was more filled with love &honor for his son...
Except for One. This Father also allowed His Son to go out into a
cold and dark world. He received His Son back with joy unspeakable, and as
all of heaven shouted praises and honor to The King, The Father sat His
beloved Son on a throne far above all principality and power and every name
that is named.
~Author Unknown~
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