Mary Had A Little Lamb

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Life Lessons:

Put God at the center of everything. Let God's word spread in school so students can learn His wisdom. 

Two Friends

A story tells that two friends were walking 
through the desert. During some
point of the journey they had an argument, and
one friend slapped the other one in the face. 

The one who got slapped was hurt, 
but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: 

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND 
SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE. 

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, 
where they decided to take a bath. The one who 
had been slapped got stuck in the mire and 
started drowning, but the friend saved him. 
After he recovered from the near
drowning, he wrote on a stone:  

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE. 
  
The friend who had slapped and 
saved his best friend asked him, 
"After I hurt you, you wrote in the 
sand and now, you write on a stone,
why?" The other friend replied "When someone 
hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds 
of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone
does something good for us, we must engrave
it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."

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Life Lessons:

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND 
AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.  

Do not value the THINGS you have in your life.. 
But value WHO you have in your life! 

Wrapping

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted. As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car.

Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat Disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible? And stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

 

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart.  He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago.  With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. His father carefully underlined a verse:

 

Matt 7:11, "And if ye, being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father which is in heaven, give to those who ask HIM?"  As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of the bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired.  On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words.... PAID IN FULL.

 

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Life Lessons: 

How many times do we miss GOD's blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?  Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you have now was once among those things you only hope for...

 

"IF YOUR GIFT IS NOT PACKED THE WAY YOU WANT IT, IT'S BECAUSE... IT IS BETTER PACKED! THAT WAY, ALWAYS APPRECIATE LITTLE THINGS; THEY USUALLY LEAD YOU TO ATTACHMENTS!"

$50

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $50.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $50 bill?"

Hands started going up.

He said, "I am going to give this $50 to one of you but first, let me do
this. He proceeded to crumple the $50 dollar bill up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?"

Still the hands were up in the air.

Well, he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?"

Still the hands went into the air.

My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $50.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless.

But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, <
priceless to those who DO LOVE you.

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Life Lessons:


The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE.

You are special - Don't EVER forget it."

Count your blessings, not your problems.

And remember: amateurs built the ark ... professionals built the Titanic.

If God brings you to it - He will bring you through it.

A McDonald's Love Story...

A little old couple walked slowly into a McDonald's one cold winter evening.



They looked out of place amid the young families and young couples eating there that night.


Some of the customers looked admiringly at them. You could tell what the admirers were thinking:



"Look, there is a couple who has been through a lot together, probably for 60 years or more!"


The little old man walked up to the cash register, placed his order with no hesitation and then paid for their meal.


The couple took a table near the back wall and started taking food off of the tray.



There was one hamburger, one order of  french fries and one drink.


The little old man unwrapped the plain hamburger and carefully cut it in half.



He placed one half in front of his wife.


Then he carefully counted out the french fries, divided them in two piles and neatly placed one pile in front of his wife.

He took a sip of the drink, and then his wife took a sip as the man began to eat his few bites.


Again, you could tell what people around the old couple were saying. - "They were used to sharing everything."



Then the crowd noticed that the little old lady still hadn't eaten a thing.


She just sat there watching her husband eat and occasionally sipped some of the drink.


A young man came over and begged them to let him buy them another meal.



The lady explained that no, they were used to sharing.



As the little old man finished eating and was wiping his face neatly with a napkin, the young man could stand it no longer and asked again.


After being politely refused again, he finally asked the little old lady, "Ma'am, why aren't you eating. You said that you share everything.



What is it that you are waiting for?"



She answered,


"THE TEETH"

Gallon of Milk

A young man had been to Wednesday night Bible Study.


The Pastor had shared about listening to God and
obeying the Lord's voice.

The young man couldn't help but wonder, "Does God
still speak to people?"

After service he went out with some friends for
coffee and pie and they
discussed the message.

Several different ones talked about how God had led
them in different ways.

It was about ten o'clock when the young man started
driving home. Sitting in
his car, he just began to pray, "God...If you still
speak to
people speak to me. I will listen. I will do my best
to obey."
As he drove down the main street of his town, he had
the strangest thought
to stop and buy a gallon of milk.
He shook his head and said out loud, "God is that
you?" He didn't get a
reply and started on toward home.
But again, the thought, buy a gallon of milk.
The young man thought about Samuel and how he didn't
recognize the voice of
God, and how little Samuel ran to Eli.
"Okay, God, in case that is you, I will buy the
milk." It didn't seem like
too hard a test of obedience. He could always use
the milk. He stopped and
purchased the gallon of milk and started off toward
home.
As he passed Seventh Street, he again felt the urge,
"Turn Down that
street."
This is crazy he thought and drove on past the
intersection.
Again, he felt that he should turn down Seventh
Street.
At the next intersection, he turned back and headed
down Seventh.
Half jokingly, he said out loud, "Okay, God, I
will".
He drove several blocks, when suddenly, he felt like
he should stop. He
pulled over to the curb and looked around. He was in
semi commercial area of
town. It wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst of
neighborhoods either.
The businesses were closed and most of the houses
looked dark like the
people were already in bed.
Again, he sensed something, "Go and give the milk to
the people in the house
across the street." The young man looked at the
house. It was dark and it
looked like the people were either gone or they were
already asleep. He
started to open the door and then sat back in the
car seat.
"Lord, this is insane. Those people are asleep and
if I wake them up, they
are going to be mad and I will look stupid." Again,
he felt like he should
go and give the milk.
Finally, he opened the door, "Okay God, if this is
you, I will go to the
door and I will give them the milk. If you want me
to look like a crazy
person, okay. I want to be obedient. I guess that
will count for something
but if they don't answer right away, I am out of
here."
He walked across the street and rang the bell. He
could hear some noise
inside. A man's voice yelled out, "Who is it? What
do you want?" Then the
door opened before the young man could get away.
The man was standing there in his jeans and T-shirt.
He looked like he
just got out of bed. He had a strange look on his
face and he didn't seem
too happy to have some stranger standing on his
doorstep. "What is it?"
The young man thrust out the gallon of milk, "Here,
I brought this to you."
The man took the milk and rushed down a hallway.
Then from down the hall came a woman carrying the
milk toward the kitchen.
The man was following her holding a baby. The baby
was crying. The man had
tears streaming down his face.
The man began speaking and half crying, "We were
just praying. We had some
big bills this month and we ran out of money. We
didn't have any milk for
our baby. I was just praying and asking God to show
me how to get some
milk."
His wife in the kitchen yelled out, "I ask him to
send an Angel with some.
Are you an Angel?"
The young man reached into his wallet and pulled out
all the money he had on
him and put in the man's hand. He turned and walked
back toward his car and
the tears were streaming down his face.

He knew that God still answers prayers.

Window

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. 

Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. 

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. 

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. 

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. 

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. 

Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it. In his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. 

Days and weeks passed. 

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. 

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. 

He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. 

It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. 

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. 

She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you." 


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Life Lessons: 


There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. 

Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled. 

If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy. 

"Today is a gift, that's why it is called the present."