As I was walking I saw a bunch of kids running toward the duffus,
they ran past him – knocking all his books down and tripping him
so that he landed sprawled all over the dirt. His glasses went flying
and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.
He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes,
and my heart went out to him. So I jogged over to him
as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I
saw a tear in his eye. I said to him, “Those guys are jerks,
they really should get lives, you know?” and I handed him his glasses.

He looked at me and said, “Hey Thanks”, and there was a
real smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed
real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him
where he lived. He lived near me, and I wondered why I’d never
seen him before. He said he went to a private grammar school.
Well that explained it. I would have never hung with a private
school kid, but the girls on the other hand, well that was different!

Well, we talked all the way home and I carried his books,
he turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted
to play football on Saturday with me and my friends,
cause he said he loved football.

Well, turned out we hung all weekend and the more I got to
know this guy the more I liked him. And my friends thought
the same of him. Monday morning came and there was Kyle
with the huge stack of books again, and I stopped him and said,
“Man boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles
with this pile of books everyday!” He just laughed and handed
me half the books!

Well, the four years passed by and Kyle and I had become best friends,
we were going on to college. He was going to Georgetown, and I was
going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles
would never be a problem. He was going to be a Doctor, and I was
going for a Business Degree on a football scholarship.

The only thing was that Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I would
kid him all the time about being a smart nerd. He had to prepare a
speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn’t me!

Graduation day I saw Kyle and he looked great – he was one of those
guys that really found himself during high school….. filled out…
and he actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than me and
all the girls loved him! Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
Well, today was one of them, I could see he was nervous
about his speech. I smacked him on the back and said,
“Hey big guy, you’ll be great!” He looked at me with one of those
looks, the really grateful ones, and smiled,” Thanks my friend,” he
said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, he began with,
“Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it
through those tough high school years, your parents, your teachers,
your siblings, maybe a coach, but mostly good friends. I am here
to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you
can give another person. I am going to tell you a story, my story.”
I just looked at this handsome man with disbelief as he told the story
of the first day we met.

He told about how he had cleaned out his locker of all his books and
stuff so he could at least spare his mom from that pain, because he
had it all figured out. His plans had been to kill himself over the
weekend.

He looked at me with those big grateful eyes, and said, “Thankfully,
I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.”
I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome popular boy
told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and Dad,
and with tearful eyes they looked at me and smiled that same
grateful smile I saw my friend smile so many times in the last
4 years, not till that moment understanding how truly grateful it
was.”

Never under estimate the power of kindness, with one small token
you can change a persons life….. even save it!

My grandma is not the gushy kind, never was. I fled to her that
day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew
Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always
went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her
world-famous cinnamon buns.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between
bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me.

“No Santa Claus!” she snorted. “Ridiculous! Don’t believe it.
That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me
mad, just plain mad. Now, put on your coat, and let’s go.”

“Go? Go where, Grandma?” I asked. I hadn’t even finished my
second cinnamon bun.

“Where” turned out to be Kerby’s General Store, the one store
in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we
walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars.
That was a bundle in those days. ‘Take this money,” she said,
“and buy something for someone who needs it. I’ll wait for you
in the car.” Then she turned and walked out of Kerby’s.

I was only eight years old. I’d often gone shopping with my
mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself.

The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to
finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just
stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering
what to buy, and who on
Earth to buy it for.

I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my
neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my
church. I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought
of Bobbie Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy
hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock’s grade-two
class.

Bobbie Decker didn’t have a coat. I knew that because he never
went out for recess during the winter. His mother always wrote
a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids
knew that Bobbie Decker didn’t have a cough, and he didn’t
have a coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing
excitement. I would buy Bobbie Decker a coat.

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked
real warm, and he would like that.

“Is this a Christmas present for someone?” the lady behind the
counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down.

“Yes,” I replied shyly. “It’s … for Bobbie.”

The nice lady smiled at me. I didn’t get any change, but she put
the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas
paper and ribbons, and write, “To Bobbie, From Santa Claus”
on it– Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy.
Then she drove me over to Bobbie Decker’s house, explaining
as we went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa’s
helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobbie’s house, and she
and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk
Then Grandma gave me a nudge. “All right, Santa Claus,” she
whispered, “get going.”

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the
present down on his step, pounded his doorbell and flew back
to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited
breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally
it did, and there stood Bobbie.

Forty years haven’t dimmed the thrill of those moments spent
shivering, beside my grandma, in Bobbie Decker’s bushes.
That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus
were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was
alive and well, and we were on his team.

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.

When someone is in your life for a reason, it is usually to meet a
Need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly. They have
come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with
guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or
spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are. They
are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an
inconvenient time, this person may say or do something to bring
the relationship to an end. Sometimes they pass away, maybe
from old age. Sometimes they walk away Sometimes they act up
or out and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is
that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is
done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now
time to move on.

Next!

When people come into your life for a season, it is because your
turn has come to share, grow or learn. They may bring you an
experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you
something you have never done. They usually give you an
unbelievable amount of joy.

Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.

Lifetime relationships teach you lifetime lessons; those things
you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional
foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the
person/people (anyway); and put what you Have learned to use
in all other relationships and areas of your life.

It is said that love is blind but, friendship is clairvoyant. I know
why you are in my life and I love you for that reason .

Hello everyone, this is to show people you love them and to see
how many people love you!!!!!! Don’t feel embarrassed because
only you will get the results. First send it to every friend that you
have online. If they send it back then they truly are your friend.
If they delete it, then they never were.

GOOD LUCK

PS – also send this to whoever sent it to you because obviously
they love you and they are your friend. If you love them….send it
back to them.

0 Times = you need to work on your “people skills”
2 Times = you are nice but need to be more outgoing.
4 Times = you are cool
6 Times = you are almost popular
8 Times = you have picked your friends well and are on the road
to “success”
10 Times or More = you are totally awesome and way to popular

Age 8: Looks at herself and sees:
Cinderella/Sleeping Beauty.

Age 15: Looks at herself and sees:
Cinderella/Sleeping Beauty/Cheerleader,
or if she is PMS’ing: sees:Pimples/UGLY (“Mom, I
can’t go to school looking like this!”)

Age 20: Looks at herself and sees: “too fat/too
thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly” -
but decides she’s going out anyway.

Age 30: Looks at herself and sees: “too fat/too
thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly” -
but decides she doesn’t have time to fix it so
she’s going out anyway.

Age 40: Looks at herself and sees: “too fat/too
thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly” -
but says, “At least, I’m clean” and goes out
anyway.

Age 50: Looks at herself and sees I am” – and goes
wherever she wants to.

Age 60: Looks at herself and reminds herself of all
the people who can’t even see themselves in the mirror
anymore. …goes out and conquers the world.

Age 70: Looks at herself and sees wisdom, laughter
and ability – goes out and enjoys life.

Age 80: Doesn’t bother to look. Just puts on a red
hat and goes out to participate in the world.

Age 90: Can’t see and doesn’t worry about it!

Send this on to all the women you
are grateful to have as friends.

Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a
good mood and always has something positive to say. When
someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I
were any better, I would be twins!”

He was a natural motivator. If an employee was havinga bad
day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the
positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to
Michael and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive
person all of the time. How do you do it?”

Michael replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself,
‘Mike, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a
good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.’ I choose to
be in a good mood.

“Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim
or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

“Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to
accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of
life. I choose the positive side of life.”

“Yeah, right, it isn’t that easy,” I protested.

“Yes, it is,” Michael said. Life is all about choices. When you
cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose
how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect
your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. “The
bottom line is: It’s your choice how you live life.”

I reflected on what Michael said. Soon thereafter, I left the tower
industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often
thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of
reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a
serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications
tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care,
Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his
back.

I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked
him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins.
Wanna see my scars?”

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone
through his mind as the accident took place. “The first thing that
went through my mind was the well being of my soon-to-be-
born daughter,” Michael
replied. “Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had
two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I
chose to live.”

“Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked.

Michael continued, “The paramedics were great.They kept
telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me
into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors
and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘He’s a dead
man.’ I knew I needed to take action.”

“What did you do?” I asked. “Well, there was a big burly nurse
shouting questions at me,” said Michael. “She asked if I was
allergic to anything. ‘Yes,’ I replied. The doctors and nurses
stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep
breath and yelled, ‘Gravity.’ Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I
am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead’.”

Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because
of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we
have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

You have two choices now:
1. Delete this.
2. Forward it to the people you care about.

I hope you will choose #2. I did.

“Is the man of the house home?”, they asked.

“No”, she said. “He’s out.”

“Then we cannot come in”, they replied.

In the evening when her husband came home, she told him
what had happened. “Go tell them I am home and invite them
in!” The woman went out and invited the men in.

“We do not go into a House together,” they replied.

“Why is that?” she wanted to know. One of the old men
explained: “His name is Wealth,” he said pointing to one of his
friends, and said pointing to another one, “He is Success, and I
am Love.” Then he added, “Now go in and discuss with your
husband which one of us you want in your home.”

The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her
husband was overjoyed. “How nice!!”, he said. “Since that is the
case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with
wealth!” His wife disagreed.

“My dear, why don’t we invite Success?”

Their daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the
house. She jumped in with her own suggestion: “Would it not
be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with
love!”

“Let us heed our daughter-in-law’s advice,” said the husband to
his wife. “Go out and invite Love to be our guest.”

The woman went out and asked the 3 old men, “Which one of
you is Love? Please come in and be our guest.” Love got up
and started walking toward the house. The other 2 also got up
and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and
Success: “I only invited Love, Why are you coming in?”

The old men replied together: “If you had invited Wealth
orSuccess, the other two of us would’ve stayed out, but since
you invited Love, wherever he goes, we go with him. Wherever
there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!!!!”

MY WISH FOR YOU… Where there is pain, I wish you peace
and mercy.

Where there is self-doubting, I wish you a renewed confidence
in Your Ability to work through them. Where there is tiredness,
or exhaustion, I wish you understanding, patience, and renewed
strength. Where there is fear, I wish you love, and courage. You
have two choices right now:

1. Delete this, or…

2. Invite love by sharing this story with all the people you care
about. Even if it means sending it back to the person who sent it
to you.

I hope you will choose #2. I did.
IT WILL BRING YOU MUCH JOY AND MANY PERSONAL
REWARDS

Joyous 2000 and beyond

When I was a little boy, my mother used to embroider a great
deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask
what she was doing. She informed me that she was
embroidering. From the underside I watched her work within the
boundaries of the little round hoop she held in her hand.

I once complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I
sat. She smiled at me, looked down and gently said, “My son,
you go about your playing for a while and when I am finished
with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see
it from my side.”

I wondered why she was using some dark threads along with the
bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view. A
few minutes passed and then I heard Mother’s voice say, “Son,
come and sit on my knee.”

This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful
flower. I could not believe it because from underneath it had
looked so messy.

Then Mother said to me, “My son, from underneath it did look
messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-
drawn plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it.
Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing.”

Many times through the years I have looked up to God and
asked, “Father, what are You doing?”

He has answered, “I am embroidering your life.”I say, “But it
looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem
so dark. Why can’t they all be bright?”

The Father seems to tell me, “My child, you go about your
business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you to
Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the plan from
My side.”

Something to think about!

After living a “decent” life my time on earth came to an end.
The first thing I remember is sitting on a bench in the waiting
room of what I thought to be a court house. The doors opened
and I was instructed to come in and have a seat by the defense
table.

As I looked around I saw the prosecutor,” he was a villainous
looking gent who snarled as he stared at me, he definitely was
the most evil person I have ever seen. I sat down and looked to
my left and there sat my lawyer, a kind and gentle looking man
whose appearance seemed very familiar to me.

The corner door flew open and there appeared the judge in full
flowing robes. He commanded an awesome presence as He
moved across the room and I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.
As He took his seat behind the bench He said “Let us begin.”

The prosecutor rose and said “My name is Satan and I am here
to show you why this man belongs in hell.” He proceeded to
tell of lies that I told, things that I stole and in the past when I
cheated others. Satan told of other terrible perversions that were
once in my life and the more he spoke the further down in my
seat I sank.

I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t look at anyone, even my
own lawyer, as the Devil told of sins that even I had completely
forgotten about. As upset as I was at Satan for telling all these
things about me, I was equally upset at my representative who
sat there silently not offering any form of defense at all. I know
I had been guilty of those things, but I had done some good in
my life – couldn’t that at least equal out part of the harm I’ve
done?

Satan finished with a fury and said “This man belongs in hell,
he is guilty of all that I have charged and there is not a person
who can prove otherwise.

When it was His turn, my lawyer first asked if he might
approach the bench. The judge allowed this over the strong
objection of Satan, and beckoned Him to come forward.As He
got up and started walking I was able to see Him now in his full
splendor and majesty. Now I realized why he seemed so
familiar, this was Jesus representing me, my Lord and my
Savior.

He stopped at the bench and softly said to the judge “Hi Dad”
and then He turned to address the court. “Satan was correct in
saying that this man had sinned, I won’t deny any of these
allegations. And yes the wages of sins is death and this man
deserves to be punished”.

Jesus took a deep breath and turned to his Father with
outstretched arms and proclaimed “However, I died on the
cross so that this person might have eternal life and he has
accepted me as his Savior, so he is mine.” My Lord continued
with “His name is written in the book of life and no one can
snatch him from me. Satan still does not understand yet, this
man is not to be given justice but rather mercy.”

As Jesus sat down, He quietly paused, looked at his Father and
replied “There is nothing else that needs to be done, I’ve done it
all”. The Judge lifted his mighty hand and slammed the gavel
down and the following words bellowed from his lips- “This
man is free -the penalty for him has already been paid in full,
case dismissed.”

As my Lord led me away I could hear Satan ranting and raving
“I won’t give up, I’ll win the next one.” I asked Jesus as He
gave me my instructions where to go next, “Have you ever lost
a case?”

Christ lovingly smiled and said, “Everyone that has come to me
and asked me to represent them has received the same verdict
as you…Paid in Full.” In this world of terrible hurt, pain,
suffering, and extreme self centered focus, to the exclusion of
everyone and everything else, there are times when logic,
thought,discussion, etc., do nothing. It is in these times I have
learned that I have only one place to turn to ease the pain.

Passing this on to anyone you consider a friend, as I have done
here, will bless you both,that is what Jesus promised us all.
Passing this on to one not considered a friend is something I
know Christ would do.

Good Sabbath to All,

This one is for all of those mothers out there !!!

One afternoon a man came home from work to find total
mayhem in his house. His three children were outside, still in
their pajamas, playing in the mud with empty food boxes and
wrappers strewn all around the frontyard. The door of his wife’s
car was open, as was the front door to the house.

Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A
lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded
against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a
cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and
various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink,
breakfast food was spilled on the counter, dog food was spilled
on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile
of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more
piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she may
be ill, or that something serious had happened. He found her
lounging in the bedroom, still curled in the bed in her pajamas,
reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how
his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, “What
happened here today?”

She again smiled and answered, “You know every day when you
come home from work and ask me what in the world I did
today?”

“Yes” was his incredulous reply.

She answered, “Well, today I didn’t do it.”

(Send this to another Mother)

I walked into the grocery store not
particularly interested in buying groceries. I
wasn’t hungry. The pain of losing my husband of
37 years was still too raw. And this grocery
store held so many sweet memories.

Rudy often came with me and almost every time
he’d pretend to go off and look for something
special. I knew what he was up to. I’d always
spot him walking down the aisle with the three
yellow roses in his hands.

Rudy knew I loved yellow roses. With a heart
filled with grief, I only wanted to buy my few
items and leave, but even grocery shopping
was different since Rudy had passed on.

Shopping for one took time, a little more
thought than it had for two. Standing by the
meat, I searched for the perfect small steak and
remembered how Rudy had loved his steak.

Suddenly a woman came beside me. She was
blond, slim and lovely in a soft green pantsuit.
I watched as she picked up a large pack of
T-bones, dropped them in her basket, hesitated,
and then put them back. She turned to go and once
again reached for the pack of steaks. She saw me
watching her and she smiled.

” My husband loves T-bones, but honestly, at
these prices, I don’ know.”

I swallowed the emotion down my throat and met
her pale blue eyes.

“My husband passed away eight days ago, “I told
her. Glancing at the package in her hands, I
fought to control the tremble in my voice. “Buy
him the steaks. And cherish every moment you
have together.”

She shook her head and I saw the emotion in her
eyes as she placed the package in her basket and
wheeled away.

I turned and pushed my cart across the length
of the store to the dairy products. There I
stood, trying to decide which size milk I should
buy. A quart, I finally decided and moved on to
the ice cream section near the front of the
store. If nothing else, I could always fix myself
an ice cream cone. I placed the ice cream in my
cart and looked down the aisle toward the front.

I saw first the green suit, then recognized the
pretty lady coming towards me. In her arms she
carried a package. On her face was the brightest
smile I had ever seen. I would swear a soft halo
encircled her blond hair as she kept walking
toward me, her eyes holding mine.

As she came closer, I saw what she held and
tears began misting in my eyes.

” These are for you,” she said and placed three
beautiful long stemmed yellow roses in my arms.
“When you go through the line, they will
know these are paid for.”

She leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on my
cheek, then smiled again.

I wanted to tell her what she’d done, what the
roses meant, but still unable to speak, I watched
as she walked away as tears clouded my vision.
I looked down at the beautiful roses nestled
in the green tissue wrapping and found it
almost unreal. How did she know? Suddenly the
answer seemed so clear. I wasn’t alone.

“Oh,Rudy, you haven’t forgotten me, have you?”
I whispered, with tears in my eyes. He was still
with me, and she was his angel.

Everyday be thankful for what you have and who
you are.