Sleeping Thru A Storm

A young man applied for a job as a farmhand.  When the farmer asked for his qualifications, he said, "I can sleep through a storm."

This puzzled the farmer, but he liked the young man so he hired him.

A few weeks later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm ripping through the valley.  He leapt out of bed and called for his new hired hand, but the young man was sleeping soundly.

So they quickly began to check things to see if all was secure.  They found that the shutters of the farmhouse had been securely fastened.  A good supply of logs had been set next to the fireplace.

The farmer and his wife then inspected their property.  They found that the farm tools had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements.  He sees that the bales of wheat had been bound and wrapped in tarpaulins.

The tractor had been moved into its garage. The barn was properly locked tight. Even the animals were calm and had plenty of feed. All was well.

The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man's words, "I can sleep through a storm."

Because the farmhand did his work loyally and faithfully when the skies were clear, he was prepared for any storm.  So when the storm did actually break, he was not concerned or afraid.  He could sleep in peace.

If we tend to the things that are important in life and if we are right with those we love and behave in line with our faith,  our lives will not be cursed with the aching of unfulfilled business. Our words will always be sincere, our embraces will be tight. We will never wallow in the agony of "I could have or I should have." And when it's our time to go, our good-byes will be complete.

We can sleep in a storm.

Be A Winner

Have you ever heard the quote by Mark Twain "The world owes you nothing, it was here first?" A conversation I had yesterday got me thinking. Why does everyone think we're just entitled to success? The truth is You and I don't deserve anything. Yet, you deserve to have it all.

Does that make sense? Two opposites, that at only the highest level of awareness. Can you sit at both completely comfortable and content being in both realties because both are true? The world is unfortunately set up for your failure. All the odds are against you. But aren't there promises blatantly scribed in the scriptures proclaiming we are and we become what we seek.

Here's what I am saying. Today you have the option to become whatever you want. You have the option to design your life and your current situation is the direct consequence by your design (or default) in the past. And I'm talking about specifics.

A young man was telling a story in a book about how for months he prayed to God asking for a bicycle and a desk. Discouraged and in tears one night, this kid sought for God to question Him "Why are you forgetting me? I've been praying ever so diligently" God responded; "You've asked for nothing, I have no idea what bicycle you want, there are thousands of varieties, and your desk? How big? What color? Do you want a chair too?"

The boy stirred up his faith and captured his dream bike and desk on paper. He wanted an American bike (was from Asia) and a desk made of Philippine mahogany. After some time in thought, he went back to sleep. The best part of the story was a few months later he had the exact bike he wanted and the desk he longed for.

What do you want? Looking for a spouse? Have you clearly written down exactly what your ideal spouse looks like, sounds like, does for a living, their body type, race, occupation? How about your dream business or clientele? What kind of customers do you want? You want those that are absolutely in love with your product, that refer you to their colleagues, and that will reorder religiously. This works for everything!

Once things are clearly defined and you realize that as much as you are worth every bit to receive this now you have to set your sights on accepting it into your life.mThere is nothing that will stomp on a dream or a vision or a plan than lack of faith and crossed arms. Open wide.

There is a common phrase we hear so often "Ask and you shall receive," but they sometimes leave out the next portion "Seek and you shall find." The next step is to seek the information. Seek the prospects (business or romantic LOL!). To seek is to act. To act is to win.

Be a winner!

The Empty Chair

A man’s daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her father. When the minister arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two  pillows.

An empty chair sat beside his bed.

The minister assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. “I guess you were  expecting me," he said.

“No, who are you?” said the father.

The minister told him his name and then remarked, “I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew I was going to show up,”

“Oh yeah, the chair,” said the bedridden man. “Would you mind closing the door?”

Puzzled, the minister shut the door.

“I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter,” said the man. “But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head. I abandoned any attempt at prayer,” the old man continued, “until one day, four years ago, my best friend said to me, ‘Johnny, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest...’”

‘Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky, because He promised, ‘I will be with you always.’ Then just speak to Him in the same way you’re doing with me right now.’”

“So, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.”

The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon.

“Did he die in peace?” the minister asked.

“Yes. When I left the house about two o’clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But, there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside the bed. What do you make of that?”

The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, “I wish we could all go like that.”

Can You Remember?

Close your eyes and go back before the Internet, or the MAC-Before semi automatics and crack...Way back. I'm talkin' 'bout:

Hide and seek at dusk. Sittin' on the porch, The Good Humor Man, and Red Light, Green Light.

Chocolate milk, Lunch tickets, Penny candy in a brown paper bag.
Playin' Pinball at the corner store. Hopscotch, butterscotch, doubledutch, Jacks, kickball, dodgeball, Mother May I? Red Rover and Roly Poly.

Double Dog Dares! Hula Hoops and Sunflower Seeds, Mary Janes, Banana Splits, Wax Lips and Mustaches, and running through the sprinklers.

The smells of outdoors and lickin' salty lips.
Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons like Fat Albert, Road Runner, He-Man, The Three Stooges, and Bugs. Or back further listening to Superman and The Shadow on the radio.

Catchin' lightening bugs in a jar, Playin' sling shot.

Remember when around the corner seemed far away and going downtown seemed like going somewhere?

Climbing trees, an ice cream cone on a warm summer night. A cherry Coke from the fountain at the drug store.

A million mosquito bites, sticky fingers, Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, Sittin' on the curb, Jumpin' down the steps, Jumpin' on the bed.

Pillow fights, Being tickled to death, Running 'til you were out of breath, Laughing so hard your stomach hurt.

Crowding in a circle around the 'after school fight', then running when the teacher came.

Eating Kool-aid powder and sugar.

Remember when there were two types of sneakers for girls and boys (Keds & PF Flyers) and the only time you wore them at school, was for "gym."

When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up, if you had one. When nearly everyone's mom was at home after school.                                                           When nobody owned a purebred dog. When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another quarter a miracle.

When milk went up one penny. When your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces.
When all your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done.
When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, for free, every time. And, you didn't pay for air either, plus you got trading stamps to boot!

When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box.
When any parent could discipline any kid, or use him to carry groceries, and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.

When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents.

When they threatened to hold kids back a grade if they failed... and did!

When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a student at home. We were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and grandparents scared us! And some of us are still afraid of em!

To smile and say, "Oh yeah... I remember..."

Didn't that feel good?

There's nothing like the good old days! They were good then, and they're still good now, when we think about them.

Can Anybody See God?

A small boy once approached his slightly older sister with a question about God.

"Susie, can anybody ever really see God?" he asked. Busy with other things, Susie curtly replied: "No, of course not, silly. God is so far up in heaven that nobody can see him."

Time passed, but his question still lingered, so he approached his mother: "Mom, can anybody ever really see God?" "No, not really," she gently said. "God is a spirit and he dwells in our hearts, but we can never really see him."

Somewhat satisfied but still wondering, the youngster went on his way. Not long afterwards, his saintly old grandfather took the little boy on a fishing trip. They were having a great time together -- it had been an ideal day. The sun was beginning to set with unusual splendor as the day ended.

The old man stopped fishing and turned his full attention to the exquisite beauty unfolding before him.  On seeing the face of his grandfather reflecting such deep peace and contentment as he gazed into the magnificent ever-changing sunset, the little boy thought for a moment and finally spoke hesitatingly: "Granddad, I - I wasn't going to ask anybody else, but I wonder if you can tell me the answer to something I've been wondering about a long time. Can anybody, can anybody ever really see God?"

The old man did not even turn his head. A long moment slipped by before he finally answered. "Son," he quietly said. "It's getting so I can't see anything else."

Why Go To Church?

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.  "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons.  But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them.  So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor.  It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: 
"I've been married for 30 years now.  In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals.  But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals.  But I do know this... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work.  If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today.  Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"

Eating twinkles in the park with God

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of Root Beer and he started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man. The man was sitting in the park just feeding some pigeons.

The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie.

The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at boy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer.

Again, the man smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the man, and gave him a hug. The man gave him his biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?

"He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? God's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the elderly man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked," Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?"

He replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." However, before his son responded, he added," You know, he's much younger than I expected."