Why should monuments be removed?

When Lockdown begun and the skies were bluer and the air was fresher we all loved it didn't we?

We said Mother Nature is purging our world and making it a better place to live.
Well the purging isn't limited to just nature. Our minds, hearts and the system must be purged too...That is what's going on now.

Soo many ills in our society have been accepted, ignored and worse are being celebrated. Some people are not even aware of   the existence of the statutes being pulled down, who they were, what they did and what their existence in our public spaces symbolizes. Removing statues is not about destroying history because statues are rarely about preserving history, and more often about memorializing individuals.

Change - no rain, no rainbow

Change cannot be avoided, it can be postponed but to do so could mean you risk losing courage and confidence or worse miss an opportunity which cannot be reversed. But more than anything you want to be in the will of God, moving when He wants you to and going in the direction He leads you to.

To move to the next level in your life, major transitional periods follow.

Dealing with Change

You've probably come across this quote by Reinhold Niebuhr before; 'God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference'.

What do you do when you need to make a change which can affect relationships and people you love dearly. How do you do what you deem right and needful without hurting them. Well know this, any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.

Beatitudes for parents by Marion E. Kinneman (1895-1985)

Blessed are those parents who make their peace with spilled milk and with mud, for of such is the kingdom of childhood.

Blessed is the parent who engages not in the comparison of his child with others, for precious unto each is the rhythm of his own growth.

Blessed are the fathers and mothers who have learned laughter, for it is the music of the child’s world.

Blessed and wise are those parents who understand the goodness of time, for they make it not a sword that kills growth but a shield to protect.

Blessed and mature are they who without anger can say "no", for comforting to the child is the security of firm decisions.

Blessed is the gift of consistency, for it is heart’s-ease in childhood.

Blessed are they who accept the awkwardness of growth, for they are aware of the choice between marred furnishings and damaged personalities.

Quotes of encouragement

“You never know when a moment and a few sincere words can have an impact on a life.” ~Zig Ziglar

“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” ~Mother Teresa

Shake it off and step up (Never Give up)

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

What or who are you waiting for?

Have you ever stopped to think about how much time we spend waiting? In our daily lives we wait at the bus stop or we wait at the traffic light. We wait in line at the bank. We rush to the airport to get there on time and then we wait.

We have waiting lines and waiting lists and waiting rooms.

We wait to get out of school. We wait for our first job and then wait for the promotion, or being down-sized out of a job. 

A Teacher’s Resolution

   Late one December an elementary school principal said to his teachers, "Let’s all write out New Year’s resolutions about how we can be better teachers and I’ll put them on the staff bulletin board." The teachers agreed, and when the resolutions were posted, they all gathered around the bulletin board to read them.

One of the young teachers suddenly went into a fit of anger. "He didn’t put up my resolution. It was one of the first ones submitted. He doesn’t care about me. That just shows what it’s like around here." On and on she ranted and raved.

    The principal, who overheard this from his office, was mortified. He hadn’t meant to exclude her resolution. Quickly rummaging through the papers on his desk, he found her’s and immediately posted it on the bulletin board. The resolution read, "I resolve not to let little things upset me anymore."

Serve Faithfully

There is a story told of an eleventh-century German king, Henry III, who, having grown tired of court life and the pressures of being a monarch, applied to a monastery to be accepted for a life of contemplation.

The religious superior of the monastery, Prior Richard, is reported to have said, "Your Majesty, do you understand that the vow here is one of obedience? That will be hard because you have been a king, used to using power."
Henry replied, "I understand. For the rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you."

  "Then I will tell you what to do," said Prior Richard. "Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has placed you."

When King Henry III died, his tombstone was inscribed: "The king learned to rule by being obedient."

 Like King Henry, we too, often tire of our rule and responsibility. Like King Henry, we too need to be reminded that God has placed each of us in a particular place to be faithful there. Be it as a plumber, accountant, mother, father, CEO, or whatever. God expects us to be faithful where he has placed us.

Does She Have To Be So Tough? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . By Brian Cavanaugh

Shortly after mid-Semester exams a student stopped her lecturer as he was walking across campus. He asked her how her tests had gone and she said they were not too tough, except for one professor’s. "Her tests are impossible to pass," she said. "I have to study so much harder for her tests just to keep up my grades."

"But," He asked, "do you learn more from all that studying for her tests, or from the teachers that are not so difficult?"

"Well, yes, I do seem to understand her course better," she explained. "But does she have to be so tough?"

So He asked her if she had ever sharpened a knife.

"Yes," she said, "my Daddy taught my how to sharpen a knife when we went on a family camping trip."

"Did you use a stone or a towel?" He asked.

"What," she questioned, "you can’t sharpen a knife on a towel!"

"Exactly!" He answered. "You can’t sharpen a knife on a towel. A knife can only be sharpened on a hard surface so that it will be sharp enough to fulfill its purpose and cut what needs cutting." He continued, "Students, and children, too, cannot be sharpened on soft surfaces. They are sharpened on the hard surfaces of teachers and parents, so that they will be sharp enough to cut it in life and fulfill their life purpose."

Wondering what to give up?

It's the seventh month of the year!wow that has been pretty fast! well it could be it's been slow for others.But whether it's been fast or slow, half the year is gone thus it would be awesome to do a bit of personal introspection.
It's custom for most people to make new year resolutions but around this time of the year, we don't even remember them! Well since I don't remember mine because I didn't make any,lol. I thought it would be cool to think of things I wanna give up,and things I should take up instead.Do read on and let's grow together!

Give up complaining — focus on gratitude.
Give up pessimism — become an optimist.
Give up harsh judgments — think kindly thoughts.
Give up worry — trust Divine Providence.
Give up discouragement — be full of hope.
Give up bitterness — turn to forgiveness.
Give up hatred — return good for evil.
Give up negativism — be positive.
Give up anger — be more patient.
Give up pettiness — become mature.
Give up gloom — enjoy the beauty that is all around you.
Give up jealousy — pray for trust.
Give up gossiping — control your tongue.
Give up sin — turn to virtue.
Give up giving up — hang in there!

'...everyone's work will be put through the fire...' 1 Corinthians 3:13 TLB

One day an ox said to a mule, 'Let's pretend to be sick.' The mule said, 'No, we need to get this work done.' The ox feigned illness, and the farmer brought him fresh hay. When the mule came in from ploughing, the ox asked how things went and the mule said, 'All right.' The ox asked, 'What did the farmer say about me?' The mule replied, 'Nothing.' The next day the ox pretended to be ill again. When the mule came home the ox asked, 'How did it go?'
The mule said, 'All right.' After a week of this, the ox asked, 'Did the farmer say anything about me today?' The mule replied, 'Well, he said nothing to me personally, but he stopped and had a long talk with the butcher!' Understand this: you were born to fulfil a divine purpose. When you don't, there are consequences, both here and in eternity. Paul focused on his calling. Shortly before he was executed he wrote, 'I have finished the race...' (2 Timothy 4:7 NIV) Notice, Paul didn't retire, he 'finished'! In the parable of the talents, the man who buried his talent paid a high price. That's because in God's eyes the greatest failure of all is failure to invest the time, talent and treasure He's given you into His purposes. One day your life will be audited. It's called 'the judgment seat of Christ'. Paul writes, everyone's work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value. If the work survives the fire, the builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss (1 Corinthians 3:13-15

Is this your story or the monkey story?

In his book, Life is For Living, Eric Butterworth tells of an expedition of scientists who set out to capture a particular species of monkey.…Using their knowledge of a monkey’s ways, the scientists devised a trap consisting of a small jar with a long, narrow neck. Into the jar was placed handfulls of nuts. Several of these jars were placed along a jungle trail, being securely fastened to a tree.

You are special – don’t ever forget that.

A well-known speaker started his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200 people, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands shot up. He said, "I’m going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this."

Let the spring cleaning begin......NOW!!!

There comes a time when we must clean out the closets of our life so that we may have room for items that will enhance our life. Let’s search the closets of our lives and make a trip to the wastebasket.
Throw away any hatred that may be lurking there and be sure to toss out jealousy, bad attitudes, dishonesty, complaints, sin and hypocrisy.
Before you finish, throw away that grudge you’ve been carrying against someone. Make room to add love, honesty, forgiveness and kindness–not to mention thankfulness for all God’s blessings. Go on and make room for reverence and respect for God from whom all good gifts come.
Stand back and look: Your life’s closet is looking better, isn’t it? Take a moment today to spring clean your heart. Ask God to come in and if He finds anything else that should not be there, to take it out so that you can live holy and right!

There are two kinds of people.Which one are you?

A father asked his son to return a shopping cart they had just used. The son protested, "C’mon, Dad! There are carts all over. No one returns them. That’s why they hire people to collect them."

After a brief argument, Mom chimed in, "For heaven’s sake, it’s no big deal. Let’s go."
The Dad was about to surrender when he noticed an elderly couple walking together to return their cart. After a moment he said, "Son, there are two kinds of people in this world: those who put their carts away and those who don’t. We are the kind that returns their shopping cart. Now go return the cart!"

Obviously, this story is about more than grocery carts. It’s about doing the right thing in a world that promotes rationalizations and excuses, and demeans or trivializes simple acts of virtue. I suppose another way of putting it is—There are two kinds of people: Those who have the character to do what they ought to and those who find reasons not to.

People of character do the right thing even if no one else does, not because they think it will change the world, but because they refuse to be changed by the world.

Wondering if your work in God's kingdom is useless? Read on........

Legend tells of a king who needed a faithful servant and had to choose between two likely candidates. He took both of them on a trial basis and told them to fill a basket with water from a nearby rain barrel, saying he would come in the evening to inspect their work. After dumping several buckets of water into a basket, one of the candidates said, "What is the good of doing this useless work? As soon as we pour water in, it just runs out the sides of the basket."

Our TIME on earth....ours or His?

Though even thinking on the subject of time may prove discomforting, it is not a bad idea – especially at the beginning of a new year.

As we look into 2011 we look at a block of time. We see 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, or 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, 31,536,000 seconds. And all is a gift from God. We have done nothing to deserve it, earn it, or purchase it. Like the air we breathe, time comes to us as a part of life.

Here's why we should withhold Judgment .....

According to an ancient fable, there was a Persian king who wanted to discourage his four sons from making rash judgments. At his command, the eldest son made a winter journey to see a mango tree across the valley. When spring came, the next oldest was sent on the same journey. Summer followed and the third son was sent. After the youngest made his visit to the mango tree in the autumn, the king called them together and asked each son to describe the tree.

This week....let's develope & maintain these healthy attitudes.

1. Learn to face realities
2. Learn to make decisions
3. Develop self-discipline
4. Be interested in other people
5. Avoid hurry and worry
6. Work, rest, and play in proper balance
7. Accept disappointment & move on
8. Develop a sense of humor.