INSTALLING LOVE

T : Yes, Ma'am.... how can I help you?

C: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to install Love. Can you guide me though the process?

T: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

C: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready.

What do I do first?

T: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart, m'am?

C: Yes, but there are several other programs running now.

Is it okay to install Love while they are running?

T: What programs are running, ma'am?

C: Let's see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge, and Resentment running right now.

T : No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory, but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and- Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off, ma'am?

C: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

T : With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment has been completely erased.

C: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

T : Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

C: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error - Program not running on external Components." What should I do?

T : Don't worry, ma'am. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non- technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

C : So, what should I do?

T : Click Self-Acceptance; click on the following: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth & Acknowledge your limitations.

C: Okay, done.

T : Copy to the My Heart directory. Sys will overwrite any conflicting files & begin patching faulty programming. Also, delete Self-Criticism from all directories & empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it's gone & never comes back.

C: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor & Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

T : Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everyone gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed & running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it to everyone you meet. In turn they share it with others & return some cool modules back to you.

C: Thank you, God.

Author Unknown

A professor was giving a lecture to his students on stress management.

>  He raised a glass of water and asked the audience, "How heavy do you
> think this glass of water is?"
> 
> The students' answers ranged from 20g to 500gm.
> 
> "It does not matter on the absolute weight.  It depends on how long
> you hold it.  If I hold it for a minute, it is OK.   If I hold it for
> an hour, I will have an ache in my right arm.  If I hold it for a
    day,
> you will have to call an ambulance. It is the exact same weight, but
> the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
> 
> "If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later we will not be
> able to carry on - the burden becoming increasingly heavier."
> 
> "What you have to do is to put the glass down, rest for a while
    before
> holding it up again."
> We have to put down the burden periodically, so that we can be
> refreshed and are able to carry on.
> 
> So before you return home from work tonight, put the burden of work
> down.  Don't carry it back home. You can pick it up tomorrow.
> Whatever burdens you are having now on your shoulders, let it down
    for
> a moment if you can.
> 
> Pick it up again later when you have rested... Rest and relax.  Life
> is short, enjoy it!

AND GOD SAID

I said "God I hurt".

And God said "I know".

I said "God I cry a lot".

And God said "that is why I gave you tears".

I said "God I am so depressed".

And God said "that is why I gave you sunshine".

I said "God life is so hard".

And God said "that is why I gave you loved ones".

I said "God my loved one died".

And God said "so did mine".

I said "God it is such a loss".

And God said "I saw mine nailed to a cross".

I said "God but your loved one lives".

And God said "so does yours".

I said "God where are they now"?

And God said "mine is on my right and yours is in the light".

I said "God it hurts".

And God said "I know".

Subject: Busy?

Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship experience in Christ. Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to their churches; let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that relationship with Jesus Christ. This is what I want you to do, angels. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"

"How shall we do this?" shouted his angels. "Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their home will offer no escape from the pressures of work!" Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive. To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."

"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with cell phones, pagers and billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes. Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines so their husbands will believe that external beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. That will fragment those families quickly!"

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature to reflect on God's wonders. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead.

Keep them busy, busy, busy! And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotions. Go ahead, let them be involved in soul winning; but crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Jesus. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause. It will work! It will work!"

It was quite a convention. The evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there.

I guess the question is: Has the devil been successful at his scheme?

You be the judge! Does "busy" mean?

B-eing

U-nder

S-atan's

Y-oke?

Get A Purple Hat A woman's Look in the Mirror

(We should all learn from this little story)

Age 3: Looks at herself and sees a Queen!

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

Age 15: Looks at herself and sees herself as Cinderella/Sleeping Beauty/Cheerleader,

Fat/ 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 going anyway.

Age 30: Looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too

curly" - but doesn't have time to fix it so she's going 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 anyway.

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

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 & sees wisdom, laughter and ability, goes out and enjoys life.

Age 80: Doesn't bother to look. Just puts on a Purple Hat and goes out to have fun

with the world.

WE SHOULD ALL GRAB THAT PURPLE HAT A LITTLE EARLIER!!

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen with in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not a facial mole. But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN!

I'm Free

Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free.

I'm following the path, God laid for me.

I took God's hand when I heard the call;

I turned my back and left it all.

I could not stay another day

To laugh, to love, to work, to play.

Tasks left undone must stay that way,

I found that place at the close of day.

If my parting has left a void,

Then fill it with remembered joy.

A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss.

Ah yes, these things, I too, will miss.

Be not burdened with times of sorrow,

I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.

My life's been full, I savored much,

Good friends, good times, a loved ones touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all to brief,

Don't lengthen it now with undue grief.

Lift up your heart and share with me - -

God wanted me now, God set me free.

In Reply to: In Memory of Jake Watson posted by mtbr.com on March 19, 1999 at 15:50:38 :

This E-mail is long overdue, so for this reason it has become somewhat lengthy.

Reading ALL the condolence E-mail to our family on MTBR web site brings great JOY to my / our heart, which has carried such sadness and heaviness from the moment I heard Jake was no longer with us. I now know that living after the death of a child is not done according to a fixed pattern of emotions. We all grieve differently. What I find healing for me, as well as my family is Jake's web site [ www.jakewatson.com ] and reading the E-mail on MTBR. Yet for my Dad, this was painful because in his grief process, he cannot talk about Jake. to him, "it is keeping the wound open".

The various feelings and experiences are more like changes in weather. About the time you believe the storm has passed, you find it returning to stir you again. Grieving comes in waves, just when you least expect it, you are struck by the wave and carried along with it. Grief is something you integrate into your life. You don't "get through it" or "get over it". You make it a part of you, just as Jake will always be a part of us and never forgotten.

Somehow, my darkness and sorrow has been turned to light and peace. I have to constantly take the negative pain of "sorrow" and stay centered on HOPE, which is positive and brings me "peace". I would like to share some of those special moments. there have been many, here are just a few.

DARKNESS: When I heard Gina's words on the phone "Mary.Jake has been in a terrible accident, get here quick, I don't think he will make it Mary.Oh no Mary (she gasped).they said he is no longer with us"!
LIGHT: Jake died doing what he loved, he died instantly and did not have any suffering, when I saw him at Kern Valley hospital he looked so peaceful.

DARKNESS: Going with my husband (Den) and Dad to the mortuary.
LIGHT: When it came time to talk about a casket, my dad said, "when I die, I want a pine box so everyone can sign it! This was the first time we could laugh. I said, "that's a great idea. Jake was so much like you dad.he would love that". When we went into the casket room, I could only focus on the pine box to the right of me. It looked much too small for Jake, we laughed as my dad and Den we're trying to see if Jake could fit in it without his shoes. Then my dad (who builds Catalina sailboats) wanted to see if he could save money and make the pine box him self. Then, he asked for names of casket manufactures to check out competitive prices! This was so important to laugh; it is what Jake would have wanted.

DARKNESS: Picking up Jake's ashes at the mortuary.
LIGHT: After Mass one morning I came home feeling strength for the journey. My Mom, Gina and my family were not home (it was the first time I was by myself since Jake died). I looked at Jake's dog Clyde and said, "Clyde, you go with me".Clyde and I went to picked up the "temporary container" which carried Jake's ashes, the ashes sat on my lap as I drove home...(a flood of memories brought me back to when I was pregnaut with Jake).  I can remember feeling so peaceful at this moment. Then I heard God's gentle vocie say to me, "My yoke is easy and My burden light".  I knew that it was God's healing LOVE for me... at that very moment my heart welling up in joy. I answered HIM..."I know".  Jake's ashes were scattered on Easter Sunday at home outside near the lake by the statue of the Blessed Mother and later that day on Jake's favorite practice run named "suicide" now called Jake's run.

DARKNESS: At home I miss Jake riding his bike over to say, hi and of course raid the refrigerator. Every day I am reminded of Jake. When I see mountain bike riders in their colorful jersey as they pass by, I find myself looking for Jake like I used to do.
LIGHT: Every time I see someone riding their mountain bike (they have to be wearing a jersey), I say an "Our Father" prayer for Jake.  Jake's gets a lot of prayers!!!

DARKNESS: My heart was so sad and heavy, since Jake died. I knew I was taking time for myself to grieve I had so many blessing. yet my heart was so broken!
LIGHT: I went to a prayer healing at our church given by Fr. Rookie on June 29th. The church was filled to capacity with 700-800 people. People came forward row by row (I was in the second row) and when Father came to me, the prayer in my heart was."Jesus, please heal my heart . it is so sad". I went "down" (resting in the Spirit) after the blessing for about an hour! My body was not the peaceful feeling I had felt once before when Father had his prayer healing a year ago. Every part of my body trembled and shook (just like the night I walked into the hospital to see Jake covered by the sheet). I remember hearing all the people being healed around me, I couldn't get up.my body felt so heavy. I just want have my body stop trembling. I realized after I got up that I felt peaceful and not sad.
The next morning my heart felt alive once again. Yes, I miss Jake so much but I am on a higher level spiritually with him. I am closer to him now then I was when he was here with me! How awesome! In darkness and sorrow I knew God had healed the deep pain in my broken heart. I took Gina (who Jake was going to marry) the following evening to the prayer healing. She had never done this before. I wanted her heart healed. After the prayer healing she felt something but it wasn't until she came over to our home on July 4th she said, "Mary, I had such pain in my heart, it felt dead. I don't feel that any more. I feel sadness without Jake, but my heart does not have that deep pain!"

We can not be sure how we will grieve with a loss of a child, spouse or love one. If you should find yourself on this journey of life, when the waves of pain and sorrow come, remember to look for the LIGHT it is where you'll find joy, peace and our love one again!

Jake's mom

HEAVEN'S VERY SPECIAL CHILD

A meeting was held quite far from Earth

It's time again for another birth,

Said the Angels to the Lord above,

This special child will need much love.

His progress may seem very slow,

Accomplishments he may not show,

And he'll require extra care,

From the folks he meets way down there.

He may find life challenges array,

His thoughts may seem quite far away,

In many ways he may not fit right in,

He will forever be the special kin.

So let's be careful where he's sent,

We want his life to be content,

Please Lord, find the parents who

Will do a special job for you.

They will not realize right away,

The leading role they're asked to play,

But with this child sent from above,

Comes stronger faith and richer love.

And soon they'll know the privilege given,

In caring for this gift from Heaven,

Their precious charge, so meek and mild,

Is Heaven's very special child.

"I Just Have to Outrun You"   

W hen Sam and Tom saw a cougar coming toward them on a mountain trail, Sam started to take off his backpack and told Tom he was going to "run for it." Tom replied, "You can't outrun a cougar." But Sam answered, "I don't have to outrun the cougar. I just have to outrun you."

Unfortunately, this law-of-the-jungle mentality is all too common in business, politics and sports. Everywhere we find people engaging in and justifying look-out-for-number-one conduct that treats coworkers, colleagues and teammates as competitors rather than comrades.

Steven Carr Reuben, author of Children of Character , speaks about a very different social vision where people find greater meaning and satisfaction in their lives by creating caring communities. To make his point he tells the story of nine youngsters in the Special Olympics about to run the 100-yard dash. Right after the start of the race, a young boy stumbled badly and came up crying. The other eight heard him and looked back. First one, then another, then all of them stopped and turned around and went back to help their fallen comrade. A girl with Down's Syndrome bent down, kissed the fallen boy and said: "This will make it better." Then all nine linked arms and triumphantly walked together to the finish line. "That," Reuben said, "is what being part of a community is really about."

We saw glimpses of this sort of community spirit immediately after September 11th and it's a lot better way to live than trying to outrun each other.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

A Blessing of Thorns

Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes as she pushed against a November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had been easy, like a spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a minor automobile accident stole her ease.

During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son. She grieved over her loss. As if that weren't enough, her husband's company threatened a transfer. Then her sister, whose annual holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not come.

What's worse, Sandra's friend infuriated her by suggesting her grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. "She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra with a shudder.

"Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?" she wondered aloud. For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag that saved her life but took that of her child?

"Good afternoon, can I help you?"

The shop clerk's approach startled her.

"I - I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra. "For Thanksgiving."

Dou you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the Thanksgiving Special?" asked the shop clerk.

"I'm convinced that flowers tell stories," she continued.

"Are you looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this Thanksgiving?"

"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong."

Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the shop clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."

Then the door's small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, "Hi Barbara - let me get your order." She politely excused herself and walked toward a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses.

Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped - there were no flowers.

"Want this in a box?" asked the clerk.

Sandra watched for the customer's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers!?! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed. "Yes, please," Barbara replied with an appreciative smile.

"You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again," she said as she gently tapped her chest.

"Uhh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with, uhh . she just left with no flowers!"

"Right . I cut off the flowers. That's the special. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet."

"Oh, come on, you can't tell me someone is willing to pay for that?"

Barbara came into the shop three years ago feeling very much like you feel today," explained the clerk. She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had lost her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was into drugs, and she was facing major surgery."

"That same year I had lost my husband," continued the clerk, "and for the first time in my life, I had to spend the holiday alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too great a debt to allow any travel."

"So what did you do?" asked Sandra.

"I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly. "I've always tanked God for good things in life and never thought to ask Him why those things happened to me, but when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time for me to learn that dark times are important. I always enjoyed the 'flowers' of life, but it took thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort. You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others."

Sandra sucked in her breath as she thought about the very thing her friends had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God."

Just then someone else walked in the shop.

"Hey Phil!" shouted the clerk to the balding, rotund man.

"My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement - twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.

"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind me asking why she wants something that looks like that?"

"No. I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. "Four years ago my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we slogged through problem after problem. He rescued our marriage. Jenny her (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she learned from 'thorny' times, and that was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific 'problem' and give thanks to Him for what that problem taught us."

As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend the Special!"

I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life," Sandra said to the clerk. "It's all to, fresh."

"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that thorns make roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember, it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns."

Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on resentment. "I'll have them read in a minute."

"Thank you. What do I owe you?" asked Sandra.

"Nothing." said the clerk. "Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me." The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra.

"I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you'd like to read it first."

It read:

"Dear God, I have never thanked you for my thorns. I have thanked you a thousand times for my roses,

but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns.

Show me that I have climbed closer to you along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of your rainbow look much more brilliant."

Author Unknown