The Art of Thanksgiving and The Art of Leadership

-excerpt from the book, “The Art of Living” by Wilferd A. Peterson.

The Art of Thanksgiving

The art of thanksgiving is thanksliving. It is gratitude in action. It is applying Albert Schweitzer’s philosophy: “In gratitude for you own good fortune you must render in return some sacrifice of your life for other life.”

It is thanking God for the gift of life by living it triumphantly.

It is thanking God for your talents and abilities by accepting them as obligations to be invested for the common good.

It is thanking God for all that men and women have done for you by doing things for others.

It is thanking God for opportunities by accepting them as a challenge to achievement.

It is thanking God for happiness by striving to make others happy.

It is thanking God for beauty by trying to make the world more beautiful.

It is thanking God for inspiration by trying to be an inspiration to others.

It is thanking God for health and strength by the care and reverence you show your body.

It is thanking God for the creative ideas that enrich life by adding your own creative contributions to human progress.

It is thanking God for each new day by living it to the fullest.

It is thanking God by giving hands, arms, legs, and voice to your thankful spirit.

It is adding your prayers of thanksgiving, acts of thanksliving.

The Art of Leadership

The leader is a servant. As the Master of Men expressed it, “And whosoever would be chief among you, let him be your servant.”

The leader sees through the eyes of the followers.

The leader says, “Let’s go!” and leads the way rather than “Get going!”

The leader assumes his followers are working with him, not for him. He sees that they share in the rewards and glorifies the team spirit.

The leader is a man builder. The more men he can build, the stronger the organization will be, himself included.

The leader has faith in people. He believes in them, trusts them, and thus draws out the best in them.

The leader uses his heart as well as his head.

The leader plans and sets things in motion. He is a man of action as well as a man of thought.

The leader has a sense of humor. He has a humble spirit and can laugh at himself.

The leader can be led. He is not interested in having his own way, but in finding the best way. He has an open mind.

The leader keeps his eyes on high goals. He strives to make the efforts of his followers and himself contribute to the enrichment of personality, the achievement of more abundant living for all, and the improvement of all.

Why Set Goals?

Notes From Success Magazine On Achieving Your Goals

1. All successful people are goal oriented.
2. Your ability to set goals is the master skill of success.
3. They know what they want and focus on achieving it every day.
4. Goals unlock your positive mind and release ideas and energy for goal attainment.
5. Without goals you simply drift and flow on the current events of life.
6. Abraham Lincoln: “The best way to predict your future is to create it.”

What Should I Think About Before Setting Down To Write My Goals?

1. Your purpose.
2. What gives your life meaning?
3. What gives you personal satisfaction?
4. What are the unique gifts and insights that you can contribute?
5. Ask, “How do I want to be remembered?”
6. List the qualities, deeds and characteristics for which you would like to be remembered by your friends and family.
7. Plan
a. Make a list of everything you can think of that you will have to do to achieve your goal.
b. Organize your list by priority.
c. Organize your list by sequence. What must be done before something else is done?
d. Determine how much time and money it will take to achieve your goal or complete your task.
e. Revisit and revise your plan accordingly.

What Should I Do To Help Me Stick With My Goals?

1. Surround yourself with people and things that keep you focused.
2. Take charge of whom you spend the most time with.
3. Manage your workspace so that you are reminded of your goals.
4. Manage the news and information you feed your mind, control the language you use.

IT'S YOUR TIME

Courtesy of Dale Brown...http://coachdalebrown.blogspot.com/2011/05/its-your-time.html

I hope you will enjoy summary from Joel Osteen's book, It's Your Time.

A global recession has forced many to postpone their dreams and cancel their
plans. You may have lost your job. You may have lost your savings, maybe even
your home. It could be that you have health concerns or relationship problems.
Maybe you are frustrated because it’s taking so long to get where you want to be
in your life. Yet now is not the time to talk yourself out of your goals and
dreams. Now is not the time to get discouraged. You may feel you have so far
to go. But the truth is, you don’t know. Your dream may just be up around the
corner. You may think it will take another two years. But if you stay in
faith, who knows? It may just be two more months. You are closer than you
think.

God wants to breathe new life into your dreams. He wants to breathe new hope
into your heart. You may be about to give up on a marriage, on a troubled
child, on a lifelong goal. But God wants you to hold on. He says that if
you’ll get your second wind, if you’ll put on a new attitude and press forward
like you’re headed down the final stretch, you’ll see Him begin to do amazing
things.

You are closer than you think to a better life, a richer relationship, a
healthier body.

Rewards await you if you stay steadfast in your faith.

Before you see a new level of God’s favor, don’t be surprised if things come
against you to try to discourage you. People may try to talk you out of your
dreams, to convince you to just settle where you are.

It’s difficult when we go through a time of loss. There’s a proper time for
grieving. But we can’t let a season of mourning turn into a lifetime of
mourning.

When you feel like dying, you should talk about living. When you feel like
giving up, you should talk about pressing forward. When you don’t see any way
out, you must talk about how God can make a way. And know this: The enemy
always fights you the hardest when he knows God has something great in store.

When the bottom falls out and it looks like you hit an all-time low . . . when
it just couldn’t get any worse . . . you don’t know what God has around the
corner. That is not the time to get bitter. That’s not the time to get
negative. That is the time to put your shoulders back and boldly declare: “My
time is coming. I am a victor and not a victim.”

No matter how long it’s been, no matter how tempted you are to get discouraged,
get up every morning and just declare it by faith: “My time is coming. The
promise is in me, and I will not die until I see it come to pass.”

When you feel intimidated, like you can’t do something that you know on the
inside you should do, just remind yourself: “I have the DNA of Almighty God.
He breathed His life into me. I will not drag around feeling discouraged,
intimidated, and inferior. I know I’ve been equipped with everything I need. I
can do all things through Christ, and I will fulfill my God-given destiny.”

If you’ll have that attitude and keep pressing forward, believing, expecting,
then those genes of favor, increase, talent, and promotion will activate and
help take you to new levels.

If you get rid of any kind of negative, defeated attitude and simply stay in
faith, you will see good things released in your future—new seasons of increase,
new seasons of favor.

You must shake off any feelings of inferiority or low self-esteem. Put your
shoulders back. Hold your head up high. You are a child of the Most High God.
You have His royal blood flowing through your veins.

Maybe you’ve made mistakes, poor choices. You feel like you’re washed up or
that you are supposed to just endure life. But God is saying, “If you’ll ask,
I’ll give you a new beginning.”

Keep your faith flowing even when there is no hope in sight. Dare to dream big
and pray boldly, especially—yes, especially—when there is no hope in sight!

Challenging times have served as catalysts for creativity, innovation, and
accomplishment throughout human history.

Make up your mind that no matter what comes your way, no matter how difficult,
no matter how unfair, you will do more than simply survive. You will thrive in
spite of it.

Keeping God first, believing and expecting His favor, then as His branches, we
will not survive, we will thrive!

Still, you have to keep your faith out there. Negative voices will try to steal
your dreams and talk you into settling for life as it is.

If you believe to barely get by, you will barely get by.

If you believe that you will have a tough year, your faith will draw that in.

You must believe it before you see it.

Psychologists and researchers who study “hope theory” have found that focusing
on solutions increases our capacity to reach our goals while lifting our spirits
in the process.

What you mediate on takes root. If you go around all day thinking about your
fears, and you play those fears out over and over again in your mind, they will
become your reality.

Your fears are almost always greater than the reality.

Don’t accept difficult days as the way it will always be. You may be a little
bent right now because of hard winds, but that’s not permanent. Those winds,
that storm, that trouble, that sickness, will not last forever. When the ill
winds stop blowing, and they will, know that this too shall pass.

You will rise again. Why? You’ve got that bounce-back power. Life will hand
you disappointments and setbacks. You and I are like the palm tree. We may bet
battered and beat up, but we will return stronger than we were before.

Nothing you are going through can keep you from your God-given destiny. You
have bounced back before and you will do it again. You may be a little bent
because of the strong winds, but the good news is, you’re not broken and you
will bounce back again.

Everyone goes through adversity. We’ve all had hard times. Maybe you were
struck down by an illness or laid off from your job. Your savings were cut in
half. A relationship went bad.

It’s easy to become negative and bitter and to lose your enthusiasm for life.
So many people live in the past and focus on who hurt them. They have a victim
mentality, always blaming someone else.

Maybe you’ve made poor choices. You’ve made some mistakes and opened the door
to trouble. Now comes the condemning voice. The accuser tells you, “You blew
it. It’s your fault. You can’t expect anything good.”

No, you’ve got to shake that off and say, “I may have brought trouble upon
myself, but I know God’s mercy is bigger than any mistakes I’ve made. I will
not live with guilt. I will not give up on my dreams. I know I’m growing. I’m
learning. And in the end, God will use it all to my advantage.”

If you run from your problems and turn negative and sour, really, you’re running
from your destiny. If you’ll learn to run to your problem, face it in faith,
knowing that God is in control, knowing that He can become what you need, then
you are running to your destiny.

To stay focused on your dreams, you may have to tune out negative voices coming
from others and from within too.

Many people let doubts take a stronghold in their minds. Something negative was
spoken over them, they believed it, and suddenly it’s holding them back. The
first step to dealing with doubts is to determine how they were planted. Was it
a family member who said you’d never be successful? Was it a teacher who
predicted you’d never get an A? Was it a friend who said you’ll never break
your addiction?

Just because they didn’t see it, just because they couldn’t do it, doesn’t mean
you can’t make it happen. Reprogram your thinking. Break free from the
strongholds of doubt.

Ask yourself, “Who told me I don’t have what it takes?” “Who told me I’m just
average?” “Who told me I’m not talented enough?”

People don’t determine our destiny; God does.

Don’t make the mistake of comparing yourself with others.

It’s when we try to be something we’re not that life gets frustrating.

Don’t get discouraged, give up, or settle just because it didn’t happen one
way. Keep knocking. Keep believing. Keep hoping. Keep dreaming. You may
hear ten people tell you no before you come to that one yes. But that one yes
will make up for all the other noes. You may have a dozen things that you’ve
tried that didn’t work out, but if you’ll stay in faith, you’ll come to that one
thing that does work out.

When you truly believe, it sets a series of events into motion.

WHAT IS CLASS?

Class is a special quality.
It is revealed through attitudes, actions and reactions.

Class doesn’t have to think about responses –
It just does it!

Class is respectful and considerate of others.
It brings out the best in them.

Class never tries to build itself up
By tearing others down.

Class never makes excuses –
It takes its lump and learns from each experience.

Life in many instances is not fair,
Yet class meets life’s challenges head on
And responds in a resilient and positive manner.

Class loves the competitive experience.
The tougher the challenge, the better it is –
When the goin’ gets tough –
Class gets it goin’.

Class had nothing to do with Status, Wealth, or Fame –
The greatest model of class in the history of mankind
Was a CARPENTER.

Everyone is comfortable with a person who has class –
Because they are comfortable with themselves.

If you have Class, you don’t need much of anything else.
If you don’t have it, no matter what else you have –
It doesn’t make much difference.

11 Lessons for Graduates

by Jon Gordon

1. You are here for a reason and the most important thing you can do in life is to find, live and share your purpose. It’s the one thing in life that truly matters and if you don’t pursue it, everything else is meaningless.

2. Follow your passion. It so often leads you to your purpose. Do what energizes you.

3. You may not know what your passion is right now. That’s OK. The important thing is to make it your life mission to find it, live it and share it. To help find your passion, seek out jobs and experiences that allow you to use your strengths and gifts.

4. Beware of hobbies. Just because you love spending time on Facebook doesn't mean you would enjoy working for the company. And just because you love to cook doesn't mean you would enjoy owning a restaurant. For example, I owned restaurants but I realized I didn't love the food business. I loved the service and marketing aspect of the business.

5. Quit for the right reasons. Don't quit because work is hard or you're experiencing challenges. Quit because in your heart you know there is something else for you to do. Quit because you are not benefitting yourself or the organization you work for. Quit because you are absolutely certain you are no longer supposed to be there.

6. Learn from every job and experience. Every job, good or bad, prepares you for the work you were ultimately born to do.

7. Whatever job(s) you take after graduation simply decide to serve. When you serve in small ways you will get more opportunities to serve in bigger ways.

8. Your dream job is likely not the one you dreamed about. So often we end up in amazing careers that have nothing to do with our college degree or childhood dreams.

9. The quest for your purpose is not a straight line. It is filled with mystery, signs, obstacles, victories, dead ends, delays and detours. Your job is to stay optimistic and faithful on your quest.

10. Don't rush the future. There is a process that seeds must go through in order to become all they are destined to become, and you must go through this same process to become the person you are meant to be and do the work you are meant to do. You may want things to happen NOW, but more than likely if you got what you wanted NOW, you wouldn't be ready for it. The purpose process prepares you, strengthens you, shapes you and grows you to be successful, not in your time, but in the right time.

11. Be the Seed. Seeds surrender themselves to the ground so they can be used for a greater purpose. Wherever you work, decide to plant yourself where you are and allow yourself to be used for a greater purpose. When you plant yourself and make a difference you grow into the person you were born to be and produce a harvest that will benefit others and change the world.

Who Packed Your Parachute?

I recently read a great story about Captain Charles Plumb, a graduate from the Naval
Academy, whose plane, after 74 successful combat missions over North Vietnam, was
shot down.

He parachuted to safety, but was captured, tortured and spent 2,103 days in a small
box-like cell.

After surviving the ordeal, Captain Plumb received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, the
Legion of Merit and two Purple Hearts, and returned to America and spoke to many
groups about his experience and how it compared to the challenges of everyday life.

Shortly after coming home, Charlie and his wife were sitting in a restaurant. A man rose from a nearby table, walked over and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

Surprised that he was recognized, Charlie responded, "How in the world did you know
that?" The man replied, "I packed your parachute." Charlie looked up with surprise. The man pumped his hand, gave a thumbs-up, and said, "I guess it worked!"

Charlie stood to shake the man's hand, and assured him, "It most certainly did work. If it had not worked, I would not be here today."

Charlie could not sleep that night, thinking about the man. He wondered if he might
have seen him and not even said, "Good morning, how are you?" He thought of the
many hours the sailor had spent bending over a long wooden table in the bottom of the
ship, carefully folding the silks and weaving the shrouds of each chute, each time
holding in his hands the fate of someone he didn't know.

Plumb then began to realize that along with the physical parachute, he needed mental,
emotional and spiritual parachutes. He had called on all these supports during his long and painful ordeal.

As a leader, how many times a day, a week, a month, do we pass up the
opportunity to thank those people in our organization who are "packing our
parachutes?" -- Mac Anderson

Very Impressive Person

He greets everyone with a smile
And a hearty handshake;
And makes you feel he means it
When he says he’s glad to meet you.
And he makes you glad you met him.

He walks with a sprightly step
And speaks with a laugh in his voice.
He listens with interest
And speaks with conviction,
And makes you feel you’ve known him all your life.

He doesn’t seem to try to impress,
Yet he’s most impressive.
He never tries pressing to persuade,
Yet you always come away convinced.
He’s the kind of guy we enjoy being around
Because he is what we all secretly would like to be—
Someone who enjoys being himself.

All Things Are Possible— If You Use the Right Keys

Courtesy of Guideposts

At times all of us face problems that seem impossible to solve. How can you make the impossible, possible? Latch onto these three important “keys.”

Key #1: Simple faith. Once a distraught father appealed to Jesus to heal his epileptic son who suffered from convulsions that made him foam at the mouth and throw himself into water or fire: “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” The Master’s answer: “Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:22-23).

If it rained until even the mountaintops were submerged, could earthly life continue? “Common sense” says no. Yet one man—Noah—built a boat large enough to save everyone and everything aboard. And Hebrews, chapter 11 tells us he did it “by faith.” That same chapter lists numerous others who overthrew kingdoms, faced down lions, drove away hostile armies and even raised the dead…all through the power of faith.

Key #2: Believing prayer. Jesus, of course, healed the poor epileptic boy whose father came to him. But earlier his disciples had tried to heal the child and failed. When they asked why they were unsuccessful, Jesus replied that the only thing strong enough to accomplish such a miracle was prayer (Mark 9:29). Prayer is the other side of faith—a theme that occurs repeatedly in Jesus’ teachings.

· “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Matthew 21:22).

· “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).

· “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24).

Key #3: The Word of God. Just before he died, Jesus told his disciples: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). The fact is that faith itself “comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). There is no substitute for regular, disciplined study of the Bible. It is your source of sustenance and power.

Believe big, pray big, think big, do what God leads you to do…and look forward to surprising results!

Two Frogs Lesson

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?" The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

This story teaches two lessons:

1.There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.

2.A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them.

Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words...it is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another.

"THE CAT MAN"

By Roger Kiser

I love to fish. There is nothing more relaxing, than being high in the mountains, breathing in that fresh cool air.

My favorite fishing spot is a lake near a little four-building-one-gas-station town. It’s located high in the mountains of California, and three hours from my home. Each year as soon as the winter snow melts, I load my fishing gear into the station wagon and head out for a day of trout fishing.

Many years ago during one of my trips, I crossed a small dam that had been built to create a beautiful mountain lake. I pulled over to the side and began to unload my fishing poles. Suddenly I heard a gunshot ring out, whistling as it flew over my head. I was quite surprised to hear someone shooting a firearm, as this was a restricted area, and no hunting was allowed. Besides, in all my years fishing the area, it was the very first time that I had ever come across anyone, except a few logging trucks passing by.

I ducked down behind my automobile and looked around to see if I could spot anyone.

"Bam, bam!" Another two shots were fired.

"Zing!" Rang the bullets as they hit against the large boulders. Still I could see no one.

Then four young men came walking down the dirt road. One raised his rifle and fired off a shot. A cat ran across the road and into the bushes.

"Hey! What the heck are you doing?" I asked them, as they approached me. "This is not a hunting area."

"Just shooting at a darn cat," said the larger boy. Slowly, another of the boys raised his rifle and fired at the cat, hidden behind the large rock.

"Come on, guys. Why kill something for no reason?" I asked.

"What's the cat worth to you?" asked one of the boys.

"How about ten dollars?" I said.

"Bam!" Another shot in the cat’s direction.

"How about a hundred dollars? That's what it’s going to take," said the largest of the four boys, as he took another shot in the cat's direction.

For weeks, I had been saving money, to buy some type of used boat and motor so I would not have to fish from the bank. I had about one hundred and ten dollars in my wallet and about twenty dollars in my pocket.

"Okay, I'll give you a hundred dollars for the cat. Just do not kill it. Please!" I said.

I pulled out my wallet, took the money out of the secret compartment, and laid it on the hood of the brown station wagon. The four boys walked up and looked at the money.

A very serious look came over their faces. The older boy reached down, picked up the money, and put it into his jean pocket. As the boys disappeared around the bend of the road, I began to look for the cat. Several minutes later, the boys drove past me in an old pickup truck, and headed back up the mountain toward town.

It took over an hour to get the cat to trust me enough that I could catch it. I petted her for five minutes or so, put her into my vehicle along with my fishing gear, and drove back up the mountain to the little store.

I asked the owner if he knew if anyone in the area had lost a cat. He walked out to my vehicle and looked at the cat. He told me that the old man who lived next door had lost his cat about a week ago. The old man was very upset because it was his wife's cat, and she had died several months before. The cat was all he had left.

The owner of the store went to the telephone and made a call. When he returned, he poured us a hot cup of coffee and we talked for about ten minutes. I heard the door open behind me and I turned around. A gray-haired man, all hunched over, who looked to be at least one-hundred-years old, slowly made his way to the corner. He sat down in a rocking chair, but did not say a word.

"It's his cat," the owner told me.

The old man tapped his walking cane on the floor three times. The owner came from behind the counter and walked over to where the old man was sitting. The old man whispered something to the owner, and then handed him a piece of paper. The owner took him by the arm, helped him up, and they walked outside to the station wagon.

I watched through the window as the old man reached in, picked up the cat, and hugged it to his chest. Then they walked to a mobile home next door and went inside.

Several minutes later, the storeowner came back.

"I had best be hitting the road," I told him.

“There's a reward for finding the cat,” the storeowner said.

"I don't want a reward." I replied, but the man held out a piece of paper and I took it from him.

I opened the folded paper and saw that it was a personal check made out to "cash," written for two thousand-five-hundred dollars. I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"Don’t worry, that check’s no good. Old man’s been off his rocker since his wife died," said the storeowner.

I folded the check back in half, and tossed it on the counter so that he could throw it away. Then something inside me told me to keep the check. I picked it back up and placed it in my shirt pocket.

"I guess only an idiot would think that a cat is worth paying that kind of money for," he said, as he laughed aloud.

"Yeah, I know. Only an idiot would think like that." I was laughing too.

I walked out the door, got into my station wagon, and drove home. The boys and their guns had made me decide to postpone my fishing trip until another time.

When I arrived home, my wife handed me a note a friend had dropped by. The note said he knew a man that would sell his boat on a monthly payment plan. I telephoned him, and after discussing the boat, I asked how much he wanted for it.

"Twenty-five hundred dollars, three thousand if I have to finance it for you," he told me.

I told him that I would telephone him back in about an hour.

I took the check out of my pocket, and telephoned my bank. I told them the story, and asked if there was a way to find out if the check was good. I gave them the numbers off the check and I waited for them to call me back. Ten minutes later the call came in.

"Mr. Kiser, the check is good," said the woman, laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked her.

"Well, when I called the bank to ask if the check would clear, the gentleman there laughed. He told me that the old man who gave it to you is extremely wealthy. He owns most of the logging companies that operate in that area of California."

And, that wasn’t the only surprise. That evening I drove over to see the boat, motor and trailer that were for sale. When he removed the tarp, the boat was like new. It was a great deal; I knew I wanted it. However, when I saw the boat’s name, I decided—right there and then—that it was meant to be. Painted on the back of the boat were the words "The Cat Man."

Richness, Success and Love

Author: Unknown

A woman came out of her house and saw three old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said, “I don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat.”

“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 then pointed 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 three 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 two 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 or Success, 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!"

Two Roads In My Life

Today I took a time of silence just to look back on my life and to see what happened to me. I looked back on the road of my life and I saw that there are two roads that are leading to where I am currently standing. I could not understand this.

The one road is twisty and go through canyons, over cliffs and it seems that it is a road that no sane man will travel. The other road is a road that looks like a highway. It is straight and flat, but it is also very, very narrow.

I asked God why is there two roads that only converge a little way from where I am standing. God answered me and said that the one road - the twisty difficult road, is the road that I chose to walk. This road is so difficult and so dangerous because I did not heed God's word. I sinned and the devil led me on this twisty road.

As I looked at the twisty road, I started seeing road-signs all along the way, representing the things that I have done in my past. How shocked, horrified and ashamed was I to see all the bad things that I have said, that I have done, that I have thought of.

I can see where I went over cliffs, the places where I have fallen and stumbled and where I got hurt so badly that it seemed impossible to live. There were also places where it seemed impossible for me to have survived the road that I was traveling.

It was really a horrific road. Sometimes there was no road at all and I wondered what happened during those times in my travels on this difficult road. I asked God and He said with a smile in His voice, "Son that is where the devil let go of you and I caught you, I carried you."

I said, but how is it still possible that if I was walking with and following the devil that You where still there for me. He said to me "It is because I love you and I will never stop loving you, regardless of your sins."

I looked with amazement to this horrible road and wondered how it happened that I ended up traveling this dangerous road. As if God knew what was on my mind, He said, "Son your choices was not always right and you had to learn, I gave you freedom to do as you wanted and was hoping that you would learn from your choices."

I shrieked in my body and soul, because the sign posts next to the road showed so clearly the choices that I have made. There was no doubt in my mind that all these choices was very far removed from what God had in mind for me and what He had planned for my life.

I asked God about the narrow road that is flat and straight and He said to me, "Son that is the road that I had planned for you and which you choose not to walk for so long. I was willing to lead you and show you all the riches that I had in my stores for you."

I wondered just how much I have missed in life by trying to follow my own road. I looked at the place where the two roads converge and my twisty and dangerous road meet with the narrow, straight road, it was only a very, very short distance from where I was standing at this moment.

Again, before I could ask God about this, He answered me and said, "Son you started praying, you started leaving the choices in My hands. You started trusting me and you started believing in the power of what I can do. I was hoping that you would come to Me and look at My road."

"All it took was for you to start asking Me for the things in your life that you wanted and trusting Me enough with those things. I am burning to release My full flood of riches onto you, to give you far more than you could ever ask for or dream of! You must remember that it was YOUR choice to travel your own road, I was always there, but you never trusted Me, you never asked Me to help you."

"You were the one that went off on the difficult road with all the dangers and My road was there all along. It was up to you to come back to Me, because I never left you, it was you who left Me. There, where the roads converge, that is when you came back to Me, that was when you gave up on trying to be the leader in your own life, when you realized that on your own power you are not getting anywhere and you are not achieving anything meaningful in your life, when you stopped relying on your own power.

"That was when you said to me that I must take control of your life and lead you according to what I, your Father, has planned for you. I was waiting so long for you to just start asking Me for guidance, I wanted to take your hand everyday, but if you did not allow me and trust me, I could not do that."

I could only stand in amazement on what happened since the two roads converge. I could see the drastic change and the things that came my way since traveling God's way. I decided there and then that without God in my life, I do not want to live another day. I started understanding what God, my Father had in store for me and it is so simple. I just need to trust Him with everything and I must ask Him for it.

The simplicity of this only started sinking in and I now know that without God in my life, life is not worth living. I vowed that never again will I rely on my own strengths, never again will I doubt in what God has promised each and every one of us. I vowed to keep on looking for God's will in my life and to get to know Him a lot better! God is my King and Savior, how about yours?

How To Deal With Crayon Boxes and...

One of the memories that I will always have about when I was in Kindergarten, was the day my friend taught me about crayon boxes. She was my first real friend, and my best friend at the time. One day we were coloring, and she let me borrow crayons from her huge 64-count box. I thought they were so cool. My little 24-count box was nothing compared to hers.

As we were coloring, I reached over to put a crayon back in the box. If any of you have ever used crayons, you know that sometimes they don't go back in as easy as they came out, and that sometimes you end up with a huge bulge in the box. Well, that's what happened with this particular crayon.

I kept trying to force back in the box so it would fit, and my friend didn't like that too much, since it was her crayon box. She started throwing a fit and I remember her yelling, "Don't force it!" Then she continued to give me a demonstration on how you push the other crayons out of the way to make room for the other one going back into the box.

As we were growing up, we continued to stay good friends in grade school. I remember always teasing her about it, and she said she never remembered that day really, but I know it really happened, because I think it was the first time she ever yelled at me.

When we entered high school, things started to change, like they most often do. We still talked when we got the chance, but we started to make our own friends. We've stayed in touch, always saying hi in the halls and everything, but we weren't the same best friends we were in Kindergarten.

Just this year, my sophomore year, things really started to change for me. So many different things happened, I felt like I was lost in the world. I didn't know what to do or who I could turn to.

Then one day my friend came to my locker after school because she saw that I had been crying after spending the afternoon in the guidance office. She asked me what was wrong and I knew I could trust her, so I told her everything that was going on in my life. I told her this in a 7 page note and gave it to her in school.

A couple periods later she had stopped me in the halls and gave me a note and told me how she understood and everything. She wrote me and told me how I just need some time for things to get worked out, and that everything will be okay. At the end of the note, she wrote one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me. She wrote at the end: "I'll give you the same advice I gave you back when we were in Kindergarten: Don't Force It!"

When I read that it put a smile on my face, the first smile that I had cracked in awhile. I told her that I appreciated the note totally. It's funny that out of all the things people have said to me and tried to help me, those words she wrote in the note were the most inspirational.

It's weird that 10 years later the advice she had given me in kindergarten would help me out so much now. She can't give me a demonstration on how to push things away, like the crayons, but she made me open up my eyes, just like she did when she yelled at me in kindergarten.