Text Examples for
Inspiration/Feelings

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Lao-tzu:
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
"Talk not of wasted affection, affection never was wasted."
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Jean-Paul Sartre:
"Everything has been figured out, except how to live."
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Muriel Rukeyser:
"The universe if made of stories, not atoms."
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Socrates:
"He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have."
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William Blake:
"No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings."
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Anne Frank:
"I do not think of all the misery, but of the glory that remains. Go outside into
the fields, nature and the sun, go out and seek happiness in yourself
and in God. Think of the beauty that again and again discharges itself
within and without you and be happy."
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A Dieter's Prayer:
Dieter's Prayer Lord, as I weigh in today, I turn to you and humbly pray:
Please help me not to go astray As I chase these pounds away. If you can,
Lord, take a biteRight out of my big appetite. Help me work that cellulite
Out of mind and out of sight. Let me eat just what I should-The
things that do a body good, So next time I weigh in, I would Be in the
right neighborhood. Please strengthen me as I begin This Battle of the
Bulge to win. But let me realize, fat or thin, The truest beauty lies within!
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A Dog Lovers Prayer:
O Lord, don't let me once forget
How I love my trusty pet
Help me learn to disregard
Canine craters in my yard.
Show me how to be a buddy
Even when my sofa's muddy.
Give me patience without end
Help me be a Dog's Best Friend.
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Robert Schuller:
Most people who succeed in the face of seemingly impossible conditions are people who simply don't know how to quit.
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Albert Einstein (1879-1955):
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
The important thing is not to stop questioning."
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Aldous Huxley (1894-1963):
"Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him."
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Orison Swett Marden (1853-1924):
"Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them,
we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them."
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Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948); Indian ascetic & nationalist leader.:
In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light.
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Not A Prayer:
There once was a man named George Thomas, pastor in a small New England town.
One Easter Sunday morning he came to the Church
carrying a rusty, bent, old bird cage, and set it by
the pulpit. Eyebrows were raised and, as if in
response, Pastor Thomas began to speak.

"I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a
young boy coming toward me swinging this bird cage.
On the bottom of the cage were three little wild
birds, shivering with cold and fright. I stopped the
lad and asked, "What you got there, son?"

"Just some old birds," came the reply.
"What are you gonna do with them?" I asked.
"Take 'em home and have fun with 'em," he answered.
"I'm gonna tease 'em and pull out their feathers to
make 'em fight. I'm gonna have a real good time."

"But you'll get tired of those birds sooner or later.
What will you do?"

"Oh, I got some cats," said the little boy. "They like
birds. I'll take 'em to them."

The pastor was silent for a moment. "How much do you
want for those birds, son?"

"Huh?? !!! Why, you don't want them birds, mister.
They're just plain old field birds. They don't sing.
They ain't even pretty!"

"How much?" the pastor asked again. The boy sized up
the pastor as if he were crazy and said, "$10?"
The pastor reached in his pocket and took out a
ten dollar bill. He placed it in the boy's hand. In a
flash, the boy was gone.

The pastor picked up the cage and gently carried it to
the end of the alley where there was a tree and a
grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he opened the door,
and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out,
setting them free.

Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the
pulpit, and then the pastor began to tell this story.
One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation.
Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, and he
was gloating and boasting.

"Yes, sir, I just caught the world full of people down
there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew they couldn't
resist. Got 'em all!"

"What are you going to do with them?" Jesus asked.

Satan replied, "Oh, I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna
teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to
hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and
curse. I'm gonna teach them how to invent guns and
bombs and kill each other. I'm really gonna have fun!"

"And what will you do when you get done with them?"
Jesus asked.

"Oh, I'll kill 'em," Satan glared proudly.

"How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked.

"Oh, you don't want those people. They ain't no good.
Why, you'll take them and they'll just hate you.
They'll spit on you, curse you and kill you. You
don't want those people!!"

"How much? He asked again.

Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, "All your blood,
tears and your life."

Jesus said, "DONE!" Then He paid the price.

The pastor picked up the cage he opened the door and
he walked from the pulpit.
Notes:
Isn't it funny how simple it is for people to trash
God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.

Isn't it funny how someone can say "I believe in God"
but still follow Satan (who, by the way, also
"believes" in God).

Isn't it funny how I can be more worried about what
other people think of me than what God thinks of me.
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God's Love a Story & Prayer:

It's beautiful and the prayer at the end is something we all need to do to God for the benefit of each other.

In September 1960, I woke up one
morning with six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket.
Their father was gone. The boys ranged from three months to seven
years; their sister was two.

Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared.
Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel driveway they would
scramble to hide under their beds. He did manage to leave $15 a week
to buy groceries. Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no
more beatings, but no food either. If there was a welfare system in
effect in southern Indiana at that time, I certainly knew nothing about it.

I scrubbed the kids until they looked brand new and then put on my best
homemade dress. I loaded them into the rusty old 51 Chevy and drove
off to find a job. The seven of us went to every factory, store and
restaurant in our small town. No luck.

The kids stayed crammed into the car and tried to be quiet while I
tried to convince whomever would listen that I was willing to learn
or do anything. I had to have a job. Still no luck.

The last place we went to, just a few miles out of town, was an old Root
Beer Barrel driven that had been converted to a truck stop. It was called
the Big Wheel. An old lady named Granny owned the place and she peeked
out of the window from time to time at all those kids. She needed someone
on the graveyard shift, 11 at night until seven in the morning. She paid
65 cents an hour and I could start that night. I raced home and
called the teenager down the street that baby-sat for people.
I bargained with her to come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night.
She could arrive with her pajamas on and the kids would already be asleep.
This seemed like a good arrangement to her, so we made a deal.

That night when the little ones and I knelt to say our prayers we all
thanked God for finding Mommy a job. And so I started at the Big Wheel.
When I got home in the mornings I woke the baby-sitter up and sent her
home with one dollar of my tip money fully half of what I averaged every
night.

As the weeks went by, heating bills added a strain to my meager wage.
The tires on the old Chevy had the consistency of penny balloons and began
to leak. I had to fill them with air on the way to work and again every
morning before I could go home.

One bleak fall morning, I dragged myself to the car to go home and found
four tires in the back seat. New tires! There was no note, no nothing,
just those beautiful brand new tires. Had angels taken up residence in Indiana?

I wondered. I made a deal with the owner of the local service station.
In exchange for his mounting the new tires, I would clean up his office.
I remember it took me a lot longer to scrub his floor than it did for him
to do the tires.

I was now working six nights instead of five and it still wasn't enough.
Christmas was coming and I knew there would be no money for toys for
the kids.

I found a can of red paint and started repairing and painting some old
toys. Then I hid them in the basement so there would be something for
Santa to deliver on Christmas morning. Clothes were a worry too.
I was sewing patches on top of patches on the boys pants and soon
they would be too far gone to repair.

On Christmas Eve the usual customers were drinking coffee in the Big
Wheel. These were the truckers, Lees, Frank, and Jim, and a state
trooper named Joe. A few musicians were hanging around after a gig
at the Legion and were dropping nickels in the pinball machine.
The regulars all just sat around and talked through the wee hours of
the morning and then left to get home before the sun came up.

When it was time for me to go home at seven o'clock on Christmas morning
I hurried to the car. I was hoping the kids wouldn't wake up before I
managed to get home and get the presents from the basement and place
them under the tree. (We had cut down a small cedar tree by the side of the
road down by the dump.)

It was still dark and I couldn't see much, but there appeared to be some
dark shadows in the car-or was that just a trick of the night?
Something certainly looked different, but it was hard to tell what.
When I reached the car I peered warily into one of the side windows.
Then my jaw dropped in amazement.

My old battered Chevy was filled full to the top with boxes of all shapes
and sizes. I quickly opened the driver's side door, scrambled inside and
kneeled in the front facing the back seat. Reaching back, I pulled off the
lid of the top box. Inside was whole case of little blue jeans, sizes
2-10! I looked inside another box: It was full of shirts to go with
the jeans. Then I peeked inside some of the other boxes: There was candy
and nuts and bananas and bags of groceries. There was an enormous ham for
baking, and canned vegetables and potatoes. There was pudding and jello
and cookies, pie filling and flour. There was a whole bag of laundry
supplies and cleaning items. And there were five toy trucks and one
beautiful little doll.

As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the
most amazing Christmas Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude. And I
will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that precious
morning.

Yes, there were angels in Indiana that long-ago December.
And they all hung out at the Big Wheel truck stop.
THE POWER OF PRAYER When you receive this, say a prayer.
This prayer will do. That's all you have to do. There is nothing attached.

Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive.

There is no cost but a lot of rewards.

Let's continue praying for one another.

Father, I ask you to bless my friends reading this right now.
Lord, show them a new revelation of Your love and power. Holy Spirit,
I ask You to minister to their spirit at this very moment.
Where there is pain! give them Your peace &mercy.
Where there is self doubting, release a renewed confidence in your
ability to work through them.

Where there is tiredness, or exhaustion, I ask You to give them
understanding, patience, & strength as they learn submission to your
leading. Where there is spiritual stagnation, I ask you to renew
them by revealing your nearness, and by drawing them into greater
intimacy with you. Where there is fear, reveal your love, and release
to them your courage.

Where there is a sin blocking them, reveal it, and break its hold over my friend's life. Bless their finances, give them greater vision, and raise up leaders, and friends to support, and encourage them. Give each of them discernment to recognize the demonic forces around them, and reveal to them the power they have in you to defeat it. I ask you to do these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Sent in via email. Thank you.
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The Best Day of My Life:
Today, when I awoke, I suddenly realized that this is the best day of my life, ever.

There were times when I wondered if I would make it to today; but I did! And because I did I'm going to celebrate!
Today, I'm going to celebrate what an unbelievable life I have had so far. The accomplishments, the many blessings, and, yes, even the hardships because they have served to make me stronger.

I will go through this day with my head held high and a happy heart.
I will marvel at God's seemingly simple gifts:

the morning dew,

the clouds,

the trees,

the flowers,

the birds.

Today, none of these miraculous creations will escape my notice.
Today, I will share my excitement for life with other people.
I'll make someone smile.
I'll go out of my way to perform an unexpected act of kindness for someone I don't even know. Today, I'll give a sincere compliment to someone who seems down. I'll tell a child how special he is, and I'll tell someone I love just how deeply I care for them and how much they mean to me.

Today is the day I quit worrying about what I don't have and start being grateful for all the wonderful things God has already given me. I'll remember that to worry is just a waste of time because my faith in God and his Divine Plan ensures everything will be just fine.

And tonight, before I go to bed, I'll go outside and raise my eyes to the heavens. I will stand in awe at the beauty of the stars and the moon, and I will praise God for these magnificent treasures.

As the day ends and I lay my head down on my pillow,
I will thank the Almighty for the best day of my life. And I will sleep the sleep of a contented child, excited with expectation because I know tomorrow is going to be the best day of my life, ever!
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Poor People:
One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered:

"I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they hav! e the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."
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Lets Run in the Rain:
A little girl had been shopping with her Mom. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the store.

We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in "Mom let's run through the rain," she said.

"What?" Mom asked.

"Lets run through the rain!" She repeated.

"No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mom replied.

This young child waited about another minute and repeated: "Mom, let's run through the rain,"

"We'll get soaked if we do," Mom said.

"No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.

This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?

"Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!"

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes.

Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

"Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.

And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday. To everything there is a season and a tim e to every purpose under heaven.

I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them.
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