In step

[RiverOL]

Crickets and Scorpions
===================​

I usually spend time in prayer at five a.m. each morning.

I shall relay a lesson that God taught me very dramatically
during one of those early morning sessions.

I pray in a closet that is actually the vocal booth of our
former home music studio. It is soundproof.

As I entered clad only in shorts, I heard the sound of a cricket
chirping. There in the shadow, I saw the cricket.
It was very close to where I sit on the floor each day.

"Sit down and don't bother the cricket,"
I heard a soft voice speak in my spirit.

I obeyed.

I turned out the light and sat in total darkness and silence.

I felt something crawl up on my leg.

"Don't bother the cricket," I heard the voice say again,
"I am trying to teach you something."

"You need to learn to distinguish the difference between
crickets and scorpions in life. Don't bother the cricket."

The cricket crawled. It is an eerie feeling to say the least.
I wasn't afraid of the cricket. I knew it couldn't harm me.
It wouldn't bite, sting, or even so much as scratch me.

It was just a highly annoying and extremely icky feeling.
A cricket crawling all over you.

I let the cricket crawl for almost a minute until I couldn't
stand it anymore. I brushed the cricket off, turned on the light,
picked it up in my hand, and took it outside and let it go.

I understood what God was trying to show me.
Life has scorpions and crickets.

Scorpions are the things that can hurt us; things that are truly
destructive and dangerous. Crickets are the things that have
absolutely no power to hurt us, they are just irritating.
They get on our nerves; they try our patience.

I saw things differently after emerging from prayer that day.

I realized that the vast majority of the things that really
irked me

...were crickets.

The vast majority of the things that irk you

...are crickets.

Don't bother the crickets
and don't let the crickets bother you.

 

[RiverOL]

In Charge
========​

1. GOD is in charge.
2. GOD is at large.
3. Nothing gets by Him.

~Winston Kole~

NOTHING gets by Him.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap. (Gal 6:7 KJV)

 

[RiverOL]

The Wave
=========​

When I was a radio DJ, I would return home about the same time
every day along the same route.

One day I passed a van going in the other direction that I
assumed was my mother (same hair style, same make of van) and
automatically lifted my hand in greeting.

Only when I got beside the van did I realize my mistake.
I didn't know the elderly lady driving this particular vehicle.
I felt a little foolish, but not as foolish as I felt when I
made the same mistake the next day and the day after!

Waving hello to my mother was just so automatic that I waved
before realizing my mistake!

I determined not to make the same mistake the next day, and sure
enough, there she was at approximately the same location coming
at me. I kept my hand firmly on the steering wheel when
something odd happened - she waved to me!

Of course I waved back, neither of us having a clue who the
other one was.

This went on for weeks. We would see each other at about the
same spot and wave to each other every day. One day she wasn't
there, and I worried that she was sick, or hospitalized, or
worse, but had no way to find out.

I never saw her again. I think of her often, and I smile when I
think that two strangers made friends
through a simple mistaken wave,
and each of us had something to look forward to
at the end of the day.

 

[RiverOL]

The Rose Garden
===============​

There was once a woman, who, after years of work had grown a
beautiful rose garden. She worked a couple hours every day;
pruning, cleaning, feeding and weeding. People would come from
many miles away to see the beautiful roses. The colors were
vibrant, the flowers were so big, you needed two hands to hold
them. Each day nurtured and cared for. Her love showed in her
garden.

After many years, the effects of time took their toll on the
lady and she was forced to abandon her garden and rely on her
daughter for care. Her daughter didn't mind. She loved her
mother and felt it a great opportunity to spend time and really
get to know her Mother....sort of friend to friend, instead of
Mother to Daughter.

They talked about many things. They shared their experiences.
And the daughter learned that there was much to this great lady
that she hadn't known.

One day as they sat on the patio chatting, the daughter noticed
the long neglected rose garden and felt saddened. They spoke of
the garden and the daughter remarked how she used to laugh at
how her mother crawled around in that garden every day, talking
to the flowers, babying them like children.

The Mother smiled with a tear in her eye. She told her daughter
that observations are often misleading. "You see, my dear, that
garden is like a life. Let me explain. Each day I would get down
on my knees and thank God for each of those flowers. I thanked
God for their beauty, their aroma and the peacefulness of that
garden. And I took the opportunity while down there to clean out
those plants.

I got rid of the bugs, the dead pedals and leaves. I pulled the
weeds so that the bushes would grow healthy and robust. I saw
that garden as life. Each bush was an effort, each flower was
the blessing brought forth from that effort. And it was all
because God gave me the opportunity to try. And, as you can see,
like life, when the garden is not tended, the bushes become
wild, lanky and heavily barbed. They tangle among themselves.
Flowers become fewer and smaller, less aromatic. Until it
becomes so tangled and overgrown that it no longer resembles the
beautiful garden it had once been.

When you saw me crawling, I was praying. When you saw me talking
to the flowers, I was talking to God."

We each have a rose garden. How we tend that garden will
determine the beauty that it wields. But the thing to remember
is this: tending the garden cannot happen until we come to our
knees and get closer to the flowers. We need to take the
opportunity to talk to God, give him thanks and clean out the
dead weeds and pedals through repentance.

This is a great time for us. We have recently paid gratitude to
our military, the people who protect our liberties and freedoms.
And we have the opportunity soon to take a day and give thanks
for all that we hold dear.

Sadly, we have forgotten what Thanksgiving is about. A day
reserved for offering our thanks and gratitude to God, has
become a day to eat, drink, sleep and get ready to hit the Black
Friday sales at midnight. It has become just another day,
differing only by the fact that we have a great big meal.

When was the last time you got to your knees to tend your
garden. "Give thanks unto God in ALL things." THAT IS A
COMMANDMENT, not a request. Take time to think about the many
blessings you have been given. Approach each day with an attitude of gratitude.

 

[RiverOL]

Your Tantrums
=============​

It will be awhile before you leave most of your tantrums behind.

Until then, you can expect to deal with outbursts of anger and
frustration on a regular basis.

You can cut down on the frequency of your tantrums by making
sure you get enough sleep and eat well during the day.

It helps to take a nap during the day.

It's probably unrealistic to expect you to sit still for three
square meals a day, so try a variety of foods (yogurt, pizza,
fruit, vegetables, cheese and crackers) throughout the day to
keep hunger pangs at bay.

Remember, when you are hungry and sleep-deprived, it is a
meltdown waiting to happen.



Does this sound like you or someone you know?

It is someone whom my wife and I know.

It is someone very close to us.

It is our two-year-old son, Christian.

I just changed the words of advice that professionals give
parents of toddlers to make it personal for Christian.
I will read it to him as soon as he sits still long enough.

It is amazing how that advice fits adults so well.

Remember, when you are hungry and sleep-deprived,
it is a meltdown waiting to happen.

 

[RiverOL]

The Village Idiot
=================​

Once upon a time there was a village named Egoville hidden away
in the mountains. Now, this village, like most villages, had
their own idiot. His name was Hugh Millety.

Hugh, the village idiot, was the ridicule of Egoville.
The towns folk would often set him up with silly choices in order
to laugh mercilessly at him when he made the wrong choice.

"Hugh," they'd say, "would you rather have this shiny new
quarter or this dirty old torn dollar bill?"

"I'd like the shiny quarter," Hugh would reply. His tormentor
would give him the quarter and walk away laughing, declaring
Hugh a true village idiot. Hugh would just shrug and go about
his business.

Even though it was a poor village with little opportunity, this
was repeated several times a day by many people. As the years
went by, the ridicule became a ritual that dozens of townies
took part in. The towns folk had little to their names, but at
least they could feel better about themselves in comparison to
the village idiot this way. It was their small comfort in the
lap of poverty.

Not everyone would make fun of Hugh though. A few felt sorry for
him and gave him hand-me-down clothes, leftover food, and even
an old shack to live in at the edge of town. Hugh lived off of
the handouts of the charitable few.

One day, Hugh showed up at the village square wearing a brand new
suit. Everyone was amazed, for few people in the town could
afford new clothing, let alone a nice suit. The small village
didn't even have a new clothing store, only a used clothing store.

One of townsfolk asked Hugh where he got his new suit, thinking
he must have stolen it. He bought it, he told them. And
furthermore he added, the fine new house being built on the
mountainside that everyone was wondering about, that was his.

When questioned where he got the money, he told them it was the
money they gave him. With people giving him food, clothing, and
shelter, he simply saved and invested everything they gave him.
"I may be your village idiot," he smiled and said,
"but I'm no fool."

But why then, they asked, did he always take the lesser amount
of money they offered him if he was so cunning?

Hugh replied that if he had taken the greater amount of money,
they would have stopped offering it to him. He earned his money
by letting them laugh at him, but he knew the first time he took
the greater amount they'd stop offering him money and find
something else to laugh at him about.

"Now," said Hugh, "I'm the richest person in town and have all
the money I need. I didn't waste money amusing myself at the
expense of someone I falsely perceived to be a lesser person.
And you, all of you, have little more now than you had when you
started ridiculing me. So tell me, who is the village idiot now?"

Hugh smiled again, then handed out hundred dollar bills to those
who had been kind to him. The townsfolk were shocked. It was
true though, they had frittered away their money a little at a
time, trying to make themselves feel big by comparison to the
village idiot.

It just goes to show you, if you live in Egoville, take care not
to become the village idiot by your vain perceptions. On the
other hand, if you follow the wisdom of Hugh Millety, you might
just become the richest person in town.

 

[RiverOL]

Too Heavy
=========​

A young man was at the end of his rope.

Seeing no way out, he dropped to his knees in prayer.
"Lord, I can't go on," he cried. "I have too heavy a cross to
bear."

The Lord replied, "My Son, if you can't bear its weight, just
place your cross inside this room. Then, open that other door
and pick out any cross you wish."

The man was filled with relief and said "Thank You, Lord," and
he did as he was told.

Upon entering the other room, he saw many crosses.
Some were so large that the tops were not even visible.
He spotted a tiny cross leaning against a wall.
"I will take that one, Lord," he said.

The Lord replied, "My Son, that is the one you just brought in."

When life's problems seem overwhelming, it helps to look around
and see what other people are dealing with.

You may consider yourself much better off than you imagined.

 

[RiverOL]

The Twisty Path
==============​

"Name one person in the Bible who had a simple life without
twists," I asked Puddin (my wife).

Puddin was responding to a major change that we were making in
buying a house. We were moving to an entirely different
neighborhood and not building on the property that we bought.

It was a Divine direction that I was absolutely sure about.

"Why does life have to be so twisty and why can't God just make
it simple?" was Puddin's question. It was a very good question.

I had already asked God that question.

Thus, my response, name one person whose life had any written
detail in the Bible where it was simple and clear-cut.

"John," Puddin said.

"John!!!" I replied.

John lived in the wilderness eating bugs and honey.
Puddin would have undoubtedly considered locusts bugs.

"How many grasshoppers could you eat?" I asked Puddin.
I am sure many considered John crazy because his behavior and
lifestyle were so far from the norm.

Then there was John's father Zacharias whom God made unable to
speak because he didn't believe the angel about John.
Both Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth were old,
and he just didn't believe.

Finally, John was imprisoned then he had his head cut off.
Yet Jesus said there had been none greater than John.
Don't you think John thought his path was twisty at times?

I often wonder why couldn't life be simpler.
Why couldn't all revelation be straightforward.
Why does stuff have to be cryptic?
Why the twists and turns.

Although I wonder, God has always brought us through.
Right on time, in right order, and learning the right lessons.

God will take you through the twists and turns,
if you stay on the straight and narrow.

 

[RiverOL]

Health and Cheerfulness
====================​

"Health and cheerfulness mutually beget each other."
~Joseph Addison~

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up
the bones.
(Prov 17:22 NIV)

The Pilot and The Navigator
=======================​

A pilot was sitting in his seat and pulled out a .38 revolver.

He placed it on top of the instrument panel, and then asked the
navigator, "Do you know what I use this for?"

The navigator replied timidly, "No, what's it for?"

The pilot responded, "I use this on navigators who get me lost!"

The navigator then proceeded to pull out a .45 automatic and
place it on his chart table.

The pilot asked, "What's that for?"

"To be honest sir," the navigator replied,

"I'll know we're lost before you will."

 

[RiverOL]

The Gnat
========​

A few years ago, I worked for a company that sent me out on the
road to some of their remote sites to do maintenance work.
These sites were, for the most part, open fields approximately
100 to 160 acres in size.

On these sites were huge piles of metallic ores such as manganese,
beryllium, chromium, ferrochrome, and many others.
Occasionally, these fields would have to be mowed and the
buildings would need repairs, so I would go out and do the
repairs, and if the weeds and grass hadn't gotten too much out
of control, I would use a tractor with a brush hog type mower
and cut it back down.

Sometimes though, I'd have to call contractors to come into the
fields to mow the waist-high grass and weeds with their heavier
equipment.

This one particular site was in an isolated area of central
Pennsylvania that was prone to heavy rainstorms with an
extraordinary amount of lightning, possibly attracted to the
area by all the ore piles. It was surrounded by a 10-foot high
cyclone fence for security, with gates to allow access to a road
that went through the center of the property.

That day was another very hot, mid-August day, and I could see
Kevin (the contractor) on the far side of the road, traveling
back and forth across the field, baking in the hot sun.

Around 1:30 P.M., I noticed some very heavy rain clouds coming
over the nearby hills and knew that another storm was coming.
I waited awhile to make sure that we actually were going to get
rained out before calling Kevin in from the open area, hoping
to let him get as much mowing done as possible.

When the sky started to darken and the wind picked up, I hopped
into my pick-up truck and went out to the field to call him back
to the building.

As I stood by the edge of the field waving to Kevin, signaling
him to get back to the shop building, the first few heavy
raindrops began falling. Then, as the first burst of lightning
lit up the sky and the first crash of thunder shook the air,
Kevin sailed passed me on his tractor like an eighteen wheeler
on Interstate 80.

After locking the gate on that side of the road, I got back into
my pick-up and pulled inside the second gate. The latch was
broken on this gate and I had to wrap a short length of chain
around the gatepost and then through the edge of the gate.

By then the lightning was closer and the rain was just starting
to get a little heavier. I shoved the thick chain around the
post and threaded it through the diamond-shaped openings in the
fence on the gate and held both ends in my one hand.

Next I took the open lock off the fence, where it had been
hanging, with my other hand. Just when I was about to put the
lock on the chain, a gnat flew into my open right eye.

That stung!

It stung so much that I instantly dropped the lock and the chain
and put my hands to my eye, taking one step back at the same time.

Not a second later, lightning struck that fence somewhere close
by, and I saw the whole fence in front of me light up and glow
bright blue.

That beautiful but lethal shade of light blue from high-voltage
radiation nearly filled in all those little diamond-shaped
openings in the fence.

I stood there awe struck as I realized what had just happened.

I was standing, wet, in rain, holding onto a chain that was
threaded through a metal fence that was just about to be struck
by lightning, when an insignificant insect, an annoying pest, a
bug, flew into my eye and saved my life.

I was completely unharmed, not even a tingle.

Now, I've always believed that we each have a guardian angel,
but I don't know for sure how they do their work. At night
when I lie down to go to sleep, I thank those guardian angels
for the work that they do. Who knows how many times they saved
my life and I don't even know about it.

 

[RiverOL]

People Say
==========​

People say that religion is a crutch.

But there are times in all our lives where our circumstances
cripple us and in those times,

I'd much rather have God to lean on
than any number of less savory alternatives

 

[RiverOL]

P.U.S.H.
=======​

A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room
filled with light and God appeared. The Lord told the man He
had work for him to do and showed him a large rock in front of
his cabin.

The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock
with all his might. So, this the man did, day after day.
For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders
set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving
rock, pushing with all of his might.

Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out,
feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Since the man was showing discouragement, the Adversary (Satan),
decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the weary
mind:

"You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it
hasn't moved."

Thus, he gave the man the impression that the task was
impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts
discouraged and disheartened the man.

Satan said, "Why kill yourself over this? Just put in your
time, giving just the minimum effort, and that will be good
enough. That's what the weary man planned to do, but decided to
make it a matter of prayer and to take his troubled thoughts to
the Lord.

“Lord,” he said, "I have labored long and hard in your service,
putting all my strength to do that which you have asked.
Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by
half a millimeter.

What is wrong?

Why am I failing?”

The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you
to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to
push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have
done.

Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it.

Your task was to push.

And now you come to Me with your strength spent,
thinking that you have failed.

Is that really so?

Look at yourself.

Your arms are strong and muscled,
your back sinewy and brown;
your hands are callused from constant pressure,
your legs have become massive and hard.
Through opposition you have grown much,
and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have.

True, you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be
obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My
wisdom. That you have done.

Now I, my friend, will move the rock."

At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own
intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God
wants is just a simple obedience and faith in Him.

By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains,
but know that it is still God who moves mountains.

When everything seems to go wrong...just

P.U.S.H.!

When the job gets you down... just P.U.S.H.!

When people don't react the way you think
they should... just P.U.S.H.

When your money is "gone" and the bills are due... just P.U.S.H!

When people just don't understand you... just P.U.S.H.

P= Pray
U= Until
S= Something
H= Happens

 

[RiverOL]

What To Count
=============​

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself.

 

[RiverOL]

MountainWings:Saturday - I’ll Keep My Rock
====================================​

I am 18 weeks pregnant with my third child. My first is three,
my youngest one. I have had "all day sickness" for the last 17
weeks. I run a small business and spent the last six hours with
both my children as we ran errands for the business.

My one-year-old lost his one and only pacifier two hours into
our day. I spent the rest of the day with a very cranky,
teething baby and no pacifier. My three-year-old, who has been
potty-trained for almost a year decided to poop his pants while
we were in the car. I had to ask a client if I could use her
bathroom to clean him. It was all over his pants, so he spent
the rest of the day in a blanket.

At the end of the day I came home, gave the children cold cereal
for dinner, because that was all the energy I had. I didn't
even make enough money today to pay one of the mounting bills
laying on my table, most of which are in collections.

I sat down at the computer feeling exhausted, sick, hopeless,
depressed, wondering how I had failed so badly in life. I sat
here trying to tell myself that I am so blessed. After all I
could feed my children, give them clothes and shelter. We had
heat, electricity, they had toys to play with. I was able to be
home with them 24 hours a day, but I couldn't shake my mood.

I remembered I hadn't yet read my MountainWings yet so I logged
on and read P.U.S.H. I had read this story once before
somewhere so I was about to delete when I felt very strongly
that I should read it.

Now I sit here with tears in my eyes no longer from exhaustion,
depression, etc. but because of God's love for me. The rock
became all my troubles, never seeming to move, and dare I say
getting bigger everyday.

I saw myself pushing that rock and feeling the same feelings of
failure. Going to the Lord in prayer asking how I could fail so
badly, and Him telling me I haven't. To look at myself and see
how much I have grown.

To be honest, I wouldn't want my life any other way then it is
now. I would rather go through the trials and learn the wisdom,
understanding, love, and humility that I have learned from my
trials, then to be ignorant of them.

My family likes to joke that when God handed out trials to
everyone in Heaven, we were the last in line and He had extras
so He gave them all to us.

Even so, I have people tell me all the time, even people I have
never met before that there is a strength about me that is
different. If my past is any indicator of my future I'll be
pushing even bigger rocks then the one I am pushing now.

But God puts people like you into my life to help carry the
burden, by reminding me how blessed I truly am. After all today
was hardly anything, it just happened to tip the scale the wrong
way, but your message helped even me out again. Thank you so
much. God bless.

 

[RiverOL]

The Kind We All Want
==================​

It was about 8:30 AM on a busy morning when an elderly gentleman
in his 80s arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb.

He stated that he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at
9:00. I took his vital signs and had him to take a seat, knowing
it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him.

I saw him looking at his watch and decided since I was not busy
with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. After examining
him, I could see the wound was well healed, so I talked to one of
the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his stitches,
and redressed his wound.

While taking care of his wound, we began to talk. I asked if he
had a doctor's appointment this morning as he was in such a hurry.

He told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat
breakfast with his wife.

I then inquired about her health. He told me that she had been
there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's.

As we talked and I finished dressing his wound, I asked if she
would be worried if he was a bit late. He replied that she no
longer knew who he was. He continued saying that she had not
recognized him in five years now.

I was surprised and questioned him, "And you are still going
every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?"

He smiled as he patted my hand and answered,
"She doesn't know me, but I still know who SHE is."

I had to hold back tears as he left. I had goose bumps on my
arm and thought, "That's the kind of love I want in my life."

True love is neither physical nor romantic. True love is an
acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

 

[RiverOL]

====================​

I just read an article about happiness.
It simply explained what I already knew.

Bottom line:
You'll be happier focusing on the bedroom than the boardroom.

The research explained that more money only raises happiness
temporarily. Many believe that focusing on career and making
more money will bring them happiness. The research shows the
gain is soon lost as you raise expectations and you are
surrounded by those with as much material wealth as you have.

The research says this:

If you want to be happy, focus on your health and your family.

Health and family are generally not affected by your surroundings.
No matter what your social direction is, those things remain
valuable and fulfilling and they help keep you happy.

 

[RiverOL]

Alone?
======​

In the cool of the night
There's no body in sight
As you sing a quiet song
Another night all alone

You walk thru the mall
See couples enthralled
Holding hands as they walk
Gazing deep as they talk

By the store window you stand
An answer you demand
In a soul searching tone
"Why am I alone?"

At night no one cuddles along by your side
An empty passenger seat stares at you as you ride
Your favorite movie is playing on cable
One meal stands alone at your dinner table

Again you ask to what seems empty air
Why there's no one to listen, no one to share
My dreams and my hopes
As I'm climbing the ropes

Even in victory
It's still just me
Who stands in the light
No partner in sight

Why must I walk in complete solitude?
Why must the master be so rude?
Is it too much to ask?
Is that too hard a task?

To have someone with whom to share
Someone about whom I really care
Someone to mingle my life
Someone to ease the strife

You stand in the window thinking it's only me
A ship by itself in the midst of the sea

Open your eyes and gaze hard in the glass
See what's really true about now and the past

If you ride all alone and no one is there
How do you explain the car that you missed by a hair
You felt something pull you in the nick of time
For the tragedy on the news could have been thine

Or the time that you were up against the wall
And didn't know how you'd make it at all
Up all night you didn't know what to do
But at the very last moment came the breakthrough

Remember the thing that scared you so bad
Terrible thoughts of what you had
Then the report that reached your ear
No need to worry for all was clear

And the little voice that gave you advice
The voice that was right more than once or twice
It urges you on and sometimes says stop
Slow down be careful, around that corner's a flop

Gaze in the window
See what eyes cannot
Look hard, see the shadows
Look hard at the plot

A brush of wind around you clings
Unseen but felt, those are angels' wings

The movement seen from the corner of your eye
Angels that catch each tear that you cry

If you knew the truth you’d wonder out loud
How could I have been lonely in the midst of this crowd?
For God has sent you a host of protectors
Directors, objectors, connectors, inspectors.

As you leave the window to continue your stroll
Invisible hands are there for you to hold

How could you have ever been so wrong
To think that God would leave you alone.

It’s not that you were ever alone at all
Your eyes open as you move down the mall
You were never one in the sea
You simply couldn't see reality.

If you knew the loving and caring that surrounds
If you knew the warmth and softness that abounds

If you knew the truth about what really is
You’d see the hands that catch all of your tears.

 

[RiverOL]

The Expense Worth The Lesson
==========================​

After having six bosses in 4 1/2 years, I decided it was time to
leave my job. Who needs to put up with this? Despite the
economic hard times, I found a new position doing something that
I thought I would really enjoy.

At first it was fun being in a new and challenging environment.
Then I found out I'd have the health care coverage I was
promised - after 90 days, and I'd have a 401(k) - after six months.

Since the office had mainly younger people working there, heavy
metal music would blare through the speakers in the sales office
during most of the day. Further, the company wanted me to make
sales through a "bait and switch" technique.

Suddenly, I found myself missing the pay, benefits and friends
of my old office. And I realized that I could apply this lesson
to other areas of my life.

I remembered cursing and wasting the day many times during those
cold, dreary, sleety days in February. Oh, I would think, if I
could only be living somewhere warm and sunny! How fun it would
be then to call and taunt my friends back home with, "It's 20
degrees there? Well, here it's 70 without a cloud in the sky!"

But now I realize that I'd miss the change in seasons and
running on frosty mornings like the one we had today.

I've also thought that if my wife ever left me, either by choice
or by death, that I could find another mate. Maybe even someone
young and pretty! Now I realize that it might be fun, for a
while. But it might take years (or even longer than forever) to
find a wonderful, thoughtful, intelligent, loyal, resourceful
all-around good person like the one who lives with me now.

The choice I made leaving my job has cost me dearly, both
financially and emotionally, but my former company has offered
to take me back. I am now a humbler and more appreciative
person. The expense may have been worth the lesson.
I learned to avoid an even bigger mistake in my life.

 

[RiverOL]

How To Mend A Broken Heart?
=========================​

How do you mend a broken heart?

We get a lot of prayer requests asking to simply pray for their
broken heart.

So what do you do when you've got a broken heart?

Here are four steps that will help you up that mountain.

1. Occupy 2. Gratify 3. Sanctify 4. Glorify.

Occupy:
Occupy your time, don't sit around moping.

Do something.

Idleness is the soil of self-pity and depression. Get busy.
The best thing that you can do is to do something that helps
others. It's a universal principle that when you start focusing
on helping others, your own problems are diminished.
Don't just stand there, DO SOMETHING!

Gratify:
Write a list of the things you like, then pick three of those
things and put those things in your life - now.
Make sure you can afford them and that they aren't harmful.
When our hearts are broken, we often deprive ourselves of the
things we enjoy. Make an effort to put enjoyment in your life.

Sanctify:
Do good. Don't return evil for evil, hurt for hurt, pain for
pain. Don't wish something horrible would happen to the other
person. Hope for their good fortune in your spirit, and it just
may release your good fortune in your world.

The easiest way to forget someone, is to truly wish them well.

Glorify:
Life is not over. You can live without them. Not only can you
live without them, you can live even happier without them.
It is a matter of perspective. Even with the negative in your
world at the moment, there is something to be thankful for.

There is plenty to be thankful for actually.
Give God the glory for what you have.
You can't be sad and thankful at the same time.
Tell heartbreak to move over.

There is a sermon on www.AirJesus.com called "Breaking the 3-Way
Tie, How to Break Soul, Sex and Spirit Ties." If you or someone
you know is suffering from a broken heart, they might do well to
listen to it.

A famous comedian said,
"A man isn't a man until he's had his heart broken."

It's not really broken, it's just tenderized.

 

[RiverOL]

You Are Not Alone
===============​

You are not alone.

You are not alone in suffering.
Most of us suffer in one form or another.

So says scripture:
Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
(Job 14:1 KJV)

"Seventy years are given to us! Some may even reach eighty.
But even the best of these years are filled with pain and trouble;
soon they disappear, and we are gone." (Psalms 90:10 NLT)

You are not alone.

"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask
the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you
forever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him,
because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for
he lives with you and will be in you." (John 14:15-17 NIV)

You are not alone.

God sees, hears, and forgives you.

Often our problem is not with God forgiving us,
but in us forgiving ourselves.
God has forgiven us long ago, but we still carry the guilt.

Life is not futile, it is full.
It's just that everything in life is not pleasant.

You have considered ending it all.
What you have not considered is that ending it may put you in a
far worse place.

Believe it, there are much worse places and conditions.

You are ready to give up because you think no one cares.
You honestly feel that you are alone.
If only you could see the angels that surround you.
If only you knew the things that you have been kept from.
If only you knew the disasters you have been protected against.

Soldiers in the natural and the spiritual realms are on duty
right now to protect YOU.

When my 13-month-old son is sick, he feels terrible.
He wonders why he is sick.

He is unaware of all of the love that surrounds him because he
can only feel the pain of his sickness. When he is congested
and has trouble breathing; all he knows is that he feels like
he is suffocating.

Each breath that you take is a gift.

Even when it is hard to breathe,
you are still surrounded by love.

You are not alone. Know this.

To the person who submitted a prayer request to MountainWings
in desperation and despair, (you know who you are)
and to all others this applies to

...this is for you.

You are not alone.