A Valuable Lesson Taught By A Kitten

A little gray kitten taught me a valuable lesson on drawing closer to God.

By Oleeta J. Takao, Birmingham, Alabama

I used to have trouble keeping my mind from wandering and from worrying about my problems during my morning meditations. No matter how hard I tried my quiet time would have stressful moments where I couldn't feel God's comfort.  Then one day when I was feeling restless and cranky I heard our silver kitten crying at my feet.


I tried to pick him up and put him in my lap where I could soothe him, but he would have none of it. He shrieked and scratched, then squirmed from my grasp. 


I was annoyed. Doesn't he see, I thought, that I want to comfort him?


Then a small voice seemed to answer: It's like you and God. He wants to hold you to comfort you, but sometimes you are so frantic that He cannot.


After that, I decided to try a little exercise during my daily prayer time. I began envisioning myself crawling up into God's lap. As I snuggled close to Him, I felt His strong arms enfold me. Then, taking a deep breath, I imagined that the power of God was flowing into my body. If a worry came to mind, I leaned my head against His great heart and listened. Slowly all the distortions in my thinking began to dissolve.


At last, I felt the unity with God that I had been seeking.

Which Baby Would You Kill?

A worried woman went to her gynecologist and said: "Doctor, I have a serious problem and desperately need your help! My baby is not even one year old and I'm pregnant again. I don't want kids so close together."

The doctor said: "Ok, and what do you want me to do?"

She said: "I want you to end my pregnancy, and I'm counting on your help with this."

The doctor thought for a little, and after some silence he said to the lady:

"I think I have a better solution for your problem. It's less dangerous for you, too." She smiled, thinking that the doctor was going to accept her request.

Then he continued: "You see, in order for you not to have to take care of two babies at the same time, let's kill the one in your arms. This way, you could rest some before the second one is born. If we're going to kill one of them anyway, it really doesn't matter which one it is, does it? There would be no risk for your body if you chose to kill the one in your arms."

The woman was horrified and said: "No doctor! How terrible! It's a crime to kill a child!"

"I agree", the doctor replied. "But you seemed to be ok with it, so I thought maybe that might be the best solution."

The doctor smiled, realizing that he had made his point. He convinced the mom that there is no difference in killing a child that's already been born and one that's still in the womb. The crime is the same! Realizing this was true, the woman withdrew her request and soon found the love and support she needed at a local Church and Pregnancy Care Center. The mother and child are both alive and well today.

"Love cannot remain by itself -- it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service." — Mother Teresa

A Future President's Gratitude

Grace was the little girl who told Lincoln to grow a beard

Conrad Hyers in his book, And God Created Laughter tells a of an 8 year old girl who wrote to Abraham Lincoln, who was then running for President suggesting that he grow a beard. In her opinion, Lincoln would stand a better chance of election if he grew one to hide the homeliness of his face. Lincoln could have been offended, but instead he answered her letter personally and thanked her for her suggestion, furthering adding that he’d like to visit with her when his campaign came to her area.

On the day that Lincoln’s campaign train was scheduled to pass through the town, practically the whole town was assembled at the station. There were the leading Republicans wearing their top hats, the shiny marching, band, the townsfolk in their finest attire. Almost everyone was there... al except the little girl. She was left home. After all, her father reasoned, Lincoln would be interested only in the politicians and their speeches - the votes and the voters - not the attentions of a little girl.
 

It so happened, however, that as the campaign train approached the town, it was forced to stop for repairs. Lincoln, not wanting to sit in the warm train, set off across the field afoot in search of the little girl’s home.
When Lincoln introduced himself at the door, the maid was speechless. But the little girl and her playmate, the maid’s daughter, welcomed him in as if they were expecting him. The two girls had been having a pretend party, drinking pretend hot chocolate out of their small teacups and they invited Mr. Lincoln to join them. After a while, Lincoln said he must be going, thanked them for the party, and asked them how they liked his new beard. Then he walked to the waiting train.
 

When Lincoln boarded the train, it started on its way and went right through the town without stopping. Right past all the waiting dignitaries, politicians, loud playing band and flag draped platform; right past ladies and gentlemen in their Sunday best... for Lincoln hadn’t come to visit people who were putting on a show for his benefit. He had come to visit and say thank you to a little girl who just wanted to spend time with him.

A Barrel For Fifty Cents

On the front porch of his little country store in Illinois, a small businessman stood with his partner. Business was all gone, and the partner asked, "How much longer can we keep this going?"

The owner answered, "It looks as if our business has just about winked out." Then he continued, "You know, I wouldn’t mind so much if I could just do what I want to do. I want to study law. I wouldn’t mind so much if we could sell everything we’ve got and pay all our bills and have just enough left over to buy one book--Blackstone’s Commentary on English Law, but I guess I can’t."

At that moment a strange-looking wagon came up the road. The driver drove it up close to the store porch, then looked at the owner and said, "I’m trying to move my family out west, and I’m out of money. I’ve got a good barrel here that I could sell for fifty cents."

The businessman’s eyes went along the wagon and came to the wife looking at him pleadingly, her face thin and emaciated. He slipped his hand into his pocket and took out, according to him, "the last fifty cents I had" and said, "I reckon I could use a good barrel."

All day long the barrel sat on the porch of that store. The partner kept chiding the owner about it. Late in the evening the businessman walked out and looked down into the barrel. He saw something in the bottom of it, papers that he hadn’t noticed before. His long arms went down into the barrel and, as he fumbled around, he hit something solid. He pulled out a book and stood dumbfounded: it was Blackstone’s Commentary on English Law.

That businessman was Abraham Lincoln. Chance or Providence?

This Glass of Water Can Kill You

Once a professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see and asked the students, “how much do you think this glass weighs? Maybe it's 50gms,100gms or 125gms?".

The students answered, “I really don’t know unless I weigh it.”

The professor said, "Now, my question is: 'What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?’"

‘Nothing’ the students said.

“Okay, what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?” the professor asked.

“Your arm would begin to ache” said one of the students.

“You’re right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?”

“Your arm could go numb! 

"You might have severe muscle stress and even paralysis! You'll then have to go to hospital for sure!" Ventured another student. All the students laughed.

“Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass of water change?” Asked the professor.

“No” was the reply of all the students.

“Then what caused the arm to ache and the muscle to become stressed?” 

After a pause the professor asked “Before my arm aches, what should I do?”

The students were puzzled.

“Put the glass down!” said one of the students.

“Exactly!” said the professor, “Life’s problems are exactly like this. Hold it for a few minutes in your head; they seem all right. Think of them for a long time and they begin to ache. Hold it even longer and they will begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything.”

It’s important to think of the challenges or problems in your life, but EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY, you have to learn how to ‘put them down’. At the end of every day before you go to sleep, commit every care and stress of the day to the Lord. You will be surprise that many of the so-called 'problems' may look different after a good night rest.

By the grace of God, you will wake up refreshed, energized and ready to face another day!

Remember to put the glass down at the end of every day!

YOU'LL FIND JESUS THERE

"Tomorrow morning I'll open up your heart" the surgeon said to the 8 year-old-boy.

"You'll find Jesus there," the boy said.

The surgeon continued, "I'll open your heart and check the damage."

"You'll find Jesus there," the boy said.

"When I see the damage, I will suture you back up and then think about the next step," said the surgeon.

"You will find Jesus in my heart because my Sunday school teacher told me so. She said it says so in the Bible. Besides that, our Sunday school songs say He lives there," said the boy.

The surgery took place the next day. After the surgery the surgeon began to make notes of what he found. In his mind there was no hope and no cure. The little boy would die within a matter of months.

The thought began to get to the doctor and all of a sudden the doctor shouted to God, "Why did you do this to the boy? Why can't he live a normal life?"

God spoke to the surgeon's heart and said, "The boy is a part of my flock and will always be a part of my flock. When he is with me there will be no more suffering and pain. He will have comfort and peace. One day his parents as well as you will join him and my flock will continue to grow."

The next day the surgeon went to the boy's room and sat down with the parents beside the bed.

In a moment or two, the boy opened his eyes and asked very quietly, "What did you find in my heart?"

With tears flowing down his cheeks, the surgeon said, "I found Jesus there."

(author unknown)

The Mountain Has No Defence

The mountain has no defence of its own. All may climb it if they dare. However brave the climbers, they will never climb when the weather is really bad. 

The rain, snow, ice and wind are unpredictable. 

It's not the stable things but the unstable things that can throw you a curve ball in life. 

Climb your mountain but keep an eye on the unpredictable weather. 

Rev Albert Kang