Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 11 – No. 0109 January 03, 2009
Thought for the week: "Families—not government programs—are the best way to make sure our children
are properly nurtured, our elderly are cared for, our cultural and spiritual
heritages are perpetuated, our laws are observed and our values are
preserved." – Ronald Reagan
Wishing all our subscribers a very Happy New Year and God's richest blessings throughout all of 2009!
"Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop." – Ovid
"We fear the government may be powerful enough to destroy our families; we know that it is not powerful enough to replace them." – Ronald Reagan
"A life spent centering only on itself will in the end occupy a very, very small universe." – John Glenn
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Four short words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd: a little bit more. They did all that was expected of them and a little bit more." – A. Lou Vickery
"Days are scrolls: write on them only what you want remembered." – Bchya Ibn Pakuda
"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love." – Martin Luther King Jr.
My nursing colleague was preparing an intravenous line for a 15-year-old male patient. The bedside phone rang, and the boy's mother reached over to pick it up.
After talking for a few minutes, the mother held the phone aside and said, "Your father wants to know if you have any cute nurses."
The boy gazed at the nurse, who had the needle poised above his arm, ready for insertion.
"Tell him," he replied, "they're absolutely gorgeous."
According to motivational speaker, Brian Tracy, "One of the greatest success principles of all is called the Law of Accumulation. This law says that everything great and worthwhile in human life is an accumulation of hundreds and sometimes thousands of tiny efforts and sacrifices that nobody ever sees or appreciates.
"It says that everything accumulates over time. That you have to put in many, many, many tiny efforts that nobody sees or appreciates before you achieve anything worthwhile. It's like a snowball. A snowball starts very small, but it grows as it adds millions and millions of tiny snowflakes and continues to grow as it gathers momentum."
And as Ray Lammie, three-time cancer survivor, said, "It ALL counts. Everything we do adds up over the course of a lifetime. I have studied and researched this topic for many years, and it has a "magical effect". We are the sum-total of everything we have done in the past. Our future is going to be the sum-total of what we think, what we do and how we act—today. It all counts; life does keep score."
Source: Thought for Today by Ray Lammie. To subscribe send a blank e-mail to RIL3@aol.com with Subscribe in the Subject line.
More than a half-century ago, General Omar Bradly wrote, "America today is running on the momentum of a Godly ancestry, and when that momentum runs down, God help America."
General Omar Bradley, first chairman of
the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (1949-53).
As a youngster I didn't really like following orders from my father, perhaps because I didn't like his tone of voice; or the fact that I just wanted to do my own thing. Taking out the garbage was not my thing; I enjoyed playing more than obeying Dad.
Eventually I even enjoyed taking out garbage, much to the relief of a sore bottom when I didn't obey.
There was a time in my teen years when I encountered that same tone of voice, especially when the local sheriff's deputy took me home from a store where I had just shoplifted some Mars candy bars. A lesson learned wasn't from embarrassment, but from a butch style haircut. It seemed that my father equated long hair as a sign of rebellion, and the hair cut was supposed to have squelched my thievery. It's fortunate that I was younger than the age at which a run-in with law enforcement sometimes resulted in enlistment in the military. Later, when I finished college, I was drafted into the Army, where servant hood as a draftee was learned early on.
It was also in the Army that I was paired off with another soldier, and it was there I learned the valuable lesson that two people serving together are better than one. One example is when you're on the rifle range with a machine gun. One does the firing, while his buddy feeds the magazine with the bandolier of bullets.
These are lessons that have carried over through the years.
One of the highlights of my life as a dad—and having five kids, I've had quite a few—occurred on a Saturday afternoon when I was taking my then 13-year-old son Justin and his friend Aaron to a movie. As we entered the theater, I noticed the ticket seller had undercharged me, so I asked the boys to wait a moment while I returned the money.
This did not please the boys, who were anxious to get choice seats.
Nevertheless, I endured hostile glares from people in line and even an annoyed reaction from the cashier, who corrected the mistake. When I returned, Aaron, who was exasperated because the prime seats had been taken, asked, "Why did you have to do that? It was her mistake, not yours."
I was about to launch into a lecture on integrity when my son, who was also irritated, looked at his friend and said, "What did you expect him to do?"
Many years later, this memory is an uplifting reminder of the impact we have on the character of our kids. Hearing from my son that he expected me to be honest and knew I expected the same of him was like a pat on the back saying I'd done okay as a father.
My son, still one of the most honest people I know, realized that honesty is neither a convenience nor a choice. To a person who values integrity, it's a habit.
When it comes to parenting, it's hard to know what's working and what isn't, but one of the best rewards for attentive parenting is seeing something good in our children and knowing we played a part.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."1
Scientists were studying the impact of a high-cholesterol diet on heart disease. To measure this effect, they fed a group of genetically similar rabbits the same high-cholesterol diet. To their amazement, half the rabbits developed heart troubles, while the others were normal, with no noticeable heart disease.
This outcome was not explainable, so they bought new rabbits and repeated the study. At the end of two weeks, they obtained the same results. Something was wrong with the research design, but they could not determine the unaccountable variable.
Eventually, they discovered that during the evening the assistant who fed and cared for the rabbits took the rabbits out of their cages and cuddled them and petted them while she changed their bedding and food. However, because she was short, she could not reach the rabbits on the top shelf, so they were simply fed and changed without being picked up. Sure enough, after two weeks, the rabbits on the top row all had heart disease, while the rabbits on the bottom row were healthy. The environment and diet were exactly the same. The only variable was expressed love through touching.2
I'm not suggesting that we ignore a healthy diet. Not at all! But every one of us also needs a healthy diet of love and affection if we are to be and stay healthy.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please help me to be so filled with your love that I will always be loving and affectionate towards my loved ones and also (with discretion) to all the people you bring into my life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Romans 12:9–10 (NIV).
2. By Marvin Wray in "Wit and Wisdom."
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Books by Dick Innes, Editor of Weekend Encounter You Can't Fly With a Broken Wing How to Mend a Broken Heart I Hate Witnessing—A Handbook for Effective Christian
Communications
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Healing, Wholeness & Happiness by Dick Innes
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I Hate Witnessing by Dick Innes
God's Formula for Success by Dick Innes
Damaged Emotions by David Seamands Healing of the Memories by David Seamands...
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