Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 11 – No. 4709 November 21, 2009
Thought for the week: "Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver." – Barbara De Angelis
"Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first." – Frederick Wilcox
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." – Theodore Roosevelt
"To carry a grudge is like being stung to death by one bee." – William H. Walton
"Tough times never last, tough people do." – Robert Schuller
"A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for." – Grace Hopper
"We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort." – Jesse Owens
"You can't be a smart cookie if you have a crummy attitude." – John Maxwell
I recall, as a little barefoot boy with a cowlick of snow-white hair on my forehead, standing erect in my classroom and repeating the "Pledge of Allegiance" one Thanksgiving season. Our nation was at war and times were hard. My teacher had lost her husband on the blood washed shores of Normandy. As we later bowed our heads for prayer, she wept aloud. I did too. All the class joined in. She stumbled through one of the most moving expressions of gratitude and praise that ever emerged from a soul plunged in pain.
At that time in my young life, I fell strangely in love with Thanksgiving. Lost in sympathy and a boy's pity for his teacher, I walked home very slowly that afternoon. Although only a child, I had profound feelings of gratitude for my country ... my friends ... my school ... my church ... my family. I swore before God that I would fight to the end to keep this land free from foes who would want to take away America's distinctives and the joys of living in this good land. I have never forgotten my childhood promise. I never shall.
Charles R. Swindoll, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life,
Grand Rapids: Zondervan, p. 424.
A young woman who was a great lover of flowers, had set out a rare vine at the base of a stone wall ... It grew vigorously, but it did not bloom. Day after day she cultivated it, watered it, and tried in every way to coax it to bloom.
One morning, as she stood disappointedly before it, her invalid neighbor, whose back lot adjoined her own, called over and said, "You can't imagine how much I have been enjoying the blooms of that vine you planted!" The owner looked, and on the other side of the wall was a mass of blooms. The vine had crept through the crevices and flowered luxuriantly on the other side.
THOUGHT: So often we think our efforts are thrown away because we do not see their fruits. We need to learn that in God's service our prayers, our toil, and our crosses are never in vain. Somewhere they bear fruit and hearts will receive blessings and joy.
"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that wins souls is wise" (Proverbs 11:30).
I run into a lot of cynics. The nicer ones commend me for my good intentions, but they all have one common question: "Do you really think your little 90-second talks about ethics and character make any difference?" Their message: You're wasting your time. People are what they are, and nothing you say will make them change.
Do I feel like Don Quixote tilting at windmills? A salmon swimming upstream? A voice in the wilderness?
To be honest, sometimes I do wonder whether it's worth the effort. But then I'll receive a letter from someone who says he or she found something I said very valuable, and I get re-energized.
A good example is a letter I once received from a 13-year-old named Calvin. He thanked me for being a positive influence in his life, saying my commentaries stimulated him to become kinder and less egotistical. He told me they were better than vitamins.
My point isn't to congratulate myself for making a difference in Calvin's life; rather it's to thank him for making a difference in mine.
It's been said that unexpressed gratitude is like wrapping a present and failing to give it to the person you got it for.
Don't underestimate the impact you can have when you take the time to make someone feel valued and valuable. Everyone—children, parents, teachers, bosses, coworkers, even people you don't know—crave confirmation of their worth.
If you want to make a difference in the lives of others, give compliments, express gratitude, and write notes whenever you can.
No act of appreciation is ever wasted.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."1
"University psychologists recently conducted a research project on gratitude and thanksgiving. They divided participants into three groups. People in the first group practiced daily exercises like writing in a gratitude journal. They reported higher levels of alertness, determination, optimism, energy, and less depression and stress than the control group. Unsurprisingly, they were also a lot happier than the participants who were told to keep an account of all the bad things that happened each day.
"One of the psychologists concluded that though a practice of gratitude is a key to most religions, its benefits extend to the general population, regardless of faith or no faith. He suggested that anyone can increase his sense of well-being just from counting his blessings."2
As William Shakespeare said so eloquently: "Let never day nor night unhallowed pass / But still remember what the Lord hath done." To those words I would add a very hearty amen!
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please give me a thankful heart and may words of thanksgiving be always in my heart and never far from my lips, and help me always to live in an attitude of gratitude. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
1. Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV).
2. Chuck Colson in Breakpoint, May 17, 2005. http://www.pfm.org/
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Oprah Winfrey: "Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and soon discovered there was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi." – Oprah Winfrey
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