Giving is the best Communication

This heartwarming Thai commercial has made thousands of people weep.

This is worth the share.

Credits to True Move H.

The 3 Trees

Here’s a special story I’d like to share with all of you on this Sunday Christmas morning. This is shared via FB by Malinesky, a dear friend from Victoria, Australia. Original author unknown.

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Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, “Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty.”

Then the second tree said, “Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.”

Finally the third tree said, “I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the Hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.”

redwoodhikes.com

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, “This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter,” and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree the woodsman said, “This looks like a strong tree. I should be able to sell it to the shipyard.” The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the Woodsmen said, “I don’t need anything special from my Tree, I’ll take this one,” and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces, and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams. Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn’t think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and He stood and said “Peace” and the Storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don’t seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, God will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don’t always know what God’s plans are for us.

We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

Abandoned Babies?!

It is quite alarming. Within the last week only, five babies were reported in the news to have been abandoned in different places in Manila. Only one was found alive and the rest were found dead. What’s happening?

A couple of days ago, one newly-born baby was found in an airplane comfort room. Luckily he was still alive and was immediately brought to the hospital. The possible mother was recently traced and denied of doing the abandonment of the baby. Another baby was found in a ship, also in the rest room, but was already dead. The mother was also traced and admitted the crime. She said she got scared when she accidentally delivered the baby while urinating. Quite an excuse.

Yesterday, two fetuses were found in two different churches in Manila. One was found along the one of the seats in Manila Cathedral. One was found along the entrance of Quiapo Church. This morning, another fetus was found along the streets of Catmon, Malabon.

As a nurse, I am pro-life and so it is disheartening to know that there are some people who can just decide to take away innocent lives. I tend to think that there must be serious problems with the coming of that baby. I know that there are some therapeutic reasons for terminating pregnancies, but other than those reasons, I feel that taking away the baby’s right to live cannot be justified by whatever problems there can be, be it poverty or  marital issues. If only the baby could talk to defend his life!

There are other means to solve unwanted pregnancy problems. Institutions like Norfil Foundation can help mothers who are in this situation. They take care of the pregnant mother until the baby is delivered. And if it has been decided that the mother can not take care of the baby, the agency looks for a foster parent for the baby.

Life is sometimes a joke. I know lots of couple who were wishing to have even one baby. Yet there are others who does not want them and decide to take away their baby’s life.

I wish that people who decide to abandon their babies realize that it is a very big mistake to refuse this special gift from Above. I believe that all babies are unique and special. Although it may not be obvious when the unwanted baby is born, but his value as a gift will unfold when he is also regarded as unique, special and very much wanted.

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picture credits: mobshare.in, news.pinkpaper.com

Chicken Ala Carte

I Buy My Time

I attended a workshop on time management a few months back and one point that was emphasized in the lecture was that “we can’t buy time.” Once time is gone, you can never get it back. Spending time on non-sense stuff can never be returned back to be used again.

However, I still feel that in one way or another we CAN buy time. When I say “buying” means the use of money. How I do it?

1.  There are several ways to go to work -by public bus, which passes by every 30 minutes, or by taxi which you can take anytime. The bus is a much cheaper way but it would take me a longer time to reach my workplace, because it stops every now and then at many bus stops. But most of the time, I take the taxi to get to work, because I arrive early at work and the extra minutes I get is used to prepare my self for work. And since it only takes a short time to get to work with the taxi, I didn’t have to wake up early. That means I can sleep that few minutes in the morning and get up without rushing. That means I can stay up a bit late the previous night to be with my family. I feel that I “bought” time by taking the cab instead of the much cheaper bus.

2.  Coming home from work would be the same. Instead of waiting for the public bus, I take the cab again to reach home early. That means I will be spending the extra minutes at home resting and enjoying with my family, than spending it outside the streets waiting for the bus to come and then standing inside a full-packed bus. I get to eat dinner early too.

If you have the budget to spend on “time” why not buy it for some quality life? Indeed, once time passes, it can never be bought back.

An Hour of Your Time

A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his 5 year old son waiting for him at the door.

“Daddy, may I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man.

“Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?

“That’s none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily.

“I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy.

“If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.”

“Oh,” the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?”

The father was furious. “If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you’re being so selfish. I work long, hard hours everyday and don’t have time for such childish games.”

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy’s questioning. How dare him ask such questions only to get some money.

After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00, and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door. “Are you asleep son?” he asked.

“No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy.

“I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man. “It’s been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here’s that $10.00 you asked for.”

The little boy sat straight up, beaming. “Oh, thank you daddy!” he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man.

“Why did you want more money if you already had some?” the father grumbled.

“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied.

“Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?”

(repost/author unknown)

Parable of the Pencil

My Sunday inspirational story. I have read this several times, but still worth sharing. Author unknown.

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The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.

“There are 5 things you need to know,” he told the pencil, “Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.”

“One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone’s hand.”

“Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil.”

“Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.”

“Four: The most important part of you will always be what’s inside.”

“And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.”

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.

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My thoughts:

The PENCIL is like our lives and these lessons are actually life lessons we need to remember as we walk our own journeys, if we want to become the best person that we can be.

ONE: We will be able to do many great things, but only if we allow ourselves to be held in God’s hand. And if we allow other people to access us for the many gifts we possess.

TWO: We will have to undergo so many life’s trials, misfortunes and discouragements. But we should always remember that we need them to develop ourselves more. We learn through our mistakes, and through problems we evolve into more mature individuals.

THREE: We can correct the mistakes we made in our lives. We may never bring back time, but if we can continue moving on having the lessons learned from the mistakes.

FOUR: The most important part of who we are is not how we look and how rich we are, but what’s inside of us – our values, our beliefs, our experiences, our friendships.

AND FIVE: Whatever your work or job is, we have to make sure we do our best. We should not be discouraged of the trials that will come our way.

The pencil is a good reminder on how our lives should be. I will always bring one to remind me of these lessons.

The Cracked Pot

Sunday inspirational story.

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The journey begins one April morning. An elderly chinese woman who has two large pots, which she carries with a pole balanced across her neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

notice how the cracked pot leaks water ...

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. ‘I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.’ The old woman smiled, ‘Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?

That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.’ ‘For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.’ Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.’

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EACH OF US HAS OUR OWN UNIQUE FLAW…
BUT IT’S THE CRACKS AND FLAWS WE EACH HAVE THAT MAKE OUR LIVES TOGETHER SO VERY
INTERESTING AND REWARDING. YOU’VE JUST GOT TO TAKE EACH PERSON FOR WHAT THEY ARE AND LOOK FOR THE GOOD IN THEM.
WE’RE ALL CRACKED POTS. BUT IF WE WILL ALLOW HIM, THE LORD WILL USE US, IN SPITE OF OUR FLAWS, TO GRACE HIS FATHER’S TABLE IN SOME WAY. NOTHING GOES TO WASTE IN HIM.
SO, AS WE SEEK WAYS TO MINISTER, AND AS GOD CALLS YOU TO DO THE JOB HE HAS APPOINTED FOR YOU, DON’T BE AFRAID OF YOUR FLAWS. ACKNOWLEDGE THEM, AND ALLOW HIM TO USE THEM, SO YOU TOO CAN HELP ADD BEAUTY ALONG THE PATHWAYS HE HAS CHOSEN FOR YOU.

TO ALL MY FRIENDS, HAVE A GREAT DAY AND REMEMBER TO SMELL THE FLOWERS, ON YOUR SIDE OF THE PATH. GOD BLESS US ALL!

(author unknown)

Story of A Nurse

Late one December night on the cancer ward, the halls were quiet and solemn, the patients were asleep and most of the visitors were gone. The nurses were gathered about the nurse’s station preparing for shift change. Sarah, one of the nurses, was especially tired, having worked seven straight 12 hour days. The kids had needs, her husband had been laid off, and the house payment was due.

What kept her going was that in January she was going to find a new job. After ten years of answering call lights, working short staffed, putting up with constant administrative changes, she had decided that it was not worth the effort anymore.

PING. PING. PING. Sara angrily looked at the call light box, “Good grief!” The patient was a seventy-year-old woman. Sarah had been to her room at the end of the hall at least fifteen times. Angrily she started down the hall.

On her way, she suddenly stopped. She stood motionless as a soft voice wafted out of room 235.

“And then one day I’ll cross the river; I’ll fight life’s final war with pain; And then as death gives way to victory, I’ll see the lights of glory and I’ll know He lives.”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she listened and thought about the young woman in that room — a thirty-five year old mother of two with cancer, with only a week to live, perhaps days. Sarah stood there, with tears in her eyes, remembering how this young terminal woman had such peace.

The patient would speak to everyone who came into her room and she would smile even in her pain and took the time to share her faith and let people know the reason for her peace was a faith in God. All the nurses who had been around her commented on her strength and how they had felt peace and calm after talking with this exceptional young woman..

“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow; Because He lives, all fear is gone Because I know who holds the future, Life is worth all the living, just because He lives.”

Unstoppable tears flowed as Sarah stood a few moments more, but the tears had taken on a newness. No longer were they tears of sadness for this young woman but tears of renewal that washed away the disappointment and disillusionment of her job, and the fear about the future.

Sarah started down the hall to answer the call light, but she was no longer going to check on some pestering old woman. She was going to the room of a patient, a person, a fellow human in need. Sarah no longer looked to January so she could quit — she looked to her next shift when she would again have the opportunity to serve her fellow man. Sarah left work with a new outlook on life. She had a rekindling of the spirit of service that had motivated her to become a nurse. Those fires had almost died, but for a young terminal woman who had the desire to be of service to her fellow man even unto death.

This is a reminder to me that the reason that we are on this earth at all is to be of service to each other.

– by Tony Collins

(repost from another site I have forgotten to note. just sharing).

God’s Embroidery

When I was a little boy, my mother used to embroider a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering. As from the underside I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand.

I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat. She would smile at me, look down and gently say, “My son, you go about your playing for a while, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side.”

I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view. A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother’s voice say, “Son, come and sit on my knee and see the embroidery I have made for you.”

This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower or a sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy.

Then Mother would say to me, “My son, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre- drawn plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing.”

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Many times through the years I have looked up to the Almighty and said, “O, My God, , what are You doing?” He has answered, “I am embroidering your life.”

I say, “But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can’t they all be bright?”

The Almighty seems to tell me, “My child, you go about your business and allow me of doing My business, and one day I will put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My side.”

Do you have the patience for that ??

Haste when unwarranted is waste and may disturb the Almighty’s beautiful Plan for your life.

(pic: rosepearson.com)