LOVE, WEALTH, OR SUCCESS?

A woman came out of her house and saw 3 old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them.

She said "I don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat."

"Is the man of the house home?", they asked.

"No", she said. "He's out."

"Then we cannot come in", they replied.

In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened. "Go tell them I am home and invite them in!" The woman went out and invited the men in.

"We do not go into a House together," they replied. "Why is that?" she wanted to know. One of the old men explained: "His name is Wealth," he said pointing to one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, "He is Success, and I am Love." Then he added, "Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home."

The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. "How nice!!", he said. "Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!" His wife disagreed. "My dear, why don't we invite Success?" Their daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion: "Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!" "Let us agree to our daughter-in-law's advice," said the husband to his wife. "Go out and invite Love to be our guest."

The woman went out and asked the 3 old men, "Which one of you is Love Please come in and be our guest." Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other 2 also got up and followed him.

Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: "I only invited Love, Why are you coming in?" The old men replied together: "If you had invited Wealth or Success. The other two of us would've stayed out, but since you invited Love. Wherever He goes, we go with him.

Wherever there is Love,
there is also Wealth and Success!!!!!!"

--By Unknown

The Power of Words

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead.

The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all of their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out.

When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?" The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

This story gives us thoughts to think about:
1. An encouraging word to someone who is down can encourage them to achieve their goal.
2. A destructive word to someone who is down can have negative effects. Be careful of what you say.

The quote below was sent to me by Master Mark Russell. His quote describes "words" very accurately:
"Words:
The Snow may look smooth and soft,
but the rocks underneath are sharp!"

One last point,
Are your words encouraging?

--by Author Unkown

Sometimes and Always

Sometimes occasionally goes by the rules but mostly does his own thing. He is more worried about being everyone's friend than doing his school work. He gets into trouble a lot but managed to charm his way through it. His parents have gone to school a lot to have parent teacher conferences.

Always is a boy who always goes by the book, never breaks the rules and is never in trouble. He always pleased his family and friends and never let them down. He is usually stressed out and gets headaches and stomach aches from stress.

Always became very ill one day and had to be rushed to the hospital. The doctors were baffled at what could be wrong with him. Many tests were run and in the end they were inconclusive. He was released and went home only to be stressed some more about missing school and possibly letting everyone down if he received a grade less than an A.

Now sometimes was doing poorly in school and he knew it. He decided that he would just do what he could to get by, he thought " Why should I stress out look what happened to Always."

Well Always was having the same thoughts " Why should I stress and make myself sick, sometimes gets by ok" and at that time he started missing school and just barely got passing grades.

Their parents decided to sit the boys down and talk to them and tell them that they just need to do their best and that is all that can be asked of them. They do not need to stress and get ill but also do not slack off and get failing grades.

Their parents just wanted them to know that whatever they did they would be proud of them as long as they did their best.

Finally, Sometimes spoke up and said " You mean even if we don't do well all the time that you will still love us and be proud of us ?? " The parents answered the question, "yes we will love you , ALWAYS !!!!"


The moral is,
do your best at whatever you do that is all that can be expected of you and you will turn out just fine your parents will love you no matter what.

--By Jackie Sagner

What Goes Around, Comes Around

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer.

One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.

"I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life."

"No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer.

At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel. "Is that your son?" the nobleman asked.

"Yes," the farmer replied proudly.

"I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of."

And that he did.

Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, he graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia. What saved his life this time?

Penicillin.

The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill.

His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.


Someone once said:
"What goes around comes around."
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

--by Author Unknown

Quotes on Faith

"It’s faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth living."
Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
Martin Luther King Jr.

"My faith runs so very much faster than my reason that I can challenge the whole world and say, ’God is, was and ever shall be’."
Mahatma Gandhi

"Faith is a passionate intuition."
William Wordsworth

"Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times."
Martin Luther

"Faith is not belief. Belief is passive. Faith is active."
Edith Hamilton

"Treat the other man's faith gently; it is all he has to believe with. His mind was created for his own thoughts, not yours or mine."
Henry S. Haskins

"The moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out."
James Baldwin

"Faith is a kind of knowing; it is different from hope. My faith is that life is purposeful; of that I'm sure. There is a God, there is intelligence, there is consciousness. And behind all of this, there is incredible compassion."
John Denver

"Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles."
Confucius

"Faith is different from proof; the latter is human, the former is a gift from God."
Blaise Pascal

"On a long journey of human life, faith is the best of companions; it is the best refreshment on the journey; and it is the greatest property."
Buddha

"Desire, ask, believe, receive."
Stella Terrill Mann

"Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe."
St. Augustine

"Faith is the daring of the soul to go farther than it can see."
William Newton Clarke

"Faith enables persons to be persons because it lets God be God."
Carter Lindberg

"Faith is more important to me than life itself because without it there would be no fullness of life."
Mother Teresa

"If you can't have faith in what is held up to you for faith, you must find things to believe in yourself, for a life without faith in something is too narrow a space to live."
George E. Woodberry

"The smallest seed of faith is better than the largest fruit of happiness."
Henry David Thoreau

"Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith."
Henry Beecher

"The essence of faith is being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus."
John Piper

"Faith has to do with things that are not seen, and hope with things that are not in hand."
Saint Thomas Acquinas

"A better world shall emerge based on faith and understanding."
Douglas MacArthur

Quotes of William Arthur Ward

The price of excellence is discipline. The cost of mediocrity is disappointment.
William Arthur Ward

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?
William Arthur Ward

Nothing limits achievement like small thinking; nothing expands possibilities like unleashed imagination.
William Arthur Ward

Blessed is he who has learned to admire but not envy, to follow but not imitate, to praise but not flatter, and to lead but not manipulate.
William Arthur Ward

Wise are those who learn that the bottom line doesn't always have to be their top priority.
William Arthur Ward

Friendship flourishes at the fountain of forgiveness.
William Arthur Ward

Opportunities are like sunrises - if you wait too long, you miss them.
William Arthur Ward

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
William Arthur Ward

A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities.
William Arthur Ward

When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves.
William Arthur Ward

We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them.
William Arthur Ward

Adversity cause some men to break; others to break records.
William Arthur Ward

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
William Arthur Ward

A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition.
William Arthur Ward

We can learn much from wise words, little from wisecracks, and less from wise guys.
William Arthur Ward

The greatest failure is the failure to try.
William Arthur Ward

Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation.
William Arthur Ward

We are more than what we do, much more than what we accomplish, far more than what we possess.
William Arthur Ward

A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your step as you walk the tightrope of life.
William Arthur Ward

Optimists enrich the present, enhance the future, challenge the improbable and attain the impossible.
William Arthur Ward

The mediocre teacher tells.
The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher demonstrates.
The great teacher inspires.
William Arthur Ward

Greatness is not found in possessions, power, position, or prestige. It is discovered in goodness, humility, service, and character.
William Arthur Ward

Wise are they who have learned these truths:
Trouble is temporary. Time is tonic. Tribulation is a test tube.
William Arthur Ward

It is wise to direct your anger towards problems - not people; to focus your energies on answers - not excuses.
William Arthur Ward

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.
William Arthur Ward

Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning.
William Arthur Ward

Flatter me, and I may not believe you.
Criticize me, and I may not like you.
Ignore me, and I may not forgive you.
Encourage me, and I will not forget you.
William Arthur Ward

Opportunities are like sunrises - if you wait too long, you miss them.
William Arthur Ward

To make mistakes is human; to stumble is commonplace; to be able to laugh at yourself is maturity.
William Arthur Ward

Four steps to achievement:
plan purposefully,
prepare prayerfully,
proceed positively,
pursue persistently.
William Arthur Ward

Teaching is more than imparting knowledge, it is inspiring change. Learning is more than absorbing facts, it is acquiring understanding.
William Arthur Ward

Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting.
William Arthur Ward

Quotes of Mother Teresa

There are no great things, only small things with great love.
Mother Teresa

Just show up and things and things will happen.
Mother Teresa

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much.
Mother Teresa

It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.
Mother Teresa

If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.
Mother Teresa

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.
Mother Teresa

The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.
Mother Teresa

I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.
Mother Teresa

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.
Mother Teresa

If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
Mother Teresa

Love begins by taking care of the closest ones-the ones at home.
Mother Teresa

Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.
Mother Teresa

Unless a life is lived for others, it is not worthwhile.
Mother Teresa

I prefer you to make mistakes in kindness than work miracles in unkindness.
Mother Teresa

We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.
Mother Teresa

To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it.
Mother Teresa

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.
Mother Teresa

Peace begins with a smile.
Mother Teresa

What I do you cannot do; but what you do, I cannot do. The needs are great, and none of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.
Mother Teresa

If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.
Mother Teresa

The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted.
Mother Teresa

We have not come into the world to be numbered; we have been created for a purpose; for great things: to love and be loved.
Mother Teresa