Just Five More Minutes

While at the park one day, a woman sat down next to a man on a bench near a playground.

"That's my son over there," she said, pointing to a little boy in a red sweater who was gliding down the slide.

"He's a fine looking boy" the man said. "That's my daughter on the bike in the white dress."

Then, looking at his watch, he called to his daughter. "What do you say we go, Melissa?"

Melissa pleaded, "Just five more minutes, Dad. Please? Just five more minutes."

The man nodded and Melissa continued to ride her bike to her heart's content. Minutes passed and the father stood and called again to his daughter. '"Time to go now?"

Again Melissa pleaded, "Five more minutes, Dad. Just five more minutes."

The man smiled and said, "OK."

"My, you certainly are a patient father," the woman responded.

The man smiled and then said, "Her older brother Tommy was killed by a drunk driver last year while he was riding his bike near here. I never spent much time with Tommy and now I'd give anything for just five more minutes with him. I've vowed not to make the same mistake with Melissa.

She thinks she has five more minutes to ride her bike. The truth is, I get Five more minutes to watch her play."

Life is all about making priorities, what are your priorities?

Give someone you love 5 more minutes of your time today!

When I say…”I am a Christian”

When I say…”I am a Christian”

I’m not shouting “I am saved”

I’m whispering “I get lost!”

“That is why I chose this way.”

When I say…”I am a Christian”

I don’t speak of this with pride.

I’m confessing that I stumble

and need someone to be my guide.

When I say…”I am a Christian”

I’m not trying to be strong.

I’m professing that I’m weak

and pray for strength to carry on.

When I say…”I am a Christian”

I’m not bragging of success.

I’m admitting I have failed

and cannot ever pay the debt.

When I say…”I am a Christian”

I’m not claiming to be perfect,

my flaws are too visible

but God believes I’m worth it.

When I say…”I am a Christian”

I still feel the sting of pain

I have my share of heartaches

which is why I seek His name.

When I say…”I am a Christian”

I do not wish to judge.

I have no authority.

I only know I’m loved.

Used by permission

copyright 1988 Carol Wimmer

Read more: http://www.inspirationalarchive.com/3024/when-i-say-i-am-a-christian/#ixzz1sY1XhRMl

Forgiveness and Love

This story, although sad, comes with a very important message about forgiving, letting go, and coping with the unexpected.

A boy was born to a couple after 11 years of marriage. They were a loving couple and the boy was the apple of their eye. When the boy was around two years old, one morning the husband saw a medicine bottle open. He was late for work so he asked his wife To cap the bottle and keep it in the cupboard. His wife, preoccupied in the kitchen, totally forgot the matter. The boy saw the bottle and playfully went to the bottle and fascinated by its color, drank it all. It happened to be a poisonous medicine meant for adults in small dosages. When the child collapsed, the mother hurried him to the hospital, where he died. The mother was stunned. She was terrified how to face her husband.When the distraught father came to the hospital and saw the dead child, he looked at his wife and uttered just four words.


QUESTIONS:
1. What were the four words?
2. What is the implication of this story?


ANSWER: The husband just said, "I Love You Darling."


The husband's totally unexpected reaction is proactive behavior.The child is dead. He can never be brought back to life.There is no point in finding fault with the mother. Besides, if only he had taken time to keep the bottle away, this would not have happened. No one is to be blamed. She had lost her only child. What she needed at that moment was consolation and sympathy from the husband that is what he gave her.If everyone can look at life with this kind of perspective, there would be much fewer problems in the world.Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiving attitude,selfishness, and fears. And you will find things are actually not as difficult as you think.

The Writer

With God by your side, you're never alone. :)

I wanted to be a writer but found myself working at a newspaper office as the bookkeeper. A couple of times I handed little articles to the newspaper owner that he accepted to run in the editorial column.


At that time, the newspaper office had a staff of three reporters. The boss kept asking them to write feature stories, which he felt were good fodder for entertaining our small town readers.


In a throwback to the past, about that time a small boy started showing up in town with a little wooden shoe shine box. With tennis shoes and sandals the primary footwear of most people, he didn't have many customers; but he made a colorful sight. The boss thought he would make a great story. Several times, I heard him, suggest, ask, and finally almost demand that one of the reporters write that feature.


Finally, I went to his office and asked if he would mind if I took a stab at writing the story. Once I had his permission, I set up an interview with the little boy and his family. Armed with a stenographer's pad for taking notes, I went out that evening to do my interview.


The house where the family lived was exceedingly poor. There was hardly any furniture. The bare wood floors had no varnish or rugs. There was dirt on that floor that was less like a dirty house and more like walking on the earth. Almost immediately, I realized that the family, mired in poverty, was very excited about a newspaper article being done about them.


I was humbled. This meant a lot to these people and I barely knew what I was doing. Had I, in my vain attempt to prove myself, done something that was unfair to them?


That evening I sat in the bathtub and prayed. I asked the Lord to help me write a decent article...but not for me. I asked him to help me write an article that would justify the hopes of that little shoe shine boy and his family.


After I emerged from the tub, I wrote the article. I did the best I could, going over it and over it, wanting it to read well and be free of errors. The next morning I handed it in to my boss. He was pleased and told me to get the boy to the office for a picture.


It was nearly a week before the editor ran the story. The picture and the beginning were on the front page.


A couple of days later, I received a phone call from a national news service. They wanted to use my story as a state-wide feature. A few days later I received another call from someone who identified himself as a philanthropist who wanted to do something for the boy in the story. Eventually, I received a check in the mail from the news service.


It was all very gratifying but the most gratifying part was the knowledge that I had allowed myself to be an instrument of God. I had gone on the interview because of vanity and a desire to promote myself, but I had written the story with God at my side.


I still work at the paper and I am still the bookkeeper. I am also a writer, but I never write alone.

What I've Learned

We all learn things in life, sometimes the hard way. We aren't sure who wrote this, but take a look and see how many apply to you...probably quite a few :)


I've learned- that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them. 


I've learned- that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back. 


I've learned- that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it. 


I've learned- that it's not what you have in your life but who you have in your life that counts. 


I've learned- that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better know something. 


I've learned- that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do. 


I've learned- that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life. 


I've learned- that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be. 


I've learned- that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them. 


I've learned- that you can keep going long after you can't. 


I've learned- that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel. 


I've learned- that either you control your attitude or it controls you. 


I've learned- that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place. 


I've learned- that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences. 


I've learned- that money is a lousy way of keeping score. 


I've learned- that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time. 


I've learned- that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up. 


I've learned- that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel. 


I've learned- that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love. 


I've learned- that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have. 


I've learned- that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated. 


I've learned- that you should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it. 


I've learned- that your family won't always be there for you. It may seem funny, but people you aren't related to can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again. Families aren't biological. 


I've learned- that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that. 


I've learned- that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you are to learn to forgive yourself. 


I've learned- that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief. 


I've learned- that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become. 


I've learned- that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.


I've learned- that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change. 


I've learned- that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever. 


I've learned- that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different. 


I've learned- that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will hurt in the process. 


I've learned- that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you. 


I've learned- that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help. 


I've learned- that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being. 


I've learned- that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon. 


I've learned- that it's hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people's feelings and standing up for what you believe.

Three Men Cross a River

Usually we put an inspiring story or poem here, but today we thought we'd offer a little humor. Just all in fun of course :)

One day, three men were hiking and unexpectedly came upon a large raging, violent river. They needed to get to the other side, but had no idea of how to do so. The first man prayed to God, saying, "Please God, give me the strength to cross this river." Poof! God gave him big arms and strong legs, and he was able to swim across the river in about two hours, after almost drowning a couple of times.

Seeing this, the second man prayed to God, saying, "Please God, give me the strength .. and the tools to cross this river." Poof! God gave him a rowboat and he was able to row across the river in about an hour, after almost capsizing the boat a couple of times.

The third man had seen how this worked out for the other two, so he also prayed to God saying, "Please God, give me the strength and the tools .. and the intelligence ... to cross this river." And Poof! God turned him into a woman. She looked at the map, hiked upstream a couple of hundred yards, then walked across the bridge.

God's Plan is the Right Plan

There was once an ambitious young lad who had always dreamt that one day he would become a general in the army. He was intelligent, and the qualities he possessed were more than enough to get him anywhere he wanted. For this he thanked God whom he feared and always prayed that one day his dream would be fulfilled.

Unfortunately when the time came for him to join the army, he was rejected due to the fact that he was flat-footed. After various attempts he gave up the idea of ever becoming a general, and for this he blamed God for not answering his prayer.
He felt alone, emotionally beaten, and most of all with an anger he had never experienced before. An anger which he started projecting against God. He knew that there was a God but did not believe in God as a friend any more but in God as a tyrant. He never prayed anymore and never put step in Church again. When people used to speak about the All Loving God he used to pull their legs and asking intricate questions which would leave the believer perplexed.
He than decided to enter university and become a doctor. And so happened, he became a doctor and some years later he was a qualified surgeon. He became a pioneer in delicate operations where the patient did not stand a chance of surviving if not under the hands of this young surgeon. Now all his patients had a chance, that of a new life.
Throughout the years he saved thousands of lives, those of children and adults. Parents could now live happily with their re-born son or daughter and mothers who were critically ill could now still love their family. Fathers who were devastated because no one could raise their family after their death, had been given another chance.
As he grew older he trained other aspiring surgeons on his new operating technique and more and more lives were saved and are still being saved.
One day he closed his eyes and went to meet the risen Lord. There still full of hatred the man asked God why his prayers were never answered and the Lord answered.
"Look out in the skies my child and see your dream fulfilled."
There he could see himself as a young boy praying to become a soldier. He saw himself getting into the army and becoming a soldier. There he was proud and ambitious, and with a look in his eyes that one day he would lead a whole regiment. He was called to fight his first battle, but as he was in a camp at the front, a bomb fell and blasted him off. He was then sent in a wooden box back to his family.
All his ambitions were now shattered as his parents wept and wept.
Then the Lord said, "Now look how my plan has been fulfilled although you did not approve."
Once again he looked in the skies. There he watched his life day by day and how many lives he had saved. He saw the smiles on his patient's faces and on their family's faces and the new life he had given them by becoming a surgeon.
Then amongst his patients he saw a young boy who also had a dream of becoming a soldier one day, but unfortunately was sick. He saw how he had saved his life by operating on the boy. Today the boy had grown up and became a general. He only became a general because the surgeon had saved his life.
At that point he knew that the Lord was always with him. He understood how God had used him as His instrument to save thousands of lives and to give a future to the young boy who wanted to become a soldier.