TODAY I WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE

This is a guest article which I thought worthy of our reading.

TODAY I WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Today I will make a difference. I will begin by controlling my thoughts.
A person is the product of his thoughts. I want to be happy and hopeful.
Therefore, I will have thoughts that are happy and hopeful. I refuse to be
victimized by my circumstances. I will not let petty inconveniences such as
stoplights, long lines, and traffic jams be my masters. I will avoid negativism
and gossip. Optimism will be my companion, and victory will be my hallmark.
Today I will make a difference.

I will be grateful for the twenty-four hours that are before me. Time is a
precious commodity. I refuse to allow what little time I have to be contaminated
by self-pity, anxiety, or boredom. I will face this day with the joy of a child and
the courage of a giant. I will drink each minute as though it is my last.
When tomorrow comes, today will be gone forever. While it is here, I will use it
for loving and giving. Today I will make a difference.

I will not let past failures haunt me. Even though my life is scarred with mistakes.
I refuse to rummage through my trash heap of failures. I will admit them. I will
correct them. I press on. Victoriously, no failure is fatal. It’s OK to stumble. I
will get up. It’s OK to fail. I will rise again. Today I will make a difference.

I will spend time with those I love. My spouse, my children, my family. A man
can own the world but be poor for the lack of love. A man can own nothing and
yet be wealthy in relationships. Today I will spend at least five minutes with the
significant people in my world. Five quality minutes of talking or hugging or thanking
or listening. Five undiluted minutes with my mate, children, and friends.
Today I will make a difference.

From Shaped by God (original title: On The Anvil)
Copyright (Tyndale House, 1985, 2001) Max Lacado

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

A very interesting and as far as I know, a true story
A lady in a a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a home spun thread bare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President’s outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn’t even deserve to be in Cambridge.

“We’d like to see the president,” the man said softly. “He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary snapped. “We’ll wait,” the lady replied. For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn’t, and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted. “Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she said to him! He sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn’t have the time to spend with them, and he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office.

The president, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple. The lady told him, “We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus.”

The president wasn’t touched. He was shocked. “Madam,” he said, gruffly, “we can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.”

“Oh, no,” the lady explained quickly. “We don’t want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.” The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, “A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard.”

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all it cost to start a university? Why don’t we just start our own? ” Her husband nodded. The president’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment.

Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the university that bears their name, Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them.
— A TRUE STORY By Malcolm Forbes

YOU ARE SOMEBODY

Years ago, a sick woman lying on a crude bed, with but a few days to live, called her only son, a lean, lanky lad, to her bedside.  She gazed into his deep dark eyes with her now dim sight and communicated to him her hope for his life.  She had little to show for her life.  In this boy, her dreams will be realized, and her hopes would be fulfilled.  Drawing the boy close to her bed, she caught his gaze and held it with her deep meaningful eyes. Drawing his face close to her own, she whispered the magic words, words that held her hopes and dreams, “MY BOY, BE SOMEBODY.”
Thurs, Nancy Hanks planted a golden dream in the soul of Abraham Lincoln.  The result is known to the world.

Feel God’s closeness and hear Him say to you, “My child, be somebody.”  You can be.  You are somebody. God has made you in His image.  God in the beginning of time created man out of the dust of the earth and “breathed into man the breath of life and man became a living souls.” You are an extraordinary being made in the image of God. God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness made He man.” That makes all of we humans mighty important.

Sin has separated us from God and being what He would have us to be.  God has made possible our reconciliation with Him through His Son, Jesus. We show the image of God when we take on Jesus.  Jesus is to live in us.  The Apostle Paul said, “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.”  And again, “It is no longer I that lives but Christ who lives in me.”   God wants us to be a part of His family.  He has given us the right to become His children.

We should look and act like our parent, God.

AGING BANK ACOUNT

A 92-year-old, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved into a nursing home.

His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.

As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. ‘I love it,’ he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

“Mr. Jones, you haven’t seen the room; just wait.”
”That doesn’t have anything to do with it,’ he replied.
“Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. ”

“Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged … it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. ‘It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do work.

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away, just for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from it what you’ve put in it.”
So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!
Thank you for your part in filling my Memory Bank. I am still depositing.

‘Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.

2. Free your mind from worries.

3. Live simply.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less.

Pass this message on.

Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans.