Seeds 2 The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. he was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys. and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it. "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nanna came to tidy the room. "does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become real." "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter all, because once you are real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand. ~ From The Velveteen Rabbit By Margery Williams "The best way to show that a stick is crooked is not to argue about it or to spend time denouncing it, but to lay a straight stick alongside it." ~ D.L. Moody God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him. ~ Jim Elliot You can't pour out a whole life all at once, but drop by drop, you can give it to God as He asks for it, whenever He wants it. To Jesus there were no such things as interruptions in His God-planned life. There was always time for Him to accomplish all God intended for Him to do. Don't seek after a ministry, anticipate the fruit of a disciplined life. ~ John Wesley "Depend on it. God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supplies. He is too wise a God to frustrate His purposes for lack of funds. And He can just as easily supply them ahead of time as afterwards, and He much prefers doing so." ~ Hudson Taylor Things to remember quietly when one's little pot of ointment seems to have been broken in vain. Of Thine own have we given Thee, for love is of God. The love, then, was offered to the human dear one -- not first but second. No pot of ointment was ever broken at His feet without giving Him some little quick sense of pleasure; so it was not all in vain. Then if it seemed to miss what we meant it to do for the one we love down here, it may be only for the moment. The remembrance may return and be very sweet, like a fragrance. The more loving the heart is, the keener therefore the pang of disappointment when it fails, and the fiercer the inrush of depression. The heart is grieved and cannot rise to be glad. at such times, it does help to know that love cannot really be as water spilt on the ground; for it is of God. The fragrance of the ointment will yet fill the house. The one to whom we wanted to bring comfort will in the end find that which we brought. But the sweet and immediate comfort is "Of Thine own have we given Thee, Dear Lord; did it comfort Thee" ~ Carmichael "Insecurity is the result of placing my confidence or trust in people or things that can be taken away from me." ~Del Fesenfield It is for the high and holy purpose of conforming us to the image of Christ that the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord. A painting in an ancient temple depicted a king forging a chain from his crown, and nearby another scene shows a slave converting his chain into a crown. Underneath the painting is this inscription; "Life is what one makes it; no matter of what it is made." A big dog saw a little dog chasing its tail and asked, "Why are you chasing your tail so?" Said the puppy, "I have mastered philosophy; I have solved the problems of the universe which no dog before me has rightly solved; I have learned that the best thing for a dog is happiness, and that happiness is my tail. Therefore, I am chasing it; and when I catch it, I shall have happiness." Said the old dog, "My son, I too, have paid attention to the problems of the universe in my weak way, and I have formed some opinions. I, too, have judged that happiness is in my tail. But I have noticed that when I chase after it, it keeps running away from me; but when I go away, my tail comes after me." ~ C.L. James I have only just a minute, only sixty seconds in it, forced upon me -- can't refuse it, didn't seek it, didn't choose it, but it's up to me to use it. I must suffer if I lose it, give account if I abuse it. Just a tiny little minute -- but eternity is in it! God could have kept Daniel out of the lion's den -- He could have kept Paul and Silas out of jail -- He could have kept the three Hebrew children out of the fiery furnace -- But God has never promised to keep us out of hard places -- What He has promised is to go with us through every hard place, and to bring us through victoriously! Attitude the longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. the remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that live is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our attitudes. ~ Charles Swindoll Who Are You? Don't be fooled by me; don't be fooled by the face I wear. I wear a mask, I wear a thousand masks. Masks that I am afraid to take off, and none of them are me. Pretending is an art that is second nature to me, but don't be fooled. For my sake, don't be fooled. I give the impression that I am sincere, that all is sunny and unruffled within me as well as without, that confidence is my name and coolness is my game; that the water is clam and I am in command, and that I need no one. But don't believe me, please. My surface may seem smooth, but my surface is my mask, my ever-varying and ever-concealing mask. Beneath lies no smugness, no compliance. Beneath dwells the real me in confusion, in fear, in aloneness, but I hide that. A nonchalant, sophisticated facade to help me pretend, to hide me from the glance that knows. But such a glance is precisely my salvation, my only salvation, and I know it. that is, if it's followed by acceptance, if it's followed by love. It's the only thing that can liberate me from myself, from my own self-built prison cell, from the barriers I so painstakingly erect. It's the only thing that will assure me of what I can't assure myself that I am really something... "Who am I," you may wonder. I am someone you know very well. I am every man you meet. I am every woman you meet. I am right in front of you. Please ... love me! From Glad To Be Me By Don, Pereta, and Elkins Little Annie A young girl known as "Little Annie" was in a mental institution. She was kept in a dungeon and was like an animal in many ways. When the attendants came, she would spring on them; she would claw at them and try to bite them. Sometimes she would just completely ignore them. she was considered a hopeless case. But one nurse, in whose heart there dwelt the love of God, decided that she was going to try to reach Little Annie. Day after day she would come and speak to her softly. But Little Annie would just ignore her. One day the nurse brought some fresh-baked brownies and left them outside the cage. When the nurse returned the next day, the brownies were gone. The nurse continued to bring brownies n her visits to Little Annie. Finally, at long last, Little Annie began to get better. She was allowed out of the dungeon. and the day came when she was allowed out of the institution -- because that one nurse took the time to show her love. Many years later, the famous Helen Keller was receiving a citation from Queen Victoria of England. the Queen said to her, "How do you account for your remarkable accomplishments in life?" She replied that she owed all that she was to her dear friend, Anne Sullivan, who with her hands in hers, opened her eyes and brought her up out of a black pit and enabled her to see the light. So that one day she could say to her, "Oh Anne, you've made me to see the trees...and I see the sky...and I see the clouds. I see... Anne, I see God!" and Anne Sullivan is that same Little Annie who, touched by love, then touched others in return. ~ Dr. D. James Kennedy The love of God, how rich and pure. It is like the vast and endless and tireless sea which washes the shores of the earth every day. Countless millions of people crowd to the beaches, children dig in the sand and run back and forth and scour the beach. But each night the waves of the sea wash in and every morning the beaches are shiny and smooth and fresh -- even as the love of God, who never tires of washing and making us whiter than snow. Honesty One Monday morning a minister boarded a city bus and gave the driver a one dollar bill. As he was finding a seat, he counted the change and noticed that the driver had given him too much money. he sat down and contemplated what would have seemed good fortune to some people. Finally, he went to the bus driver and said, "Sir, you gave me too much change when I boarded the bus a while ago." Without even looking at him, the driver said, "I know. I was at your church last night and heard you preach on "Thou shalt not steal." I just wanted to see if you practice what you preach." Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence." |
