Wednesday, December 31, 2008

KEEP YOUR EYES ON HIM



M
any a ruined life could have been prevented, if only one had been wise enough to follow positive advice. Too many take chances and linger too long at some pleasure, trying to enjoy as much as possible without falling into the evil that is there. People are so afraid of missing something, and so they step closer and closer to actual transgression, until, like a waiting spider, it reaches out and entangles them.

There are so many temptations, which annoy us in our daily life. We shall never be entirely safe from them. For as long as we are in the world, we will have to protect ourselves from them. All around us there are people or things, which may appeal to our weakness. When we cannot avoid them, meet them with patience rather than with anxiety or thoughtless severity. Correct and remedy what we can. As for things, which cannot be remedied, bear them patiently in His Name.


Tuesday, December 30, 2008

A PERSON WHO LOVES



P
eople learn to love. Love doesn't just happen. It doesn't appear to be an innate or inborn characteristic. The ability to love must be taught and is acquired within a social context. It is a skill upon which other relationships build.

A person who loves --

- has empathy for the loved one, meaning that the person understands and feels the feelings the other experiences, which are shared intimately;

- is deeply concerned for the welfare and happiness of the loved one. This concern is deep that it enters into the way a person patterns his or her daily existence. It affects how that person makes decisions and plans for the future;


- is not merely concerned about the loved one's welfare, but does something about it. The person who loves finds pleasure in actively working for the other's welfare. Time and money are given freely toward this end; and


- allows the loved one the freedom and independence to chart his or her own course in life. A person who loves is not possessive, but fully accepts the other's unique individuality. The loved one is free to act and become whatever he or she wants to become.


These characteristics of love apply equally well to parent-child relationships between old friends, and long-term partnerships between lovers.


Monday, December 29, 2008

SPIRITUAL DISEASE



Certain attitudes or feelings are deadly poison for both soul and body. Anger, worry, envy, hatred, suspicion, fear, resentment, and impatience can cause bad digestion, ulcers, heart trouble, and other disease. They choke out spiritual life and cause all kinds of trouble. Pride, selfishness, unbelief, and stubbornness are also spiritual poison. They take away the joy and leave our soul weak, sickly, and unhappy.


Sunday, December 28, 2008

MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY


A
birthday wish to my most wonderful, thoughtful and loving friend,
Baby Jazmin, who I can trust always to be loyal and true and there is no great friendship than the one I share with.

Wishing you the best birthday ever. We may be miles apart, but you will always be close to my heart, and my spirit joins you as you celebrate your nth birthday!


"There is a gift that gold cannot buy
A blessing that's rare and true That's the gift of a wonderful
person coming into my life
Like I have in you! Happy Birthday!"



Saturday, December 27, 2008

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - PERSONALITY



"Everyone is a moon,
and has a da
rk side which
he never show
s to anybody."


Mark Tw
ain


Friday, December 26, 2008

SHARE A LITTLE LAUGHTER



The Joy of Walking

(by Adele Hernandez)

Walking can add minutes of your life.
This enables you at 85 years old to spend
an additional 5 months in a nursing
home at $7,000 per month.

***

My grandpa started walking

five miles a day when he was 60.
Now he's 97 years old and
we don't know where he is.

***

I like long walks,

especially when they are taken
by people who annoy me.

***

The only reason I would

take walking is so that I could
hear heavy breathing again.

***

I have to walk early in

the morning before my brain
figures out what I'm doing!

***

I joined a health club

last year, spent about 400
bucks. Haven't lost a pound.
Apparently you have to go there.

***

Everytime I hear the dirty

word "exercise," I wash
my mouth out with chocolate.

***

I do have flabby thighs,

but fortunately, my stomach
covers them.

***

The advantage of exercising

everyday is so that when you
die, they'll say, "well, he
looks good doesn't he."

***


If you are going to try

cross-country skiing, start
with a small country.

***

I know I got a lot of

exercise the last few years....
just getting over the hill.

***

We all get heavier

as we get older because
there's a lot more information
in our heads. That's my
story and I'm sticking
to it.

***

Everytime I start thinking

too much about how I look, I
just find a Happy Hour and by the
time I leave, I look just fine.



Thursday, December 25, 2008

I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY



A shared thought on Christmas Day!

"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" was written on December 25, 1863, when the American Civil War was at its height.

H
enry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), the famous American poet, was saddened by the horrors of this conflict, for "hate seemed overstrong at the moment." His son, who was serving as a lieutenant in the Union Army at the time, had just been wounded.


When Longfellow heard the Christmas bells ringing, he came to the realization, from the depths of his despair, that "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep." He believed that God was powerful enough to overcome the world's strife, and that one day He would bring peace and goodwill to earth.


I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet the words repeat,

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.


I thought how as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had roll'd along th' unbroken song

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.


And in despair I bow'd my head:

"There is no peace on earth," I said,

"For hate is strong, and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men."


Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, goodwill to men."


'Til ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime ....

Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!

Nation shall not lift up
sword against nation,
neither
shall they learn war anymore."


Isaiah 2:4


MERRY CHRISTMAS
!

May the Prince of Peace fill your heart with
His peace that transcends all understanding!



THE LIGHT OF THE CANDLES



T
he violet and rose colors of Advent are those of the dawn just before sunrise. On this last day of the season, we rejoice that
the long night of sin and death is ended, and that Jesus Christ, the sun that never sets, has brought into our world light, happiness and peace. The radiance of His love dispels the darkness of our lives and gives us hope of enjoying everlasting life in His presence.


"A BLESSED MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL"


Wednesday, December 24, 2008

SOPHISTICATED MEN OF OLD!



You're not likely to have anything put over on you if you are wised up or sophisticated (from the Greek word sophos, meaning wise). The sophists or wise men were a group of teachers who achieved great fame in Greece during the fifth century B.C. Although they had many good educational ideas, they got a bad reputation because they accepted pay--so unlike a gentleman--and because they used subtle methods of argumentation.

Some of the sophists even boasted that they could make the worse appear the better reason. Hence the word sophistry has an unfavorable connotation and means arguing deceitfully, attempting to turn a poor case into a good one by means of clever but specious reasoning. And so the word sophistry, that contains the root for wise in it, has come to be a synonym for evasion, fallacious reasoning, quibbling, and casuistry.


CHILLY WEATHER!!!



O
o
opppsss!!! We're expecting cold front and gusting winds in many parts of the Kingdom in the days to come. Low temperatures in the north will be between -3 to -8 Celsius. Wow that's really cold! A reminiscence of the very cold weather in the early 80s. The central region can expect lows between -5 and zero Celsius. Be ready my chilly, coldy friends out there in Riyadh. Get out the super thick wool now. The southern province can expect temperatures to dip to between zero and 5 degrees Celsius. The higher altitude areas of the southwest will experience chills between 2 and 5 degrees Celsius. Many places in the western province can expect to dip to between 12 and 15 degrees Celsius, or might fall below 8 degrees Celsius.

It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be cold brrrrrr!!!


Tuesday, December 23, 2008

RELIVING THE MYTHS



T
he ancient Greeks and Romans had no soap operas, no Superman comics, no movie romances. But they had their myths. What Hollywood heroine could be more glamorous than Helen of Troy, what soap-opera wife more faithful than Penelope, what Superman or Buck Rogers more spectacular than Hercules, son of Jupiter?


The exploits of the Greek gods and goddesses,
their demi-gods and heroes run like a gold thread through the tapestry of the world's literature, music, and art, and also science. In the last field, some of the achievements of modern man are like myths transformed into reality. Paradoxically, but fittingly enough, man has drawn upon the myths for a great number of descriptive names. Old and new meet again in the myths, which have truly never died, for hardly a day passes without some allusion being made in our newspapers to characters and events found in the myths.


Monday, December 22, 2008

DECORATING THE PALM



M
oney is usually involved in the expression "decorating the palm." The person at the receiving end is being suborned (sub, under, + orn, decorate or furnish). To suborn means to bribe for criminal purposes, especially for perjury. The root orn appears in adorn, ornament, and ornate, which has come to mean over-decorated.


Sunday, December 21, 2008

MULTIPLE? SPLIT? BIPOLAR? WHATEVER!



A
former piano student emailed and asked me to help with his research work about personality disorders.


Students frequently make the error of confusing such cases of multiple personality with the so-called "split personality," known technically as schizophrenia. This is a psychotic disorder in which the individual is "split off from reality." In multiple personality, the conscious part of the personality remains in contact with reality, though reacting to it neurotically. In this type of reaction, which is very rare, the individual may develop two or more distinct, even radically different personalities. Each takes conscious control of the person for varying periods of time. Usually, although not always, each personality does not know of the other.


What about bipolar disorder?



Hey man, I am not the one studying,
you do your own research work!

I am done with these things and that's it!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

WHY GO TO CHURCH?



T
he article was shared to me by

a very good friend. The message is
very enlightening.


A churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.

"Ive gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me I can't remember a single one of them. So I think I"m wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermon at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letter to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: I've been married for 30 years now. In that time, my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me those meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!

Faith sees the invisible,
believes the incredible, and received
the impossible!



THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - LIFE



"
Fear less, hope more;

Whine less, breathe more;

Talk less, say more;

Hate less, love more;

And all good things yours."


A proverb



Friday, December 19, 2008

COLOR ME RAINBOW



Artist s consider the basic colors to be red, yellow, and blue, but scientists say they are red, green, and blue. No pigment combination of red, green, and blue will produce yellow. Yet, if a beam of red light and green light overlap, the result is yellow. The answer to this riddle lies primarily in the totally different ways colors are achieved with light and with pigments.


Thursday, December 18, 2008

ANIMAL WORLD - OPOSSUM


N
ot all marsupials are native of Australia, New Guinea, and Suwalesi. There is one North American native marsupial, the opossum. Like any other marsupials, opossum carries her offspring in a pouch/marsupium. It gives birth to babies that weigh only 1/15 ounce and are not yet fully developed. The babies of marsupials are not born in the pouch, as blind infants, they must feel their way along the mother's abdomen by instinct to get to it. Then they maintain inside the pouch for several months, completing their development.


Wednesday, December 17, 2008

WHAT'S COOKING?



W
hat's cooking? asked a friend!
I blurted out, "I am not cooking anything,"
and we ended up laughing so hard.

Many of the expressions that we regard as slang or colloquial usage today were "old stuff" to the Greeks and Romans thousands of years ago. They had words for them--single words that no longer have any slang overtones for us today. We use the word concoct without realizing that in one dignified word we are echoing the slang phrase, "to cook up." Yet that is what concoct mean literally (coct from the Latin verb meaning "to cook" + con, together), and the obvious question to ask someone who is concocting something is, "what's cooking?"



Tuesday, December 16, 2008

SHE WANTED TO BE A DOCTOR!



Strange News from Abroad


All she wanted was to fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor; she ended up dead, allegedly murdered by her own father.

When I read this news article, I was thunderstruck. The 19-year old girl reminded me of myself, as a young boy, was always dreaming of wearing a physician's white coat.

After passing the secondary school exams, the young girl enrolled at a medical college. His father tried to withdraw the girl from the college claiming that as her guardian, he had the right to object to her studying medicine. She gained admission through the intervention of her uncle despite the objection by her father.

Before the incident, the father called up her daughter and told her that he was coming to visit her. She received him and showed him her medical textbooks and notes. It was then that, according to the witnesses he stabbed the girl and slit her throat.

Details of the gruesome murder emerged. The girl's stepfather, said that he and several neighbors tackled the father--whose clothes were covered in blood-as he was fleeing the crime scene. The girl's grandmother, who was in the next room, died of a heart attack, shortly after learning that her former son-in-law had stabbed and slit the throat of her teenage granddaughter.


Monday, December 15, 2008

THE LAVENDER ROSE




Lavender Rose

the symbol
of unique beauty
imaginations
sign of enchantment
feelings of love at first sight
love and adoration
exquisite royalty
air of regal majesty
and splendor!


Sunday, December 14, 2008

YOUR LIVES, YOUR LOVES



She had 11 babies to 9 fathers!

M
y best friend sent me a magz clipping about a Mom who had 11 babies to 9 fathers. Amazing isn't it, but the woman is all but proud of her being a single parent. She reckons she's a great mother. Her first three children have ended up adopted or in care and one spent time on a life-support machine.

"Accidents happen all the time--I can't help being fertile," she happily said. The funny thing is that she doesn't know the full names of the fathers of her first three children. She believes she's a good parent, and doesn't need to have a father figure around. At least her children have a surname--hers.

A
lot of things have gone wrong and the social services always try to blame her. One of her kids broke his collarbone, falling over a dog. His other son fell six meters from an open window and spent two days in hospital with concussion. Another son burned himself badly playing with her cigarette lighter.

T
hese things happen to any parent, she reasoned out. For her, it doesn't matter who you are, you can only do your best. She does not see having children as a problem. In fact she wouldn't rule out having another baby by another dad.


Saturday, December 13, 2008

TRIVIA - SPEED OF WIND


B
ecause air is denser in cold weather,
a wind of the same speed exerts 25 per cent
more
force during the winter than it
does during the summer.


It's very cold today!
The wind is penetrating!

The temperature monitor reads
6 deg C.

Wintertime is really here!


THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - HOME




"A hundred men may make
an encampment, but it takes a
woman to make a home!"


A Chinese Proverb



Friday, December 12, 2008

ANNOYING BEHAVIOR



S
ometimes we find our co-workers showing annoying and unacceptable behavior. It is so hard to pretend not to notice the attitudes of our colleagues, whether we share a good relationship or just a formal one, situation arises either because one does not care or because his manners are already bad.

Whatever is the reason, such behavior must be confronted to ensure that others do not learn from it. Should we really confront a co-worker for bad behavior? We are for sure in a dilemma if we do so. What measures do we take to ensure that we won't be misunderstood? There are guidelines on how to tackle a badly behaving co-worker, but the most important thing is the honest and sincere expression of your willingness to help.


Thursday, December 11, 2008

ARE YOU SAFE ON THE ROAD?




T
his morning, I witnessed a vehicular acci
dent that left a bad imprint in the mind of my taxi driver friend, Khalid. He said, it would take a long time before he could get the accident out of his mind. He has been driving long enough to know the traffic conditions here and had seen many freak vehicular accidents, yet, he's been deeply affected by what he saw today. I worry about him now, as it may develop in him post-traumatic stress symptoms that can become chronic.

Car accident is a very tough situation because not only our property is at risk but also our life is in danger. Serious car wrecks have been steadily rising here. Many are caused by recklessness and carelessness of other drivers. You may be very careful when driving but then there would always be those careless few. The best thing is to be always prepared for the inevitable.


Wednesday, December 10, 2008

DO I LOVE MY WORK?



I
t would be very unrealistic for us to expect work to be problem-free. In a multi-cultural working environment, bless be day when you won't be affected by the antics and idiosyncrasies of the people around you. There is never a day that you won't get annoyed by their behavior, especially if you are a sensitive type of person. What had been a joy became a process filled with pain.

Contrary to the way we may feel sometimes work itself is not a curse. When we learn to see it properly, we realize that in almost every job there is way of working for with God. We need to understand that the perfect life is not a work-free existence. Work is a part of our daily life. Our sense of personal worth is closely connected to a feeling that we are accomplishing something purposeful with our lives. Because of that, work and a satisfying life are inseparable. Unfortunately, work doesn't always give us that sense of satisfaction. What should be personally fulfilling is more often a drain on us physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.



Tuesday, December 9, 2008

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE



"I cannot see the sad faces of my family members and stay doing nothing about it."

These were the words of a young girl, who is willing to sacrifice her health by selling her kidney to settle family debts. She is left with no other choice but to sell her kidney in return for some cash that would help her mother out. Her mother has been accumulating debts for years after her father left them. He abandoned his responsibilities and thus her mother had to take full care of them, the rent, the bills, and all other expenses. But money has always been a problem, adding that charity groups would not help. Instead, they would tell her mother that she has a husband who must take care of them.

This is an expression of unconditional love, an exemplary illustration of the verse in the Bible: "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down your life ...."

Bitterness imprisons life; love releases it. Bitterness paralyzes life; love empowers it. Bitterness sours life, love sweetens it. Bitterness sickens life, love heals it. Bitterness blinds life, love anoints its eyes.”-

Preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick


Monday, December 8, 2008

ARE YOU IN CONTROL OF YOUR RESOURCES?



T
he process of daily living includes a constant need to make personal economic decisions; how much should we save from our monthly pay? On food? On housing? On entertainment?

Personal decisions are wiser if financial facts are organized, summarized, and making them easily available as future reference. Once we have a good idea of our average monthly expenses, we can match them against the financial resources we have, and we are able to know where our money has been going.

Record keeping will give us an opportunity to modify our current spending level by noting areas where we can cut our budget without seriously changing our lifestyle. These changes might include doing some things on a less frequent basis, or seeking less expensive alternatives for some of our current spending habits. We must always have a complete control of how we will allocate our resources.



Sunday, December 7, 2008

YOU ARE FIRED!!!



"I am sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just don't know how to use the English language. This isn't a kindergarten for amateur writers." And thus Rudyard Kipling, who had already written one of the best short stories in the history of literature, "The Man Who Would Be King", was fired as a reporter by the San Francisco Examiner.

Rudyard Kipling was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, making him the first English language writer to receive the prize, and to date, he remains its youngest recipient.

He will always be my number one short story writer, novelist, poet, and journalist.


Saturday, December 6, 2008

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - MOTHER



"
The hand that rocks
the cradle is the hand that rules the world!"

W. S. Ross


HIGH TIDE, LOSE WEIGHT



Each time the tide rises, every one of us loses a fraction of an ounce in weight; but the weight is regained as the tide falls. We are affected by these tidal waves, just as the ocean is, because of the water and salt content of our bodies. The land and the air are affected as well by the tides. Every time the water rises in a ten-foot tide, the continents rise about six inches and the atmosphere bulges many miles.



Friday, December 5, 2008

MODEL OUR LIVES IN HIM



W
ho do you most admire? People with power, influence, fame or wealth? Who is most influential in your life? And who do you most want to be like? We naturally look up to other people we want to imitate or emulate. If we truly want to live as God's sons and daughters, then it greatly helps us to have models and examples of godly people who show us how to live in the power of God's love and holiness. His grace frees us from the tyranny of fear and the pressure to please others rather than to please Him.

Allow God's grace to fill you with faith and courage to choose what is good and pleasing to Him and to reject whatever would keep you from embracing His love and will for your daily life?


Thursday, December 4, 2008

LIFE IS LIKE A MELODY


In our daily life, we are always guided by directions. The direction we follow has a great effect in shaping our lives. We tend to reach a certain range in fulfilling our ambitions. Just like in music, the direction, progression, shape or contour and range of a melody greatly affect the mood of a composition. Melody may go ascending or be stationary. It may move step-wise or skip-wise.

We always thought about life purpose, how to live it fully and how to keep ourselves from accomplishing it. It's easy to have our life spin out of balance before we realize it for many different reasons--including temporarily to achieve a specific goal or to simply catch up at times. Like a music composition, we have to strictly follow rhythm, even tempo, dynamics, correct phrasing. In life, we need to maintain a sense of balance.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

PAGES FROM THE PAST - A NUN STORY


The exasperation of the people knows no bounds!

For breaking her vow of chastity, a nun was forcibly kept in close confinement in a dark cell for a long number of years.

An anonymous notice apparently written by a female hand, reached the criminal court, immediately took serious investigations. The convent was one of the strictest female orders. People passed these sombre cloister walls without even suspecting the fearful tragedy being enacted within for twenty-one years.

In a dark infected hole adjoining the sewer sat, or rather covered on a heap of straw, an entirely naked totally neglected, half insane woman, who at the unaccustomed view of light, the outer world and human beings, folded her hands and pitifully implored, "I am hungry, have pity on me, give meat and I shall be obedient." The hole, for it could be hardly called a chamber, besides containing all kinds of dirt and filth, and a dish of rotten potatoes, was deficient in the slightest decent accommodation. There was nothing, no stove, no bed, no table, no chair and it was neither warmed by a fire nor the rays of the sun.

This den the inhuman sisters who called themselves women, spiritual wives, the brides of heaven, had selected as a habitation for one of their own sex and kept her therein in close confinement. For 21 years the sisters had daily passed this cell and not one of them thought of taking compassion on this poor outcast prisoner. Half human being, half animal, with a filthy body, knock-kneed legs, hollow cheeks, dirty head, unwashed for years, came a horrible human being forward such as Dante in his wildest imagination was unable to picture.

The Lady Superior said that the nun had been kept in close confinement by order of the physician because of her unusual mind. This physician had died and the one who replaced him had never seen the poor soul. Such treatment on the opinion of the doctor who treated the nun, is sufficient to drive a person insane.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

FUR ELISE


A
s a child prodigy in Bonn, Ludwig van Beethoven's great ambition had been to travel to Vienna to meet and take lessons with the man he knew was the greatest living composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The opportunity came and he gained entry into Mozart's home and met his great idol. "Play something," he told Beethoven. He did, and when he has finished, Mozart walked into the adjoining room and told his friends, "stanzi, stanzi," pointing back into the music room, "watch out for that boy. One day he will give the world something to talk about."

Mozart was right, Beethoven became famous in his own right. One of the several piano pieces he composed, which is well-loved in the music world, is "Fur Elise." When Beethoven composed the piece around 1810, he described it as a little "bagatelle" and hastily scribbled a title on it. Now, however, music scholars believe that Beethoven's illegible title was really "Fur Therese," and the composition intended as a gift for Therese Malfatti, his physician's daughter.

Monday, December 1, 2008

LOOKING GLASS SELF?

Read a very interesting and informative article about self-actualization. It says, that to be self-actualized is to accept yourself for what you are and other people for what they are.

Self-actualized people are spontaneous, natural, and concerned with ethical and human values, disliking falseness and often having a mission, or a cause in life. A very important quality of self-actualization is autonomy, or independence. This strength is steaming from plenty of love and respect in the past, so that the person "is free to act relatively independently of these needs in the present." At the same time, the relationships self-actualizers develop may be more profound than those of other people. They identify strongly with humanity and work to stop unjust and dehumanizing conditions. For these people, life is so meaningful.

Among other qualities that stand out in a self-actualized individual are creativity, originality, and a positive attitude toward important tasks.

Are you a self-actualized person?

MY SISTER, RAQUEL

Today is my sister Raquel's birthday. She passed away 18 years ago, but her memories will remain forever in our hearts.. Her passing away was devastating for all of us. We had lost a very creative, lively, friendly, and most of all, the baby of our family. This entry is my tribute to her, what she meant to us, what we all shared, how much we loved her.

At 17, she was diagnosed with thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder, a serious illness, one in which there is no cure. It causes the body to make fewer healthy red blood cells and less hemoglobin than normal. It wasn't until she got sick when we realized what this blood disease was all about. We tried our best to normalize the situation. One of the hardest things was seeing her in the hospital with all those tubes and wires. Thinking about it now, we can still feel the same helpless feeling that there was nothing we could say or do to make it better.

A day before my birthday, I prayed to God so fervently, poured out all my sentiments, and asked Him for a gift. I asked Him, if it would be possible, as a birthday present to me, to either grant my sister, Raquel the grace of physical healing or complete healing.

And God answered my prayers... I am taking your sister to heaven.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

STRANGE STORIES

Dig a swimming pool!

A
thief who stole a businessman's laptop is to dug him a new swimming pool, a court has ruled. The 19-year old escaped the standard minimum six-month suspended jail sentence for the theft after his victim, a 41 year-old insurance agent, suggested the unusual punishment.



Penitent Man

A
man who went to confession shocked his confessor by handing him a bag full of weapons. The priest said, "I couldn't believe my eyes." The bag contained two guns, two hand grenades and 18 bullets. "I cannot say what the man confessed to," the priest added, "I am just happy that he wanted to return to the Church.
"



Snoring Buglar

A burglar who broke into a shop was arrested after falling asleep on a display bed. Police were called in after employee heard snoring in the bed, part of a display in the shop.


THE ORANGE ROSE



Orange Rose

the symbol of
passion
excitement
blazing energy
embodiment of desire
and enthusiasm
expression of fervent romance


CONTACT COUNTS

As human beings we go through life responding to conflicting needs--the need for human contact and the need for independence. These needs seem to pull us in different directions at almost every stage of life. In mother's presence, a child will explore unknown surroundings without requiring her involvement. But if she should leave the room, exploring ceases and anxiety sets in. The same kind of thing is true of adults in relationships. Each partner needs the love, protection, and security provided by the other, but he or she also needs independence, self-fulfillment, and self-esteem.


i love you....

Our ability to adjust in later life depend a great deal upon the degree to which the need for contact and the need for independence are fulfilled during childhood. Relationship established during a lifetime either between friends or between lovers are influenced by the primary bond between parent and child. The child of a loving, supportive family usually learns to trust others, to share with them, and to enjoy their companionship. Such a child also develops a strong regard for self and approaches life with a strong sense of security.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

TRIVIA - BELLS ARE RINGING!

In medieval times, church bells were often consecrated to ward off evil spirits. Because thunderstorms were attributed to the work of demons, the bells would be rung in an attempt to stop the storms. Lots of bell ringers were killed by lightning!




THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - HYPOCRICY

"Few men speak humbly of humility,
chasely of chastity,
skeptically of
skepticism."


Blaise Pascal

Friday, November 28, 2008

FROM FELON TO FAME!


O. Henry, the pseudonym
of William Sydney Porter (1862 - 1910),
was serving three years in prison for

embezzlement when he began

to write short stories.

Upon his release,

he gained national fame with

300 stories, most of which had a

surprise ending.



Thursday, November 27, 2008

LIFE SAY, "NO TO DRUGS"

I lost a brother due to drugs. This wonderful, good-looking young man, with a signature bedimpled smile became a monster. He was 14 when he turned to alcohol and drugs. We did everything we could to unhook him of these horrible things. His behavior and moods changed, he was always out of control. We saw first hand what he turned into and the devastation that he brought onto the entire family. Until one day he realized the danger of drug use and told us that he was willing to undergo rehabilitation at DARE Rehab Center ran by Fr. Bob Garon. DARE did so many marvelous things to help him. Wonder of all wonders, he learned many skills in the rehab center. He stayed clean and sober for years, until one day he crossed paths with his old buddies again .... and that was it.

You could simply imagine how we hated his buddies that would give him drugs, and then we realized they were not forcing him, the problem was with him. He could not stand up for what he knew was right and say, "no I am not going to be a user anymore."

T
here are many individual and group problems related to the process of growing up. One of these problems is the misuse and abuse of drugs. Young adolescents may acquire various information about mind-altering drugs through mass media. The peer group, too, could be a major source of distorted information about drugs. It is a common knowledge that economic, social and psychological factors contribute to the increasing incidence of drug dependence.


Abused drugs generally have one thing in common: they cause changes in a person's mood or behavior. They can affect a person's perceptions, moods, behavior and skills. Some people abuse drugs because they think they can gain acceptance from their peers. Others abuse drugs in an attempt to have more friends and feel they belong to the group. Peer pressure also lead to drug abuse.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

MOVING FORWARD

Making a decision to do something new usually involves giving up something else. That's what makes it hard--there's a loss to deal with as well as the uncertainty in the future. We resist change when the number of positive things in our lives is equal to the number of negative things. Comparing these positive and negatives objectively helps us to move forward.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

OVERCOMING ENVY AND JEALOUSY


Do we rejoice in the good that others do, especially when they seem to outshine you? Do we get upset and jealous because someone else has taken our place or taken the spotlight away from us? Envy and jealousy, its counterpart, are sinful because they lead us to sorrow over what should make us rejoice. The reason we may be sad or feel discontent over another's good fortune or excellence is the fear of losing our own value and excellence or being replaced by a rival. Envy is contrary to love. Both the object of love and the object of envy is our neighbor's good, but by contrary movements, since love rejoices in our neighbor's good, while envy grieves over it.

How can we overcome envy and jealousy? With the love that God puts into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. This love seeks the highest good of our neighbor. Apostle Paul says that "love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right." If we ask the Lord to fill us with His purifying love, we may rejoice in the good of others, even in those who may cross us at times or cause us difficulty.

Monday, November 24, 2008

COMMUNE WITH NATURE



L
earn to appreciate the beauty around you!

Poets tell us that the world is full of beautiful, wonderful things. We don't have to be a poet to realize that this is true. All we need is to rub sleep out of our eyes and look around with a keener, more observant gaze. Watch the clouds as they float lazily across the summer sky, study the outlines of trees, smell the freshness of the morning breeze, listen to the happy, lively chirping of the birds, hear the buzzing of the busy bees hopping from one fragrant blooms to another, feel the gentle, warmth of the early morning sun. Commune with nature!

We don't have to be a poet to know that the world is full of beauty.


Sunday, November 23, 2008

TRIVIA - RED TAPE

Did you know that the phrase, "red tape," the rigid application of regulations and routine, resulting in delay in getting business done, got its name from the color of the tape that was commonly used to tie official papers.

The term occurs as early as 1658.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - FAITH

"I would rather live my life
as if there is a God, and d
ie to find there isn't,
than live my life as if there isn't,
and die to find out there is."


Bishop T. D. Jakes

Friday, November 21, 2008

BRISK WALKING OR JOGGING?

The weather is getting cooler everyday. Al-Khobar corniche is now always crowded with joggers, brisk walkers, bikers, and picnickers; a familiar sight in the morning and evening time.


Brisk walking and running are exercises very popular among expats here in the Eastern Province, exercises which help in balancing a high-fat diet. As far as I know, both help develop extra routes of circulation for blood to flow through, while a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet tends to close normal routes off.


According to Michio Kushi, author of the book, The Microbiotic Way, jogging increases circulatory capacity and may reduce the risks associated with eating the modern diet. Unfortunately, jogging has some drawbacks. While for a period of time it may be a balancing form of exercise for the heart and circulation, in the short, it tends to unevenly stress the heart and other body parts and systems. Although, some people can enjoy jogging or running, they are frequently halted by back problems, bone and joint disorders, kidney damage due to the shock of pounding up and down while running.

In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "the sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises, walking is the best." The rewards of just plain walking equal those that can be obtained from any other exercise, with half the risk of injury or exhaustion.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

MAY I PAWN MY DAUGHTER?

Strange News from Abroad

T
he rough economy meant good business for pawnshops. They are more than willing to help many struggling people to make b
oth ends meet. We can pawn just anything of value, but to pawn a daughter is a different story.


A father went to the police and reported that her daughter was missing. Police searched for the girl for three days and then became suspicious after the father failed to follow up on the case. Their suspicions increased when the girl's mother told them that the disappearance coincided with the departure of a guest, who stayed with them for two days.

A thorough investigation revealed that the father pawned his daughter to his creditor as a form of guarantee that he would repay the debt.


What a way to make some quick cash, ha!


Wednesday, November 19, 2008

FRUSTRATION

How can we muster frustration? Study shows that people who easily get frustrated are more likely to react in a prejudiced way than people who are not easily frustrated. Low tolerance for frustration is only one of the personality variables that sometimes accompany prejudice. People with low self esteem are more likely to be prejudiced than people who have high respect for themselves. Individuals who lack self-esteem look for others who can be seen as more unworthy than they themselves are. Guilt feelings about behavior are also projected onto people whose own behavior is what the prejudiced people see as bad about themselves, but cannot admit.


Tuesday, November 18, 2008

NOBLE VIRTUES, NOBLE TASKS!

We should develop the noble virtues of patience, fortitude, and perseverance. If at first we don't succeed, keep trying. It is a good thing never to be discouraged, to rise stronger after each fall. Every end is a beginning. It all depends upon how we look at it. We will not succeed if we concentrate on our failures. But if we see beyond our failures and reach our hands towards the success that lies in the future, that success will be ours.

Always remember, there is no such thing as "too late."
Many open doors and choices await us.