The Touch of the Master's Hand

The Touch of the Master's Hand by Myra Brooks Welch is a great way to remind yourself and others of God's forgiveness - and His restoring touch.

'Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile.

"What am I bidden, good folks?" he cried,
"Who'll start the bidding for me?"
"A dollar, a dollar"; then, "Two! Only two?
Two dollars, and who'll make it three?

Three dollars, once; three dollars twice;
Going for three" But no,
From the room, far back, a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;

Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loose strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet
As a caroling angel sings.


The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said, "What am I bid for the old violin?"
And he held it up with the bow.

"A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two?
Two thousand! And who'll make it three?
Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice,
And going, and gone," said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried,
"We do not quite understand
What changed its worth." Swift came the reply:
"The touch of a master's hand."

The Memory Bank

A 92-year-old, petite, 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 to a nursing home today.

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. 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 what you've put in.

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.

- author unknown

Character and success emerge from one’s heart

                                          The Secret Lies Within 

A man was selling balloons at a fair in a tribal village. He had balloons of different colors. To attract the attention of people, he would release a gas-filled balloon into the air. When children saw the balloon go up, they would jump with joy and rushed to buy one.

The Balloon man was busy in attracting his little customers, when he felt someone pulling his kurta (traditional dress worn in India). He turned around and saw a little dark tribal boy asking him, "If you release a black balloon, would that also fly high?"

For a moment the balloon man was taken aback – why is this little boy asking such a question? His eyes fell on the dark skin of the body, and in a flicker of moment, the balloon man realized the matter!

With lot of affection, he moved his hand on the head of the little boy and replied gently, "Son, it is not the color of the balloon, it is what’s inside it that makes it go up!"

Character and success emerge from one’s heart

True Greatness

True Greatness lies in Humility, Obedience, and Faithfulness.

True Love is to constantly swallow your pride and be a servant to others.

It Is OK To Be Wrong?

It is actually ok to be wrong.

Can you accept that you can be wrong?

Finding Happiness

Life can be complicated, 

but happiness is really simple....

It's All About Courage

This is a true story of courage. John Steven Akhwari of Tanzania inspires us. 

The event happened at the Mexico Olympics in 1968.

Closed. Open.

When one door closes, another door opens.

But we often look so long and regretfully 

at the closed door

that we fail to see the door that has opened.

By Golly, You Can

When someone tells you that you can't do something

Don't doubt yourself

Instead, stretch yourself!

You have to stick your neck out and go for your best.

Use all your will power and positive attitude.

Never, never give up!

In the end, you will succeed and prove them wrong.

Nothing is impossible if your heart is willing and you have a positive attitude.

You can make your world, our world a better place.

By golly, YOU can.

Lighted Candles

Good people are like lighted candles.

The darker the night, the brighter they shine.

Let nothing overwhelm your light.

Endure the burning as you share your light.

One-liners To Improve Relationships

Here are some wonderful one-liners to guide us and help us improve our relationships.


1.  Kind words make good echoes.
2.  The best things in life aren't things.
3.  The tongue weighs practically nothing but few can hold it.
4.  We stand tallest when we stoop to help others.
5.  The best way to have the last word is to apologize.
6.  Setbacks pave the way for comebacks.
7.  If the truth sets us free, lies bind us and make us prisoners.

How Much Do You Trust?

Trust is a very important factor in all relationships: marital, family, friendship, or business. When trust is broken, the relationship is strained or ended. A lack of trust leads to suspicion. Suspicion leads to anger. Anger causes enmity and enmity can lead to separation.


A female telephone operator received a phone call one day. She answered, "Public Utilities Board."  There was silence.  She repeated, "PUB." There was still no answer.  When she was about to cut off the line, she heard a lady's voice.  "Oh, so this is PUB. Sorry I got the number from my husband's pocket but I do not know whose number it is.


Without mutual trust, just imagine what will happen to the couple if the telephone operator answered with just 'hello' instead of 'PUB'.

Why Walk When You Can Fly?

Once there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent falcons from
Arabia . They were peregrine falcons, the most beautiful birds he had ever
seen. He gave the precious birds to his head falconer to be trained.

Months passed and one day the head falconer informed the king that though
one of the falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the sky, the
other bird had not moved from its branch since the day it had arrived.


The king summoned healers and sorcerers from all the land to tend to the
falcon, but no one could make the bird fly. He presented the task to the
member of his court, but the next day, the king saw through the palace
window that the bird had still not moved from its perch.

Having tried
everything else, the king thought to himself, "May be I need someone more
familiar with the countryside to understand the nature of this problem." So
he cried out to his court, "Go and get a farmer."



In the morning, the king was thrilled to see the falcon soaring high above
the palace gardens. He said to his court, "Bring me the doer of this
miracle."

The court quickly located the farmer, who came and stood before the king.
The king asked him, "How did you make the falcon fly?"

With his head bowed, the farmer said to the king, "It was very easy, your
highness. I simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting."



We are all made to fly, to realize our incredible potential as human
beings. But instead of doing that, we sit on our branches, clinging to the
things that are familiar to us. The possibilities are endless, but for most
of us, they remain undiscovered. We conform to the familiar, the
comfortable, the mundane. So for the most part, our lives are mediocre
instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling.



So let us learn to destroy the branch of fear which we cling to and free
ourselves to the glory of flight!

Memory Bank Account

A 92-year-old, petite, 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 to a nursing home today.

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.

 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 what you've put in.

So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank  account of memories!

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.

You may or may not pass this on. The decision is yours. But what you just read is so positive and so true, so I guess it would do more good if more people got to read it.

We Learn to Forgive

We learn to forgive because we also have shortcomings and imperfections.
We learn to forgive because life is too short to be bitter and angry.
We learn to forgive because it is the only way to move forward.
We learn to forgive because God has forgiven us, is forgiving us, and will forgive us.

Lessons From The Pencil Maker

The pencil maker imparted many lessons to his pencils. These are lessons which the wise can learn from.


1.  Everything you do will leave a mark.
2.  You can correct the mistakes you make.
3.  What matters is what is inside.
4.  In life, you will undergo painful sharpenings which will make you a better pencil.


And the most important lesson of all...


5.  To be the best pencil you can be, you must allow yourself to be held and guided by the hand that holds you.

Positive Answers to Negative Things

God has positive answers to all negative things we say to ourselves.


You say:  It's imposiible!
God says: What is impossible for human beings is possible to God (Luke 18:27)


You say:  I'm tired.
God says:  Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28)


You say:  Nobody really loves me.
God says:  I love you and gave you my only Son (John 3:16)


You say:  I can't do it.
God says:  You can do all things through Me (Phil 4:13)


You say:  I feel so alone.
God says:  I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)

Realizations

I realize that I should not regret any day of my life.

Good days give me happiness.

Bad days give me experience.

Both are essential to life.

I should keep going.

Happiness keep me sweet.

Trials make me strong.

Sorrows keep me human.

Failures make me humble.

Success keeps me glowing.

But only God keeps me going.

TRUST GOD AND LET IT GO

There's a phrase I've heard that rings very true to
me: God has all the help we need.

Which is to say that all the insight, all the power,
all the strength, all the patience, all the anything that we really need
is available to us. Indeed, God does have all the help that we need.

And to illustrate and amplify this, I'm going to
tell a story that is my trademark story.
On several occasions I have met
people that don't recognize me,
and then all of a sudden-- "Oh, oh, oh!" and
they'll mention they'd heard that story.

It was a turning point for me. It happened on the
17th of July in the year 1983. I was on vacation
on a little island in Maine. That was the first
summer my younger son had a boat. He had allowed me
to use his boat that day if I would pick him up
from work that night. He was working a late shift at
the Portland Yacht Club as a launch operator. If you
know how yacht clubs work,
people keep their boats on moorings and there
is a boat service back and forth,
usually piloted by teenagers like my son.

At eight-thirty I stepped out the back door of the
cottage and stopped dead in my tracks. I was in the midst of the most
unbelievably beautiful sunset I had ever seen or have seen since. It was
extraordinary. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.
The sun had gone over the White Mountains, eighty miles away,
and we had the reflected glory of the color, and
that night was gold. As we know, the water always
reflects the color of the sky, and the sea of the bay
that night was pure gold.

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME

A young man learns what's most important in life from the old man next door.
It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls,
career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across
the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy
life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to
spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.
Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr.. Belser died last night. The
funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old
newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.
"Jack, did you hear me?" "Oh sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you.
It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said. "Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him.
"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said. "You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said. "He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important...Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said.
As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his
hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no
children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by
to see the old house next door one more time. Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture....
Jack stopped suddenly. "What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.
"The box is gone," he said. "What box?" Mom asked.
"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk.
I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside.
All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most, '" Jack said.
It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack
remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it. "Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read. Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. "Mr. Harold Belser" it read. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside.
"Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett.
It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved: Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser.
"The thing he valued most...was...my time."
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his assistant asked.
"I need some time to spend with my son," he said. "Oh, by the way, Janet...thanks for your time!"

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the
moments that take our breath away,"
Think about this. You may not realize it, but it's100% true.
1. At least 2 people in this world love you so much they would die for
you.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in someway.
3. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't
like you.
4. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
5. You mean the world to someone.
6. If not for you, someone may not be living.
7. You are special and unique.
8. When you think you have no chance of getting what you want,
you probably won't get it, but if you trust God to do what's best,
and wait on His time, sooner or later, you will get it or something
better.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good can still
come from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look:
you most likely turned your back on the world.
11. Someone that you don't even know exists, loves you.
12. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about
the rude remarks.
13. Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much
better when they know and you'll both be happy.
14. If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that
they are great.