I am a miracle

Those of You Born
1920 - 1979

At the end of this
Email is a quote of the month by Jay Leno.. If you don't read anything else,
Please
Read what he
Said.
Very well stated,
Mr. Leno.
TO
ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE

1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers
Who smoked and/or drank while they were
Pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing,
Tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,
Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode
Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children,
We would ride in cars with no car seats,
No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day
Was always a special treat.

We drank water
From the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends,
From one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.
And, we weren't overweight.
WHY?

Because we were
Always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day,
As long as we were back when the
Streetlights came on.

No one was able
To reach us all day.. And, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps
And then ride them down the hill, only to find out
We forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes
a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes.
There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
No video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,
No cell phones,
No personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.
WE

HAD FRIENDS
And we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth
And there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt,
And the worms did not live in us
Forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and,
Although we were told it would happen,
We did not put out very many eyes..

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and
Knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just
Walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team..
Those who didn't had to learn to deal
With disappointment.
Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law
Was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best
Risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years
Have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility,
and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of them?
CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others
who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the
lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives
for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know
how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house
with scissors, doesn't it ?

The quote of the
month is by Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornadoes, fires out of control,
mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms
tearing up the country from one end to another,
and with the threat

of swine flu
and terrorist attacks.
Are we sure this is a good time
to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

Great One Liners!

Don't let your worries get the best of you;
Remember, Moses started out as a basket case.

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Most people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited - Until you try to sit in their pews.

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Many folks want to serve God, But only as advisers.

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It is easier to preach ten sermons Than it is to live one.

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The good Lord didn't create anything without a purpose, But mosquitoes come close.

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When you get to your wit's end, You'll find God lives there.

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People are funny; they want the front of the bus, Mddle of the road, And back of the church.

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Opportunity may knock once. But temptation bangs on the front door forever.

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Quit griping about your church; If it was perfect, you couldn't belong.

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If a church wants a better pastor, It only needs to pray for the one it has.

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God Himself doesn't propose to judge a man until he is dead. So why should you?

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Some minds are like concrete - Thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.

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Peace starts with a smile.

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I don't know why some people change churches; What difference does it make which one you stay home from?

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A lot of church members singing 'Standing on the Promises.' Are just sitting on the premises.

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Be ye fishers of men. You catch 'em - He'll clean 'em.

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Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.

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Don't put a question mark where God put a period.

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Forbidden fruits create many jams.

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God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

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God grades on the cross, not the curve.

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God loves everyone, But probably prefers 'fruits of the spirit' over 'religious nuts!'

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God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.

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He who angers you, controls you!

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If God is your Co-pilot, swap seats!

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Prayer: Don't give God instructions, just report for duty!

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The task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us.

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The Will of God never takes you to where the Grace of God will not protect you.

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We don't change the message, The message changes us.

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You can tell how big a person is By what it takes to discourage him.

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There is no greater treasure than a good friend!

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Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.

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Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is.

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The way you cope with it is what makes the difference'

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Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.

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

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Learn from the mistakes of others. Trust me.. you can't live long enough to make them all yourself. I've tried!!

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Stop telling God how big your storm is, instead, tell the storm how big your God is.

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If this blessed you in a profound way today,
Share it with a few friends to bless them!
I bet someone else will LOVE it

Two Choices

Two Choices

What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its

dedicated staff, he offered a question:

'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.

Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.

Where is the natural order of things in my son?'
The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human future presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'

Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll tr! y to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.

In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.

Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do the others let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the

plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.

The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.

As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.

Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.



Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of! all tea m mates.

Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!

Run to first!'

Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.

He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'

Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.

By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball. The smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.

He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.

Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!

Shay, run to third!'

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'

Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.

'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.



Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day !

Going to the Movies

A couple of teenagers came to their dad and said, "Dad, can you sit down? We need to talk to you.

"There's this movie we really want to see. It's rated R and I know we aren't allowed to see R rated movies but we asked around about it. There are only a few bad words, no big deal. And one sex scene ~ but it's more implied, off to the side.

"It's got fantastic special effects, though, and some great actors. Come on, Dad. Let us go. We don't want to be nerds! Can we go, please?"

Dad thought and said, "Let me think it over for a day."

The next day arrives and the teens ask, "Dad, did you decide about the movie?"

"I did," he says. "And you can see it."

Just then he brings out a batch of fresh baked brownies and says, "But first I want you to eat these brownies I made for you. I chose the finest ingredients ~ the best chocolate, freshest walnuts. And they are so moist!

"I should tell you, though, I put a tablespoon of dog poo in them. It not much and I baked them perfectly at 350 degrees so I'm sure it killed any bacteria."

Do you think the teens ate the brownies? There wasn't that much dog poo compared to all the good stuff that was in them ~ just like the movie they wanted to see.

So if we saw the sin in the things we digest mentally and spiritually literally as dog poo, we might be less apt to partake. Don't you think?

A New Commandment I Give to You - Love One Another AS I HAVE LOVED YOU

In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love. -- Mother Teresa

It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters. -- Mother Teresa

It is a kingly act to assist the fallen. -- Mother Teresa

The success of love is in the loving - it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done. -- Mother Teresa