*LOL* Great quote!

Yalahii.

"Computers let you make more mistakes faster
than anything except handguns and tequila..."  - Mitch Ratcliffe

Early to rise and early to bed makes a male healthy and wealthy and dead." -- James Thurber

Where Does Magic Come From?

by Chris Mills

Once there was a little girl who asked her Grandmother a very special question. "Grandmother, is there such a thing as magic?"

"Why, yes, my child. Yes, there is magic," said the Grandmother in surprise.

"Grandmother, where does it come from?" Grandmother slowly smiled. Then she grabbed the little girl and tickled her tummy. Their laughter filled the room and bounced around the house.

"Child, do you know what that sound was?"

"Yes, Grandmother, that was laughter."

"That, my child, was magic. When you laugh it makes the faeries dance."

"Really?" Then the Grandmother smiled lovingly at the little girl. The girl smiled happily back.

"Do you know what we're doing, child?"

"Yes, Grandmother. We're smiling."

"It's magic, child. When we smile, it floats on the air to everyone around us. Then they smile too."

"Really?" Then the Grandmother took the little girl's hand and led her outside. They laid down in the grass and stared up at the clouds.

"Tell me, child, what do you see?"

"I see clouds, Grandmother."

"It's magic, child. If you look, you can see anything you want in the clouds. Close your eyes, wish, and then look. You'll find your wish up there."

"Really?"

That night, when the little girl went to bed, the Grandmother gave her a good night hug. "Do you know what that was, child?"

"It was a hug, Grandmother."

"That was magic, child. When you give someone a hug, you pass on love and protection."

"Really?" Then the Grandmother pulled the blankets up and tucked the little girl in for the night.

"Now, child, can you tell me where magic comes from?"

"Yes, Grandmother," the little girl said with a very sleepy yawn. "Magic comes from me."

beautiful!

Yalahii.

Inspirational Stories

The Little Boy, the Rose and the Doll

I hurried into the local department store to grab some last minute Christmas
gifts.  I looked at all the people and grumbled to myself. I would be in
here forever and I just had so much to do.  Christmas was beginning to become
such a drag.  I kinda wished that I could just sleep through Christmas.  But
I hurried the best I could through all the people to the toy department. 
Once again I kind of mumbled to myself at the prices of all these toys, and
wondered if the grandkids would even play with them.  I found myself in the
doll aisle.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a little boy about 5 holding a
lovely doll.  He kept touching her hair and he held her so gently.  I could
not seem to help myself.  I just kept looking over at the little boy and
wondered who the doll was for.  I watched him turn to a woman and he called
his aunt by name and said, "Are you sure I don't have enough money".  She
replied a bit impatiently, "You know that you don't have enough money for
it." The aunt told the little boy not to go anywhere that she had to go get
some other things and would be back in a few minutes. And then she left the
aisle.

The boy continued to hold the doll. After a bit I asked the boy who
the doll was for.  He said, "It is the doll my sister wanted so badly for
Christmas.  She just knew that Santa would bring it." I told him that maybe
Santa was going to bring it.  He said "No, Santa can't go where my sister
is...I have to give the doll to my Mamma to take to her".  I asked him where
his sister was.  He looked at me with the saddest eyes and said "She has gone
to be with Jesus".  My Daddy says that Mama is going to have to go be with
her. My heart nearly stopped beating.  Then the boy looked at me again and
said, I told my Daddy to tell Mama not to go yet.  I told him to tell her to
wait till I got back from the store".  Then he asked me if I wanted to see
his picture.I told him I would love to.  He pulled out some pictures he'd had
taken at the front of the store.  He said "I want my Mamma to take this with
her so she don't ever forget me." "I love my Mama so very much and I wish she
did not have to leave me". "But Daddy says she will need to be with my
sister."  I saw that the little boy had lowered his head and had grown so
very quiet. 

While he was not looking I reached into my purse and pulled out
a handful of bills.  I asked the little boy, "Shall we count that money one
more time?  He grew excited and said "Yes, I just know it has to be enough". 
So I slipped my   money in with his and we began to count it.  Of  course it
was plenty for the doll.  He softly said, "Thank you Jesus, for giving me
enough money." Then the boy said "I just asked Jesus to give me enough money
to buy this doll so Mama can take it with her to give to my sister." "And he
heard my prayer.  "I wanted to ask him for enough to buy my Mama a white
rose, but I didn't ask him, but he gave me enough to buy the doll and a rose
for my Mama." "She loves white roses so very, very much". In a few minutes
the aunt came back and I wheeled my cart away.  I could not keep from
thinking about the little boy as I finished my shopping in a totally
different spirit than when I had started. 

And I kept remembering a story I had seen in the newspaper several days earlier about a drunk driver hitting a car and killing a little girl and the Mother was in serious condition. The family was deciding on whether to remove the life support. Now surely this little boy did not belong with that story. Two days later I read in the paper where the family had disconnected the life support and the young woman had died. I could not forget the little boy and just kept wondering if the
two were somehow connected. Later that day, I could not help myself and I
went out and bought some white roses and took them to the funeral home where
the young woman was. There she was holding a lovely white rose, the beautiful
doll, and the picture of the little boy in the store. I left there in tears,
my life changed forever. The love that little boy had for his little sister
and his mother was overwhelming.  And in a split second a drunk driver had
ripped the life of that little boy to pieces.

Things Aren't Always What They Seem

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guestroom. Instead the angels were given a small space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, "Things aren't always what they seem."

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel "How could you have let this happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him," she accused. "The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die."

"Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel replied. "When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead.

"Things aren't always what they seem."

Author Unknown

The moral of this story:

Sometimes that is exactly what happens when things don't turn out the way they should. If you have faith, you just need to trust that every out come is always to your advantage. You might not know it until some time later.

Friends

Friends answer your needs before their own.
You come to them with your hunger,
And they satisfy you with peace.
That's how friends are.

Friends let you speak your mind,
Without worrying what their thoughts will be.
Friends know when you are silent,
They need to listen your heart.

Friends share the joy and the pain.
They know about desire and rejection.
Friends allow you to be who you are,
Without expectations of who you should be.

Friends don't come with a purpose,
They don't come with a plan.
They come to enlighten your spirit,
They come to brighten your heart.

They come to give you a hand when needed
And expect nothing in return.
It is the little things that friends do.
Like fill your heart with pleasure, hope and joy.

AAHH... The Sweetness Of Friendsip
There can be no price placed on Friendship
It has once been told.
For Friendships are worth far more than gold

One cold, frosty day in the middle of winter a colony of ants was busy drying out some, grains of corn, which had grown damp during the wet autumn weather.

A grasshopper half dead with cold and hunger, came up to one of the ants. "Please give me a grail or two from your store of corn to save my life," he said faintly.

"We worked day and night to get this corn in. Why should I give it to you?" asked the ant crossly. "Whatever were you doing all last summer when you should have been gathering your food?"

Oh I didn't have time for things like that, said the grasshopper. "I was far too busy singing to carry corn about."

The ant laughed I unkindly. "In that case you can sing all winter as far as I am concerned," he said. And without another word he turned back to his work

Inspiring Stories

The Villager and the Happy Man 

In a small village in the valley, there lived a man who was always happy, kind, and well disposed to everyone he met. He always smiled and had a kind and encouraging word to say whenever necessary. Everyone who met him left feeling, better, happier and elated. People knew they could count on him, and regarded him as a great friend.

One of the village dwellers was curious to know what his secret was, how could he be always so kind and helpful? How is it that he held no grudge towards anyone and was always happy?

Once, upon meeting him in the street he asked him: "Most people are selfish and unsatisfied. They do not smile as often as you do; neither are they as helpful or kind as you are. How do you explain it?"

"When you make peace with yourself, then you can be in peace with the rest of the world. If you can recognize the spirit in yourself, you can recognize the spirit in everyone, and then you find it natural to be kind and well disposed to all. If your thoughts are under your control you become strong and firm. The outer mask of the personality is like a robot programmed to do certain tasks. Your habits and thoughts are the programs. Be free from these programming and then the inner good that resides in you will be revealed."

"But a lot of work is necessary. Good habits have to be developed. The ability to concentrate and to control the thoughts has to be strengthened. The work is difficult and endless. There are many walls that need to be to climbed. It is not an easy task." Lamented the villager.

"Do not think about the difficulties, otherwise that what you will see and experience. Just quieten your feelings and thoughts and try to stay in this peace. All the abilities and powers awaken spontaneously. You do not work on them directly. They are by-products of your peace of mind. Just try to be calm and do not let yourself be carried away by your thoughts."

"Is that all?" Asked the villager.

"Try to watch your thoughts and see how they come and go. Stay in the quietness that arises. The moments of peace will be brief at first, but in time they will get longer. This peace is also strength, power, kindness, and love. When you realize that you are one with the Universal Power, you begin to act from a different dimension, not from the selfish, small, limited ego."

"I will try to remember your words," said the villager and continued, "there is another thing that I am curious about. You do not seem to be influenced by the environment. You have a kind word to everyone and are helpful. Yet people do not exploit your goodness, and they treat you well."

"Goodness and being kind do not necessarily point to weakness. When you are good you can also be strong. People sense your strength and do not impose on you. When you are strong and calm inside, you help people because you can and you want to. You then act from strength and not from weakness. Goodness can also go with power and strength, it is not a sign of weakness as some people erroneously think."

"Thank you very much for your advice", said the villager and went away happy and satisfied.