Kindness Is Contagious

KINDNESS IS CONTAGIOUS

My 9-year-old daughter and I were flying from our home in Charlotte, North Carolina, to spend a week with my husband in Miami, Florida. Mike had been in Florida for five months working for an Internet start-up company. We were excited about the trip because we had seen him only five times in five months, and Kallie missed her dad terribly.

As usual on the Charlotte-to-Miami flight, the plane was totally full. I had noticed a troop of Boy Scouts at the gate and commented to my daughter that if anything happened, we would be OK with all those Scouts on our flight! Little did I know....

Because we did not get our boarding passes until we arrived at the gate, Kallie and I could not get seats together and were separated by the aisle. That wasn't such a big deal, except that Kallie was nervous about the trip and had counted on my reading to her the whole way. Trying to read across the aisle would be a challenge.

When the two passengers who shared my row boarded the plane, I asked if they would switch places with Kallie and me, so that we could be together and so that she could sit next to the window. They refused, saying they thought they should stay in their assigned seats. Meanwhile, a mother and her three children were in a panic several rows ahead of us. There had been a mistake in their boarding passes, the whole family had been split up.

The passengers in her row also refused to move elsewhere. The mother could hold her baby, but her 6-year-old son and his older brother had been scattered around the plane. She was very concerned about the younger boy sitting with strangers. She was in tears, yet nobody offered to help her.

Suddenly the Scout leader stood up and said, “Ma'am, I think we can help you.” He then spent five minutes rearranging his group so that adequate space was available for the family. The boys followed his directions cheerfully and without complaint, and the mother's relief was obvious.

Kallie, however, was beginning to panic at the thought of not being next to a window or her mother. I told her that there wasn't anything I could do; we would have to sit where we were. Amazingly, the man sitting next to the Scoutmaster (not a Scout himself), turned around to me and asked, “Would you and your daughter like our seats?” referring to himself and the
Scoutmaster. He said he was cramped in the window seat and would really prefer the aisle. We traded seats and continued our trip, very much relieved to be together and watch the scenery from Kallie's window seat.

Would that man have offered us his seat if the Scouts hadn't done so for the mom and her children? I don't know. But I do know that kindness is contagious, and good deeds beget good deeds!

By Phyllis Yearick

James 1:22-25 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

2 Corinthians 4:6-10 “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are
perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”

All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.

Source --- http://www.Godswork.org

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A Joyful Life

HOW TO HAVE A LIFE OF JOY

Do you know how to have a life of joy?

A businessman on his deathbed called his friend and said, “Bill, I want you to promise me that when I die you will have my remains cremated.” “And what,” his friend asked, “do you want me to do with your ashes?” The businessman said, “Just put them in an envelope and mail them as taxes to the government and write on the envelope, 'Now you have everything!'”

Paying taxes is not usually a joy. But Giving can be joyful. We pay the taxes because we have to. But when we choose to give time or money, then giving can add to our overall happiness.

Mother Teresa teaches us an important lesson about happiness. She was one of those people who emanated joy. Born in 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia, she felt called as a teenager to move to Calcutta, India. Some months later she saw a sight that completely evolutionized her life.

Shortly after moving to Calcutta she spotted a homeless, dying woman lying in the gutter, being eaten by rats. After seeing that, compassion compelled her to beg an abandoned Hindu temple from the government and convert it into a crude, make-shift hospital for the dying. “Nobody should die alone” she would later say. Mother Teresa went on to establish homes for the destitute dying in numerous cities. But in spite of devoting her life to
people in such dire straits, she radiated joy and happiness.

This incredible woman was once interviewed by Malcolm Muggeridge from the BBC News. He asked her an unusual question: “Mother Teresa, the thing I noticed about you and the hundreds of sisters who now form your team is that you all look so happy. Is that a put-on?”

Here was a woman who had none of the things we like to think of as bringing happiness: a home, a family, prosperity. Rather, she lived in near-poverty and spent her time wiping dirt and various body fluids from half-dead cancer and leprosy victims -- and appeared to be blissfully happy. “Is that a put-on” she was asked?

She replied, “Oh no, not at all. Nothing makes you happier than when you really reach out in mercy to someone who is badly hurt.” She would agree that happiness does not come from acquiring, but is a by-product of giving: time, money, love. Do you want a life of joy? Start
by giving.

By Steve Goodier

1 John 3:16-19 “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure
our hearts before Him.”

James 2:14-17 “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith,
if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”

1 John 4:7-11 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that
He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”

All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.

Source--- http://www.Godswork.org

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Hand In Hand

HAND IN HAND

I can remember when my first born son was learning to walk. Everyone in the house was full of excitement. We cheered him on as he pulled himself up on the coffee table and walked around it keeping his palms on it for support. We applauded when he began to make his way down the halls leaning against the wall and going hand over hand as he toddled along. Every time we stood him up in the middle of the floor, however, he would only take a step or two before falling on his butt. Then he would look scared, frown, and crawl over to the safety of his favorite wall to pull himself back up.

For a while there it looked like he would never walk without both palms planted firmly on it. Then one day we decided to give him a hand, literally. We began to take turns bending down and offering him a finger to hold onto while he walked. When we did this his fear disappeared and his smile returned. He seemed happy to walk along forever hand in hand with us. I spent a lot of time over the next few weeks walking like this with him. Thankfully, he finally did learn to let go and walk on his own before my back gave out.

In my own walk through life I sometimes find myself falling on my butt too. I know that Heaven’s angels are cheering me on and urging me to get up and keep going no matter how many mistakes I make and how many times I fall. Still, sometimes I find myself crawling instead of rising. Happily, though, there is always a hand there ready to help me back to my feet. God’s loving hand is always there ready to help us up and get us going again. His back
never gives out either. He will walk hand in hand with us all through this life and into the next.

If you stumble and fall then don’t be afraid. Just reach up and take your Father’s hand. He will always help you up. He will always be with you too, step by loving step. He will walk with you hand in hand down life’s dark and winding road and into Heaven’s shining light.

By Joseph J. Mazzella

Philippians 4:6-7 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Psalm 139:1-6 “O LORD, Thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, Thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.”

Psalm 37:3-6 “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass. And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.”

Psalm 37:23-25 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and He delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with His hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”

All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.

Source --- http://www.Godswork.org

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John Wooden

The Greatest College Basketball Coach - John Wooden

Dear friends:
This has nothing to do with the Bible, but it does have to do with biblical values, and is so great I just have to pass it on. This is about the greatest college basketball coach of all time. -Jim Bramlett

Written by a sportswriter.......

On the 21st of the month, the best man I know will do what he always does on the 21st of the month. He'll sit down and pen a love letter to his best girl. He'll say how much he misses her and loves her and can't wait to see her again.

Then he'll fold it once, slide it in a little envelope and walk into his bedroom. He'll go to the stack of love letters sitting there on her pillow, untie the yellow ribbon, place the new one on top and tie the ribbon again. The stack will be 180 letters high then, because the 21st will be 15 years to the day since Nellie, his beloved wife of 53 years, died.

In her memory, he sleeps only on his half of the bed, only on his pillow, only on top of the sheets, never between; with just the old bedspread they shared to keep him warm.

There's never been a finer man in American sports than John Wooden, or a finer coach. He won 10 NCAA basketball championships at UCLA, the last in 1975. Nobody has ever come within six of him.

He won 88 straight games between January 30, 1971, and January 17, 1974. Nobody has come within 42 since.

So, sometimes, when the Basketball Madness gets to be too much -- too many players trying to make Sports Center, too few players trying to make assists, too few coaches willing to be mentors, too many freshmen with out-of-wedlock kids, too few freshmen who will stay in school long enough to become men -- I like to go see Coach Wooden.

I visit him in his little condo in Encino, 20 minutes northwest of Los Angeles, and hear him say things like "Gracious sakes alive!" and tell stories about teaching "Lewis" the hook shot. Lewis Alcindor, that is...who became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

There has never been another coach like Wooden, quiet as an April snow and square as a game of checkers; loyal to one woman, one school, one way; walking around campus in his sensible shoes and Jimmy Stewart morals.

He'd spend a half hour the first day of practice teaching his men how to put on a sock. "Wrinkles can lead to blisters," he'd warn. These huge players would sneak looks at one another and roll their eyes. Eventually, they'd do it right. "Good," he'd say. "And now for the other foot."

Of the 180 players who played for him, Wooden knows the whereabouts of 172. Of course, it's not hard when most of them call, checking on his health, secretly hoping to hear some of his simple life lessons so that they can write them on the lunch bags of their kids, who will roll their eyes.

"Discipline yourself, and others won't need to," Coach would say. "Never lie, never cheat, never steal," and "Earn the right to be proud and confident."

If you played for him, you played by his rules: Never score without acknowledging a teammate. One word of profanity and you're done for the day. Treat your opponent with respect.

He believed in hopelessly out-of-date stuff that never did anything but win championships. No dribbling behind the back or through the legs. "There's no need," he'd say.

No UCLA basketball number was retired under his watch. "What about the fellows who wore that number before? Didn't they contribute to the team?" he'd say.

No long hair, no facial hair. "They take too long to dry, and you could catch cold leaving the gym," he'd say. That one drove his players bonkers.

One day, All-America center Bill Walton showed up with a full beard. "It's my right," he insisted. Wooden asked if he believed that strongly. Walton said he did. "That's good, Bill," Coach said. "I admire people who have strong beliefs and stick by them, I really do. We're going to miss you." Walton shaved it right then and there. Now Walton calls once a week to tell Coach he loves him.

It's always too soon when you have to leave the condo and go back out into the real world, where the rules are so much grayer and the teams so much worse.

As Wooden shows you to the door, you take one last look around. The framed report cards of his great-grandkids, the boxes of jellybeans peeking out from under the favorite wooden chair, the dozens of pictures of Nellie.

He's almost 90 now. You think a little more hunched over than last time. Steps a little smaller. You hope it's not the last time you see him. He smiles. "I'm not afraid to die," he says. "Death is my only chance to be with her again."

Problem is … we still need him here.

"There is only one kind of a life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior. Until that is done, we are on an aimless course that runs in circles and goes nowhere. Material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord, because He knows what we really are and that is all that matters." - John Wooden

“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”  - Psalm 19:7 

To subscribe please send an email to: Sherrys_Inspirational-subscribe@googlegroups.com

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Great Happiness

GREAT HAPPINESS

Not long ago I answered a telephone call from an old friend I'd not heard from for a long time.

“Hi, Steve,” he said. “I just wanted to see how you're getting along.”

For whatever reason, our paths had simply not crossed for months. It was good to talk with him. I wondered why we hadn't kept in touch better.

Toward the end of the conversation, he said, “If you need me in any way, I'll be happy to help out.” And he meant it!

That call came at just the right time, as they so often do. I needed those words of encouragement. I hung up the phone feeling a satisfying lump of warmth in my chest.

And that day I re-learned something important about life: life is primarily about people -- not plans and schedules, not to-do lists and a million tasks left undone -- it's about people.

To love and to know that we are loved is the greatest happiness of existence. And happiness seems to be something that is in short supply for too many of us! My friend reminded me that it is never enough just to love; we must also express it. What good are our affectionate feelings toward others if we don't find ways to let them know?

George William Childs put it like this: “Do not keep the alabaster box of your love and friendship sealed up until your friends are dead. Fill their lives with sweetness. Speak approving, cheering words while their ears can hear them and while their hearts can be thrilled and made happier. The kind things you mean to say when they are gone, say before they go.”

Happiness...may be just a phone call away.

By Steve Goodier

Read and meditate on these scriptures:

1 John 4:7-11 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that
He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”

Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus declares, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

1 Peter 3:8-11 “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his
lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.”

All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.

Source --- http://www.Godswork.org

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Church In The Wilderness

The Church in The Wilderness
By Steve Popoola

I was invited over the weekend for a thanksgiving/send-off service. When the invitation came, I was not sure I would attend because I thought I had a program in church on that day. Fortunately, I learnt on time that the program was not for that particular Sunday, but for the next one. The coast was therefore clear for me to attend the service I was invited to. On Saturday morning however, I began to feel feverish and this again cast doubt on my honoring the invitation, nevertheless, after a long night rest, I was strong enough to make a firm decision not to miss the service.

I set off on the rainy Sunday morning. My destination: The maximum-security prisons in Lagos. The service was the thanksgiving service of the pastor of the protestant group of churches in the maximum-security prisons. He had been an inmate for eight years and it was time to leave.

I got there just in time for the start of the service. I was ushered into the hall where the service was being held. It was packed full. I was given a seat in the reserved area for special guests. As I was being ushered to my seat, I looked up and saw the pastor beaming at me from the platform. I smiled as he whispered to the person beside him, apparently telling him who I was. At that moment, I silently thanked God for not allowing me miss this occasion.

“Welcome to the church in the wilderness!” announced the assistant pastor as he started off the service. He continued, “We want to assure you that this church has everything you can find in any church in the free world. Relax and join us as we praise the Lord for the life of this man God brought into our lives, and who has made tremendous impact in the lives of many people in this facility”. 

The worship session started and I could not help observing the people in the hall. At that moment, there was no difference between the prisoner and the visitor. We all blended together in worship and praise to God. We stood as equals before God who is no respecter of persons. The assistant pastor was right, the quality of worship was better than what obtained in some churches out there. I saw the zeal and the passion among the choir members. It didn’t matter whether some of these ones had been convicted for theft, robbery or rape. What mattered was that they had found God here. God had made a difference in their lives and they were willing to serve Him even in this place.

It was time for speeches and I was amazed at the things said about this man, this pastor whom I had known when he was out in the world. I had known him longer than anyone except one, his mother, in that room. I heard how God had used him to transform lives, how he went from block to block, cell to cell to minister the love of Christ. I heard how he reached out to churches and ministries beyond the prison gates for the provision of musical instruments, food and drugs for the inmates and how he used whatever resources he had to bless others. It was no wonder therefore that tears flowed in that service. The Deputy Controller of Prisons gave this remark, ‘I am happy and I am not happy. I am happy my friend is being released from prison but I am not happy my friend is leaving me’

Amazing still, was the caliber of people who attended the service, apart from the churches, ministries and NGOs in attendance. In that service were staunch Moslems. The Deputy Controller of Prisons was a Catholic. For those who are Nigerians, the name Major El-Mustapha, is a household name. This man was actually in attendance and paid glowing tribute to this pastor.

By the time I was called upon to speak, I was short of words. I looked at this man I had known for years before he came to this place. He looked at me and there was a communication nobody in that room could understand. This was not just a man who decided to serve God because he found himself in prison, this was a man sold out to God. I will be waiting at the gates of the maximum-security prisons to welcome him into the free world but I do not know where God is taking him. I am rest assured however, that if he could make such impact in the lives of people in that enclave, nothing will stop him from making bigger impact in the lives of people outside, where there are no walls to limit his movement.

(c) 2004, Biblepraise Fellowship Online Steve Popoola is moderator of the Biblepraise Fellowship Online and editor of Biblepraise Newsletter, a weekly Christian e-zine.

Visit the Biblepraise Fellowship Web Site for inspiring stories, articles and poetry. http://www.biblepraise.org

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To Be Loved

IT'S GOOD TO BE LOVED

We have a saying in our house that goes, “It’s good to be loved.” It was inspired years ago by the wonderful love that our dogs show us every day. I find myself thinking it first thing in the morning when the alarm goes off and I find a huge Saint Bernard head resting on the side of my bed waiting for its jowls to be scratched. I find myself saying it when my littlest dog whose belly is only a few inches off the ground still manages to jump up on my chair, climb up my chest, and lick my chin a hundred times.

I find myself whispering it when my oldest dog who would be past eighty if he were human slowly gets up and walks across the room just so he can be petted and curl up at my feet. I find myself laughing about it when I see my daughter’s young dog perched on the back of the couch like a squirrel watching out the window and waiting for her to get home. I find myself smiling about it when I go to feed my big, watch dog only to find him ignoring the food and cuddling up to my legs instead. I find myself thanking God for that love every chance I can and taking joy in that love every single day.

Each and every day these five dogs show me just how good it is to be loved. Each and every day these five dogs show me just how great it is to love. I am sure too that God put dogs here on this world to teach us just that. If everyone on this world were to love each other as unconditionally as our dog’s love us then Earth would seem a whole lot more like Heaven.

It is good to be loved, but it is even better to love. My furry angels sent from God show me this every single day. May we all one day learn to love as freely, faithfully, and unconditionally as they do. May we all one day learn the lessons in joy, sweetness, playfulness, and happiness that they teach. May we all one day learn to live our lives as well as our dogs live theirs.

By Joseph J. Mazzella

Read and meditate on these scriptures:

1 John 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

John 13:12-15 “So after He had washed their feet, and had taken His garments, and was set down again, He said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.”

Source --- http://www.Godswork.org

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Blue Rose

BLUE ROSE

Why do I always have to be the one that starts to do laundry and there's no detergent? I guess it was time for me to do my 'Dollar Store' run, which included light bulbs, paper towels, trash bags and Clorox. So off I go.

I scurried around the store, gathered up my goodies, and headed for the checkout counter only to be blocked in the narrow aisle by a young man that appeared to be about sixteen-years-old. I wasn't in a hurry, so I patiently waited for the boy to realize that I was there.

This was when he waved his hands excitedly in the air and declared in a loud  voice, 'Mommy, I'm over here.' It was obvious now, he was mentally challenged, and also startled as he turned and saw me standing so close to him, waiting to squeeze by. His eyes widened and surprise exploded on his face as I said, 'Hey buddy, what's your name?' 'My name is Denny and I'm shopping with my mother,' he responded proudly. 'Wow,' I said, 'that's a cool name; I wish my name was Denny, but my name is Hal.' 'Hal like
Halloween?' he asked. 'Yes,' I answered. 'How old are you Denny?

'How old am I now Mommy?' he asked his mother as she slowly came over from the next aisle. 'You're fifteen-years-old Denny; now be a good boy and let the man pass by.' I acknowledged her and continued to talk to Denny for several more minutes about summer, bicycles and school. I watched his brown eyes dance with excitement because he was the center of someone's attention.

He then abruptly turned and headed toward the toy section.

Denny's mom had a puzzled look on her face and thanked me for taking the time to talk with her son.

She told me that most people wouldn't even look at him, much less talk to him. I told her that it was my pleasure and then I said something which I have no idea where it came from, other than by the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

I told her that there are plenty of red, yellow and pink roses in God's garden, however, 'Blue Roses' are very rare and should be appreciated for their beauty and distinctiveness. You see, Denny is a 'Blue Rose' and if someone doesn't stop and smell that rose with their heart and touch that rose with their kindness, then they've missed a blessing from God.

She was silent for a second, then with a tear in her eye she asked, 'Who are you?' Without thinking I said, 'Oh, I'm probably just a 'daffodil or maybe even a dandelion,' but I sure love living in God's garden.

Author Unknown


Read and meditate on these scriptures:

Matthew 5:7-9 Jesus declares “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”

John 13:34-35 Jesus declares “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Source --- http://www.Godswork.org

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Forgiveness

A FATHER'S FORGIVENESS

When I was a boy I always wanted to be a cowboy. I remember my Mom worrying about me getting sick from the heat in the summer, because I wore a thick blue sweater all the time. No respectable cowboy, however, would wear short sleeves so I sweated while I played.

I was overjoyed too when one day my parents gave me a bb gun. It looked just like a lever action rifle that all the cowboys used in the movies. I spent hours each day during those summer months shooting at stumps and pretending to be John Wayne. I even mastered the one-handed, swing, load and shoot move I had seen him do in a movie once. At least that is what I thought. As I was coming into the house one afternoon, though, I tried it one time too many. The gun that I thought was empty let out a soft pop and a bb flew across the room and parted the hair of my Dad who was asleep on the couch. My Dad took one look at the bb hole a half inch above his head, walked over to me, took my gun, walked outside, and calmly broke it in half.

I didn’t cry too much over this. I knew how close I had come to hurting my Dad with my stupidity. I didn’t expect to ever get another bb gun either. That is why I was so surprised when my Dad bought me another one the next year. I guess he thought I had wised up enough to know how to use it this time. I never put a single bb in the new gun, but in my imagination John Wayne rode again.

I eventually outgrew my cowboy stage, but I never did outgrow my appreciation for my Father’s forgiveness. He showed me that even when I messed up in the worse way I was still loved. He gave me another chance and let me know that I was forgiven whether I deserved it or not. He shared with me some of the unconditional love and forgiveness that our Father in Heaven has for us all. May we always embrace and share that love and forgiveness as well.

By Joseph J. Mazzella


Read and meditate on these scriptures:

1 John 1:8-10 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” 

Source  --- http://www.Godswork.org

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