Kindness Is Contagious

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baron De Rothschild once asked artist Ary Scheffer to paint his portrait. Though a wealthy financier. Rothschild posed as a beggar, wearing rags and holding a tin cup. During one day of painting, a friend of the artist entered the room. Thinking Rothschild was really a beggar, he dropped a coin in his cup.

 

Ten years later that man received a letter from the Baron De Rothschild and a cheque for ten thousand francs. The message read."You one day gave a coin to baron Rothschild in the studio of Ary Scheffer. he has invested it and today sends you the capital which you entrusted to him, together with the compounded interest. "A good action always brings good fortune."

 

 You don't have to be a martyr looking for ways to sacrifice yourself when doing something for others, but a simple, random act of kindness.  No one need know you did it. You do it with the understanding that you are doing a service for someone else without any gain to yourself. You are detaching from any benefits that may come your way, letting go of the results from you actions.

Meaning you perform the action of kindness, however simple, without a plan for any result or reward, just forget about it and let the universe remember for you.
God never forgets a kindness.

Taken from the book

You Changed My Life By Max Lucado

 

 

Its Not Too Late......Pack a shoe box online

Give the gift of love this year...... do it now, a child is waiting to receive their box of joy!

It's not too late! Pack a shoe box online and share God's love with a hurting child overseas without

 even leaving your home!

 

Pack shoe boxes online and support the work that Samaritan's Purse is doing around the world.

• Select from a variety of gift items for a boy or girl in each designated age group
• Personalize each shoe box you pack with a photo and personal note

 

https://secure.samaritan.ca/virtualshoebox/?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Yes, Virginia There Is A Santa Claus....dont let others dash your childs dreams away you be the judge.

A few weeks ago I listened to a friend who told the story of her little girl who came home from school in tears because another child had told her that Santa wasn't real. I will tell you that my friend was devastated, and wondered how much of her little girls disappointment was the classmates fault or how much responsibility for the heartbreak could she herself account for.

"Now what?" she asked. Did she tell her disillusioned child the  truth, did she lie, and hadn't she already lied to her children when she told them every year to be good because Santa was watching.

I have given this quite some thought and as always I will give you my opinion as I gave it to my friend. There are so many things to say regarding this, yes, we do break our children's trust when we openly lie to them only to reveal the truth later. Yes, there is a Jesus and Christmas for Christian families should be about the birth of Christ and not a man in a red suit.  Are mothers and fathers  at  the pinnacle  of  this lie absolutely, we falter, and stumble around the house in our dischevelled state the night before to place the gifts we stood in long line ups to buy under the tree like a thief in the night.But as I see it, we have not invented another wheel, our generation will not be the first or the last to at some point disappoint our children. This is what I told my friend. children have their whole lives to feel the bitter sting of the cruel world, why do we need to take their rainbows and dreams away so quickly.
here are a few things you may say to your children;

1. Jesus is our true gift and in the story of the bible the wise men did bring Jesus gifts.
2. Mommies and Daddy's have the true spirit of Christmas in their hearts they want to share it by leaving their children gifts of love.
3. We    should tell our children that we all have the spirit of Christmas in our hearts and that gift-giving-and receiving does not always have to come from the man in the suit.
4. Children clearly see at least 50 Santa dressed men in the month of December, clearly they may start to ask questions...... You might point out how their are so many people involved in the spirit of giving.
5. be gentle, whats wrong with a child believing in the wonder..... I say the "wonder" of Christmas not just the red suit.
6. When friends tell your children about the lie of Santa, it does not have to be your lie too, it is only their own belief, give your children the freedom to make up their own minds, after all who doesn't want to believe in magic,  Santa is magical. We invite Magicians into  our homes for birthday parties, why not a Santa?

I believe that a child will eventually choose to  believe  even though the world has told them their version. What child would not go to sleep at night and still get up excited for their wonders under the tree at Christmas.

 So yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus, he lives in our hearts and brings to life the magic we store there.

Operation Christmas Child

Come On Canada Give A Shoe Box today......

 

 

 

Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the message of God’s unconditional love.

 

Operation Christmas Child provides an opportunity for people of all ages to be involved in a simple, hands-on project of Samaritan's Purse that focuses on the true meaning of Christmas -Jesus Christ - God's greatest gift.

Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes from Canada collected in 2012 will be distributed to the following countries*:
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uruguay, Venezuela

 

 

 

 

The Road Is Endless.....take the step of faith

 

Your lifes purpose is waiting for you. Take the step of faith and move blindly.....that is what we do when we can't see what's ahead. Start today,look beyond the unknowing and believe in yourself.....in this picture the path loomed out forever with no end in sight, how many of you would have just turned back, uncertain of what lay ahead. 

 As I look at this photo I am reminded of one of my most treasured quotes by the Indian Philosopher

 Rabindranath Tagore who wrote........

 

"Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark"

 

 

 

Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.

- Sir Winston Churchill

 

Go ahead take that step, you may not know where it leads but you will never find out if you just stand there.

You Changed My Life

I was given a gift the other day that left me sitting in stunned silence. This special friend slipped it into my hand as I made way to leave her and so I did not open it until I got home.

 

"YOU CHANGED MY LIFE"

stories of real people with remarkable hearts

By: MAX LUCADO

 

The very first page is this verse.....

a Gift for _________then my name.

From_______________then(her name)

 

You changed my life by:

and this is what she wrote....

By: Just Being Part Of It!

 

My eyes misted and I could not focus on the writing in front of me... then I flipped the page and a sound came from my throat and the tears flowed freely. I will write for you a few lines of the opening of this book.

 

This book is for someone special.You.

"Who, me?" you're asking yourself. Yes. You.

You made a difference in the life of the one who gave you this book. You shared words of wisdom, gave of yourself, mentored, led, walked alongside a hurting friend, took time to notice when others didn't. You did something for someone else. your words, actions, time..... whatever it was, you gave willingly, fully, selflessly. You changed a life.

And what you did mattered. Your actions mattered to the one who gave you this book. But more importantly, what you did mattered to the One who matters most. "God is fair; he will not forget the work you did and the love you showed for him by helping his people" ( Hebrews 6:10NCV)

May Gods Richest Blessings Be Yours.

 

 

It was the loveliest thing to have been acknowleged in that way..... and the book is full of inspirational and warming stories you must read...... If you have a special someone in your life whom you think is deserving of such a treasure please buy them this little book for Christmas.....

I encourage all my followers to read it...

..this year I will give this gift to someone who did the same for me........

 



The Shoe Tree

Three quarters of the miseries and misunderstandings in the world would finish if people were to put on the shoes of their adversaries and understood their points of view”

Mahatma Gandhi

 

 

 

The Shoe Tree in the town of Port Bolster

 

 It is said that a shoe tree starts with one dreamer, tossing his or her footwear into the sky, to catch on an out-of-reach branch.It is there that the shoe's journey ends. But the amazing thing about the shoe tree is that the first pair of shoes triggers a shoe tossing frenzy .
 Soon, everyone from teenagers to young children and families are gathering up their shoes and driving over to have a toss of their old walking memories. The thing that I find most fascinating about this tree is, on closer look you will find that most of these old shoes have messages on the sneakers or shoes with permanent marker. Messages of love, loss and inspiration are often inscribed on these old walkers.

This weekend my sister and mother drove out to this little town and the mission became clear. My mom unwrapped the black leather shoes that had once belonged to my dad and my sister tied a little note wrapped in a plastic baggy and then tossed his favourite shoes up into that old tree with the thousands of others. My father was a wonderful man and we all miss him very much, he doesn't need those shoes any more. The thought of his favourite shoes strung up on that tree brought tears to my eyes and a smile on my lips. We wouldnt have it any other way, the Salvation Army would have just given them away and someone else would have been walking a mile in his shoes. Thats what made me smile, my sister and my mother knew..... no one could ever walk a day in his shoes...and so there they remain, a legend along side of the others, their tattered state a testimony of his life.

 In that picture somewhere in the middle are an old pair of black leather shoes not alone but amid some of the best old walkers in this state. "You know what, old tree, you just got another set of old clonkers but the man who wore them was nothing but a gem.

This is my mom getting ready to do the toss........