the invisible letter

-- Author Unknown

Sally jumped up as soon as she saw the surgeon come out of the operating
room.  She said: "How is my little boy?  Is he going to be all right?
When can I see him?"  The surgeon said, "I'm sorry.  We did all we
could, but your boy didn't make it."  Sally said, "Why do little
children get cancer?  Doesn't God care anymore?  Where were you, God,
when my son needed you?"  The surgeon asked, "Would you like some time
alone with your son?  One of the nurses will be out in a few minutes,
before he's transported to the university."  Sally asked the nurse to
stay with her while she said goodbye to her son.

She ran her fingers lovingly through his thick red curly hair.  "Would
you like a lock of his hair?" the nurse asked.  Sally nodded yes.  The
nurse cut a lock of the boy's hair, put it in a plastic bag and handed
it to Sally.  The mother said, "It was Jimmy's idea to donate his body
to the University for Study.  He said it might help somebody else.  "I
said no at first, but Jimmy said, "Mom, I won't be using it after I die.
Maybe it will help some other little boy spend one more day with his
Mom."  She went on, "My Jimmy had a heart of gold.  Always thinking of
someone else.  Always wanting to help others if he could." 

Sally walked out of Children's mercy Hospital for the last time, after
spending most of the last six months there.  She put the bag with
Jimmy's belongings on the seat beside her in the car.  The drive home
was difficult.  It was even harder to enter the empty house.  She
carried Jimmy's belongings, and the plastic bag with the lock of his
hair to her son's room.  She started placing the model cars and other
personal things, back in his room exactly where he had always kept them.
She laid down across his bed and, hugging his pillow, cried herself to
sleep.

It was around midnight when Sally awoke.  Lying beside her on the bed
was a folded letter.  The letter said:
Dear Mom, I know you're going to miss me; but don't think that I will
ever forget you, or stop loving you, just 'cause I'm
not around to say I LOVE YOU.  I will always love you, Mom, even more
with each day.  Someday we will see each other again.  Until then, if
you want to adopt a little boy so you won't be so lonely, that's okay
with me.  He can have my room, and old stuff to play with.  But, if you
decide to get a girl instead, she probably wouldn't like the same things
us boys do.  You'll have to buy her dolls and stuff girls like, y'know.

"Don't be sad thinking about me.  This really is a neat place.  Grandma
and Grandpa met me as soon as I got here and showed me around some, but
it will take a long time to see everything.  The angels are so cool.  I
love to watch them fly.  And, you know what?  Jesus doesn't look like
any of his pictures.  Yet, when I saw Him, I knew it was Him.  Jesus
himself took me to see GOD!  And guess what, Mom? I got to sit on God's
knee and talk to Him, like I was somebody important.  That's when I told
Him that I wanted to write you a letter, to tell you goodbye and
everything.  But I already knew that wasn't allowed. 
 
"Well, y'know what Mom?  God handed me some paper and His own personal
pen to write you this letter.  I think Gabriel is the name of the angel
who is going to drop this letter off to you.  God said for me to give
you the answer to one of the questions you asked Him - 'Where was He
when I needed him?'  God said He was in the same place with me, as when
His son Jesus was on the cross.  He was right there, as He always is
with all His children. 

"Oh, by the way, Mom, no one else can see what I've written except you.
To everyone else this is just a blank piece of paper.  Isn't that cool?
I have to give God His pen back now.  He needs it to write some more
names in the Book of Life.  Tonight I get to sit at the table with Jesus
for supper. I'm sure the food will be great.  Oh, I almost forgot to
tell you.  I don't hurt anymore.  The cancer is all gone.  I'm glad
because I couldn't stand that pain anymore ... and God couldn't stand to
see me hurt so much, either.  That's when He sent The Angel of Mercy to
come get me.  The Angel said I was Special Delivery! How about that? 

Signed with Love,

God, Jesus & Me

three trees

-- Author unknown

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with Intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty."

Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."

Finally the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me."

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter"... and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true.

One of the Woodsmen said, "I don't need anything special from my tree so I'll
take this one," and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for.

The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end.

The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams. Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts.

Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

Keep this moving... share it with others, so it could inspire more people on His way.
Sometimes the heart sees what the eyes can't.

the mountain climber

-- Author Unknown

They tell the story of a mountain climber who, desperate to conquer the Aconcagua, initiated his climb after years of preparation. But he wanted the glory to himself, therefore, he went up alone. He started climbing and it was becoming later, and later. He did not prepare for camping, but decided to keep on going.

Soon it got dark. Night fell with heaviness at a very high altitude. Visibility was zero. Everything was black. There was no moon, and the stars were covered by clouds.

As he was climbing a ridge at about 100 meters from the top, he slipped and fell. Falling rapidly he could only see blotches of darkness that passed. He felt a terrible sensation of being sucked in by gravity. He kept falling... and in those anguishing moments good and bad memories passed through his mind. He thought certainly he would die.

But then he felt a jolt that almost tore him in half. Yes! Like any good mountain climber he had staked himself with a long rope tied to his waist. In those moments of stillness, suspended in the air he had no other choice but to shout: "HELP ME GOD. HELP ME!"

All of a sudden he heard a deep voice from heaven... "What do you want me to do?"

"SAVE ME."

"Do you REALLY think that I can save you?"

"OF COURSE, MY GOD."

"Then cut the rope that is holding you up."

There was another moment of silence and stillness. The man just held tighter to the rope. The rescue team says that the next day they found a frozen mountain climber hanging strongly to a rope...
TWO FEET OFF THE GROUND.

------------

How about you? How trusting are you in that rope? Why don't you let it go? I tell you, God has great and marvelous things planned for you.

CUT THE ROPE AND SIMPLY TRUST IN HIM.

the ant and the contact lens

A True Story -- By Josh and Karen Zarandona

Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she was very scared, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took hold of the rope, and started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens.

Well, here she is, on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there.

Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it.

When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff.

She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?"

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it on it's back.

Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It would probably do some of us a lot of good to occasionally say,
"God, I don't know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it
and it's awfully heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will."

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
GOD is my source of existence and my Savior.
He keeps me functioning each and every day.

"I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." 
Philipians 4:13

8 year-old's explanation of God

By Danny Dutton
Written by an 8 year old from Chula Vista, CA, for his third grade homework assignment. The assignment was to explain God. I just wonder if any of us could do as well?

He doesn't make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.

God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime.  God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this .

Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off.

God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.

Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church.

Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him. But he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K.

His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth so he told him he didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important.

You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.

You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God.

Don't skip church or do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.

If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can.

It is good to know He's around you when you're scared, in the dark or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.

But... you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases. And this is what I know about God.

the broken mug

One of my favorite coffee mugs was broken this week. Not sure how it happened. Just found it sitting there on the counter with the handle broken off. A friend had given it to me because it has one of my favorite Bible verses on it. “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God” (Philippians 3:14).
As I stood there looking with disappointment at my handle-less cup I realized that now the mug actually illustrates the verse. Before it was a very nice coffee cup with a really meaningful verse on it. Now it may represent what Paul had in mind when he penned the words.

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected, but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brothers, I do not count myself to have apprehended. But one thing I do: Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).

Coffee mugs are made with a purpose. Mugs are made for drinking coffee, for drinking hot chocolate, for holding pens, for collecting change. They are not made to simply sit on a shelf and gather dust. When you use a mug there is the possibility that it will get damaged or broken.

Like the coffee mug we were created with a purpose. We were created for life. We were not created to sit and watch life go by. We were created to embrace life. Jesus said it this way,

“I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
Paul said we were created to do “good works” (Ephesians 2:10).
The abundant life does not happen without risks.
Doing good works is not without dangers.
Life is for living.
When you live life, there are risks.
When you live you may get hurt.
When you live you may experience disappointments.
When you live you may get damaged.
When you live you may get broken.

When that happened to Paul, he chose to press on. He did not allow his life to end with a broken handle. He kept pushing forward. He continued to move forward toward the prize God had called him to.
My mug with no handle will most likely be reassigned to be a penholder or a change cup. It has served me well. Many good cups of coffee have been consumed from that mug. But it is time for this mug to move on to a new goal, a new purpose for being.
What about you?
Has life been unkind to you lately?
Have you considered retiring, sitting out the fight, being shelved?
Please don’t.
Take a lesson from my mug.
Even if your handle gets broken . . . press on.
Move forward.
Your handle is broken, but you are not dead.
Keep living.
God has something in store for you.

REALIZE GOD HAS A GOAL FOR YOUR LIFE.

RECOGNIZE THAT YOU HAVE NOT YET ARRIVED AT YOUR GOAL.

JUST A YOUNG BOY IN THE TEMPLE ONE DAY SHARED WITH THE DOCTOR'S,
THEY WERE SO AMAZED NEVER HAD THEY SEEN ONE SO YOUNG SPEAK SO SWIFT



THEY ASKED HIM MANY QUESTIONS, THE CONVERSATION WENT LIKE THIS



WHAT'S YOUR NAME SON?



ON MY MOTHER'S SIDE MY NAME IS JESUS
BUT ON MY FATHER'S SIDE THEY CALL ME EMMANUEL


HOW OLD ARE YOU?



ON MY MOTHER'S SIDE NOW I'M 12 YEARS
BUT ON MY FATHER'S SIDE I'VE JUST ALWAYS BEEN



WHERE ARE YOU FROM?



ON MY MOTHER'S SIDE I'M FROM BETHLEHEM
BUT ON MY FATHER'S SIDE IT'S THE NEW JERUSALEM



WHAT'S YOUR PLAN?



ON MY MOTHER'S SIDE I'LL BE CRUCIFIED
BUT ON MY FATHER'S SIDE IN 3 DAYS I WILL RISE
AND I'LL SIT AT MY FATHER'S SIDE



HE WAS THE SON OF GOD YET THE SON OF MAN
AND I CAN'T HELP BUT WONDER HOW JOSEPH MUST HAVE FELT
THROUGH AN OLD THIN DOOR THAT DAY HE HEARD HIS SON REPLY
HE SAID "YOU SEE I'M THE KING OF KINGS,

THAT'S ON MY FATHER'S SIDE"