Life's Desire... I just want to be

Hi, Mommy


I'm your baby. You don't know me yet, I'm only a few weeks old. You're going to find out about me soon, though, I promise. Let me tell you some things about me. My name is John, and I've got beautiful brown eyes and black hair. Well, I don't have it yet, but I will when I'm born. I'm going to be your only child, and you'll call me your one and only. I'm going to grow up without a daddy mostly, but we have each other. We'll help each other, and love each other. I want to be a doctor when I grow up. ... You found out about me today, Mommy! You were so excited, you couldn't wait to tell everyone. All you could do all day was smile, and life was perfect. You have a beautiful smile, Mommy. It will be the first face I will see in my life, and it will be the best thing I see in my life. I know it already. ... Today was the day you told Daddy. You were so excited to tell him about me! ...He wasn't happy,Mommy. He kind of got angry. I don't think that you noticed, but he did. He started to talk about something called wedlock, and money, and bills,and stuff I don't think I understand yet. You were still happy, though, so it was okay.

Then he did something scary, Mommy. He hit you. I could feel you fall backward, and your hands flying up to protect me. I was okay... but I was very sad for you. You were crying then, Mommy. That's a sound I don't like. It doesn't make me feel good. It made me cry, too. He said sorry after, and he hugged you again.You forgave him, Mommy, but I'm not sure if I do. It wasn't right. You say he loves you... why would he hurt you? I don't like it, Mommy. ... ... ... ... ...

Finally, you can see me! Your stomach is a little bit bigger, and you're so proud of me! You went out with your mommy to buy new clothes, and you were so so so happy.You sing to me, too. You have the most beautiful voice in the whole wide world. When you sing is when I'm happiest. And you talk to me, and I feel safe. So safe. You just wait and see, Mommy. When I am born I will be perfect just for you. I will make you proud, and I will love you with all of my heart.
I can move my hands and feet now, Mommy. I do it because you put your hands on your belly to feel me, and I giggle. You giggle, too. I love you, Mommy.
... ... ... ... ... ...
Daddy came to see you today, Mommy. I got really scared. He was acting funny and he wasn't talking right. He said he didn't want you. I don't know why, but that's what he said. And he hit you again. I got angry, Mommy. When I grow up I promise I won't let you get hurt! I promise to protect you. Daddy is bad. I don't care if you think that he is a good person, I think he's bad. But he hit you, and he said he didn't want us. He doesn't like me. Why doesn't he like me, Mommy?
You didn't talk to me tonight, Mommy. Is everything okay?
It's been three days since you saw Daddy. You haven't talked to me or touched me or anything since that. Don't you still love me, Mommy? I still love you. I think you feel sad. The only time I feel you is when you sleep. You sleep funny, kind of curled up on your side. And you hug me with your arms, and I feel safe and warm again. Why don't you do that when you're awake, any more?

I'm 21 weeks old today, Mommy. Aren't you proud of me? We're going somewhere today, and it's somewhere new. I'm excited. It looks like a hospital, too. I want to be a doctor when I grow up, Mommy. Did Itell you that? I hope you're as excited as I am. I can't wait.

...Mommy, I'm getting scared. Your heart is still beating, but I don't knowwhat you are thinking. The doctor is talking to you. I think something's going to happen soon. I'm really, really, really scared, Mommy. Please tell me you love me. Then I will feel safe again. I love you!
Mommy, what are they doing to me!?It hurts! Please make them stop! It feels bad! Please, Mommy, please please help me! Make them stop!

Don't worry Mommy, I'm safe. I'm in heaven with the angels now. They told me what you did, and they said it's called an abortion.
Why, Mommy? Why did you do it? Don't you love me any more? Why did you get rid of me? I'm really, really, really sorry if I did something wrong, Mommy. I love you, Mommy! I love you with all of my heart. Why don't you love me? What did I do to deserve what they did to me? I want to live, Mommy! Please! It really, really hurts to see you not care about me, and not talk to me. Didn't I love you enough? Please say you'll keep me, Mommy! I want to live smile and watch the clouds and see your face and grow up and be a doctor. I don't want to be here, I want you to love me again! I'm really really really sorry if I did something wrong. I love you!
I love you, Mommy.

Every abortion is just…

One more heart that was stopped.

Two more eyes that will never see.

Two more hands that will never touch.

Two more legs that will never run.

One more mouth that will never speak.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” -James 1:22

BRUNO departed - a year ago now...

Stafford Sammybear Lakay: BRUNO departs...

The above link says it all...

I know I'll see you again my BabyBrun.. *hugs* - ~SB

Lightly, Deftly...

The Art of Touch - a glorious, misunderstood gift: Long before sexual attraction exists as anything more than natural curiosity about anatomical differences, most little boys and girls sense that the mysterious feelings drawing them into the adventure of mutual exploration are wrong. They have absorbed from the adult world the idea that touching the human body is somehow indecent.

‘Don’t touch!’ is a childhood litany. Many parents set clear examples. Apart from an occasional perfunctory embrace, they do not so much as hold hands. The father will decide that his little son or daughter is too old to nestle in his lap or be kissed. The mother will stop giving baths to a still young child. Such parents cannot permit the spontaneous physical expression of feelings - the stroking, snuggling and enfolding movements with which almost all living creatures seek the warmth and reassurance that is virtually indistinguishable from life itself. Thus, while still too young to understand why, children learn to restrain the impulse to reach out to someone else. As they grow older, the impulse to touch is expressed by teasing. This leads to scuffling, and wrestling, which, although ostensibly in conflict, give boys and girls a chance to experience close physical contact. By adolescence they realise that parental prohibitions are merely temporary restraining orders. Most begin experimenting with kissing games, which escalate into necking and petting.

Now the girls become the ones who say, ‘Don’t touch,’ echoing the lesson deeply ingrained in childhood: that sex is dirty, and touching means sex - so it’s hands off. Reaching out, which has already been sharply limited as a spontaneous way of expressing affection and solidarity, is usually stripped of all significance except that of sexual provocation. Thus the use of touch as a natural, uncomplicated way to express goodwill or friendship is forfeited.

Later, at the age of sexual experimentation, girls are more inclined to let themselves be touched than to do the touching. This again is partly a result of cultural conditioning - passivity as the proper female role, and the deeply embedded feeling that sexual activity for her may be dishonourable. With the rationalisation that the boy is the initiator, the aggressor, who must bear full responsibility for what takes place between them, she struggles to free herself from feelings of guilt or discomfort, to free herself from the tight, involuntary tensions of her body and to free herself to enjoy her natural, physical response to being touched.

Her reluctance to touch may also be based on a practical consideration. In her early encounters with a boy she is likely to find that he becomes too excited too soon and additional stimulation seems not only unnecessary but inadvisable. Boys think of touch - which, at this stage, is closer to groping or grabbing than to caressing -as a sexual starter, or trigger. The boy expects that once he places his hand on a girl’s body, her sexual motor will automatically move into top gear. Her failure to respond with an ardour to match his own may baffle him. He is likely to try all the harder to overcome the girl’s resistance, believing that she is just afraid of being aroused by his touch and that if he can force his way past her defences, her resistance will melt. When these first, fumbling encounters produce not the anticipated delight but dismay or disappointment, most young people question not their expectations but themselves or each other. He decides she is uptight because she didn’t let him touch her in the right place; she decides he is inept because he didn’t know how to touch her in the right way. They believe that if they just try again, with a new partner, before too long they will surely master the trick of sex. And the search continues, on a trial-and-error basis.

In time, some young men and women find at least partial answers to their questions. But even for them, success is usually flawed by continuing inability to grasp the true function of touch. Many still think of it exclusively as a means to an end; touching for the purpose of having intercourse, a functional, wordless way to communicate a willingness, a wish or a demand to make love.

Meanwhile, for other couples, who also consider touching to be just a means to the same end, it becomes a means they enjoy almost as much as the end itself. They have advanced past the adolescent notion of touch-as-trigger to the mare sophisticated. notion of touch-as-technique. In essence, they have adopted the philosophy, of the how-to-do-it sex manuals. Sex becomes a skill that can be learnt and then applied wherever desired. Men and women are taught not how to touch another human being but how to manipulate another body. This is a dead-end approach to the sexual relationship. Preoccupation with manipulative technique turns people into objects and touching is turned into the science of stimulation. Instead of a sharing of private emotions, sex then comes perilously close to being an exchange of impersonal services.

For the man and woman who value each other as individuals and who want the satisfaction of a sustained relationship, it is important to avoid the fundamental error of believing that touch serves only as a means to an end. In fact it is a primary form of communication, a silent voice that avoids the pitfalls of words while expressing the feelings of the moment. It bridges the physical separateness from which no one is spared, literally establishing a sense of solidarity between two individuals.

Touch most often carries its own message. It can be asexual, used to represent personal attitudes or emotions, to give comfort to reassure. It can be a sensual thing, exploring the texture of the skin, the suppleness of a muscle, the contours of the body, with no further goal than enjoyment of tactile perceptions. And yet such is the nature of the sense of touch, which can simultaneously give and receive impressions, that the very pleasure one experiences in stroking your partner’s face is relayed back through your finger-tips, giving your partner the pleasure of awareness of your pleasure in them.

Relational harmony: This is the well-spring of emotion from which sexuality flows. In reaching out spontaneously to communicate by touch, partners reaffirm their trust in each other and renew commitment. They draw on this emotional reservoir when one turns to the other with physical desire. Because their touching has continuity, and is part of an intimate dialogue that does not begin and end in bed, they feel secure. Whoever makes an overture knows the other will understand and respond, and the partner is secure in the knowledge that his response will be accepted, no matter how limited the degree of erotic arousal may naturally be at that moment.

Where no such security exists, two individuals in a sexual encounter may touch physically but still remain out of touch emotionally. When touch or submitting to touch takes place solely for the purpose of intercourse, it can express neither warmth nor closeness. It is a signal without subtlety, a demand for service or a yielding to such a demand. And over the years the service deteriorates, until finally one of the partners can no longer, or will no longer, perform. In a sad and ironic echo of their childhood, the partners live out their later lives in married celibacy and ‘do not touch.’

Today’s young couples seem to be freer to express themselves, in words and physically. Perhaps they will succeed in incorporating into their sexual lives a new philosophy of touch. Perhaps they do understand that touching - like seeing, hearing, tasting and smelling - nourishes the pleasure of being alive. That touching another human being satisfies the profound creature-need not to feel alone; that being touched by another human being satisfies the need to be desired as a physical presence; and that in touching and being touched, one can experience not only the pleasure of being alive but also the joy of being a sexual creature. It is a joy that ultimately and inevitably, as a natural extension of life itself, expresses itself, in the sexual embrace.

It is a gift from God that we have allowed to become taboo - rediscover it today! ~ Stafford

God Bless!

Life Defined...

Associate yourself with the positive...

In the distance of my years I cover myself with time
Like a blanket which enfolds me with the layers of my life.
What can I tell you except that I have gone
nowhere and everywhere?
What can I tell you except that I have not begun
my journey now that it is through?
All that I ever was and am yet to be
lies within me now this way.

There is the Young Boy in me traveling east
With the Eagle which taught me to see far and wide.
The Eagle took his distance and said,
There is a Time for Rising Above
So that you do not think
Your small world too important.
There is a time for turning your vision toward the sky.

There is the Young Girl in me traveling west
With the Bear which taught me to look inside.
The Bear stood by himself and said,
There is a Time for Being Alone
So that you do not take on
The appearance of your friends.
There is a time for being at home with yourself.

There is the Old Man in me traveling north
With the Buffalo which taught me wisdom.
The Buffalo disappeared and said,
There is a Time for Believing Nothing
So that you do not speak
What you have already heard.
There is a Time for Keeping Quiet.

There is the Old Woman in me traveling south
With the Mouse which taught me my limitations.
The Mouse lay close to the ground and said,
There is a Time for Taking Comfort in Small Things
So that you do not feel
Forgotten in the night.
There is a Time for enjoying the Worm.

That is the way it was.
That is the way it shall continue
With the Eagle and the Bear
With the Buffalo and the Mouse
In all directions joined with me
To form the circle of my life.

I am an Eagle.
The small world laughs at my deeds.
But the great sky keeps to itself
My thoughts of immortality.

I am a Bear.
In my solitude I resemble the wind.
I blow the clouds together
So they form images of my friends.

I am a Buffalo.
My voice echoes inside my mouth.
All that I have learned in life
I share with the smoke of my fire.

I am a Mouse.
My life is beneath my nose.
Each time that I journey toward the horizon
I find a hole instead.”

- Nancy Wood, Many Winters: Prose and Poetry of the Pueblos


A medical doctor friend of mine noted this to me recently: As a physician who has been deeply privileged to share the most profound moments of people's lives, including their final moments, let me tell you a secret. People facing death don't think about what degrees they have earned, what positions they have held or how much wealth they accumulated. At the end, what really matters, and is a good measure of a past life, is who you loved and who loved you. The circle of love is everything...


“[Faith in Action] Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” -Hebrews 11:1

Lasting Delight...

Daniel's Gloves

I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food and the company were both especially good that day. As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, 'I will work for food.' My heart sank.

I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief. We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward he town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car.

Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: 'Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square.' hen with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the church, going through his sack.

I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.

'Looking for the pastor?' I asked.

'Not really,' he replied, 'just resting.'

'Have you eaten today?'

'Oh, I ate something early this morning.'

'Would you like to have lunch with me?'

'Do you have some work I could do for you?'
'No work,' I replied 'I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch.'

'Sure,' he replied with a smile.

As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. Where you headed?'
St. Louis '

'Where you from?'

'Oh, all over; mostly Florida ..'

'How long you been walking?'

'Fourteen years,' came the reply.

I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, 'Jesus is The Never Ending Story.'

Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences.. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona... He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought.

He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God

'Nothing's been the same since,' he said, 'I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now.'

'Ever think of stopping?' I asked.

'Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles That's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads.'

I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: 'What's it like?'

'What?'

'To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?'

'Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me.'

My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused He turned to me and said, 'Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in.'

I felt as if we were on holy ground. 'Could you use another Bible?' I asked.

He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite... 'I've read through it 14 times,' he said.

'I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see' I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful.

'Where are you headed from here?' I asked.

'Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon.'

'Are you hoping to hire on there for a while?'

'No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next.'

He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things.

'Would you sign my autograph book?' he asked... 'I like to keep messages from folks I meet.'

I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from Jeremiah, 'I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope.'

'Thanks, man,' he said. 'I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you.'

'I know,' I said, 'I love you, too.' 'The Lord is good!'

'Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?' I asked.

A long time,' he replied

And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed.. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, 'See you in the New Jerusalem.'

'I'll be there!' was my reply.

He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, 'When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?'

'You bet,' I shouted back, 'God bless.'

'God bless.' And that was the last I saw of him.

Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them.

Then I remembered his words: 'If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?'

Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office.. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. 'See you in the New Jerusalem,' he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will...

'I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.'

'Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives , e-mail and network buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask you to minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through your grace, In Jesus' precious Name Amen.'

This story is so touching I felt each of you would enjoy it greatly.

GOD BLESS YOU, MY FRIENDS... AND YOUR FAMILIES!!!

Life Driven with loving purpose #1

Life is all about love.

Because God is love, it is in loving that we are most like Him. It is the foundation of every command He has given. God wants us to love everyone, but He is particularly concerned that we learn to love others in His family. God wants His family to be known for its love more than anything else - it is our greatest witness to the world. We have some tough work to do here on earth to prepare ourselves for an eternity of loving.

Love cannot be learned in isolation. You have to be around people - irritating, imperfect, frustrating people.

THE BEST USE OF LIFE IS LOVE

Love is not a good part of life; it is the most important part. It shouldn't be forced neither should it be a duty nor tool for affirmation or acceptance; it should be the natural foundation of your relationships with everyone. (flipping difficult!) Relationships must have priority in your life.

LIFE without love is really worthless~

God says relationships are what life is all about - Four of the 10 Commandments deal with love for God, the other six deals with relationships to other people.
The 1st and Greatest Commandment is - "Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
The 2nd is - "Love your neighbour as you love yourself".
(It is a sin against God not to love yourself, because by not looking after yourself and being sound and stable and healthy - you are of no use to anybody else, and to God's commandments.)

Relationships, not achievements or the acquisition of things, are what matters most in life. The point of life is learning to love - God and people. Life minus love equals zero...

LOVE will last forever~

Love leaves a legacy. Love is the secret of a lasting heritage. When life on earth is ending, people don't surround themselves with objects (although I have heard of some weird burial requests); we want people we love and have relationships with present.

Wisdom is learning THAT truth - sooner rather than later. Don't wait until you're on your deathbed to realise what matters more!

WE will be evaluated on our love~

Love is what we will be evaluated on in eternity. God measures spiritual maturity by the quality of our relationships. When you transfer into eternity, you will leave everything else behind. All you're taking with you is your character. You can therefore never love enough - we don't know, we'll never learn, until we try under God's guidance.

THE BEST EXPRESSION OF LOVE IS TIME

The more time you give to something, the more you reveal its importance and value to you. Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it - you are effectively giving a portion of your life. So we must prove our relationships are important by investing time in them. In our relationships love is spelt 'T-I-M-E'.

Love is focused attention and it concentrates so intently on another that you forget yourself at that moment - it says I value you enough to give you my most precious asset - my time. You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.
Love means giving up - yielding my preferences, comfort, goals security, money energy or time for the benefit of another.


THE BEST TIME TO LOVE IS NOW

Procrastination is a legitimate response to a trivial task; but because love is what matters most, it takes top priority.

You don't know how long you will have the opportunity to express love. Circumstances change. People die. Children grow up. You have no guarantee of tomorrow. If you want to express love, you had better do it now!

THE BEST USE OF LIFE IS LOVE.

THE BEST EXPRESSION OF LOVE IS TIME.

THE BEST TIME TO LOVE IS NOW.

What more can I say...? Show your Love right now! ~ SB

1 Cor 13:3b (Msg) "No matter what I say, what I believe and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love"

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” -1 John 4:18

Lasting Dietaries...

Facts on Honey and Cinnamon: It is found that a mixture of honey and Cinnamon cures most diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Scientists of today also accept honey as a very effective medicine for all kinds of diseases. Honey can be used without side effects for any kind of diseases.
Today's science says that even though honey is sweet, when it is taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm even diabetic patients. Researched by western scientists:

HEART DISEASES: Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply it on bread instead of jelly and jam and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also, those who have already had an attack, when they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heart beat. In America and Canada, various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as one ages the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and the veins.

ARTHRITIS: Arthritis patients may take daily (morning and night) one cup of hot water with two tablespoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. When taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week (out of the 200 people so treated) practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain -- and within a month, most all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis now started walking without pain.

BLADDER INFECTIONS: Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.

CHOLESTEROL: Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water given to a cholesterol patient was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, when taken three times a day, any chronic cholesterol is cured. According to information received in the said Journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.

COLDS: Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and, clear the sinuses.

UPSET STOMACH: Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and also clears stomach ulcers from its root.

GAS: According to the studies done in India and Japan, it is revealed that when Honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.

IMMUNE SYSTEM: Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacterial and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of Honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles (where DNA is contained) to fight bacterial and viral diseases.

INDIGESTION: Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food is eaten relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals

INFLUENZA: A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural 'Ingredient' which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu.

LONGEVITY: Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old age. Use four teaspoons of honey, one teaspoon of cinnamon powder, and three cups of boiling water to make a tea. Drink 1/4 cup, three to four times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age. Life spans increase and even a 100 year old will start performing the chores of a 20-year-old.

RASPY OR SORE THROAT: When throat has a tickle or is raspy, take one tablespoon of honey and sip until gone. Repeat every three hours until throat is without symptoms.

PIMPLES: Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it off the next morning with warm water. When done daily for two weeks, it removes all pimples from the root.

SKIN INFECTIONS:Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin Infections.

WEIGHT LOSS:Daily in the morning one half hour before
breakfast and on an empty stomach, and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of water. When taken regularly, it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also, drinking this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.

CANCER: Recent research in Japan and Australia has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder three times a day for one month.

FATIGUE: Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts are more alert and flexible. Dr. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, even when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, when taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3:00 P.M., the vitality of the body increases within a week.

BAD BREATH: People of South America, gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water first thing in the morning so their breath stays fresh throughout the day.

HEARING LOSS: Daily morning and night honey and cinnamon powder, taken in equal parts restores hearing. Remember when we were kids? We had toast with real butter and cinnamon sprinkled on it!

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” -Romans 8:32

Lesson Dealt...

Over the years I have encountered and heard about people with every kind of trouble under the sun; and it has left me with one clear conviction: in case after case, the difficulty could have been overcome, or might never have arisen, if the men and women involved had only treated each other with common courtesy.

Courtesy, politeness, good manners - call it what you will, in our hectic society the supply never seems to equal the demand. Human beings everywhere hunger for courtesy, and are repelled by the lack of it. As quoted by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Good manners are the happy way of doing things.” And the reverse is equally true: bad manners can ruin a day - or wreck a friendship.

Most of us, I think, have the uneasy feeling that “common courtesy” was much more common in Emerson’s day than it is in ours. Why should this be so? One explanation is that courtesy isn’t emphasized and enforced the way it was a century or even a generation ago. “Mind your manners,” my mother used to caution us as children whenever we were invited anywhere. There is a simple difference between manners and morals - your morals aren’t always showing; your manners are.

Good manners are a reflection of inner strength and assurance. Indeed, they promote such assurance by eliminating hostility and suspicion. “If we treat people long enough with that pretended liking called politeness,” a wise man has said, “we shall find it hard not to genuinely like them in the end.” If courtesy is such an asset, why is it so uncommon? The blunt reason is that we’re all born self-centred. Good manners require us to place other people’s needs on a level with our own - and learning to do this consistently can be a slow and painful process.

What are the basic ingredients of good manners? Certainly a sense of justice is one; in fact, courtesy very often is nothing more than a highly developed concept of fair play. The story is told of a man driving along a narrow, mountain dirt road. Ahead was another car that produced clouds of choking dust. It was a long way to the tarred highway. Suddenly, the car ahead pulled off the road. The man stopped and asked if anything was wrong. “No,” said the other driver, “but you’ve endured my dust this far; I’ll put up with yours the rest of the way.” This was unexpected, heartening courtesy.

Another ingredient of good manners is modesty. Any attempt to claim special credit for yourself is a departure from true politeness. Implicit in the exhortation to “mind your manners” is the inescapable fact that no one else can mind them for you. The problem is yours, and it lasts a lifetime because no one’s manners are ever perfect. Still, anyone can improve his or her manners by doing three things:
First, by practising courtesy. One simple way is to concentrate on your performance in a specific area for a day or even a week. Telephone manners, for example: how often do you speak abruptly, talk too long, keep people waiting, and fail to identify yourself? What about books on loan you haven’t returned, invitations you haven’t answered, casual promises you haven’t kept?

Second, by thinking courtesy. If your thoughts are predominantly self-directed, a discourteous and selfish person is what you will be. If you train yourself to be considerate, if you can acquire the habit of ‘identifying’ with the problems and hopes and fears of other people, good manners will follow almost automatically.

Nowhere is “thinking” courtesy more important than in a romantic/loving relationship. Novelist Arnold Bennett used to lament in his bachelor days that whenever two of his friends got married the “death of politeness” seemed to follow. Why does this happen? One reason, no doubt, is the very human (albeit erroneous) feeling that we don’t always have to be on our best behaviour with a loved one. Another is that in the intimacy of the home, where masks can be discarded, it is easy to take out frustration or anger on the handiest person - all too often a partner. The only remedy is to train yourself to “think” courtesy until it becomes a habit. When you find your anger getting out of control, force yourself for the next ten minutes to treat your partner as if he or she were a guest in your home. The theory is that if a pair can just impose ten minutes of good manners on themselves, the worst of the storm will blow over.

Finally, you can improve your manners by accepting courtesy, receiving it gladly, and rejoicing when it comes your way. Strangely, some people are suspicious of gracious treatment. They feel uneasy if kindness seems to come to them with no strings attached. But some of the most precious gifts in life come this way. You can’t buy a sunset, or earn the song of a bird. These are God’s courtesies to us, offered with love and no thought of reward or return. Good manners are, or should be, like that.

In the end, it all comes down to how you regard people - not just people in general but individuals. Indeed, politeness is good manners in action. A nice additional beatitude might be this: Blessed are the courteous.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” -2 Chronicles 7:14 

Looming Disaster... cause I

Shell Oil's latest drilling plans are just the tip of the iceberg in what could become an environmental catastrophe for the fragile Arctic region. Earlier this month the oil company announced that it will begin drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas off the coast of northern Alaska. Such activity would threaten the livelihood of countless endangered species - bowhead whales, beluga whales, gray whales, several seal species, Pacific walrus, polar bears, and about 100 fish species. More alarming still, the remote region is located 1,000 miles from the nearest Coast Guard base, making clean-up efforts near impossible should an oil spill occur.

There is already a coalition of 70 conservation groups and indigenous rights organizations, represented by the public law firm Earthjustice, calling on Shell to abandon this reckless initiative. As consumers, we can also have a hand in protecting a truly unique part of the world from the scourge of dirty oil riggs; join the boycott against Shell and refuse to purchase your gas from their gas pumps. Until they own up to their irresponsible initiatives and agree to reverse drilling plans in the Arctic Seas, we will fill up anywhere but Shell!

JOIN THE BOYCOTT

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small
All things wild and wonderful, the Lord God made them all!
- Love your world ~ Stafford

Love Deep... be special to someone

Babykin

The special people in this world are the most precious

and the most appreciated people of all.

No matter what happens, they always understand. 

They go a million miles out of their way. 

They hold your hand.

They bring you smiles, when a smile is exactly what you need.

They listen, and they hear what is said 

in the spaces between the words.

They care, and they let you know you're in their prayers. 

Special people always know the perfect thing to do. 

They can make your whole day just by saying something

that no one else could have said.

Sometimes you feel like they share with you 

a secret language that others can't tune into. 

Special people can guide you, inspire you, comfort you

and light up your life with laughter.

Special people understand your moods and nurture your needs.

They lovingly know just what you're after. 

When your feelings come from deep inside 

and the need to be spoken to someone; 

you don't have to hide from, you share them.

...With special people.

When good news comes 

Special people are the first ones you turn to, 

When feelings overflow and tears need to fall. 

Special people help you through it all.

Special people bring sunlight into your life. 

They warm your world with their presence, 

whether they are far away or close by your side.

Special people are gifts that bring happiness and

treasures that money can't buy.

~ Author Unknown ~

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—” -1 Corinthians 2:9

Life Divine... with love divine

Thank you, each and everyone for the inspiring
 and blessed 50th Birthday wishes

When you speak from your heart; and say the words your soul has only dared to whisper; that's when miracles happen.

"Even when you think God is long gone, if you can remember to ask for help, you will see that He has been there all along."

I encourage you to believe for things that are so big that they take God’s favour, blessings and divine intervention to make them a reality...


This is what the LORD says, He who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it - the LORD is His name: ‘Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. - Jeremiah 33:2-3

Love's Definition... in a partnership

MOST couples will agree that a happy exclusive relationship requires an investment of time and energy. But, all too often, we see many couples become disenchanted if their efforts don’t yield immediate results. They quickly give up, deciding the relationship is too much work.


The happiest couples, however, approach their relationships differently. It is found that the secrets of their successful relationships revolve around certain precepts:

1. GOOD RELATIONSHIPS DON‘T JUST HAPPEN. Most of us grew up believing that love is magical and, ultimately, beyond our control. We don’t “decide” to love - we “fall” in love. But something is asked if love’s rewards are to be sustained. First, we must pay close enough attention to a loved one to genuinely understand his or her desires. Second, we must act on that knowledge. The quality of a relationship depends on the way two people treat each other; in good times and bad.  Relationships are never static; they are either growing or in decline Happy couples know that the vitality of their love is their own responsibility. They are active participants in the quest for lasting love.

 2. LOVE IS NOT EASILY DESTROYED. Almost all couples secretly fear that their relationship will stagnate and wither. Yet love rarely dies. It only appears to be absent because other feelings have been allowed temporarily to eclipse it. When bad things happen in a relationship; both partners need to protect themselves. Fearing hurt and rejection, they withdraw behind masks of indifference. Couples with good relationships understand, however, that the sweetness will return after the storm. Realizing this, they are able to survive crises that might well pull lesser relationships apart. To put this maxim into action, try to pause during a relational disagreement and remember what you felt for your partner right at the beginning of your relationship. Let your love override all the negative feelings of the moment.

3. MARRIAGE IS NOT A CURE-ALL. The rewards of marriage are so highly praised that people come to believe it is the antidote to salve old wounds, from childhood or former loves. But marriage is not a solution to personal problems. No matter how close your relationship, you and your partner will always be individuals before you are a ‘couple’. When we expect a mate to bolster our egos or compensate for our weaknesses, we are invariably disappointed, and our loved one feels resentful. We alone must take responsibility for our feelings of self-worth. The happiest couples know that for a marriage to last, both partners must first learn to love themselves. Otherwise, they will never feel worthy of another’s love.

4. LOVE IS ACCEPTANCE. Too often, we foolishly believe that love gives us license to remake someone. We try to smooth out our partner’s rough spots, even though in the process we may diminish the very qualities that endear that person to us. It won’t work. Even when a mate seems compliant, he or she will unconsciously resist the pressure to change or conform. Certainly, problems should be negotiated if they are making life intolerable. It may be worthwhile to reconsider the phrase “for better or worse.” It’s there to remind us that we all have shortcomings. Truly happy couples understand that love means accepting a mate’s flaws. They know that a person’s desire to change grows out of a sense of being accepted as be or she is.

5. LOVERS AREN’T MIND-READERS. One of the fantasies of love is that a mate is somehow completely attuned to our innermost thoughts and dreams. When a partner fails to anticipate these, we may feel sad, disappointed, or even betrayed. But it is simply not reasonable to expect a mate to guess what’s on our minds. Men and women who feel understood by their partners know that, ultimately, we are responsible for making ourselves known. When you tell your partner what you need and he or she responds to that request; that is a genuine indication of love.

6. THE BEST RELATIONSHIPS ARE ALWAYS CHANGING. Most of us believe that a solid relationship doesn't alter from year to year. The truth is this that relationships inevitably change, just as individuals do. Couples who encounter the most difficulties are those who stubbornly resist change for fear that their love may not be strong enough to survive. Couples in enduring relationships have the flexibility to greet change with acceptance and a positive attitude. It is important to believe that the love between you and your mate is strong enough, and the trust great enough, to allow each other respect, latitude and room to grow.

7. INFIDELITY POISONS LOVE. “What my partner doesn’t know can’t hurt’ is a flimsy rationale for an affair. Even if it doesn't lead to a break-up, an affair can permanently damage the bond of love because it is a basic violation of the mutual commitment. When we respect our relational exclusivity, we feel comfortable with ourselves. We don’t have to worry about covering our tracks. But when we act dishonestly, we secretly know it and feel devoid of character. And we cannot love another person if we do not love ourselves.

8. LOVE DOESN’T BLAME. Before we commit to another, most of us take life’s lumps in stride. If things go well, we feel it is because we made the right choices. When they don’t, we understand that this, too, is the result of our own actions. - Then we strike up an exclusive relationship. If we are not careful, we begin making our partner the focus of blame: “If I'm unhappy, it’s because of you.” Partners are, unfortunately, the most convenient scapegoats. It’s easier to find fault with what he or she is doing than to examine how we have in fact created our own unhappiness. Such blame is not only unjust but also self-defeating, for it reinforces a sense of personal passivity.  Don’t allow yourself to fall into the trap of blaming. Assume a more affirmative posture in your relationship - and in life. The more responsibility you assume for the quality of your life, the happier you - and your partner - become.

9. LOVE IS UNSELFISH. While mature love requires a balance between giving and receiving, spontaneous unselfishness is the essence of love. Real love asks that we put our own needs on bold and respond to our mate’s - not endlessly not unilaterally; but often. In fact we feel more “in love” when giving to a partner than when receiving. Giving is contagious. It encourages reciprocity. Words of caution, however, don’t give to get, for that is unloving. Neither should you give unendingly to a partner who takes advantage of your loving intentions. The happiest relationships are those in which both partners give 100 percent - and receive 100 per cent in return.

10. LOVE FORGIVES. All couples hurt and disappoint each other at times. One of two things then happens: either we forgive or we slowly accumulate resentment. For love to last, we must be able to forgive. Simply shelving our feelings, or putting them out of mind, is not forgiveness; nor is explaining away the other person’s behaviour. Forgiving is a genuine, voluntary release of anger and hurt. And it is necessary in order for a relationship to flourish again.

In the final analysis, however, the most important rule of love is this: towards both your partner and yourself, behave only in ways that enhance your own self-worth, dignity and integrity. When you feel good about yourself, you possess both the confidence and the personal contentment which are necessary for love to remain truly alive.



You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. -Matthew 5:14,16

All By Myself

All By Myself - Dame Shirley Bassey - YouTube

When I was young
I never needed anyone
And makin' love was just for fun
Those days are gone

Livin' alone
I think of all the friends I've known
But when I dial the telephone
Nobody's home

All by myself
Don't wanna be, all by myself anymore
All by myself
Don't wanna live, all by myself anymore

Hard to be sure
Sometimes I feel so insecure
And love so distant and obscure
Remains the cure

All by myself
Don't wanna be, all by myself anymore
All by myself
Don't wanna live, all by myself anymore

When I was young
I never needed anyone
And makin' love was just for fun
Those days are gone

All by myself
Don't wanna be, all by myself anymore
All by myself
Don't wanna live, all by myself anymore...

“I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.” -Psalm 119:93 

Less Denials...

Everything happens for a reason - I believe that... in fact I believe things happen for a multiple number of reasons - not necessarily always directly related to my circumstance. That thing that didn't play out the way I wanted it to doesn't mean I am being denied my wish - I have been divinely withheld from that accomplishment maybe because the timing isn't right; or something better is coming my way or someone else needed my input in the matter to accomplish something really important in their life - and I was then a part of that, most times unknowingly. - Exactly why we must be grateful for everything; no matter how irritating, or satisfying, even devastating - the reason will eventually be revealed...

- ACCEPTANCE is vital to maintain a positive outlook - through it we can continue to dream our dreams - we need to practice it more often - Stafford (from the heart)

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” -Hebrews 12:1

Lament Diluted...

Any given suffering is one very long moment. We cannot divide it by seasons. We can only record its moods, and chronicle their return. When we wallow in suffering; time itself does not progress. It revolves. It seems to circle round one centre of pain. The paralysing immobility of a life so lived allows every circumstance to be regulated after an unchangeable pattern, so that we eat, drink, lie down and pray according to the inflexible laws of an iron formula: this immobile quality that makes each dreadful day in the very minutest detail like its brother. This state of being seems to communicate itself to those external forces the very essence of whose existence is ceaseless change – and so we remain in our state of suffering.

Added to this - the biggest problem we humans have is coping with suffering. Pain, injury, disease and death are denials of life. Whatever we say to make it seem less painful it doesn't make it easier. It doesn't make sense. It just doesn't add up. Stand beside the coffin of a fifteen year-old girl who has died of cancer, or a child of three who has been killed in an accident and you will know how it feels. And the whole world of medicine and surgery is geared to combating the lessening of life that pain and suffering inflict.

Over the centuries, through ancient times, the problem of suffering baffled human minds and afflicted human hearts, destroying happiness and shattering people's confidence in a Higher Power. Broken hearts ached as they buried their dead and watched their dear ones suffer, all the time asking, "Why? Why? Why? Will it ever end?" And they packaged that hope of perfect health into the dreams of the golden age that they imagined God (or whatever they conceived Him to be) would one day bring to pass.

Many surgical and medical miracles later we still dream and hope that that ancient longing will come true. But of course human life is human life and this side of eternity it will always include a tragic element. But that is no reason why we shouldn't still pray, dream, work and hope. There are some realities that are part of God's final salvation. But that final salvation impinges on life here. God's future golden age reaches into this not-so-golden present age and bids us trust where we cannot understand and hope where we cannot see.

Acceptance and forgiveness are essential for a life lived with purpose – finding and having someone special to share and support us through the trials is indeed a divine blessing – at all cost don’t deny yourself this gift of fellowship. ~ SB

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” -Hebrews 11:1