Black Fathers Matter

My own Dad was far, far, far from perfect (likewise 😐); yet I am thankful for his presence in our home. 

 He did not abandon us, nor divorce my Mom.  If he had been absent by his choice, the hole in our emotional hearts would never have been reparable. Thanks, Dad ❤

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When You Die, Don't Worry About Your Body

 When you die, don't worry about your body... Your relatives and funeral staff will do it. I know this first hand. I’ve done it myself…

They will take you out of the house and deliver you to the funeral home of your family’s choice.

They will take off your clothes

They will wash you

They will dress you up

They will even apply makeup to make you look presentable

Many will come to the funeral to honor you.

Some will even cancel their plans and ask for leave to go to the funeral.

Your things--things you hate to be borrowed -- will be sold, donated, or burned.

Your keys

Your tools

Your books

Your CDs, DVDs, games

Your collections

Your clothes...

And be sure the world won't stop and cry for you.

The economy will continue.

You will be replaced at work. Someone with the same or even better ability will take your place.

Your property will switch to heirs.

And don't doubt the small and big things you have done in your life will be spoken of, judged, doubted, and criticized.

People who only knew your face will say, ′′Poor thing!"

Your good friends will cry for a few hours or several days, but then they will laugh again.

Your pets will get used to the new owner.

pc:  JRR Photos

Your pictures will be hanging on the wall for a while, then they will be put on furniture and finally stored at the bottom of the box.

Someone else will sit on your couch and eat from it.

Deep pain in your home will last a year, two, maybe ten... Then you will join the memories and then your story will end.

It will end among people, end here, end in this world.

But your story begins in a new reality... in your life after death.

The things you once have will lose their meaning. You cannot bring your earthly possessions here.

pc:  Getty Images

the beauty of your body

last name

property

loans

working position

bank account

the house

the car

academic titles

Classmates

trophies

Friends of the world

man / woman

the kids

the family...

In your new life, you will only need your soul.

The only property that will last is the soul.

           ..............................................................

The big question is: Do you know where your soul is going after this life is over?

Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

The Bible is clear that no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again (John 3:3).

John 3:18 explains in the simplest terms who will go to heaven and who will go to hell: “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." So, those who go to hell are specifically those who do not believe in Jesus’ name.

Simply, if you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, by grace alone, through faith alone, you will spend eternity in heaven. If you do not receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will be eternally separated from God (Matthew 25:46).

The Bible says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

We can choose to trust in Jesus’ payment for our sin, or we can choose to pay for our sins ourselves—but we must remember that the payment for our sin is eternity in hell.

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31)

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Sunday's Coffee Conversation

 

I love this analogy!

You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere.

Why did you spill the coffee?

"Because someone bumped into me!!!"

Wrong answer.

You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup.

Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea.

*Whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out.*

Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which WILL happen), whatever is inside you will come out. It's easy to fake it, until you get rattled.

*So we have to ask ourselves... “what's in my cup?"*

When life gets tough, what spills over?

Joy, gratefulness, peace and humility?

Anger, bitterness, harsh words and reactions?

Life provides the cup, YOU choose how to fill it.

Today let's work towards filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation; and kindness, gentleness and love for others.

by Megan Gooden

(Shared from a friend whose cup is full of goodness and inspiration.)

Source: Facebook

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75 Years of Study Answers the Question: How to Have The Good Life & Be Happy

18.04.2020

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10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation

 Celeste Headlee has worked as a radio host for decades, and she knows the ingredients of a great conversation: Honesty, brevity, clarity and a healthy amount of listening. In this insightful talk, she shares 10 useful rules for having better conversations. "Go out, talk to people, listen to people," she says. "And, most importantly, be prepared to be amazed."  

Here's one of the rules.  For the rest, watch the video.


Rule 7:  Try not to repeat yourself.  It is condescending, and boring.

A short TED video worth the watch:

Flowers and The Circle of Life

Surreal moments as a church treasurer:

A. Writing a check to the Florist for bouquets sent to each of my parent's wake.

B.  Same with my mother-in-law. We think the bouquet never even made it to the funeral home in California, though. If it did, it ended up with a stranger.  The funeral home had a full house that day!

C.  And now:  the Florist's invoice for 88 year old Lois' funeral   --  she who had placed the floral orders for others' funerals year after year after year.

Who will be signing the church's checks when someday  -- in the far distant future, God willing -- it will be my name under the invoice's description?
I prefer all PINK flowers, btw. 

 bouquet from church for my Dad

Teaching an old Dog new tricks: Noxzema & Toilets

Lesson 1:  Our 6 children and our cats were never ones to play with the toilet bowl and its contents, so we had no need for the item below.  My first encounter with the toilet-cover lock would have earned me an F-grade; and the inventor an A+ because it actually works! I found it impossible to open the lid. Had to humble myself and be shown how to unlock it by youngest daughter ( it's a two-step process, you dum dum).  It is not as easy as it looks, dear reader. You have been warned. 

Safety 1st Swing Shut Toilet Lock

Lesson 2: I began re-using Noxzema about 5 years ago.  My girls also loved it. One day, youngest daughter was looking for our bottle, and asked "Mom, where's the Noxzema?", pronouncing the product  as  “no-eczema”.  I found our bottle, and lo and behold, the label does look like it's pronounced as she said.  

Fact is, that was the basis for the marketing of its name as we now know it.  Its  was originally called Townsend R22 by the inventor, Dr. Francis Townsend.  In what is now a well-known legend, one customer told Dr. Bunting (who was given  the formula, and called the product, Dr Bunting's Sunburn Remedy), “Your product knocked out my eczema!”.  Realizing he had a brand name, he repackaged it as Noxzema. 

pic credit: wikipedia

Kentucky Derby May 2010

I do not wager, but I have a love for horse-racing that goes back to my Summers with Grandma Consuelo in the Philippines. She used to partake of the local Carreras which were also televised. I remember having a fondness for odd-color (read: white) horses and for the underdog. She and my uncles may have won often enough because she was never in a foul mood as far as I was aware,  hehehe.

Life lessons  I've watched these types of races enough to know the following:

• the first one out of the starting gate does not always win
• being the odds-on favorites does not guarantee a victory
• the fast-and-furious racing style may mean that the horse fizzles out on the home stretch

What may lead to a win?? The 3 Ps --- patience, pacing,  and position --- and the jockey who knows how to properly combine the three!

I love the name of this year's winner, "Super Saver"
I want to keep an eye on the fabulous(!) come-from-waaaay-behind second-place winner, "Ice Box"

I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift,
nor the battle to the strong... Ecclesiastes 9:11

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Noah's Ark & Life Lessons

Noah's Ark : Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah's Ark

ONE: Don't miss the boat.

TWO: Remember that we are all in the same boat!

THREE: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.

FOUR: Stay fit. When you're 60 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.

FIVE: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.

SIX: Build your future on high ground.

SEVEN: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.

EIGHT: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.

NINE: When you're stressed, float awhile.

TEN: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.

ELEVEN: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.

17.10.30.17