Gracious God, for all things in nature large and small -- for the vast beauty that changes with the seasons -- we thank thee.

Lord, from the peaks of the highest snow covered mountains to the flower covered meadows down below, we are reminded of your presence.

As we make time to enjoy and embrace the beauty of nature around us we give thanks to you God!

Lord, from the smallest rivers to the Great lakes, the bays and the vast span of the oceans, we can observe and sense your influence.

It is through our faith and trust in you God, that we find peace. Let this peace carry over and have a positive and lasting change on our relationship with nature and our fellow man.

Guide us so that we may continue to discover, that we may find -- a new vision, a new path, and a new strength.

In our journeys and adventures help us to transform and embrace a future with you God. Let our actions be measured in acts of kindness, in words of hope, and in grace revealed.

Gracious God, we thank thee for comfort in times of uncertainty and sorrow. We also thank thee for sharing our joy especially in times of discovery and new found independence.

God you empower us to follow our dreams. Fill us with a grateful heart and a faithful spirit to meet all of life's challenges!

Amen

1.) Let's Meet At My House Sunday Before the Game - God
2.) C'mon Over and Bring The Kids - God
3.) What Part of "Thou Shalt Not..." Didn't You Understand? - God
4.) We Need To Talk - God
5.) Keep Using My Name in Vain And I'll Make Rush Hour Longer - God
6.) Loved the Wedding, Invite Me To The Marriage - God
7.) That "Love Thy Neighbor" Thing, I Meant It. - God
8.) I Love You. I Love You. I Love You. - God
9.) Will The Road You're On Get You To My Place? - God
10.) Follow Me. - God
11.) Big Bang Theory, You've Got to Be Kidding. - God
12.) My Way Is The Highway. - God
13.) Need Directions? - God
14.) You Think It's Hot Here? - God
15.) Tell The Kids I Love Them. - God
16.) Need a Marriage Counselor? I'm Available. - God
17.) Have you read My #1 Best Seller? - God

1) Pass this on to your friends;
or 2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.

Just a short Buddhist outlook on life. Do not keep this message. The mantra must leave your hands within 96 hours. You will get a very pleasant surprise. This is true, even if you are not superstitious.
 
1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose don't lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs:

Respect for self,
Respect for others
and
Responsibility for all your actions.

Think freely. Practice patience. Smile often. Savor special moments. Live God's message. Make new friends. Rediscover old ones. Tell those you love that you do. Feel deeply. Forget trouble. Forgive an enemy. Hope. Grow. Be crazy. Count your blessings. Observe miracles. Make them happen. Discard worry. Give. Give in. Trust enough to take. Pick some flowers. Share them. Keep a promise. Look for rainbows. Gaze at stars. See beauty everywhere.

Work hard. Be wise. Try to understand. Take time for people. Make time for yourself. Laugh heartily. Spread joy. Take a chance. Reach out. Let someone in. Try something new. Slow down. Be soft sometimes. Believe in yourself. Trust others. See a sunrise. Listen to rain. Reminisce. Cry when you need to. Trust life. Have faith. Enjoy wonder. Comfort a friend. Have good ideas. Make some mistakes. Learn from them. Celebrate life.

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imagining. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.

At a fund-raising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the school's students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.

After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question. The things God does is done with perfection. Yet, my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.

Where is God's plan reflected in my son?" The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. "I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like Shay into the world, an opportunity to realize the Divine Plan presents itself. And it comes in the way people treat that child."

Then, he told the following story:

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they will let me play?"

Shay's father knew that most boys would not want him on their team.

But the father understood that if his son were allowed to play it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging. Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates.

Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said,"We are losing by six runs, and the game is in the eighth inning.

I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning." In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. At the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the outfield. Although no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just be be on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning,Shay's team scored again.

Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base. Shay was scheduled to be the next at-bat.

Would the team actually let Shay bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have ended the game Instead,the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman. Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first. Run to first." Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!"

By the time Shay was rounding first base, the right fielder had the ball.

He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman for a tag.But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions had been, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head.

Shay ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home.

As Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him,turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third!" As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams were screaming, "Shay! Run home!" Shay ran home, stepped on home plate and was cheered as the hero,for hitting a "grand slam" and winning the game for his team. "That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of the Divine plan into this world."

And now, a footnote to the story. We all send thousands of jokes through e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages regarding life choices, people think twice about sharing. The crude, vulgar, and sometimes the obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of decency is too often suppressed in school and the workplace. If you are thinking about forwarding this message, you are probably thinking about which people on your address list aren't the "appropriate" ones to receive this type of message.

The person who sent this to you believes that we can all make a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities a day to help realize God's plan. So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a spark of the Divine?

Or do we pass up that opportunity, and leave the world a bit colder in the process?

Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

Submitted By: Dave McCallum

Take out a one-dollar bill and look at it. The one-dollar bill you're looking at first came off the presses in 1957 in its present design.

This so-called paper money is in fact a cotton and linen blend, with red and blue minute silk fibers running through it. It is actually material. We've all washed it without it falling apart. A special blend of ink is used, the contents we will never know. It is overprinted with symbols and then it is starched to make it water resistant and pressed to give it that nice crisp look.

If you look on the front of the bill, you will see the United States Treasury Seal. On the top you will see the scales for the balance--a balanced budget. In the center you have a carpenter's T-square, a tool used for an even cut.

Underneath is the Key to the United States Treasury. That's all pretty easy to figure out, but what is on the back of that dollar bill is something we should all know. If you turn the bill over, you will see two circles. Both circles, together, comprise the Great Seal of the United States.

The First Continental Congress requested that Benjamin Franklin and a group of men come up with a Seal. It took them four years to accomplish this task and another two years to get it approved.

If you look at the left hand circle, you will see a Pyramid. Notice the face is lighted and the western side is dark. This country was just beginning. We had not begun to explore the West or decided what we could do for Western Civilization. The Pyramid is uncapped, again signifying that we were not even close to being finished. Inside the capstone you have the all-seeing eye, an ancient symbol for divinity.

It was Franklin's belief that one man couldn't do it alone, but a group of men, with the help of God, could do anything. "IN GOD WE TRUST" is on this currency. The Latin above the pyramid, ANNUIT COEPTIS, means, "God has favored our undertaking." The Latin below the pyramid, NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM, means, "a new order has begun."

At the base of the pyramid is the Roman Numeral for 1776. If you look at the right-hand circle, and check it carefully, you will learn that it is on every National Cemetery in the United States. It is also on the Parade of Flags Walkway at the Bushnell, Florida, National Cemetery and is the centerpiece of most heroes' monuments. Slightly modified, it is the seal of the President of the United States and it is always visible whenever he speaks, yet no one knows what the symbols mean.

The Bald Eagle was selected as a symbol for victory for two reasons: first, he is not afraid of a storm; he is strong and he is smart enough to soar above it. Secondly, he wears no material crown. We had just broken from the King of England.

Also, notice the shield is unsupported. This country can now stand on its own. At the top of that shield you have a white bar signifying congress, a unifying factor. We were coming together as one nation.

In the Eagle's beak you will read, "E PLURIBUS UNUM", meaning "one nation from many people." Above the Eagle you have thirteen stars representing the thirteen original colonies, and any clouds of misunderstanding rolling away. Again, we were coming together as one. Notice what the Eagle holds in his talons. He holds an olive branch and arrows. This country wants peace, but we will never be afraid to fight to preserve peace. The Eagle always wants to face the olive branch, but in time of war, his gaze turns toward the arrows.

They say that the number 13 is an unlucky number. This is almost a worldwide belief. You will usually never see a room numbered 13, or any hotels or motels with a 13th floor. But think about this: 13 original colonies, 13 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 13 stripes on our flag, 13 steps on the Pyramid, 13 letters in the Latin above, 13 letters in "E Pluribus Unum", 13 stars above the Eagle, 13 plumes of feathers on each span of the Eagle's wing, 13 bars on that shield, 13 leaves on the olive branch, 13 fruits, and if you look closely, 13 arrows. And for minorities: the 13th Amendment.

I always ask people, "Why don't you know this?" Your children don't know this and their history teachers don't know this. Too may veterans have given up too much to ever let the meaning fade. Many veterans remember coming home to an America that didn't care. Too many veterans never came home at all.

Tell everyone what is on the back of the one-dollar bill and what it stands for, because nobody else will.

Author - Unknown

A few years ago, at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to the finish and win.

All, that is, except one little boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times, and began to cry. The other eight heard the boy cry. They slowed down and looked back. Then they all turned around and went back . . . every one of them. One girl with Down's Syndrome bent down and kissed him and said, "This will make it better." Then all nine linked arms and walked together to the finish line.

Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for several minutes. People who were there are still telling the story. Why? Because deep down we know this one thing, what matters in this life is more than winning for ourselves. What matters in this life is helping others win, even if it means slowing down and changing our course.

If you pass this on, we may be able to change our hearts as well as someone else's . . . "A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle"

Author - Unknown

An old man, going a lone highway
Came in the evening, cold and grey,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was running a sullen tide.

The old man, crossed in the twilight dim
That sullen stream had no fears for him,
But he turned when he reached the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.

OLD MAN, said a fellow pilgrim near
Why waste your strength building here?
Your journey ends with the ending day
And you never again must pass this way,
You've crossed the chasm deep and wide
Why build your bridge at eventide?

THE BUILDER lifted his grey head,
Good Friend, in the path I have come, he said,
There followeth after me today
A youth whose foot must pass this way.

The chasm which was naught to me
To that fair haired youth might a pitfall be,
For he too must cross, in the twilight dim
Good friend, I'm building the bridge for him.

"If I could give you anything, I would give you a candle that burns as brightly as the light within you, the light you are...I would tell you to keep it burning, no matter what. I would say don't let the well-intentioned extinguish it. Don't let the mean-spirited blow it out. Don't let your light flicker and fade because of everyday challenges and concerns. The world is large, and no one can illuminate it alone, but it is amazing how a single candle, burning brightly, can light so many others."

- Author Unknown

"Everyone can be great, because anybody can serve."
--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
--Mother Teresa

"A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer."
--Seneca

"No joy can equal the joy of serving others."
--Sai Baba

"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness."
--The Dalai Lama

"Experience praises the most happy the one who made the most people happy."
--Karl Marx

"The government in which I believe is that which is based on mere moral sanction . . . the real law lives in the kindness of our hearts. If our hearts are empty, no law or political reform can fill them."
--Leo Tolstoy

"Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you and act accordingly."
--Thomas Jefferson

"I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms are in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people, which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions, as not to discourage them too much. It is medicine necessary for the sound health of government."
-Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1787.

"It is time for a new generation of leadership to cope with new problems and new opportunities. For there is a new world to be won."
-John F. Kennedy

"There is nothing permanent except change."
-Heraclitus

"If only I could so live and so serve the world that after me there should never again be birds in cages."
-Isak Dinesen

"No man or woman, even of the humblest sort, can really be strong, gentle, pure and good without the world being better for it; without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness."
-Phillips Brooks

"Never before have we had so little time in which to do so much."
-Franklin Delano Roosevelt

"No man has a right to lead such a life of contemplation as to forget in his own ease the service due to his neighbor."
-Augustine

"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."
-William Jennings Bryan

"Make yourself necessary to someone."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind."
-Emily P. Bissell

To: YOU
Date: TODAY
From: THE BOSS
Subject: YOURSELF
Reference: LIFE

I am God. Today I will be handling all of your problems. Please remember that I do not need your help.

If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box. All situations will be resolved, but in My time, not yours.

Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now.

If you find yourself stuck in traffic; Don't despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege.

Should you have a bad day at work; Think of the man who has been out of work for years.

Should you despair over a relationship gone bad; Think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return.

Should you grieve the passing of another weekend; Think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed her children.

Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance; Think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.

Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror; Think of the cancer patient in chemotherapy who wishes she had hair to examine.

Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking what is my purpose? Be thankful. There are those who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity.

Should you decide to send this to a friend;

Thank you, you may have touched their life in ways you will never know

This is an eye opener; probably we never thought nor looked at this Psalm in
this way, even though we say it over and over again.

The Lord is my Shepherd
That's Relationship!

I shall not want
That's Supply!

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures
That's Rest!

He leadeth me beside the still waters
That's Refreshment!

He restoreth my soul
That' s Healing!

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
That's Guidance!

For His name sake
That's Purpose!

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
That's Testing!

I will fear no evil
That' s Protection!

For Thou art with me
That's Faithfulness!

Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me
That's Discipline!

Thou prepareth a table before me in the presence of mine enemies
That's Hope

Thou anointeth my head with oil
That's Consecration!

My cup runneth over
That's Abundance!

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
That's Blessing!

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
That's Security!

Forever
That's Eternity!

Face it, the Lord is crazy about you. Send this to the people you are crazy about. I thought this was pretty special, just like YOU!!!
What is most valuable is not what we have in our lives, but WHO we have in our lives

Author Unknown