“The question in life is not whether you get knocked down. – You will. – The question is, are you ready to get back up and fight for what you believe in?”
Dan Quayle
Highs & Lows
Blessed are they that laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be entertained.
If you could kick the person who is responsible for most of your troubles, you wouldn’t be able to sit down for a week. – Anon.
Conscience is what hurts when everything else feels so good.
“If you want the rainbow you have got to put up with the rain.”
Dolly Parton (country and western singer, song-writer)
Imagine a beautiful china teacup saying, ‘I wasn’t always like this. There was a time when I was just a cold, hard lump of clay. One day the potter picked me up and said, “I could do something with this.” Then he started to put pressure on me and change my shape. I said, “What are you doing? That hurts. Stop!” But he said, “Not yet.” Then he put me on a wheel and began to spin me around and around until I shouted, “Let me off.” He replied, “Not yet.” Then he shaped me into a cup and put me in a hot oven. I cried, “Let me out of here, I’m suffocating.” But he looked at me and said, “Not yet,” When he took me out, I thought his work on me was over, but then he started to paint me. I couldn’t believe what he did next. He put me back into the oven, and I said, “I can’t stand this, please let me out!” But he said, “Not yet.” Finally he took me out of the oven and he put me on a shelf where I thought he had forgotten me… Then one day he took me off the shelf and held me up before a mirror. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had become a beautiful teacup that everyone wants to buy and drink from.
Are there things going on in your life right now that you don’t understand. Stay close to God. Trust him and when you finally arrive at the place God wants you to be, you’ll realise He’s been making you into a vessel that He can use… to bless you and bless others through you.
Source: The UCB Word For Today, 15/11/2008
“It’s not how we handle the good days that determines how well we do in life. It’s how we handle the bad days.”
Rich DeVos, co-founder of Amway Corporation
I asked God to take away my pride.
God said “No. It’s not for me to take it away, but for you to give it up.”
I asked God to make the handicapped child whole.
God said, “No. Her spirit is whole, her body was only ever temporary.”
I asked God to give me patience.
God said, “No. Patience is a by-product of tribulations; it isn’t granted,
its earned.”
I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, “No. I give you blessings; happiness is up to you.”
I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, “No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings
you closer to me.”
I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said, “No. You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make
you fruitful.”
I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said, “No. I will give you life so that you can enjoy all things.”
I asked God to help me love others, as much as God loves me.
God said, “Ah! Finally, now you have the right idea. (Anon)
Every day is a mountain top experience for me… It’s just that some days I’m on top of the mountain and other days the mountain is on top on me!
The Trouble Tree: I recently heard a story called ‘The Trouble Tree’, about a carpenter who was hired to help restore an old farmhouse. Each night the boss would drive the carpenter home and before entering the house he noticed the man always touched the tree beside his porch. Eventually, curiosity gets the better of him and so he said, “I have noticed that when you go up on the porch before going into your house you always stop and touch the tree, why?” “Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” the man replied. “I know that I can’t stop from having troubles out on the job, but one thing’s for sure – my troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again.” – “The funny thing is,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning to pick them up again, they aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”
Anon. (various sources on www)
Life is a grindstone: You can either let it grind you down or polish you up.
“Life is like a roller-coaster: Riding the highs would be worthless if it weren’t for the lows.”
Anon