Quote from Forum Archives on November 18, 2004, 12:32 pm

Posted by: bigguyhereagain <bigguyhereagain@...>

      

"Please keep Niki In Prayer"

 

Niki will be moved to the more advanced rehabilitation hospital this morning. This is definitely a good sign and shows God working in Niki's life. Please keep Niki and her family in prayer as she moves on to the next step.

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"Some Good Thoughts"

 

    

 

The most destructive habit.....................................Worry
The greatest
Joy...................................................Giving
The greatest loss...............................Loss of self-respect
The most satisfying work............................Helping others
The ugliest personality trait.............................Selfishness
The most endangered species..............Dedicated leaders
Our greatest natural resource...........................Our youth
The greatest "shot in the arm"..................Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome............................Fear
The most effective sleeping pill...................Peace of mind
The most crippling failure disease.......................Excuses
The most powerful force in life...................................Love
The most dangerous pariah.............................A gossiper
The world's most incredible computer.................The brain
The worst thing to be without.... . Hope
The deadliest weapon....................................The tongue
The two most power-filled words............................"I Can"
The greatest asset................................................Faith
The most worthless emotion..............................Self-pity
The most beautiful attire.....................................SMILE!
The most prized possession............................. Integrity
The most powerful channel of communication.......Prayer
The most contagious spirit..........................Enthusiasm

 

 

 "Wasted Day"

 

In the faint light of the attic, an old man, tall and stooped,
bent his great frame and made his way to a stack of boxes that sat near one
of the little half-windows. Brushing aside a wisp of cobwebs, he tilted the
top box toward the light and began to carefully lift out one old photograph
album after another. Eyes once bright but now dim searched longingly for the
source that had drawn him here.

 

It began with the fond recollection of the love of his life,
long gone, and somewhere in these albums was a photo of her he hoped to
rediscover. Silent as a mouse, he patiently opened the long buried treasures
and soon was lost in a sea of memories. Although his world had not stopped
spinning when his wife left it, the past was more alive in his heart than
his present aloneness.

Setting aside one of the dusty albums, he pulled from the box
what appeared to be a journal from his grown son's childhood. He could not
recall ever having seen it before, or that his son had ever kept a journal.
Why did Elizabeth always save the children's old junk? he wondered, shaking
his white head.

 

Opening the yellowed pages, he glanced over a short reading, and
his lips curved in an unconscious smile. Even his eyes brightened as he read
the words that spoke clear and sweet to his soul. It was the voice of the
little boy who had grown up far too fast in this very house, and whose voice
had grown fainter and fainter over the years. In the utter silence of the
attic, the words of a guileless six-year-old worked their magic and carried
the old man back to a time almost totally forgotten.

 

Entry after entry stirred a sentimental hunger in his heart like
the longing a gardener feels in the winter for the fragrance of spring
flowers. But it was accompanied by the painful memory that his son's simple
recollections of those days were far different from his own. But how
different?

 

Reminded that he had kept a daily journal of his business
activities over the years, he closed his son's journal and turned to leave,
having forgotten the cherished photo that originally triggered his search.
Hunched over to keep from bumping his head on the rafters, the old man
stepped to the wooden stairway and made his descent, then headed down a
carpeted stairway that led to the den.

 

Opening a glass cabinet door, he reached in and pulled out an
old business journal. Turning, he sat down at his desk and placed the two
journals beside each other. His was leather-bound and engraved neatly with
his name in gold, while his son's was tattered and the name "Jimmy" had been
nearly scuffed from its surface. He ran a long skinny finger over the
letters, as though he could restore what had been worn way with time and
use.

 

As he opened his journal, the old man's eyes fell upon an
inscription that stood out because it was so brief in comparison to other
days. In his own neat handwriting were these words:

 

Wasted the whole day fishing with Jimmy. Didn't catch a thing.

 

 With a deep sigh and a shaking hand, he took Jimmy's journal and
found the boy's entry for the same day, June 4. Large scrawling letters,
pressed deeply into the paper, read:

 Went fishing with my dad. Best day of my life.

 

 

 

If we all discovered that we had only five minutes left
to say all that we wanted to say,
every telephone booth would be occupied by people
calling other people to tell them that they loved them.

Have a Blessed Day
Dave and Barbara

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