Prayer Before a Hurricane

Prayer Before a Hurricane
By Rick Hamlin, August 25, 2011

Lord, your world is a mighty thing.
The winds can blow
The rain can come down in torrents,
The land can flood.
To know you, Lord, is to know your power
And to remember your love
Which is more powerful.

We watch for the approaching storm.
We look at the images on TV, the web, the news.
We tune into experts who tell us when to go
Or where to stay.

We dash out to buy.
We empty supermarket shelves.
We board up, we batten down.
We want to be prepared
Even if we’re not sure for what.

We wonder if our fears have gotten the worst of us.
We know the alarmists have had a field day
But maybe they were right.
Unless there’s something bigger than fear
And bigger than winds and rain.

Finally all we can do is wait
Because to wait is to trust
And to trust is to know that in this world
There is no power that can separate us
From the power that is greater than us.

All will be well, we pray.
All will be well.

She Walks in Beauty by George Gordon

She Walks in Beauty
by George Gordon (Lord Byron)

1

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

2

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

3

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

A Dog called Faith

This dog was born on Christmas Eve in the year 2002. He was born with 2 legs -
He of course could not walk when he was born.
Even his mother did not want him.

His first owner also did not think that he could survive and he was thinking of 'putting him to sleep'.
But then, his present owner, Jude Stringfellow, met him and wanted to take care of him.
She became determined to teach and train this little dog to walk by himself..

She named him 'Faith'.





In the beginning,
she put Faith on a surfboard
to let him feel the movement.
Later she used peanut butter
on a spoon as a lure and reward
for him for standing up and jumping around.
Even the other dog at home encouraged him to walk.
Amazingly, only after 6 months, like a miracle,
Faith learned to balance on his hind legs
and to jump to move forward.
After further training in the snow,
he could now walk like a human being.






Faith loves to walk around now.
No matter where he goes, he attracts people to him.
He is fast becoming famous
on the international scene and
has appeared on various newspapers and TV shows.
There is now a book entitled
'With a Little Faith' being published about him..
He was even considered
to appear in one of Harry Potter movies.






His present owner Jude Stringfellew has given up her teaching post and plans to take him around the world
to preach that even
without a perfect body, one can have a perfect soul'.

































In life there are always undesirable things,
so in order to feel better
you just need to look at life from another direction.
I hope this message will bring fresh new ways of thinking to everyone
and that everyone will appreciate
and be thankful for each beautiful day.
Faith is the continual demonstration
of the strength and wonder of life .

Three Trees

Three Trees

Once there were three trees on a hill in a woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty." Then the second tree said "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."

Finally the third tree said. "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me."

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter. and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship. When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsman said, "I don't need anything special from my tree so I'll take this one and he cut it down."

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams. Then one day, a man and women came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said "peace" and the storm stopped.

At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the king of kings in it's boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it."

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined.

57 Cents

(Author Unknown)
(Based on a true story as told by Dr. Russell H. Conwell)
[Edited for factual clarity]

A sobbing little girl stood near a small church from which she had been turned away because it was too crowded. "I can't go to Sunday School," she sobbed to the pastor as he walked by. Seeing her shabby, unkempt appearance, the pastor guessed the reason and, taking her by the hand, took her inside and found a place for her in the Sunday School class. The pastor told her, "We should some day have a room big enough for all who should come."

The child was so touched that she went to bed that night thinking of the children who have no place to worship Jesus.

A few weeks later the girl suddenly took ill and died. At the funeral, the girl's father took the kind-hearted pastor aside who had befriended their daughter. He quietly told him that their little girl had been saving money for the church. Quite surprised, the pastor was even more taken aback when the girl's father handed him what she had saved - 57 cents in pennies. For two weeks she had been running errands and saving her pennies in a little bank for the church.

The pastor was amazed at the love demonstrated by this little girl and tearfully shared this story at his church the following week. The trustees of the church were so moved by the actions of this girl that one of them proposed buying a new plot of land for the church that would allow it to grow considerably. Only a few days earlier a new church building seemed like only a distant possibility. But now, spurred on by this girl's actions, all of a sudden it seemed like something to attain for. The building fund, started by this little girl, quickly began to grow.

The pastor shared the story of the girl with the owner of the plot of land. The owner was so moved that he sold the property for only $10,000 with the first payment to be just 57 cents. Due to the growth of the building fund, in just a short while the church was able to buy this property free-and-clear.

The girl's unselfish love had paid large dividends. When you are in the city of Philadelphia, look up Temple Baptist Church, with a seating capacity of 3,300, and Temple University, where hundreds of students are trained. Have a look, too, at the Good Samaritan Hospital (Temple University Hospital) and at a Sunday School building which houses hundreds of children and adults, so that no child in the area will ever need to be left outside during Sunday school time. In one of the rooms of this building may be seen the picture of the sweet face of the little girl whose 57 cents, so sacrificially saved, made such remarkable history.

Alongside of it is a portrait of her kind pastor, Dr. Russel H. Conwell, author of the book, "Acres of Diamonds." - a true story.

Goes to show WHAT GOD CAN DO WITH 57 cents.

My Luve by Robert Burns

O my luve is like a red, red rose,

That's newly sprung in June:

O My luve is like the melodie,

That's sweetly played in a tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,

So deep in luve am I;

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi' the sun,

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve!

And fare thee weel a while!

And I will come again, my luve,

Tho' it were ten thousand mile.

Life by Mother Teresa

"Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.

Life is a beauty, admire it.

Life is a dream, realize it.

Life is a challenge, meet it.

Life is a duty, complete it.

Life is a game, play it.

Life is a promise, fulfill it.

Life is sorrow, overcome it.

Life is a song, sing it.

Life is a struggle, accept it.

Life is a tragedy, confront it.

Life is an adventure, dare it.

Life is luck, make it.

Life is life, fight for it!"