Cath's Corner - Weekly Food For Thought

WEEKLY FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Need an inspirational thought...a chuckle or two... something to inspire you and get you through the day? Well, you've come to the right place. Check here at least weekly for new bits of inspiration. Sometimes more than once per week...sometimes not...but check often so you don't miss anything.

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(Saturday, September 27)

A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning.

The wife said, "You should do it, because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee."

The husband said, "You are in charge of the cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee."

Wife replies, "No you should do it, and besides it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee."

Husband replies, "I can't believe that , show me."

So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and shows him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says.........

" HEBREWS "

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(Friday, September 26)
(really think about this one!!!)

There was a little girl who, on the way home from church, turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, the Preacher's sermon this morning confused me."

The mother said, "Oh? Why is that?"

The girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. Is that true?"

"Yes, that's true," the mother replied.

"He also said that God lives within us. Is that true, too?"

Again the mother replied, "Yes."

"Well," said the girl. "If God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn't He show through?"

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(Wednesday, September 24)
A farmer was taking his little boy to a distant place. While walking they came to a rickety bridge over a turbulent stream. The little boy was afraid, so the father said, "Son, I'll hold your hand." With careful steps they crossed the bridge together. That was in the daylight.

The night shadows were falling when they returned. The lad said, "Father, what about that stream? And that rickety old bridge? I'm frightened."

The big, powerful farmer reached down, took the little fellow in his arms, and said, "Now you'll feel safe,." As the farmer neared the turbulent stream, the boy fell asleep in his father's arms. The next morning the boy woke up, safe at home. The sun was streaming through the window. He never even knew when he crossed the dangerous bridge over the turbulent waters.

That is the death of a Christian.

from Daily Splashes of Joy by Barbara Johnson

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(Sunday, September 21)
If we were royal heirs to an earthly monarch, we might have grand, attention-getting duties such as leading military campaigns or reigning over lavish ceremonial affairs. Instead, we are heirs to a servant King, whom we honor by serving others in humility and in love. Our duty here may be something simple...and even more important:

To speak a healing word to a broken heart.
To extend a hand to one who has fallen.
To give a smile to those whose laughter has been lost.
To encourage the dreamer who has given up.
To ease the burden of one bent low beneath a thankless task.
To reassure the doubter and reinforce the believer.
To light the candle of God's Word in the midst of another's darkest night.

He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. -- John 13:5

from Daily Splashes of Joy by Barbara Johnson

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(Friday, September 19)
The Chinese tell a story based on three or four thousand years of wisdom. Two merchants were arguing heatedly in the midst of a crowd. A stranger, noting the depth of their anger, expressed surprise that no blows were being struck. His friend explained, "The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out."

from More of ... The Best of Bits & Pieces

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(Wednesday, September 17)
Being thankful is like an analogy I once read that talks of being given a dish of sand and being told there were particles of iron in it. We could look for the iron by sifting our clumsy fingers through the sand, but we wouldn't find much. If we took a magnet, however, and pulled it through the sand, it would draw to itself the almost invisible iron particles. The unthankful heart, like the clumsy fingers, discovers no mercies, but let the thankful heart sweep through the day, and as the magnet finds the iron, so will the thankful heart find heavenly blessings every time!

from Daily Splashes of Joy by Barbara Johnson

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(Tuesday, September 16)

LETTER FROM CAMP

Dear Mom & Dad

We're having a great time here at Lake Typhoid! Scoutmaster Webb is making us all write to our parents in case you saw the flood on TV and worried. We are okay. Only 1 of our tents and 2 sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up on the mountain looking for Chad when it happened.

Oh yes, please call Chad's mother and tell her he is okay. He can't write because of the cast. I got to ride in one of the search & rescue jeeps. It was neat. We never would have found him in the dark if it hadn't been for the lightning. Scoutmaster Webb got mad at Chad for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Chad said he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn't hear him.

Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas can will blow up? The wet wood still didn't burn, but one of our tents did. Also some of our clothes. John is going to look weird until his hair grows back.

We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Webb gets the car fixed. It wasn't his fault about the wreck. The brakes worked okay when we left. Scoutmaster Webb said that a car that old you have to expect something to break down; that's probably why he can't get insurance on it. We think it's a neat car. He doesn't care if we get it dirty; and if it's hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the tailgate. It gets pretty hot with 10 people in a car. He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the highway patrolman stopped and talked to us.

Scoutmaster Webb is a neat guy. Don't worry, he is a good driver. In fact, he is teaching Terry how to drive. But he only lets him drive on the mountain roads where there isn't any traffic. All we ever see up there are logging trucks.

This morning all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out in the lake. Scoutmaster Webb wouldn't let me because I can't swim and Chad was afraid he would sink because of his cast, so he let us take the canoe across the lake. It was great. You can still see some of the trees under the water from the flood. Scoutmaster Webb isn't crabby like some scoutmasters. He didn't even get mad about the life jackets.

He has to spend a lot of time working on the car so we are trying not to cause him any trouble. Guess what? We have all passed our first aid merit badges. When Dave dove in the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how a tourniquet works.

Also Wade and I threw up. Scoutmaster Webb said it probably was just food poisoning from the leftover chicken.

I have to go now. We are going into town to mail our letters and buy bullets. Don't worry about anything. We are fine.

Love, Billy

P.S. How long has it been since I had a tetanus shot?

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Mikey's Thot for the Day:

Princess, having had sufficient experience with princes, seeks frog.

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PASS IT ON! Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them you got it from <www.MikeysFunnies.com>!

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(Monday, September 15)
There is an ancient tale about a king who wanted to pick the wisest man among his subjects to be his prime minister. When the search finally narrowed down to three men, he decided to put them to the supreme test.

Accordingly, he placed them together in a room in his palace. On the room door he had installed a lock that was the last word in mechanical ingenuity. The candidates were informed that whoever was able to open the door first would be appointed to the post of honor.

The three men immediately set themselves to the task. Two of them began at once to work out complicated mathematical formulas to discover the proper lock combination. The third man, however, just sat down in his chair, lost in thought. Finally, without bothering to put pen to paper, he got up, walked to the door, and turned the handle. The door opened to his touch. It had been unlocked all the time!

from The Best Of Bits & Pieces

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(Friday, September 12)
We all need somebody to talk to. It would be good if we talked to each other--not just pitter-patter, but real talk. We shouldn't be so afraid, because most people really like this contact; that you show you are vulnerable makes them free to be vulnerable too. It's so much easier to be together when we drop our masks.
--Liv Ullman

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(Thursday, September 11)

IN LOVING MEMORY
of the victims of September 11, 2001.

"The Ones Left Standing"
by Wayne Watson
a musical and visual tribute
(click on the title of the song to view the tribute)

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(Tuesday, September 9)
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
--Mark Twain

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(Saturday, September 6)
(Knowing what to say to someone who is grieving has always been difficult for me. Sadly, it is difficult for most people and the tendency is to just stay away to avoid saying the wrong thing. I was talking to my sister-in-law last week about this very subject. She has been both a social worker and a Hospice Chaplain, and she sent me this list. I found it to be very helpful...thought you might also find it helpful.)

HOW TO BE HELPFUL TO THOSE WHO GRIEVE

1. Acknowledge what has happened. Call, write, go by, etc. If you can, go to the visitation or to the funeral.

2. Listen, listen, listen. Say as little as possible.

3. Touch--hand on the shoulder, hug, whatever feels comfortable.

4. Hear and accept all feelings--feelings are neither right nor wrong; they just are.

5. If a loved one has died, don't hesitate to use the name of the loved one. Allow the grieving person to talk about her loved one. Ask particulars about him or her. Cite particular memories of your own of the loved one.

6. Avoid clichés such as
               "I know how you feel." You don't know, even if you've experienced a similar loss.
               "Be strong." Remember there's a time for everything, and when someone dies, emotions are in order. That's how we heal.
               "God won't put more on you than you can bear." At the time of death, it sometimes feels like more than we can bear. this is a way of discounting feelings.
               "This is God's will."

7. Be slow to offer advice unless you're asked for it.

8. Remember that silence sometimes conveys meaning in a way sound cannot. A touch or a hug may be all that is needed to sum up what you feel.

9. Offer to help and make your offers specific.

10. There isn't anything to say except "I'm sorry." Mostly, all we can do when another is grieving is to be with them. Realize that if you really want to help another, and if your heart is in the right place, then it's true that you are enough.

11. Do not tell your own or someone else's story, even if it is related. A person who is grieving will not be interested. It meets your need but not his. At the most, it is appropriate to say, "I remember when my mother died. It sure was a hard time." Keep the ball in the griever's court. This is his time, not yours.

12. Visit again a month or so after the death. At first the grieving person may be in a state of shock, but after a few weeks the numbness wears off, and the pain becomes more acute.

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(Friday, September 5)
While waiting for my first appointment in the reception room of a new dentist, I noticed his certificate, which bore his full name. Suddenly, I remembered that a tall, handsome boy with the same name had been in my high school class some 30 years ago. Upon seeing him, however, I quickly discarded any such thought. This balding, grey-haired man with the deeply lined face was way too old to have been my classmate. After he had examined my teeth, I asked him if he had attended the local high sschool.

"Yes," he replied.

"When did you graduate?" I asked.

He answered, "In 1971. Why?"

"You were in my class!" I exclaimed.

He looked at me closely and then asked, "What did you teach?"

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(Thursday, September 4)
A blessed thing it is to have a friend; one human soul whom we can trust utterly; who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults; who will speak the honest truth to us, while the world flatters us to our face, and laughs at us behind our back; who will give us counsel and reproof in a day of prosperity and self-conceit; but who, again, will comfort and encourage us in days of difficulty and sorrow, when the world leaves us alone to fight our own battle as we can.
--Charles Kingsley

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(Tuesday, September 2)
There was a Scottish tradesman, a painter called Jack, who was very interested in making a pound where he could. So he often would thin down his paint to make it go a wee bit further. As it happened, he got away with this for some time.

Eventually the Presbyterian Church decided to do a big restoration job on one of their biggest churches. Jack put in a painting bid and because his price was so competitive, he got the job. And so he set to, with a right good will, erecting the trestles and putting up the planks, and buying the paint and...yes, I am sorry to say, thinning it down with the turpentine.

Well, Jack was up on the scaffolding, painting away, the job nearly done, when suddenly there was a horrendous clap of thunder. The sky opened and the rain poured down, washing the thin paint from all over the church and knocking Jock fair off the scaffold to land on the lawn.

Now, Jack was no fool. He knew this was a judgment from the Almighty, so he fell on his knees and cried, "Oh, God! Forgive me! What should I do?"

And from the thunder, a mighty Voice spoke, "Repaint! Repaint! And thin no more!"

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back to INSPIRATION!

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