A MOTHER’S ARMS ARE MADE OF TENDERNESS…

This is story of Mother’s Sacrifice during the Japan Earthquake. After the Earthquake had subsided, when the rescuers reached the ruins of a young woman’s house, they saw her dead body through the cracks. But her pose was somehow strange that she knelt on her knees like a person was worshiping; her body was leaning forward, and her two hands were supporting by an object. The collapsed house had crashed her back and her head.

With so many difficulties, the leader of the rescuer team put his hand through a narrow gap on the wall to reach the woman’s body. He was hoping that this woman could be still alive. However, the cold and stiff body told him that she had passed away for sure. He and the rest of the team left this house and were going to search the next collapsed building.

For some reason, the team leader was driven by a compelling force to go back to the ruined house of the dead woman. Again, he knelt down and used his hand through the narrow cracks to search the little space under the dead body. Suddenly, he screamed with excitement,” A child! There is a child!”  The whole team worked together; carefully they removed the piles of ruined objects around the dead woman. There was a 3 month old little boy wrapped in a flowery blanket under his mother’s dead body.

Obviously, the woman had made an ultimate sacrifice for saving her son. When her house was falling, she used her body to make a cover to protect her son. The little boy was still sleeping peacefully when the team leader picked him up. The medical doctor came quickly to exam the little boy.

After he opened the blanket, he saw a cell phone inside the blanket. There was a text message on the screen. It said,” If you can survive, you must remember that I love you.” This cell phone was passing around from one hand to another. Everybody that read the message wept. ” If you can survive, you must remember that I love you.” Such is the mother’s love for her child!

                        

There may be many reasons to prove that the story may not be true, but the love of the mother to a child, beyond doubt, is 100%. A mother is the one who is willing to sacrifice for the security of her children. As Victor Hugo puts it; “A mother’s arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them.” 

HAVE YOU MISSED THE TRAIN?

Two men went to the train station with a friend to see him off. The train was late so they sat down for a cup of coffee. They talked and drank and forgot about the train. Suddenly they heard the last announcement about the departing train. They all got up and started running. They ran down the tracks as the train was pulling out of the station. Two of the men made it to the last car and the third man was just not fast enough. The third man slowed to a stop and started laughing. An onlooker went up to the laughing man and said, "What are you laughing for? You just missed your train!" 

"You’re right," was the reply. "I did miss my train. What’s funny is those two men came to see me off."

I think we are just like this guy who missed the train. But we may not miss trains but miss many of the blessings we would have received if we were careful. We may not miss the day; but we miss the real meaning and purpose of each day.

Are we like the friends who went in to a wrong wagon and started off an unwanted journey? Are we like the person who missed the train thereby missing the destination?  

“AS A REFINER AND PURIFIER OF SILVER …”

There was a group of women in a Bible study who were studying the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three, which says, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she thought again about the verse, "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver were left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

 The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy...when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His/Her eye on you and will keep watching you until S/He sees His/Her image in you.

GOD LOVES THE CHEERFUL GIVER!

A mother wanted to teach her daughter a moral lesson. She gave the little girl a quarter and a dollar for church. "Put whichever one you want in the collection plate and keep the other for yourself," she told the girl. When they were coming out of church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given. "Well," said the little girl, "I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection the man in the pulpit said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I’d be a lot more cheerful if I gave the quarter, so I did."

Are we different from this girl? I wish to re-post a previous one under the title: SOME STRANGE FACTS OF LIFE

Human mind works in very strange ways:  

Ø When we are requested to give Rs. 1000 to the Church, we consider it a great amount; but when we go for shopping or hospitalized, this amount becomes petty.

Ø When we are to spend two hours for worship, we consider it boring; but when we spend hours together before the TV or in Movie Theatre, we have the ‘patience’.

Ø When we are to pray, we find it difficult to get words; but when talking to a friend we can speak fluently for hours.

Ø When we find it very difficult to finish a chapter of the Bible in one sitting; we have no difficulty in reading a novel in one sitting.

Ø When we look for the front seats to enjoy a musical/mimics/ drama program; we look for the back seat in the Church.

Ø When we cannot speak about the goodness of God Almighty; we have no difficulty to gossip and speak ill of others.

Ø When we believe the news and events that we read in the newspapers and periodicals; we cannot take the Biblical truths as factual.

Ø When we aspire to be in Heaven after death; we are not willing to do anything in this world to achieve it.

WE REAP WHAT WE SOW

We tend to blame others for the injustice and illicit practices that we see in the society we live. We never admit that we are active or at least passive participants for the state of affairs. We shed crocodile tears many a times and mourn when we become victims to them. We become furious and fret about the ‘system’ which is corrupt. We ‘cry’ about the people using all kinds of consumer products, but are not willing to reduce the consumption ourselves. We speak about global warming, but use all kinds of motorized vehicles and use air conditioners in our homes. We never are aware that the unlawful and injustice prevail because we also contribute in it.

A small-town baker bought his butter from a local farmer. After weighing his butter, he concluded the farmer had been reducing the amount in the packages but charging the same. Therefore, the baker accused the farmer of fraud. In court the judge asked the farmer, "Do you have measuring weights?" 

"No sir," replied the farmer. 

"How then do you manage to weigh the butter that you sell?" 

The farmer answered, "When the baker began buying his butter from me, I thought I'd better get my bread from him. I have been using his 1-pound loaf as the weight for the butter I sell. If the weight of the butter is wrong, he has only himself to blame." 

Put yourself in the bakers place and think about the pattern of life you hold!

WHAT DO YOU LEAVE AND

WHAT DO YOU TAKE WHEN YOU DIE!

  

Have you even thought about what you leave when you die and what you can take to where you go after death!

                                 

John D. Rockefeller Sr. was strong and husky when he was a youth. He early determined to earn money and drove himself to the limit. At age 33, he earned his first million dollars. At age 43, he controlled the biggest company in the world. At age 53, he was the richest man on earth and the world’s only billionaire.

Then he developed a sickness called "alopecia," where the hair of his head dropped off, his eyelashes and eyebrows disappeared, and he was shrunken like a mummy. His weekly income was one million dollars, but he digested only milk and crackers. He was so hated in Pennsylvania that he had to have bodyguards day and night. He could not sleep, stopped smiling long since, and enjoyed nothing in life.

The doctors predicted he would not live past another year. The newspaper had gleefully written his obituary in advance—for convenience in sudden use. Those sleepless nights set him thinking. He realized with a new light that he "could not take one dime into the next world." Money was not everything. God was displeased with his sinful life. Then and there he surrendered His life to Christ, repenting of his sins and pleading for God to change his heart.

The next morning he awoke a new man. He began to help churches with his amassed wealth; the poor and needy were not overlooked. He established the Rockefeller Foundation whose funding of medical research led to the discovery of penicillin and other wonder drugs. He began to sleep well, eat and enjoy life. You could say he began to live life to the fullest! The doctors had predicted he would not live over age 54.  He lived to be 98 years old.

COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER TO BE PRODUCTIVE

Donald Barnhouse tells about two men who graduated from Kent College of Law in Chicago in the same class. One of them was named Overton. He was the Valedictorian of the class.

So, in the graduation proceedings Overton was called up to receive his award as Valedictorian of the class. But before he received it, he made a request. He said, "I request that another of my classmates be called up here as well and that he share the award with me."

The other man's name was Kasprisek. Kasprisek came forward to stand beside Overton. Instantly it became obvious why Overton wanted his friend next to him.

Overton was blind. He couldn't see and Kasprisek, while he could see, had no arms. He could not carry his books. On their first day as freshmen at Kent, Overton had found himself lost in the campus and Kasprisek had come to his aid. Out of that meeting they had become friends & entered into an agreement.

Kasprisek said, "I'll be your eyes. I'll make sure you are able to find your way from class to class if you'll carry my books." So Overton became the arms of Kasprisek and Kasprisek became the eyes of Overton. While both of their bodies were incomplete in and of themselves, together they became one.

Barnhouse reports that they became fast friends. They together formed a law partnership and succeeded in the practice of law because each complemented the other and compensated for their handicaps.

When St. Paul speaks about the Church being the body of Christ, this is precisely what he meant. Only when the parts of the body complement each other can a person be healthy and whole.   

THE STORY OF THE RAINBOW

There is a story that speaks about the beauty of unity in diversity:

NARRATOR: Once upon a time, all the colors in the world started to quarrel; each claimed that s/he was the best, the most important, the most useful, the favorite.

GREEN SAID:  Clearly I am the most important.  I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for grass, trees and leaves - without me all the animals would die.  Look out over the countryside and you will see that I am in the majority.

BLUE INTERRUPTED: You only think about the earth, but consider the sky and the sea.  It is water that is the basis of life and this is drawn up by the clouds from the blue sea.  The sky gives space and peace and serenity.  Without my peace you would all be nothing but busy bodies.

YELLOW CHUCKLED: You are all so serious.  I bring laughter, gaiety and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is yellow and the stars are yellow.  Every time you look at a sunflower the whole world starts to smile.  Without me there would be no fun.

ORANGE STARTED NEXT TO BLOW HER OWN TRUMPET:  I am the color of health and strength.  I may be scarce, but I am precious for I serve the inner needs of human life.  I carry all the most important vitamins.  Think of carrots and pumpkins, oranges,

mangoes and papayas.  I don't hang around all the time, but when I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought to any of you.

RED COULD STAND IT NO LONGER.  HE SHOUTED OUT:    I am the ruler of you all, blood and life’s blood.  I am the color of danger and of bravery.  I am willing to fight for a cause.  I bring fire in the blood.  Without me the earth would be empty as the moon.  I am the color of passion and of love; the red rose and poppy.

PURPLE ROSE UP TO HIS FULL HEIGHT. HE WAS VERY TALL AND HE SPOKE WITH GREAT POMP: I am the color of royalty and power.  Kings, chiefs and bishops have always chosen me for I am a sign of authority and wisdom.  People do not question me - they listen and obey.

INDIGO SPOKE MUCH MORE QUIETLY THAN ALL THE OTHERS, BUT JUST DETERMINEDLY: Think of me.  I am the color of silence.  You hardly notice me, but without me, you all become superficial.  I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep waters.  You need me for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace.

NARRATOR:    And so the colors went on boasting, each convinced that they were the best.  The quarreling became louder and louder.  Suddenly there was a startling flash of brilliant white lightening; thunder rolled and boomed. Rain started to pour down relentlessly. The colors all crouched down in fear, drawing closed to one another for comfort.

THEN RAIN SPOKE: You foolish colors, fighting among yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest.  Do you not know that God made you all?  Each for a special purpose, unique and  different.  He loves you all.  He wants you all.  Join hands with one another and come with me.  He will stretch you across the sky in a  great bow of colors, as a reminder that He loves you all, that you can live together in peace - a promise that He is with you; a sign of hope for tomorrow.

NARRATOR:    And so when God has used a good rain to wash the world, He put the rainbow in the sky, with all the colors staying harmoniously thus becoming a joyous sight and when we see it, let us remember to appreciate one another.