Always Treasure his Memory and aknow he is in a better place and Someday you will see him again in Heaven

Heart felt sympathy for you and your family Foxy. It's very difficult to celebrate a day like today when it's also a sad anniversary. May God grant you strength and His peace.

God, help the souls who perished in this horrific earthquake..
God, help those who are in the rubble looking for loved ones.
As many as 10,000 souls feared perished.

That was a lovely story Chatty.

A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. Still groggy from surgery, her husband David held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news.
That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency cesarean to deliver the couple's new daughter, Danae Lu Blessing. At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound and nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature. Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs. "I don't think she's going to make it," he said, as kindly as he could. "There's only a 10 percent chance she will live through the night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel one."
Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Danae would likely face if she survived. She would never walk She would never talk She would probably be blind She would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation And on and on.
"No! No!" was all Diana could say. She and David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away.
Through the dark hours of morning as Danae held onto life by the thinnest thread, Diana slipped in and out of drugged sleep, growing more and more determined that their tiny daughter would live- and live to be a healthy, happy young girl. But David, fully awake and listening to additional dire details of their daughter's chances of ever leaving the hospital alive, much less healthy, knew he must confront his wife with the inevitable.
"David walked in and said that we needed to talk about making funeral arrangements," Diana remembers "I felt so bad for him because he was doing everything, trying to include me in what was going on, but I just wouldn't listen I couldn't listen.
I said, "No, that is not going to happen, no way! I don't care what the doctors say Danae is not going to die! One day she will be just fine, and she will be coming home with us!"
As if willed to live by Diana's determination, Danae clung to life hour after hour, with the help of every medical machine and marvel her miniature body could endure But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana.
Because Danae's underdeveloped nervous system was essentially "raw," the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort- so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as Danae struggled alone beneath the ultra-violet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl.
There was never a moment when Danae suddenly grew stronger. But as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there.
At last, when Danae turned two months old, her parents were able to hold her in their arms for the very first time. And two months later - though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to zero - Danae went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.
Today, five years later, Danae is a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life She shows no signs, whatsoever, of any mental or physical impairments.
Simply, she is everything a little girl can be and more- but that happy ending is far from the end of her story.
One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Danae was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ball park where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing. As always, Danae was chattering non-stop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent.
Hugging her arms across her chest, Danae asked, "Do you smell that?" Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes, it smells like rain."
Danae closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?" Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get wet It smells like rain." Still caught in the moment, Danae shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, "No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest."
Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Danae then happily hopped down to play with the other children before the rains came her daughter's words confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at least in their hearts, all along.
During those long days and nights of her first two months of her life when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Danae on His chest--and it is His loving scent that she remembers so well.
 

awwwwwwwwww thats lovely :) brings a tear to the eye :)

this site is lovely.. i only found it while looking for lyrics for a song :)

http://my.homewithgod.com/pkbutterfly/index.html

It would be nice to spare a thought for the family of Bob Monkhouse who died last night. He was one of my favourite comedians and a genius. Its a big loss to comedy :o(

May the Light of Love shine and restore the world to Peace. May the Love which Christ embodies in perfection be now manifest within the hearts of all humanity. May this Divine manifestation lead us to build a new, Golden Civilization as we spread this Love throughout the world in all of our thoughts and actions, here in the Aquarius Age -- the Age of Synthesis and Brotherhood.

Pronto por favore!

Rest in Peace, Bob. ;-)

Merry Christmas to all Orthodox Chritians. :-)

Whatever it held of good or evil is now woven into the inevitable pattern of life. I cannot recall one unkind word, nor retrace one foolish step.
 
 
The tapestry is woven. I might look at the pattern and regret the threads of selfishness, the ravelings of hate, but I cannot remove them,
for they are now a lasting part that
holds together the weavings of today.
 
 
I may search for a thread of human kindness, may look for a touch of love and beauty to give color
to my drab design, but if I did not weave
them in my gleanings of today,
I cannot add them.
 
 
Today has passed.
 
 
But if tomorrow comes,
it will offer me a clean and empty loom,
and fresh strands of hope and faith.
 
 
Perhaps then I can weave a lovelier pattern, with less of the gray of care and the purple of pain,
and more of the gold of truth,
and the blue of trust, and the shimmering
white of faith and purity.
 
 
Perchance I can throw open my mental blinds so that there may be reflected upon my loom more of the sunshine of cheer and the hope of optimism.
Perchance I can focus upon the beautiful
instead of the ugly.
 
 
I will not be mortgaged to the past.
Today is no more.
 
 
~by Leola Archer~

Tomorrow is yours 
 

That was pretty, Linda J and true.. thanks for sharing :-)

It's the space shuttles 1st tragic anniversary.
May we never forget their bravery.

Commander Rick Husband,
Pilot William McCool,
Payload Commander Michael Anderson
Kalpana Chawla,
David Brown,
Laurel Clark,
Ilan Ramon
 
May God forever bless & keep them.

Anger is a condition in which
the tongue works faster than the mind.
 
You can't change the past,
but you can ruin the present
by worrying over the future.
 
Love...and you shall be loved.
 
God always gives His best to those
who leave the choice with Him.
 
All people smile in the same language.
 
A hug is a great gift... one size fits all.
It can be given for any occasion
and it's easy to exchange.
 
Everyone needs to be loved...
especially when they do not deserve it.
 
The real measure of a man's wealth
is what he has invested in eternity.
 
Laughter is God's sunshine.
 
Everyone has beauty
but not everyone sees it.
 
It's important for parents to live
the same things they teach.
 
Thank God for what you have,
TRUST GOD for what you need.
 
If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday
and the worries of tomorrow,
you have no today to be thankful for.
 
Man looks at outward appearance
but the Lord looks within.
 
The choice you make today
will usually affect tomorrow.
 
Take time to laugh, for it is
the music of the soul.
 
If anyone speaks badly of you,
live so none will believe it.
 
Patience is the ability to idle your motor
when you feel like stripping your gears.
 
Love is strengthened by working
through conflicts together.
  
The best thing parents can do
for their children is to love each other.
 
Harsh words break no bones
but they do break hearts.
 
To get out of a difficulty,
one usually must go through it.
  
We take for granted the things
that we should be giving thanks for.
 
Love is the only thing that can be
divided without being diminished.
 
Happiness is enhanced by others
but does not depend upon others.
 
For every minute you are angry with someone,
you lose 60 seconds of happiness
that you can never get back.
 
Do what you can, for who you can,
with what you have, and where you are.
~Author Unknown~
 
   
   

My glorious

God is bigger then
the air I breath
this world we'll leave

God will safe the day
and all will say
My glorious

And all you ever do
is change the old for new
people we believe that

God is bigger then
the air I breath
the world we'll leave

God will safe the day
and all will say
My glorious

My glorious
My glorious
My glorious
My glorious

Glory Glory
send your Glory
GLory Glory
send your Glory

God is bigger then
the air I breath
this world we'll leave

God will safe the day
and all will say
My glorious

Author unknown

A little girl had been shopping with her Mom in Wal-Mart. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Wal-Mart.
We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.
The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in "Mom, let's run through the rain," she said.
"What?" Mom asked.
"Let 's run through the rain!" She repeated.
"No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mom replied.
This young child waited about another minute and repeated: "Mom, let's run through the rain,"
"We'll get soaked if we do," Mom said.
"No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.
This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?
"Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!"
The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes.
Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.
"Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom said.
Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.
And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.
Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday. To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.
A friend sent this to me to remind me of life. Hope you enjoy it.
I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN.

That put a smile to my face, Linda for its so true and wonderfully told.. Thanks so much for sharing!

Sometimes it just take only 1 minute to think about the health you have is precious and certainly NOT something that you should take for granted! I experienced it the past week with a dear befriended family and the fear they had for 1 member to have a deadly disease.. A lot of people have been praying for this family and thankfully! Absolutely THANKFULLY the diagnose was not life-threatening.. Happiness is all around! And I praise the Lord for taking care of the live in this family!! Thank You Lord! - AMEN