"Acknowledgments"

"Acknowledgments"

from F.J.kong's book Early Birds...

In all things we need to be thankful.

One lady with brilliant perspective has this to say about thankfulness.

* I am thankful... For the husband who complains when his dinner is not on time because he is home with me, not with someone else.

* For the teenager who is complaining about doing dishes because that means she is at home and not on the streets.

* For the taxes that i pay, because it means that I am employed.

* For the mess to clean after a party, because it means that I have been surrounded by friends.

* For the clothes that fit a little too snug, because it means I have enough to eat.

* For my shadow that watches me work, because it means I am out in the sunshine.

* For a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing, because it means I have a home.

* For all the complaining I hear about the government, because it means that we have freedom of speech.

* For the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot, because it means I am capable of walking and that I have been blessed with transportation.

* For my huge heating bill, because it means I am warm.

* For the lady behind me in church that sings off key, because it means that I can hear.

* For the pile laundry and ironing, because it means I have clothes to wear.

* For weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day, because it means I have been capable of working hard.

* For the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours, because it means that I am alive.

* And finally, for too much e-mail, because it means I have friends who are thinking of me.

* We have to be thankful. There are just so many good things going for us.

Thanksgiving is good but thanksliving is better.

"Love your work"

"Love Your Work"

"Work to become, not to acquire!"

Don't work too hard to give your loved one's the best of everything,

Instead make a greater effort to give them the best of yourself

because you are their best!

Work has been the subject of many negative criticisms. It's been called an interruption of weekends, a necessary evil, an obnoxious option, so forth and so on. But probably the worst is a material from a wise guy who compares work with life in prison. Submitted by Christopher Kline in his article entitled "Life in Prison versus A Full Time Job." listen to what he has to say:

* In prison, they spend the majority of their time in an eight foot by ten foot cell. At work, they spend most of the time in a six by eight cubicle.

* In prison, they get three meals a day. at work, they only get a break for one meal and they have to pay for that.

* In prison, you get time off for good behavior. at work, they get reward for good behavior with more work.

* At work, they must wear an ID badge at all times. In prison they provide you with clothing with the ID conveniently sewn onto the clothes.

* At work, there is a dress standard,but they have to buy their own clothes. In prison, there is a dress standard, but they supply the clothes.

* At work, they must carry around security card and unlock and open all the doors by themselves. In prison, a guard locks and unlocks all the doors.

* In prison, they can watch TV and play games. At work, they can get fired for watching TV and playing games.

* In prison, they will pay their way through school to learn a new career and give them a time to do it. At work, they pay for your education, but you must do it on your own time.

* In prison, they have exercise rooms that they allow you to use almost whenever you want. At work, we have an exercise room that you can use, but it must be on your time.

* In prison, they can fall asleep on the job and no serious consequences comes from that actions. At work, if we fall asleep on the job, we get suspended.

* In prison, they ball and chain you when you have to go somewhere. At work, you are just ball and chained.

* In prison, you have full medical coverage with no deductibles. At work, you get partial coverage and pay all deductibles.

* In prison, all expenses are paid by the taxpayer,with no work on their part. At work, you get to pay all the expenses to go to work, and then deduct the taxes from your salary to pay for the prisoners.

I don't know what the writer's trying to say,but if he's implying that committing a crime and spending the rest of your life in prison is better than being chained to an office table, sorry, but thats not my cup of tea.

You might be surprised to know that there are actually a multitude of people who feel this way. They are helplessly chained to their work. Given the choice they would rather buy a lotto ticket,win the prize and retire at the age of twenty six, But then, here's the real story.

Work is not only a means by which we earn a living. It is a means by which we earn how to live. It provides us with countless opportunity to build up that most important part of the human being, the inward part called character. Work provides us with the opportunity to meet new friends, learn life experiences and even teaches us to avoid certain kinds of people. Work gives us the blessed opportunity to be productive with our hands. To contribute to society, to make this world a little better. In short, work gives us values as human beings because it is an expression of God's glorious creative feature, the ability to create and the ability to be channels of blessings for others, too.

The secret of this: one's perspective of work becomes healthy the moment he removes his focus on himself and start looking at the concerns of others. As difficult as it may seem, work, indeed, is a blessing from God.

The choice is yours to make. You can either choose to make work a life imprisonment sentence or you can choose to make a work wonderful means to live. I don't know about you,but I certainly choose work to be the means of serving God and serving man. And I certainly hope this would be your perspective,too.

"Don't Be Greedy"

"Don't Be Greedy"

It is difficult to save money
when your neighbors keep buying
things you can't afford.

Greed can get you what you want,
but rob you of what you already have!

A couple was on their way to a luncheon at a restaurant in an area mall.As they were driving on a road which curved,they run over a cat .They stopped the car in this residential section and were tempted to just drive on.However, they felt they needed to tell someone,so they went up to the home near where the cat was lying and told the resident of the home what had happened. It was the owner of the cat. The people who ran over the cat asked if there is anything they could do. The elderly resident asked if they would take care of disposing of the body of the cat. They went back out to the street and picked the dead cat up and put it in the only bag they had in their car,which was the Nordstrom's bag{an expensive clothing store}. They then decided to keep their luncheon date and take the cat to the animal shelter after lunch.

When they arrived at the mall, they parked in front of the restaurant. They took the Nordstrom's bag with the cat in it and laid it on the hood of their car in case it should start to smell. In the restaurant they could see their car. They noticed a Mercedes Benz pull up next to their car and finely-dressed woman get out. The woman saw the Nordstrom's bag , looked around, grabbed the bag without looking in it. This wealthy woman had evidently thought that she had stolen something of great value and placed the bag by her feet after sitting at a table close by the couple. The couple didn't say a word, but just watched this lady. The lady ordered her meal and was served. Her curiosity got the better of her and she could not resist looking into the bag to see what expensive item she would find.

She leaned over to peek in the sack and fainted dead away.

The manager called an ambulance which arrived within minutes from its station a couple of blocks away. The ambulance attendants gathered up the woman and her personal effects. As they placed the unconscious body into the ambulance,she began to come around just as they placed the Nordstrom's bag containing the dead cat onto the middle of her chest.

Well, that's greed for you. This is the reason why external things are never honest indicators of what happens inside a person. All those fancy clothes and even an expensive Mercedes Benz are no assurances that a person is not greedy.

Now here's the problem with greed. Do you know that greed can get you what you wan't, but it robs you of what you already have? It's true Read through it again. Greed can get you what you want,but can rob you of what you already have. This is not only a truism, it is a fact of life.

Here's what shakespeare said:

"Those that much covert are with gain so fond that what they have not, that which they possess They scatter and unloose it from their bond, And so by hoping more they have but less."

That's the tragedy behind greed .The eyes always long for more.The heart beats faster,sleep eludes him and the greedy person's whole life is consumed with the need to posses-such that he will never have peace unless he gets what he wants,no matter what method he uses in acquiring it." Greed, for lack of a better word,is good. Greed is right.Greed works."

Well, that's what the world says. But that's not what the Bible says. The Bible say's that contentment with Godliness is great gain.The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil. The bible says greed destroys. Its been a long time now. The Bible has not changed and it has not faded. In fact, Jesus Christ says that heaven and earth shall pass away,but the Word of God will never pass away.

Differences Between Men and Women

Men and Women have been created by God differently.We just have to live with that.Unless we understand their differences,then it would be difficult to carry on a good and healthy relationship with the wife and it would certainly be a great loss as far as marketing business opportunities are concerned.

Differences Beetween Men and Women

Here are some differences.

WHEN IT COMES TO NICKNAMES:

If Gloria, Suzanne, Katrina, and Michelle go out for lunch, they will call each other Gloria, Suzanne, Katrina, and Michelle.But if Bob, tom, Bryan and Dave go out,they will affectionately refer to each other as Bonehead,Booger,Dogman and pooman.

WHEN IT COMES TO EATING OUT, HERE YOU WILL SEE THE DIFFERENCE:

And when the check comes, Mike, Phil, John and Jack will each throw P1,000 bills,even though it's only for P150.None of them will have anything smaller, and none will actually admit they want change back.When the girls get their check,out come the pocket calculators.

WHEN IT COMES TO BATHROOM:

A man has five items in his bathroom: a toothbrush,shaving cream,razor,a bar of soap, and a towel from a hotel.

The average number of item in the typical woman's bathroom is 437. A man would not be able to identify most of these items.

WHEN IT COMES TO HANDWRITING:

To their credit,men do not decorate their penmanship.They just chicken-scratch. Women use scented, colored stationary and they dot their "i's" with circles and hearts.Women use ridiculously large loops in their "p's" and "g's". It is a royal pain to read a note from a woman. Even when she's dumping you,she'll put a smiley face at the end of the note.

WHEN IT COMES TO GROCERIES:

A woman makes a list of things she needs and then goes out to the store and buys them. A man waits till the only items left in his fridge are half a slice of pizza and a coke,then he goes grocery shopping.He buys everything that looks good.By the time a man reaches the checkout counter,his cart is packed tighter than the cart can hold.Ofcourse, this will not stop him from going to the 10-items-or-less-lane.

WHEN IT COMES TO SHOES YOU CAN SEE THE DIFFERENCES:

When preparing for work, a woman will put on a suit, then slip on a pair of comfortable shoes. She will carry her dress shoes in a plastic bag. When she gets to work, she will put on her dress shoes.

Five minutes later,she will kick them off because her feet are under the desk. A man will wear the same pair of shoes all day.

WHEN IT COMES TO OFFSPRING:

Ah, Children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and soccer games and romances and best friends and favorite foods and secrets fears and hopes and dreams. A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

WHEN IT COMES TO DRESSING UP:

A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the garbage, answer the phone, read a book, get the mail. A man will dress up for weddings and funerals.

WHEN IT COMES TO ARGUMENTS:

A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

AND WHEN IT COMES TO CATS:

Woman love cats.Men say they love cats,but when women aren't looking,men kick cats.

AND WHEN IT COMES TO CLOTHES:

When a woman goes to her closet and says, "I don't have anything to wear," "she really means " I don't have anything new to wear," When a man goes to his closet and says, " I don't have anything to wear," what he really means is ," I don't have anything clean to wear."

And finally, "Few women admit their age.Few men act theirs."

Men want respect, Women want intimacy.Give them what they want. No man can live without woman

" A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.

A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

" Later the same day,the wife says, "Now that we're back on speaking terms,shut up!

"Speak the Truth"

"Speak the Truth"

Honesty is the best policy; but there are too few policy holders.

I'll call you later; it means; I don't want to speak to you again.

We can still be friends always, Meaning; I wan't to use you later on but on my terms.

You look fine;It probably means you look as exciting as our ten years old refrigerator.

In business,rock bottom prices probably means; The prices put your checkbook between a rock and a hard place.

Once in a lifetime offer; Is true if you only live for a day.

Limited edition Only; means the same stuff had been offered for less than two years.

Politicians says; "I really care for the people" Hmmm...No Comment.

Double speak; is A nice new art form of twisting the truth and watering down its meaning.This is the fad of today. Thats why we call it adultery "having an affair"

Drug addiction,vandalism and ofcourse,crime are now called diseases.

The world can invent new and nice sounding words to sugar coat unrighteousness, but God still call it Sin.

So the next time around, don't be too happy to hear somebody say that you are theologically challenged.He simply means you are ignorant of the Bible.

"Grow old Gracefully"

"Grow old Gracefully"

Growing old-Its not nice,but its interesting

"As a person starts reaching this milestone[your fortieth birthday] you need to take time you learn about the biological changes that are taking place within your body, so that you will be better able to understand and cope with the inevitable and completely natural elements of the aging process-the minor aches,pains,dental problems,intestinal malfunctions,muscle deterioration,emotional instability,memory lapses,hearing and vision loss,

impotence, seizures, growths, prostate problems, greatly reduced limb function, massive coronary failure, death and, ofcourse, painful hemorrhoid swelling-that can make up this exciting adventure we call 'middle age'."

People have a lot of funny things to say about aging.They say that;

*You know you're getting older when you try to straighten out the wrinkles in your socks only to find you aren't wearing any.

*At twenty, we don't care what the world thinks of us;at thirty,we start to worry about what the world thinks of us;at forty, we realized the world isn't really thinking of us at all.

*You would know the person is getting old when he has gotten to the age where he needs his false teeth and hearing aid before he can ask where he left his glasses.

*Forty is when you stop patting yourself on the back and start patting yourself under the chin.

*The old familiar saying that life begins at forty undermines the fact that bad eyesight,arthritis and the habit of telling the same jokes three times to the same person start happening during the same timeframe.

The secret of staying young is to live honestly,eat slowly and lie about your age.When you were young,you made a lot of faces in the mirror.when you are old the mirror gets even.

The new year ushers in another year of aging.We laugh about it and we groan about it,but we can't stop it. But this is also the time for some serious questions.Just the past year alone,I had to go to funeral parlors for more often than i ever did in my past years.The feeling of invincibility and immortality begins to fade as we now consider the question of death.Is death when we go to sleep? or Is death when we finally wake up? Would this year be the final sunset for a lot of my friends,maybe eeven for me?who can provide the answer? Who would know the events of life apart from the author of life?

I guess the best approach towards the coming year is to say, "Lord,another year and another opportunity for me to touch someone's life.No matter what happens,whether for better or for worse,my trust will be in you."

words of another philosopher better ,He says "Make all major decisions inside the cemetery."

The Bible says that we are to ask God to teach us to number our days,that we gain a heart of wisdom.

So grow old gracefully and Enjoy life!

"The Daily Grind"

"Just do It"

The issue of life is not how strong you start ,but how well you finish.

"Nothing is so fatiguing" ,"As the hanging on of an uncompleted task"

We can learn more about computers , learning new things are one day at a time.Isn't this the same with our faith? we don't finish it well just by sitting down and absorbing all the lessons without putting our faith into practice.The great difference between practicing our faith and learning computers is that computer will break one day.It'll definitely go through wear and tear, and the dreaded disease called absolescence.But thats not bound to happen to us when we are seriously walking with Christ.We meditate on the word, Learn the lessons and put them into actual application.Live them practically in our lives. And the one benefit we have is that the source of power,the creator of the heavens and the earth is the same God who will be faithful to complete what He has started with us.

"Christ alone,Is the Author and Perfecter of our faith"