Chicken Soup

[HisDaughter]

Can You Smell That?

A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. She was 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 couple's new daughter, Dana Lu Blessing.

At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound 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 Dana would likely face if she survived. She would never walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind, and 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.

As those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Dana'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 Dana struggled alone beneath the ultraviolet 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 Dana 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 Dana turned two months old, her parents were able to hold her in their arms for the very first time. And two months later, Dana went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted. 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.

Five years later, Dana was a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life. She showed no signs whatsoever of any mental or physical impairment. Simply, she was 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, Dana 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, Dana was chattering nonstop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging her arms across her chest, little Dana asked, "Do you smell that?"

Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes, it smells like rain."

Dana 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, Dana shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, "No, it smells like Him. It smells like God does when you lay your head on His chest."

Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Dana 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 the first two months of her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Dana on His chest and it was His loving scent that the little girl was remembering.

God is not a knife edge to carefully balance on lest one falls into the abyss. God is an infinite plain, no matter which way you fall, he catches you.

[nChrist]

Amen - Beautiful! YES, God still does as He pleases in Heaven and on earth.

Love In Christ,
Tom

[HisDaughter]

He Will Never Leave You

Helen closed her troubled green eyes and ran her fingers through her tousled hair. She was so scared. She tried to pray,

"Oh Lord, help me deal with this. Help me to be strong." Tears ran freely down her cheeks.

Helen was having a mastectomy today. Both of her breasts had to be removed. Could she handle that? Could her husband handle that? Would he still love her? Her mind was running in every direction. The devil was playing havoc with her and she was letting him. As a Christian she knew that God would never give her more than she could handle. This was close, very close, to more than she could handle. The whole scene terrified her. Nurses coming in and checking her temperature and pulse. The anesthetist telling her how long the surgery would take and what she should expect. Helen knew what to expect: after the surgery she would have no breasts. She prayed once more.

"Oh Lord, you know me better than I know myself. Help me! Grant me your peace.

If only they would let Dick in there. If only there were someone, anyone, to pray with her. She felt so alone. Not only alone, but so scared. Was she being weak? Was she lacking faith? It seemed as if she had been in this holding room for hours. Helen closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down. She was close to panic. Even the shot they had given her did not relax her. Why was this happening to her? She didn’t want to question the Lord, but she was. Helen heard the curtain open again and she opened her eyes. An elderly lady with gray-brown hair approached her. She had a sweet smile and her eyes seemed to twinkle. With a soft voice she asked,

"Would you like me to pray with you?" Helen could only nod. The lady took her hand and started to pray. Immediately a peace came over Helen. The fear was replaced with the peace of God. The lady asked the Lord to wrap His arms around Helen and to comfort her. She asked Him to grant her His peace. Helen could feel the presence of the Lord. She could feel His peace. She had never felt a peace like this before. She just let the peace envelop her. She was not even aware that the lady had left. The nurses then came to transport her to the operating room. Helen quickly thanked the nurses for letting the lady come to pray with her. The head nurse looked at her strangely.

"What lady?" she asked. "There is no one allowed back here but hospital staff. Was she a nurse?" Helen shook her head.

"No, she was not a nurse. She was a sweet lady who came to pray with me." The nurse smiled and said,

"That is impossible, dear. Only staff is allowed back here." Helen lay back and said no more. She closed her eyes and whispered,

"Thank You, Lord. Thank you for sending someone to pray with me. Thank you for my peace." After several hours in surgery, Helen woke up in recovery. When the nurses asked how she felt, she just smiled. She felt fine. She knew that the Lord was with her. She knew that she would make it through this with Him by her side. He had promised never to leave her nor forsake her--and He had kept that promise.

[nChrist]

Amen - beautiful story. This one hit pretty close to home. This is part of what my 89 year old mother does as volunteer work at a local hospital. She sees the patients before they go back to the holding area for surgery.

[HisDaughter]

Amen - beautiful story. This one hit pretty close to home. This is part of what my 89 year old mother does as volunteer work at a local hospital. She sees the patients before they go back to the holding area for surgery.

Awwww...that's really sweet of her, Brother Tom.

[HisDaughter]

Making Music

On Nov. 18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches. To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly, is an awesome sight. He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he reaches his chair. Then he sits down, slowly, puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play.

By now, the audience is used to this ritual. They sit quietly while he makes his way across the stage to his chair. They remain reverently silent while he undoes the clasps on his legs. They wait until he is ready to play. But this time, something went wrong. Just as he finished the first few bars, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it snap -- it went off like gunfire across the room. There was no mistaking what that sound meant. There was no mistaking what he had to do.

People who were there that night thought to themselves: "We figured that he would have to get up, put on the clasps again, pick up the crutches and limp his way off stage to either find another violin or else find another string for this one."

But he didn't. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra began, and he played from where he had left off. And he played with such passion and such power and such purity, as they had never heard before. Of course, anyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. I know that, and you know that, but that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that. You could see him modulating, changing, re-composing the piece in his head. At one point, it sounded like he was de-tuning the strings to get new sounds from them that they had never made before.

When he finished, there was an awesome silence in the room. And then people rose and cheered. There was an extraordinary outburst of applause from every corner of the auditorium. We were all on our feet, screaming and cheering, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.

He smiled, wiped the sweat from this brow, raised his bow to quiet us, and then he said, not boastfully, but in a quiet, pensive, reverent tone, "You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left."

What a powerful line that is. It has stayed in my mind ever since I heard it. And who knows? Perhaps that is the definition of life... not just for artists but for all of us. Here is a man who has prepared all his life to make music on a violin of four strings, who, all of a sudden, in the middle of a concert, finds himself with only three strings; so he makes music with three strings, and the music he made that night with just three strings was more beautiful, more sacred, more memorable, than any that he had ever made before, when he had four strings.

So, perhaps our task in this shaky, fast-changing, bewildering world in which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then, when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left.

[HisDaughter]

One Flaw In Women

Women have strengths that amaze men.....

They bear hardships and they carry burdens, but they hold happiness, love and joy.

They smile when they want to scream.

They sing when they want to cry.

They cry when they are happy and laugh when they are nervous.

They fight for what they believe in..

They stand up to injustice.

They don't take "no" for an answer when they believe there is a better solution.

They go without so their family can have.

They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.

They love unconditionally.

They cry when their children excel and cheer when their friends get awards.

They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding.

Their hearts break when a friend dies.

They grieve at the loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left.

They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you to show how much they care about you.

The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning.

They bring joy, hope and love.

They have compassion and ideas.

They give moral support to their family and friends.

Women have vital things to say and everything to give..

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN,
IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH

[HisDaughter]

Three Bullets

"With God all things are possible" -Matthew 19:26

There once was a man who had nothing for his family to eat.
He had an old rifle and three bullets.

So, he decided that he would go out hunting
and kill some wild game for dinner.

As he went down the road, he saw a rabbit.
He shot at the rabbit and missed it.
The rabbit ran away.

Then he saw a squirrel and fired a shot at the squirrel but missed it.

The squirrel disappeared into a hole in a cottonwood tree.

As he went further, he saw a large wild "Tom" turkey in the tree,
but he had only one bullet remaining.

A voice spoke to him and said,
"Pray first, aim high, and stay focused.

However, at the same time, he saw a deer
which was a better kill.

He brought the gun down and aimed at the deer.
But, then he saw a rattlesnake between his legs about to bite him,
so he naturally brought the gun down further to shoot the rattlesnake.

Still, the voice said again to him,
"I said, 'Pray, Aim high, and Stay focused."

So, the man decided to listen to God's voice.

He prayed, then aimed the gun high up in the tree,
and shot the wild turkey.

The bullet bounced off the turkey and killed the deer.

The handle fell off the gun, hit the snake in the head, and killed it.
And, when the gun had gone off, it knocked him into a pond.

When he stood up to look around, he had fish in all his pockets,
a dead deer, and a turkey for his family to eat.

The snake (Satan) was dead simply because
the man listened to God.

Moral of the story:

Pray first before you do anything,
aim and shoot high in your goals,
and stay focused on God.

Never let others discourage you concerning your past.
The past is exactly that, "the past."

Live every day one day at a time,
and remember that only God knows our future.

Do not look to man for your blessings,
but look to the doors that only He has prepared in advance
for you in your favor.

Wait, be still, and patient: keep God first,
and everything else will follow. 

Don't worry about tomorrow, God is already there

[nChrist]

Amen! - Nice Chicken Soup!

[HisDaughter]

The Whale

If you read a recent front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth.

A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental  group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her. They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her.

When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around as if she was thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who  cut the rope out of her mouth said her eyes were following him the  whole time, and he will never be the same.
   
May  you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you. And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.

[HisDaughter]

What's it like to be old?

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend.. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avanté garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 &70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.

They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful.  But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.
 
So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.
 
As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore.

I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it).

[nChrist]

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day (if I feel like it).

   Bring on the pie, cake, and ice cream.

[HisDaughter]

Why We Forward Jokes
by Mo Siegel

This explains why I forward jokes..

A man and his dog were walking along a road.  The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years.  He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road.  It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.  He and the dog walked toward the gate and, as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.  When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'

'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered.

'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.

'Of course, sir.  Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.'  The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog,'come in, too?' the traveler asked.

'I'm sorry sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed.  There was no fence.

As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'

'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.'

'How about my friend here?' the traveler gestured to the dog..

'There should be a bowl by the pump.'

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.

The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog..

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

'What do you call this place?' the traveler asked.

'This is Heaven,' he answered.

'Well, that's confusing,' the traveler said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'

'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.'

'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'

Soooo...

Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without writing a word.

Maybe this will explain....

When you are busy, but still want to keep in touch with friends, guess what you do?   You forward jokes.

When you have nothing to say, but still want to keep contact with friends,   You forward jokes.

When you have something to say to friends, but don't know what and don't know how,   You forward jokes.

Also to let them know that they are still remembered, still important, still loved, still cared for, guess what you do? You forward jokes.

So, next time if you get a joke, don't think that you've been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a smile..

You are all welcome @ my water bowl anytime!

[HisDaughter]

ENLIGHTENED PERSPECTIVE

 

If you will take the time to read these, I promise that you'll come away with an enlightened perspective.  The subjects covered affect us all on a daily basis:
 
They're written by Andy Rooney, a man who has the gift of saying so much with so few words.
Enjoy.......
 
I've learned.... That the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.
 
I've learned.... That when you're in love, it shows.
 
I've learned.... That just one person saying to me, 'You've made my day!' makes my day.
 
I've learned.... That having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.
 
I've learned.... That being kind is more important than being right.
 
I've learned.... That you should never say no to a gift from a child.
 
I've learned.... That I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way.
 
I've learned.... That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.
 
I've learned..... That sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.
 
I've learned.... That simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.
 
I've learned.... That life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.
 
I've learned.... That we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.
 
I've learned.... That money doesn't buy class.
 
I've learned.... That it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.
 
I've learned... That under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.
 
I've learned.... That to ignore the facts does not change the facts.
 
I 've learned.... That when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.
 
I've learned.... That love, not time, heals all wounds.
 
I've learned.... That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.
 
I've learned.. . That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile  ...
 
I've learned..... That no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.
 
I've learned... That life is tough, but I'm tougher.
 
I've learned.... That opportunities are never lost, someone will take the ones you miss.
 
I've learned.... That when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.
 
I've learned.... That I wish I could have told my Mom that I love her one more time before she passed away.
 
I've learned.... That one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.
 
I've learned.... That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
 
I've learned.... That when your newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little fist, you're hooked for life.
 
I've learned.... That everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.
 
I've learned.... That the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.

[nChrist]

"I've Learned" - Yes - Thanks GrammyLuv and Andy Rooney.