The power of your actions februar 21, 2008

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, ‘Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd.’ I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends, tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye.

As I handed him his glasses, I said, ‘Those guys are jerks.’ They really should get lives. ‘He looked at me and said, ‘Hey thanks!’ There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now. I would never have hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends. He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.

Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, ‘Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday! ‘He just laughed and handed me half the books. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor and I was going for business on a football scholarship.
Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn’t me having to get up there and speak.

Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous! Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, ‘Hey, big guy, you’ll be great!’ He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. ‘Thanks,’ he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began: ‘Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach…but mostly your friends…I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story.’

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn’t have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. ‘Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.’

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it’s depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person’s life for better or for worse. God puts us all in each other’s lives to impact one another in some way. Look for God in others.

‘Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.’

There is no beginning or end… Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is a mystery.

Today is a gift.

Morgendagens virkelighet januar 25, 2008

Vil du se hvilken virkelighet som venter i morgen,

må du se på tankene dine i dag!

Gutten som møtte Gud januar 8, 2008

En liten gutt ønsket å møte Gud. Han visste at det kom til å bli en lang reise, så han pakket ned litt niste og noen bokser cola i sekken sin. Så ga han seg i vei.

Da han hadde gått to kvartaler, så han en gammel dame som satt i parken og bare stirret på duene. Gutten gikk bort og satte seg ved siden av henne på benken. Etter en stund, åpnet han sekken sin og fant fram nista. Da så han at damen også så litt sulten ut. Uten et ord, rakte han henne ei brødskive. Hun smilte varmt, tok imot brødskiva og begynte å spise.

Smilet hennes var så vakkert at gutten ønsket å se det igjen. Derfor tok han opp en colaboks og rakte mot henne, fortsatt uten et ord. Damen tok boksen med det vakreste smil til takk.

Slik ble de sittende ved siden av hverandre resten av dagen, mens de delte guttens niste og drakk opp brusen hans. De bare satt der, fortsatt uten å veksle ett ord.

Da solen begynte å gå ned, oppdaget gutten at han var trett og måtte gå hjem. Han pakket sakene sine, reiste seg og begynte å gå.

Da han hadde gått noen skritt, snudde han seg brått og løp tilbake til damen på benken. Uten et ord bøyde han seg ned og ga henne en varm klem.

Damen smilte sitt vakreste smil mot ham, og gutten smilte tilbake.

Da gutten straks etter kom hjem, ble moren overrasket over hvor smilende og glad han så ut.
- Hva har du gjort i dag, da, gutten min, siden du ser så glad ut? spurte hun.
- Jeg har spist lunch med Gud, sa gutten, og fortsatte med et stort smil, før
hans forskrekkede mor rakk å si noe:
- Og du skulle sett, hun hadde verdens vakreste smil!

Samtidig kom den gamle damen hjem, full av glede og med et strålende smil.
- Hvor har du vært i dag, sa hennes sønn, forundret over hvor glad hun så ut.
- Jeg har spist lunch med Gud, sa den gamle damen, og fortsatte før sønnen rakk å
kommentere utsagnet:
- Vet du, han er mye yngre enn jeg hadde trodd!

Alt for ofte underslår vi viktigheten av et smil, en berøring, et ord, et lyttende øre, en kompliment, eller den aller minste form for omsorg. Bare et lite smil, kan ha evnen til å endre en menneskets dag, ja, kanskje selv et helt liv. Mennesker kommer inn i våre liv for en grunn, enten de er der tilfeldig, en kort tid eller hele livet. Omfavn alle på lik linje.

Fritt etter Ann Prentice, i Outlook, menighetsbladet for Bethesda Methodist Church, Cheltenham, England.

En morsom historie desember 28, 2007

På sykehuset var pårørende til et alvorlig sykt familiemedlem samlet i oppholdsrommet. Legen kom inn, og så trett og dyster ut: “Jeg er redd for at jeg har dårlige nyheter” sa han og så på de engstelige ansiktene. “Det eneste håp som er tilbake for pasienten på dette tidspunkt, er en hjernetransplantasjon. Dette er en vanskelig og risikabel prosess, og dere må selv betale for hjernen.”

De pårørende satt stille og tenkte over saken. Etter en lang tid var det en som spurte, “OK, hvor mye koster en hjerne?”

Legen svarte hurtig, “30.000 kr. for en mannehjerne, og 1.200 kr. for en kvinnehjerne.”
Stemningen ble litt pinlig. Mennene i rommet prøvde å ikke smile, unngikk øyekontakt med kvinnene, men satt med et tilfreds uttrykk i ansiktet.

En mann var ute av stand til å styre sin nysgjerrighet, og spurte om det alle ønsket å spørre om, “Hvorfor koster en manns hjerne så mye mer..?”

Legen smilte av den enkle mannen og sa: “30.000 kr. er en standardpris. Vi er nødt til å sette ned prisen for kvinnehjerner, da de har vært i bruk.”

Things aren’t always as they appear! desember 28, 2007

A woman was flying from Seattle to San Francisco. Unexpectedly, the plane was diverted to Sacramento along the way. The flight attendant explained that there would be a delay, and if the passengers wanted to get off the aircraft the plane would re-board in 
50 minutes. 

Everybody got off the plane except one lady who was blind. The man had noticed her as he walked by and could tell the lady was blind because her Seeing Eye dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of her throughout the entire flight. He could also tell she had flown this very flight before because the pilot approached her, and calling her by name, said, “Kathy, we are in Sacramento for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?” The blind lady replied, “No thanks, but maybe my dog would like to stretch his legs.”

Picture this: All the people in the gate area came to a complete standstill when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with a Seeing Eye dog! The pilot was even wearing sunglasses. People scattered. They not only tried to change planes, but they were trying to change airlines!

This is a true story! Have a great day and remember…
THINGS AREN’T ALWAYS AS THEY APPEAR 

Barns svar på kristendomsprøver desember 28, 2007

Kona til gud heter Gudmor. Hun er moren til alle barnebarna hans; Moses, Jesus og Julenissen,
( Thomas Andre 7 år)

.

Gud heter egentlig Den allmennpraktiserende hersker på himmelen og på
jorden. Han bestemmer alt, hele tiden. I gamle dager het Gud “mannen med ljåen”.
.
Gud er forholdsvis grei, men han liker ikke at tyver kommer til himmelen uten grunn.

.

Nå er det blitt ozonhull i himmelen. Det gjør at gulvet til Gud ikke er
helt tett lenger. Det kan bli et problem.
.
Det er mange i himmelen: Alle som er døde er der, pluss Gud og Jesus og den dårlige Ånde. Det er noen som har en hellig lama. Det er egentlig en liten kamel. Det heter Dalai-lama. Jeg tror det er en engel.
.
Hvis Gud hadde holdt det han sa om å la alle barn komme til seg, så hadde vi ikke trengt barnehager. Bibelen består for eksempel av De fem museboker og Marius’evangelium.
.
Du skal høre på moren din samme hva hun sier og hvilket tonefall hun bruker(Thomas Andre, 7 år)

.
Når noen dør, blir de lagt ned i jorda, og så sier presten: “Av jord
er du kommet og der skal du bli.” Så tømmer han enda en bøtte jord i
hodet på deg.

Om rikdom og fattigdom desember 28, 2007

Rikdom er å være fornøyd med det man har, og fattigdom er å være misfornøyd med det man har.

 .

(Profeten Mohammad (fvmh))

Fra profeten Mohamad desember 28, 2007

Do not consider any act of kindness insignificant, even meeting your brother with a cheerful face.

.

(Profeten Mohammad (fvmh) )

Ideas are like rabbits desember 28, 2007

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple,  learn how to handle them, and soon you have a dozen.

.

(John Steinbeck)

Det er langt mellom venner november 15, 2007

Det er langt mellom venner
Mellom venner står mange
bekjentskaper
og mye snakk.
Venner ligger som små lysende stuer
langt borte i fjellmørket.
Du kan ikke ta feil av dem.
.
(Kolbein Falkeid, 197