Love And Acceptance

I am a mother of three and recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring, with qualities I wish every human being had been graced with. Her last project of the term was called “Smile.” The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions. I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone, so I thought this would be a piece of cake.

Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went to McDonald’s one morning. We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did. I did not move an inch…an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved. As I turned around I smelled a horrible “dirty body” smell, and there standing behind me were two homeless men. As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was “smiling”. His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God’s Light as he searched for acceptance.

He said, “Good day” as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally deficient and the blue eyed gentle man was his salvation. I held my tears as I stood there with them. The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted. He said, “Coffee is all Miss” because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).

Then I really felt it – the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes. That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action. I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue eyed gentleman’s cold hand. He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, “Thank you.” I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, “I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope.”

I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, “That is why God gave you to me, Honey. To give me hope.” We held hands for a moment and at that time we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give. We are not church goers but we are believers. That day showed me the pure Light of God’s sweet love. I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand. I turned in “my project” and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, “Can I share this?” I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class.

She began to read and that is when I knew that we, as human beings and being part of God, share this need to heal people and be healed. In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald’s, my husband, son, instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night spent as a college student. I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn:

UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.

Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this small story and to remind us how to LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS – NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.

Source : http://www.crystal-reflections.com/stories/story_92.htm

Rekindled Romance-Romantic Gestures

3 Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. 4 Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanonlooking toward Damascus. 5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses. 6 How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love, with your delights! 7 Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit. 8 I said, “I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit.” May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples.9 and your mouth like the best wine. May the wine go straight to my lover, flowing gently over lips and teeth. 10 I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me. 11 Come, my lover, let us go to the countryside, let us spend the night in the villages. 12 Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vines have budded, if their blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates are in bloom— there I will give you my love. 13 The mandrakes send out their fragrance, and at our door is every delicacy, both new and old, that I have stored up for you, my lover. (Song of Solomon 7:9-13)

Can you believe that this is scripture? Sounds like a sexy novel.  Keeping in mind that our marriages shouldn’t be sexless, our passion and romance for our spouses shouldn’t be non existent. After being married for a few years it is easy to forget about the romantic gestures that came so natural in the time prior. It is easy to take the one you married and love for granted. When you add jobs, kids and life in the mix sometimes couples put their love lives on hold. Although it’s easy to let the flame go out in our marriages we have to be intentional about rekindling the romance. Of course we shouldn’t only express our love during the month of February alone. But if you have noticed that the fire behind your romance has fizzled in your marriage, here are a few things that Could help us rekindle the romance in our marriages.

1. Write a poem.*
2. Cook a romantic dinner.
3. Give a full-body massage.
4. Pack a sunset picnic.
5. Pick wildflowers on the way home.
6. Give dark chocolates.
7. Read(Song of Solomon together) lol*
8. Prepare strawberries with fondue chocolate.
9. Leave little love notes everywhere.*
10. Send a love email every day.
11. Take a moonlit walk.(when it warms up lol)*
12. Snuggle together while watching romantic movies.
13. Watch something your spouse enjoys while snuggling
14. Take a bath together (use bubbles!).*
15. Bring home good coffee or a decadent sweet.
16. Take a walk down memory lane — visit some of the special places from your early days of dating.*
17. Make warm chocolate cake for dessert. To do body painting
18. Make a scrapbook with photos, mementos, and little notes from your lives together.*
19. Kiss in the rain.(or snow lol)
20. Ride a ferris wheel.
21. Sneak away from a party and make out.
22. Bring home great take-out, and light some candles.
23. Fix something or fix up the house just to make your partner happy.*
24. Take a nap together.
25. Kiss slowly, touching his or her back and neck and nape — just to tease
26. Make a list of everything you love about him or her.*
27. Write a love letter. And publish it in your local paper.*
28. Go to a movie, ignore the movie, and make out like teen-agers.
29. Groom yourself, and try to look good for your partner.
30. Take some quiet time and talk about your day.
31. Write little notes, one for each way he or she drives you crazy.
32. Feed each other grapes.
33. Recreate your partner’s favorite romantic movie scene.
34. Pretend you’re going on a first date — show up at the door with flowers, all dressed up, with your car washed and cleaned, looking spiffy. Recreate the first time.
35. Create a little box with a bunch of your partner’s favorite things inside.
36. Try some sexy role-playing. Get dressed up, be daring, have fun.*
37. Give a little token to your partner to wear, and say it’s to remind him or her all day that you love them.
38. Sing a favorite song to him or her. Only do this if you can sing fairly well.
39. Have dinner on the roof, with some candles. This doesn’t work if your roof slopes sharply.( or if the climate isn’t perfect)*
40. Hold hands, and walk somewhere with lots of pretty lights.
41. Say I love you. In a different way, every day.
42. Blindfold your partner. Use a feather. Slowly.
43. Declare your love, very publicly.*
44. Take sexy photos that only your spouse will see. (be careful) lol

Can I Borrow $25 ?

 

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year 
old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: ‘Daddy, may I ask you a question?’ 
DAD: ‘Yeah sure, what it is?’ replied the man. 
SON: ‘Daddy, how much do you make an hour?’ 
DAD: ‘That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?’ the 
man said angrily. 
SON: ‘I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an 
hour?’ 
DAD: ‘If you must know, I make $50 an hour.’ 
SON: ‘Oh,’ the little boy replied, with his head down. 
SON: ‘Daddy, may I please borrow $25?’

The father was furious, ‘If the only reason you asked that is so you 
can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then 
you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why 
you are being so selfish. I don’t work hard everyday for such childish 
frivolities.’ The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s 
questions.  How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After 
about an hour or so, the man had calmed down , and started to think: 
Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and 
he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of 
the little boy’s room and opened the door. ‘Are you asleep, son?’ He 
asked. ‘No daddy, I’m awake,’ replied the boy. ‘I’ve been thinking, 
maybe I was too hard on you earlier’ said the man. ‘It’s been a long 
day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $25 you 
asked for.’

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. ‘Oh, thank you daddy!’ 
He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled 
up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get 
angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then 
looked up at his father. ‘Why do you want more money if you already 
have some?’ the father grumbled. Because I didn’t have enough, but now 
I do,’ the little boy replied. ‘Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an 
hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to 
have dinner with you.’

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he 
begged for his forgiveness. It’s just a short reminder to all of you 
working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our 
fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to 
us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $50 worth of 
your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily 
replace us in a matter of hours. But the family & friends we leave 
behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

 

An AX And Two 38’s!?

A woman had just returned to her home from an evening of church services, when she was startled by an intruder. She caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables and yelled: ‘Stop! Acts 2:38!
(Acts 2:38 (ESV) says “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins.”)

The burglar stopped in his tracks. The woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done.

As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar: ‘Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a scripture to you.’

‘Scripture?’ replied the burglar. ‘She said she had an Ax and Two 38s!’

 LOL ;=)

Enjoy the Day!