When we think of talents, we often think of people who can run the fastest, sing amazingly well, or play a musical instrument. Many talents that people have include having patience, being very positive, or getting along with people easily. Each one of us is blessed with talents to share with others. Who can we reach out to with our talents today?
My daughter Jessie is a very compassionate person. She will help people in need and go out of her way to lighten the burdens of our family and neighbors. One of Jessie’s greatest talents is her ability to sense when someone is in need. She jumps right in without being asked. Her love for little children is heartwarming. We had backyard neighbors who had small children that just loved Jessie. Hunter, who was two, would sneak over to our house and just walk in and ask to play with Jessie.
This world is a better place because Jessie is in it. I believe we all have special talents that only we can use to reach certain people. Let’s make this world a better place by sharing our talents.
The tree that never had to fight For sun and sky and air and light. But stood out in the open plain And always got its share of rain, Never became a forest king But lived and died a scrubby thing. The man who never had to toil To gain and farm his patch of soil, Who never had to win his share of sun and sky and light and air, Never became a manly man But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease The stronger wind, the stronger trees The further sky, greater length; The more the storm the more the strength By sun and cold, by rain and snow In trees and men good limbers Where thickest lies the forest growth. We find the patriarchs of both. And they hold counsel with the stars Whose broken branches show the scars Of many winds and much of strife This is the common law of life
The problem is; We look for someone to grow old together, While the secret is to find someone to stay a child with! (Charles Bukowski)
What does Love mean to 4-8 year old kids? Slow down for a few minutes to read this…
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, ‘What does love mean?’ The answers they got were broader, deeper, and more profound than anyone could have ever imagined!
‘When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore… So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.’Rebecca – age 8
‘When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.’Billy – age 4
‘Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.’Karl – age 5
‘Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.’ Chrissy – age 6
‘Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.’ Terri – age 4
‘Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.’Danny – age 8
‘Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and just listen.’Bobby – age 7 (Wow!)
‘If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.’ Nikka – age 6(we need a few million more Nikka’s on this planet)
‘Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day.’ Noelle – age 7
‘Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.’ Tommy – age 6
‘During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that.I wasn’t scared anymore.’ Cindy – age 8
‘My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.’ Clare – age 6
‘Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.’ Elaine – age 5
‘Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.’Chris – age 7
‘Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.’ Mary Ann – age 4
‘I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.’Lauren – age 4
‘When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.’ (what an image!) Karen – age 7
‘Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn’t think it’s gross…’Mark – age 6
‘You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.’ Jessica – age 8
And the final one: The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, ‘Nothing, I just helped him cry.'(this made me cry!) Now, take a few seconds and post this for others to inspire and spread Love like butter! And then go be a child again today!
I have to live with myself, and so
I want to be fit for myself to know,
I want to be able, as days go by,
Always to look myself straight in the eye;
I don’t want to stand, with the setting sun,
And hate myself for the things I have done.
I don’t want to keep on a closet shelf
A lot of secrets about myself,
And fool myself, as I come and go,
Into thinking that nobody else will know
The kind of a man I really am;
I don’t want to dress up myself in sham.
I want to go out with my head erect,
I want to deserve all men’s respect;
But here in a struggle for fame and pelf
I want to be able to look at myself.
I don’t want to look at myself and know
That I’m bluster and bluff and empty show.
I can never hide myself from me;
I see what others may never see;
I know what others may never know,
I never can fool myself, and so,
Whatever happens, I want to be
Self-respecting and conscience free.
Edgar A. Guest
When I reflect back on my life, I would say I have had several unique and wonderful surprises. Looking back even the opportunity to grow up with lots of animals on a small farm was a great surprise. Getting to experience the miracle of life and even death was an experience that has helped form me into the person I am today. Some of the surprises in my life have come because of my families lack of even simple pleasures such as a television. When I was ten and my brother was eleven my mom answered an add in the newspaper. The add was requesting children that did not watch television on a regular basis to come to the University of Utah, so people could do some experiments hooking up electrodes on our head to measure how certain short movie clips effected our emotions. I remember watching four short clips, one was a movie about boxing and another one was of cars racing. I forget what the other movies were about. At the end of the experiment my brother and myself were given $10 dollars. We thought we were so rich. I think my mom talked us into getting some clothes with part of the money and the rest we could spend on what we wanted. I just remember how excited we were to get so much money. On another occasion our family was the recipients of sub for Santa from our church. Back in the late 70s the big craze were these 15 in one game boards and we got two of them. In my mind I was thinking why couldn’t we get something cool like a television or even a new Monopoly game. I was not being very thankful. When our kids were little, it was Christmas Eve when we got a knock on the door and we were surprised with a visit from Santa. A kind neighbor Glen Nelson dressed up like Santa and gave our kids a memory they would never forget. We were all excited that night for the kindness of wonderful neighbors. Two more surprises I am saving for last. When Cassie and myself had only been married for 15 months we became the foster parents of two children. Rick was 5 and Stephanie was 4. We went from being Aunt Cassie and Uncle Leonard to mom and dad on a Friday; that coming Monday was the first day of school for Rick. Rick and Stephanie have been wonderful additions. Five years after becoming their foster parents we were able to adopt them into our family. The three younger children would have been devastated if their older siblings had to go to a different home. They always looked up to them and loved doing all the family activities together. Our family would be empty without them. Finally, on the day I was driving with my parents to get married we looked over and we saw Cassie driving with her parents on the freeway to get married. For me this was a huge relief and a wonderful sign that Cassie really did love me and wanted to marry me. Of all the many delightful surprises I am glad Cassie gets to experience many of them with me.
When I think of forgiveness I think of the story my Dad liked to tell about a wise Chinese Sage who is the wisest old man of the village. Their was a woman who was offended greatly by another woman in the village, so she visits the wise sage and asks him what is the best way to hurt someone the most? He said it is very simple. The first step is to be as nice as possible to the woman that hurt you everyday. Then in two weeks, I will tell you what to do next. Three weeks go by when the wise old sage sees the woman who wanted to hurt the other woman in the village. The wise sage said,” Are you ready for the next step to hurt the person who offended you?” The woman said she could never hurt the woman who had once offended her. She said she could never hurt this woman because she was her very best friend. When we serve others it is very easy to forgive them and overlook their differences.
Many years ago, when I was making 75 cents an hour, my three children asked for bicycles for Christmas, but I couldn’t afford them.
So that January, I put three bikes on layaway. I paid all through the year, but a week before Christmas, I still owed $14.50. The Saturday before Christmas, my son Ricky asked how much I needed. When I told him, he asked if he could pour the pennies out of the penny jug we kept.
I said, “Son, I don’t care, but I know there’s not $14.50 worth of pennies in there.”
Ricky poured them out, counted them, and said, “Mom, there’s $15.50 worth of pennies.” Ecstatic, I told him to count out $1 for gas so I could go get the bikes.
I’ve always thought of this as our little Christmas miracle. It was as blessed a Christmas as anyone could ever have. —Dot Williams, Canton, Georgia.
It’s wondrous what a hug can do. A hug can cheer you when you’re blue, A hug can say, “I love you so, Or, “Gee, I hate to see you go,” A hug is – welcome back again,” “Great to see you! Where’ve you been?” A hug can soothe a small child’s pain And bring a rainbow after rain, The hug! There’s just no doubt about it We scarcely could survive without It! A hug delights and warms and charms. It must be why God gave us arms.
Hugs are great for fathers and mothers, Sweet for sisters, swell for brothers, And chances are your favorite aunts Love them more than potted plants! Kittens crave them, puppies love them “Heads of State” are not above them, A hug can break the language barrier, And make your travels go much merrier, No need to fret about your store of them The more you give, the more there’s more of them So stretch those arms without delay And give someone a HUG – Today!!
I am going through some of my moms things and miss her deeply. I found this poem about hugs.
Len's Oils 