Monthly Archives: January 2012

Secret to a Happy Marriage (1)

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THE SHOEBOX

When I was angry I made a doll

A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.  For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover.

In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife’s bedside. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totaling $95,000.  He asked her about the contents.

‘When we were to be married,’ she said, ‘ my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll.’  The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness.

‘Honey,’ he said, ‘that explains the doll, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?’

‘Oh,’ she said, ‘that’s the money I made from selling the dolls.’

Are You a Carrot, an egg or a cup of coffee?

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Are you like coffee?

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil.. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs,and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ‘ Tell me what you see.’

‘Carrots, eggs, and coffee,’ she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, ‘What does it mean , mother?’

Her mother explained that! each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior,but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. ‘Which are you?’ she asked her daughter.

‘When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff ? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavour. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you’re the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying. May we all be COFFEE!!!!!!!

The Best Christmas

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The best Christmas gift

What did you do last Christmas?  

I watched a lot of TV and was impressed by a group which visited Kenyatta hospital; praying for patients and sharing gifts. They also paid hospital dues for some so that they could be discharged. I also thought commendable gospel artists who entertained a slum village on Christmas day. Everybody deserves to dance, praise and worship God especially at Christmas.

I usually enjoy the Christmas season with all the festivities and decorations to celebrate Christ’s birth. My birthday falls on the 26th of December and I also get to thank the Lord for one extra year. My childhood Christmases were the most exciting because of all the food and new clothes, but I think this last Christmas will be the most memorable. I had the heightened pleasure of celebrating with my elderly parents who have not been very well recently. My father recovered from a serious condition, and my mother who has rheumatoid arthritis is doing fine under the circumstances. I am praying for their continued health.

Was your Christmas memorable?

Get encouragement from the story below. 

The Best Christmas

Chemistry set

The Christmas party was over. Several of the men were sitting at a table reminiscing about the Christmas days of their childhood. The conversation turned to the best Christmas of their lives. As they went around the table, they noticed one man hadn’t said anything. They asked, “Come on… Frank, what was your best Christmas?”

Frank said, “The best Christmas I ever had was when I didn’t even get a present.” The others were surprised. They had to hear the story. Frank began to talk… “I grew up in New York. It was the great depression and we were poor. My Mother had died when I was just eight years old. My Dad had a job but he only worked two or three days a week and that was considered good. We lived in a walk up and we just barely had enough food and clothes. I was a kid and didn’t really notice.” “My Dad was a proud man. He had one suit. He would wear that suit to work.  When he came home, he would take off the jacket and sit in his chair still wearing his shirt, tie and his vest. He had this big old pocket watch that had been given to him by my mother. He would sit in his chair, the chain from watch hanging out, connected to the fob in his vest buttonhole. That watch was his proudest possession. Sometimes, I would see him, just sitting there, looking at his precious watch. I bet he was thinking of my mother.”

“One year, I was about twelve, chemistry sets were the big thing. They cost two dollars. That was big money but every kid wanted a chemistry set including me. I began to pester my Dad about it a month or so before Christmas. You know, I made all the same kid promises. I would be good. I would do my chores. I wouldn’t ask for anything else again. My dad would just say, ‘We’ll see…” “Three days before Christmas he took me to the carts. There was this area where all the small merchants keep their street carts. They would undersell the stores and you could get a good buy. He would take me to a cart and pick out some little toy. “Son, would like something like this?” I, of course, would tell him, ‘No, I want a chemistry set.’ We tramped to nearly every cart and him showing me some toy car or toy gun, and me refusing it. I never thought that he didn’t have the money to buy a chemistry set. Finally, he said, we better go home and come back the next day.”

“All the way home, I pouted and whined about the chemistry set. I repeated the promises. I said I didn’t care if I never got another present. I had to have that chemistry set. I know now that my Dad felt guilty about not being able to give me more. He probably thought he was a failure as a Father and I think he blamed himself for my mother’s death. As we were walking up the stairs, he told me, that he would see what he could do about getting me the chemistry set. That night I couldn’t even sleep. I could see myself inventing some new material. I could see the New York Times… ‘Boy wins Nobel Prize!”

“The next day after work, my Dad took me back to the carts. On the way, I remember, he bought a loaf of bread; he was carrying it under his arm. We came to first cart and he told me to pick out the set I wanted. They were all alike, but went through them, like I was choosing a diamond. I found the right one and I almost yelled. ‘This one… Dad!”. “I can still see him, reaching into his pant’s pocket, to get the money. As he pulled the two dollars out, one fluttered to the ground, he bent over to pick it up and as he did, the chain fell out of his vest. The chain swung back and forth. ‘No watch.’ In a flash, I realized that my Dad had sold his watch. He sold his most precious possession to buy me a chemistry set. He sold his watch, the last thing my mother had given him, to buy me a chemistry set.” “I grabbed his arms and I yelled, ‘No.’ I had never grabbed my Dad before and I certainly had never yelled at him. I can see him, looking at me; a strange look on his face. ‘No, Dad, you don’t have to buy me anything.’ The tears were burning in my eyes. ‘Dad, I know you love me.’ We walked away from the cart and I remember my Dad holding my hand all the way home.” Frank looked at the men. “You know, there isn’t enough money in the world to buy that moment. You see, at that moment, I knew that my Dad loved me more than anything in the world.”

That is the way that God loves us. He didn’t just say it. He showed it. He gave the most precious thing anyone could give. He gave His Son. John 3:16, says, “For God so loved the world (you and me) that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life.” He gave His Son, Jesus so that you and I might have everlasting life. If you haven’t accepted that great gift, Accept it now… Just ask him to forgive you and to come into your heart… And be your Lord and Savior. It is that easy.