Here is my motto:

Words to Live By

My favorite saying is, “It’s not the circumstances God looks at AS MUCH AS the way you react to them.”

This story does a great job demonstrating what a difference your reaction can make.

Something to Contemplate

A Carrot, An Egg, and a Cup of Coffee
You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.
A young woman went to her mother and told her about 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 insides 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, breakup, financial hardship or some other trial, did I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, yet 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 flavor. 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 are the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

May we all be COFFEE!

No one can go back and make a brand new start.
Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.
God didn’t promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears and light for the way.
Disappointments are like road humps, they slow you down a bit but you enjoy the smooth road afterwards.

Don’t stay on the humps too long. Move on!!

When you feel down because you didn’t get what you wanted, just sit tight and be happy because God is thinking of something better to give you.
The best measure of love is to love without measure.
Perspective makes a huge difference. Learn how to be thankful.

I am Thankful For…

If you find it difficult to find something to be thankful for this year, read the following poem and see if it helps.

I am thankful for the wife who says its hot dogs tonight because she is home with me and not out with someone else.

The husband who is on the sofa being a couch potato because he is home with me and not out at the bars.

The teenager who is complaining about doing dishes because it means she is at home, not on the streets.

The taxes I pay because it means I am employed.

The mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.

The clothes that fit a little too snugly because it means I have enough to eat.

My shadow that watches me work because it means I am out in the
sunshine, and for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a house.

All the complaining I hear about the government because it means we have freedom of speech.

The parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking and have been blessed with transportation.

My huge cooling bill because it means I am comfortable.

The lady behind me in church who sings off key because it means I can hear. The pile of laundry and ironing because it means I have clothes to wear.

Weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means I have been capable of working hard.

The alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means I am alive.

— submitted by Frances Shipp, Weaver High School, Weaver, Alabama