GRANDMAS

Grandmas are people who always have gum,
Or cookies or candy whenever you come.
They always have something to play with that's fun,
And a box full of toys for the littlest one.
They're glad to read stories whenever you wish;
They don't even scold when you break their best dish.
They make little dresses and sunsuits and shirts;
They're there when you need them to kiss where it hurts.
They buy you ice cream cones whenever you're good;
They'd give you the moon and the stars, if they could.
They let you dress up in their best dress and hat;
In a pinch, they'll take turns with a baseball and bat.
Some grandmas have black hair and others have gray;
But still the world would love them
the same way.

TAKE TIME

Take time to THINK...
It is the source of power.
Take time to PLAY...
It is the secret of perpetual youth.
Take time to READ...
It is the fountain of wisdom.
Take time to PRAY...
It is the greatest power on earth.
Take time to LOVE and
BE LOVED...
It is a God-given privilege.
Take time to BE FRIENDLY...
It is the road to happiness.
Take time to LAUGH...
It is music of the soul.
Take time to GIVE...
It is too short a day to be selfish.
Take time to WORK...
It is the price of success.
Take time to DO CHARITY...
It is the key to heaven.
Take time to know JESUS...
For HE is the way!!!

TODAY

TODAY -- I will try to live through this day only, and not tackle my whole life's problems at once.
TODAY -- I will be happy.  What a very wise man was Abraham Lincoln, when he said, "Most Folks are just as happy as they make up their minds to be".  I will smile and others, witnessing my happiness will smile WITH me.
TODAY -- I will adjust MYSELF to what IS, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires.
I will realize that much of what I call my "luck" is of my own making--the rest is God's plan for my niche in life and I will accept it as such.
TODAY -- I will do something for my own soul in three ways:
I will do something nice for someone and NOT BE FOUND OUT.
I will make myslef do something I do not want to do--just to prove to myself that I am big
enough to do it, and---
I will not show ANYONE if my feelings are hurt--THEY MAY BE HURT-- but I will not show it--no one but my God and I will know.
TODAY  -- I will be agreeable-I will speak softly, look my best, be kind and considerate, neither criticizing nor finding fault with anyone buy MYSELF.
TODAY -- I will have a quiet half-hour--all to myself-to RELAX.  During this half-hour--
sometime--I will try to get a better prospective of myself-to see myself as others see me--
and ask myself if I LIKE what I see.
TODAY -- I will be unafraid.  Especially I will not be afraid to be RIGHT and to stand by what I believe IS right, if I know my God and my conscience are on my side.
TODAY -- I will be very careful of my tongue--if I cannot find something nice to say, I will be silent--for the spoken work, no matter how much regretted, can never be recalled.
TODAY -- I will keep smiling-- it takes seven muscles to smile and eighty-four to frown...
so----SMILE!!!
TODAY  --  Everything I do or say, or even THNK will be constructive.  Whatever I do will be done to the best of  my ability.  It may not, and probably WILL not be the best it can be done, but it will be MY best -- for --"if you give to the world the best you have, then the best will come back to you".

"TEAMWORK"

"It Takes Teamwork: Lessons From the Geese"
As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an "uplift" for the bird following.  By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% more flying range that if each bird flew alone.

LESSON:
People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are travelling on the thrust of one another.
Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the birds immediately in front.

LESSON:
If we have as much sense as a goose, we will join in formations with those who are headed where we want to go.
When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies at the point position.

LESSON:
It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership --  with people, as well as with geese, interdependent with one another.  The geese in formation honk from behind is encourageing -- not something less helpful.
When a goose gets sick or wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow their fellow member down to help and provide protection.  They stay with this member of the flock until he or she either is able to fly again or dies.  Then they launch out on their own, with another formation, or catch up with their own flock.

LESSON:
If we have as much sense as the geese, we'll stand by one another like they do.

(From Agricultural News, Issue 97, Merle W. Boo, Editor, ELCA)

ANYWAY

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered,
LOVE THEM ANYWAY
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulteriour motives,
DO GOOD ANYWAY
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies,
SUCCEED ANYWAY
The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow,
DO GOOD ANYWAY
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable,
BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY
What you spent years building may be destroyed overnight,
BUILD ANYWAY
People really need help but may attack you if you help them,
HELP PEOPLE ANYWAY
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth,
GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU'VE GOT ANYWAY!!!

From a sign on the wall of Shishu Bhavan, the children's home in Calcutta.
"A Simple Path" by, Mother Teresa

A PRAYER AT CHRISTMAS

May the great goodness of God
reach every human heart..may we
be made humble enough to gain
wisdom...may the Lord richly bless
us with an understanding of His 
truths...may all those who work
for peace be granted wisdom, courage,
and strength...may all things that
are exellent and worthy of praise
occupy our thoughts...may the love of the
Christmas season prosper throughout the
year...and as we live by faith, ever
looking toward a glorious future, may
we also learn to live in harmony with
our brothers and sisters.

If nobody smiled, and nobody cheered, and nobody helped us along,
If each and every minute, everyone looked after himself, and
good things all went to the strong,
If nobody cared just a little for you, and nobody cared about me,
what a dreary old world this would be!

Oh, if we were rich as the richest on earth and strong as the strongest
that lives,
Yet never we knew the delight and the charm
of the smile which the other one gives,
If kindness were never a part of ourselves, 
though we owned all the land we could see,
And friendship meant nothing at all to us here,
what a dreary old world this would be!

Life is sweet, just because of the friends we have made
and the things in common we share;
We want to live on, not because of oursleves,
but because of people who care.
It's giving and doing for somebody else---
on that all life's splendor depends,
And the joy of this world, when you've summed it all up,
is found in the making of friends!!

This poem was written to grandma from one of her dear friends,
Dorothy.  This poem is exactly how grandma lived her life!!!