Author: Steve Lawrence

A friend is a person whom you want to have near when you are dying and whom you like to be with while you are living. To whom you spontaneously turn to for help when you are in trouble and who is the first to hear the good news when you have good fortune.

Whose counsel you seek when you are perplexed and whose congratulations you welcome when the perplexity is solved. In whom you can confide the secret you want no other living soul to know yet will never pry into your heart to discover whether there are any more secrets to be revealed.

On whom you can lean when your heart aches but who will never take advantage of your leaning; who will get down on his knees beside you when you are down and forget that he did so when you are on your feet again. Whose shoulder you can weep when you are sad and with whom you enjoy laughing when you are glad.

Who has a tear on his cheek when you suffer and a twinkle in his eye when the sun shines on you again. Who has pain in his tone when you are in distress and melody in his voice when your heart is gay. Who admires you for your strong points but loves you in spite of your weak ones. Who can laugh at all your foibles without despising you for having them. Who makes allowance for your limitations without allowing them to obscure your talents.

Who is proud of you when fortune favors you but not ashamed of you when you fall. Who contributes to your success without claiming any share in it. Who can feel and show satisfaction when you please him but never resentment when you disappoint him.

Who will tell you the truth even when it hurts and to whom you can tell the truth without his taking offense. Who is not ashamed to ask you a favor even at the risk of being imposed upon. Who can extend a helping hand and lighten your load without expecting any other reward than having had the privilege of so doing.

Who gives all he can whenever he can without ever keeping a record of what he has given; who says the best about you when everybody else is saying the worst.

Any person needs at least four such friends.

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Every person owes it to himself to be such a friend to at least four fellow humans.

God help me to be such a friend.

Author: Unknown

Teacher Debbie Moon’s first graders were discussing a picture of a family.

One little boy in the picture had a different hair color than the other members.

One of her students suggested that he was adopted.

A little girl said, “I know all about adoption, I was adopted.”

“What does it mean to be adopted?”, asked another child.

“It means”, said the girl, “that you grew in your mommy’s heart instead of her tummy!”

Author: Unknown

Based on the story by Loren Eisley…

I awoke early, as I often did, just before sunrise to walk by the ocean’s edge and greet the new day. As I moved through the misty dawn, I focused on a faint, far away motion. I saw a youth, bending and reaching and flailing arms, dancing on the beach, no doubt in celebration of the perfect day soon to begin.

As I approached, I sadly realized that the youth was not dancing to the bay, but rather bending to sift through the debris left by the night’s tide, stopping now and then to pick up a starfish and then standing, to heave it back into the sea. I asked the youth the purpose of the effort.

“The tide has washed the starfish onto the beach and they cannot return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun rises, they will die, unless I throw them back to the sea.”

As the youth explained, I surveyed the vast expanse of beach, stretching in both directions beyond my sight. Starfish littered the shore in numbers beyond calculation. The hopelessness of the youth’s plan became clear to me and I countered, “But there are more starfish on this beach than you can ever save before the sun is up. Surely you cannot expect to make a difference.”

The youth paused briefly to consider my words, bent to pick up a starfish and threw it as far as possible. Turning to me he simply said, “I made a difference to that one.”

I left the boy and went home, deep in thought of what the boy had said.

I returned to the beach and spent the rest of the day helping the boy throw starfish in to the sea.

Author: Loren Eisley

The beauty and eloquence of an expression of gratitude is reflected in a newspaper story of some years ago:

The District of Columbia police auctioned off about 100 unclaimed bicycles Friday. “One dollar,” said an 11-year-old boy as the bidding opened on the first bike. The bidding, however, went much higher. “One dollar,” the boy repeated hopefully each time another bike came up.

The auctioneer, who had been auctioning stolen or lost bikes for 43 years, noticed that the boys’s hopes seemed to soar even higher whenever a racer-type bicycle was put up.

Then there was just one racer left. The bidding went to eight dollars.

“Sold to that boy over there for nine dollars!” said the auctioneer. He took eight dollars from his own pocket and asked the boy for his dollar. The youngster turned it over in pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters – took his bike, and started to leave. But he went only a few feet. Carefully parking his new possession, he went back, gratefully threw his arms around the auctioneer’s neck, and cried.

When was the last time we felt gratitude as deeply as did this boy? The deeds others perform on our behalf might not be as poignant, but certainly there are kind acts that warrant our expressions of gratitude.

Author: Unknown

A bell is no bell ’til you ring it,

A song is no song ’til you sing it,

And love in your heart Wasn’t put there to stay –

Love isn’t love Till you give it away.

Author: Unknown

Some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.

Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, “This is for you, Daddy.” He was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found the box was empty.

He yelled at her, “Don’t you know that when you give someone a present, there’s supposed to be something inside it?”

The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said,“Oh, Daddy, it is not empty. I blew kisses into the box. All for you, Daddy.”

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.

It is told that the man kept that gold box by his bed for years and whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

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In a very real sense, each of us as humans have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, friends, family and God. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.

Author: Unknown

A baby asked God, They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so much so small and helpless?

“Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you.”

The child further inquired, “But tell me, here in heaven I don’t have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy.”

God said, “Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel’s love and be very happy.”

Again the child asked, And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don’t know the language?”

God said, “Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear and with much patience and care, your angle will teach you how to speak.”

“And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?”

God said, “Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.”

“Who will protect me?’

God said, “Your angel will defend you even if it means risking it’s life.”

“But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.”

God said, “Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to me, even though I will always next to you.”

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, ”

God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel’s name.”

“You will simply call her, Mom.”

Author: Unknown