Inspiration DecJan 2008

Shortarmguy's Emails To Make You Think

January 27, 2008

 

WHERE DID THE WHITE MAN GO WRONG?
 
 
The Indian Chief Two Eagles, was asked by a white government official,
 
“You have observed the white man for 90 years, You’ve seen his wars and his technological advances. You’ve seen his progress, and the damage he’s done.”

The Chief nodded in agreement.
 
The official continued, “Considering all these events, in your opinion, where did the white man go wrong?”
 
The Chief stared at the government official for over a minute and then calmly replied. “When white man find land, Indians running it. No taxes, No debt, Plenty buffalo, plenty beaver, Clean Water; women did all the work, Medicine man free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; all night having sex.”
 
Then the chief leaned back and smiled. “Only white man dumb enough to think he can improve system like that.”

 

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youths’ rite of passage?
 
  His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone.
 
  He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it.

He cannot cry out for help to anyone.

Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.

He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.
 
  The boy is naturally terrified.
 
  He can hear all kinds of noises.  Wild beasts must surely be all around him.  Maybe even some human might do him harm.

The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold.  It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold.

It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him.
 
  He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We, too, are never alone.

Even when we don’t know it, our Heavenly Father is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us.
 
  When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

 

January 20, 2008

 
This is the last one for today — thought I’d send you something I got that I think is inspirational and has a very good message on living.
 
Good night for now and blessings to you and your family.  shirley
 
 

Hot Chocolate

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at  a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired.

During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about
stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the
professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot
chocolate and an assortment of cups – porcelain, glass, crystal, some very plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor
 said: “Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken,
 leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you’re drinking from adds nothing to the quality  of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups…

And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money
 and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and
 contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail  to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.

 Live simply.
Love generously.
 Care deeply.
 Speak kindly.
And enjoy your hot chocolate.

January 13, 2008

 

Fun Facts

*The term the “Boogey Man will get you” comes from the Boogey people, who still inhabit an area of Indonesia. These people still act as pirates today and attack ships that pass. Thus the term spread “if you don’t watch out the Boogey man will get you.”
 

 
*The average ear of corn has eight-hundred kernels arranged in sixteen rows.
 
*Chances that a burglary in the US will be solved:  1 in 7

*Portion of land in the US owned by the government:  1/3

*Only animal besides human that can get sunburn:  Pig

*Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better.

*Chances that an American lives within 50 mi of where he/she grew up:
  1 in 2

*Smartest dogs: 1)border collie; 2)poodle;  3)golden retriever
*Dumbest: afghan

The energy in an average one day hurricane could power the United States for three years.

 
How many states are named after a president?????……..   One- Washington

A hamlet is a village without a church.

The ‘Happy Birthday’ song is actually copyrighted. So legally and technically, if you somehow profit from the song you are entitled to pay royalties to the Time-Warner Corporation
 
The new IRS employee manual includes provisions for collecting taxes in the aftermath of a (nuclear war)! 

$100 Note Fact Sheet

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The vignette on the back of the $100 note is Independence Hall in Philadelphia. There are three people depicted in the engraving. Two (a man and a woman) are in front of the hall close to the building; the third person is a man pictured looking toward the building. There is no record that the man and woman are embracing.

The hands of the clock are set at approximately 4:10. Although the time is not readily identifiable to the naked eye, it may be verified if examined under twenty-fold magnification. There are no rec
ords explaining why that particular time was chosen.

The life span of a $1 Federal Reserve Note is 21 months. (Other denominations have different life spans.

 

Average life span of a Federal Reserve Note by denomination:

 

$ 1 ……………21 months
$ 5 ……………
16 months
$ 10 ………….
18 months
$ 20 ………….
24 months
$ 50 ………….
55 months
$100 …………
89 months

   
Contrary to popular belief, the automobile pictured on the back of the $10 note is not a Model “T” Ford. It is merely a creation of the designer of the bill.  
 
 Look on the back of a $5 bill. If you look carefully you can read the names of the states along the top of the Lincoln Memorial

 

January 6, 2008

A Short History of Medicine:

“Doctor, I have an ear ache.”
 

2000 B.C. – “Here, eat this root.”
1000 B.C. – “That root is heathen, say this prayer.”
1850 A.D. – “That prayer is superstition, drink this potion.”
1940 A.D. – “That potion is snake oil, swallow this pill.”
1985 A.D. – “That pill is ineffective, take this antibiotic.”
2000 A.D. – “That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root!”

A man was tired of going to work every day while his wife stayed at home. He wanted her to see what he went through so prayed: ‘Lord: I go to work every day while my wife just stays at home. I want her to know what I go through. So can we switch for a day, Amen.’

God in his infinite wisdom granted the man’s wish. Next morning, the man awoke as a woman. He cooked breakfast, woke the kids, packed their lunches, drove them to school, went to the bank, shopped, walked the dog and it was already 1 p.m. So he rushed the daily house chores and ran to school to collect the kids. Back home, after arguing with the kids about homework, he ironed and prepared dinner. After dinner, he cleaned up, folded the laundry, bathed the kids and put them to bed.

At 9 p.m., exhausted, he went to bed and was then expected to perform his marital duties!

Next morning he awoke and immediately said: ‘Lord, I don’t know what I was thinking. Please! Let us trade back. Amen!’

The Lord replied: ‘My son, you have learned your lesson, I will be happy to change things back …..you’ll just have to wait 9 months though. You got pregnant last night!’

December 30, 2007

Average Weekly Food Expenditures by Various Families in Various Countries

Germany : The Melander family of Bargteheide
 Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07

United States : The Revis family of North Carolina

Food expenditure for one week $341.98

Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily
 Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11

Mexico : The Casales family of Cuernavaca
 Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or
$189.09

Poland : The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
 Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or
$151.27

Egypt : The Ahmed family of Cairo
 Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or
$68.53

Ecuador : The Ayme family of Tingo
 Food expenditure for one week: $31.55

Bhutan : The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
 Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03

Chad : The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
 Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23
 

December 23, 2007

Dear Children,
 
It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybe you’ve forgotten that I wasn’t actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival. Although I do appreciate being remembered anytime.
 
How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don’t care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
 
Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn’t allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that there wouldn’t be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.
 
Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 – 8.
 
If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:
 
1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.
 
2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don’t have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.
 
3. Instead of writing George complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don’t you write and tell him that you’ll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.
 
4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can’t afford and they don’t need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.
 
5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.
 
6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless?  Since you don’t know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.
 
7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren’t allowed to wish you a “Merry Christmas” that doesn’t keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn’t make so much money on that day they’d close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families
 
8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary– especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.
 
9. Here’s a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no “Christmas” tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don’t know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.
 
10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don’t do things in secret that you wouldn’t do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.
 

Don’t forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I’ll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I’ll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember — I LOVE YOU .  

JESUS

December 16, 2007

HERE’S SOMETHING WE’LL NEVER GET TO SEE………ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. 

Suddenly the shoreline north of Sydney was transformed into the Cappuccino Coast. Foam swallowed an entire beach and half the nearby buildings, including the local lifeguards’ centre, in a freak display of nature at Yamba in New South Wales.

One minute a group of teenage surfers were waiting to catch a wave, the next they were swallowed up in a giant bubble bath. The foam was so light that they could puff it out of their hands and watch it float away.

Boy in the bubble bath: Tom Woods, 12, emerges from the clouds of foam after deciding that surfing was not an option. 

 It stretched for 30 miles out into the Pacific in a phenomenon not seen at the beach for more than three decades. Scientists explain that the foam is created by impurities in the ocean, such as salts, chemicals, dead plants, decomposed fish and excretions from seaweed. All are churned up together by powerful currents which cause the water to form bubbles. These bubbles stick to each other as they are carried below the surface by the current towards the shore. As a wave starts to form on the surface, the motion of the water causes the bubbles to swirl upwards and, massed together, they become foam.

The foam ‘surfs’ towards shore until the wave ‘crashes’, tossing the foam into the air.

Whitewash: The foam was so thick it came all the way up to the surf club

‘It’s the same effect you get when you whip up a milk shake in a blender,’ explains a marine expert. ‘The more powerful the swirl, the more foam you create on the surface and the lighter it becomes.’ In this case, storms off the New South Wales Coast and further north off Queensland had created a huge disturbance in the ocean, hitting a stretch of water where there was a particularly high amount of the substances which form into bubbles. As for 12-year-old beachgoer Tom Woods, who has been surfing since he was two, riding a wave was out of the question. ‘Me and my mates just spent the afternoon leaping about in that stuff,’ he said.

‘It was quite cool to touch and it was really weird. It was like clouds of air – you could hardly feel it.’

December 9, 2007

 

I have no way to know who sent it, but there is a kind soul working in the dead letter office of the US postal service.

 

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.  She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:

 

Dear God,

 Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim.  I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith.

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it.  Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, ‘To Meredith’ in an unfamiliar hand.  Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, ‘When a Pet Dies.’ Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,

Abbey arrived safely in heaven.  Having the picture was a big help.  I recognized Abbey right away.

Abbey isn’t sick anymore.  Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart.  Abbey loved being your dog.  Since we don’t need our bodies in heaven, I don’t have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.
Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.

 I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.

By the way, I am wherever there is love.

Love, God

December 2, 2007

Please watch the following video clip.  It is a story of Johnny, the grocery store bagger.  It is very short, but it will remind you of why and how we make an impact in what we do.

Click Here To View The Movie!

 

 

Twas the month before Christmas


Twas the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.
Why the PC Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas – no one could say.
The children were told by the
ir schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people’s feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a ‘ Holiday ‘.

Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
As Ikea were hanging their trees upside down
At the Bay the word Christmas – was no where to be found.
At Staples, Wal-Mart, Future Shop and Sears
You won’t hear the word Christmas; it won’t touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !
At the top of City Hall, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace

The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate ‘Winter Break’ under your ‘Dream Tree’
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say 

 

Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS –   

 

NOT Happy Holiday!!!!

Inspiration from the past

On this page, I will post the most inspirational material I receive on any given day.  So email shortarmguy@aol.com the best stuff you get.  Life can be darn tough sometimes and every now and then you might need a little happiness booster.  I’m hoping this page may accomplish that.  After you read a few of these,  you can push back from your keyboard, throw your arms in the air, wave them back and forth and scream “I’m glad to be alive!”  If this happens to you, please send pictures and I’ll post them here!