Something to think about

Imagine that you had won the following prize in a contest:

Each morning your bank would deposit $ 86,400.00 in your private account for your use.

However, this prize had rules just as any game has certain rules.

The first set of rules would be:

1. Everything that you didn’t spend during each day would be taken away from you.

2. You may not simply transfer money into some other account.

3. You may only spend it. Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400.00 for that day.

The second set of rules:

1. The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say, “It’s over, the game is over!”

2. It can close the account and you will not receive a new one.

What would you personally do?

You would buy anything and everything you wanted, right?

Not only for yourself, but for all people you love, right?

Even for people you don’t know, because you couldn’t possibly spend it all on yourself, right?

You would try to spend every cent, and use it all, right?

ACTUALLY, THIS GAME IS LIFE!!

Each of us is in possession of such a “magical” bank.

We just can’t seem to see it.

THE MAGICAL BANK IS TIME!

Each awakening morning we receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life,

and when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is NOT credited to us.

What we haven’t lived up to that day is forever lost.

Yesterday is forever gone.

Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time…….

WITHOUT WARNING.

WELL, what will you do with your 86,400 seconds?

Aren’t they worth so much more than the same amount in dollars?

Think about that, and always think of this:

Enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than you think.

So take care of yourself, and enjoy life!

Here’s wishing you a wonderfully beautiful day!!!

Sick Day

It started on Sunday, of course it would have to be a day that I have signed up to cantor the 8:00 mass. I didn't have much of a voice but I also didn't make any mistakes like I usually do :). I'm feeling okay except I seem to be losing my voice. I go to work on Monday and again other than a voice crack once in a while I'm okay. The frigid below zero temperatures have passed and it actually seems warm when I get home from work so I grab the tub of bird seed and drudge through the snow and go around filling up all the bird feeders. By the time I get in the house I realize it is pretty cold out there. I must have been having a hot flash when I thought it was warm.

Anyway, I am not well on Tuesday and stay home from work, all doped up on the standard cold and flu drugs. I am in bed most of the day, very comfy too, however, I don't feel any better. I stay home again on Wednesday, again taking the standard drugs and staying in bed. Well, you can't very well stay in bed all day so I get up and take a look out the window and there I see this little rascal, once again raiding my bird feeder, yeah the one I'd filled just the day before. I stand there watching it,
wanting to pack myself up in all my winter gear and head out there to give that blasted squirrel a smack but I knew it wasn't a good idea since I am home sick and I really wasn't in any condition to go out. I kept watching as it hung upside down devouring all that seed, and generously spilling out bunches for all his friends. I have already fixed it once when they somehow knocked it down and ripped one side off the bottom that kept the seed from spilling out.
Well, I have decided I can't go out so the next best thing is to get some pictures. I head upstairs to get my camera, take the screen out of the window and zoom in to get a few pics. So here they are. Hopefully the bird feeder needs NO repairs. Don't forget you can enlarge pictures by clicking on them.

A Baby's Hug

A Baby's Hug ~

We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly sitting and talking. Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, 'Hi.' He pounded his fat baby hands on the high chair tray. His eyes were crinkled in laughter and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin, as he wriggled and giggled with merriment.

I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man whose pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard and his nose was so varicose it looked like a road map.

We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled.. His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists. 'Hi there, baby; hi there, big boy. see ya, buster,' the man said to Erik.

My husband and I exchanged looks, 'What do we do?' Erik continued to laugh and answer, 'Hi.'

Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby. Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, 'Do ya patty cake? Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek- a-boo.'

Nobody thought the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk. My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence; all except for Erik, who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments.

We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot. The old man sat poised between me and the door. 'Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or Erik,' I prayed. As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back trying to sidestep him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I did, Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby's 'pick-me-up' position. Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms to the man.

Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young baby consummated their love and kinship. Erik in an act of total trust, love, and submission laid his tiny head upon the man's ragged shoulder. The man's eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime, pain, and hard labor, cradled my baby's bottom and stroked his back. No two beings have
ever loved so deeply for so short a time. I stood awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms and his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, 'You take care of this baby.'

Somehow I managed, 'I will,' from a throat that contained a stone. He pried Erik from his chest, lovingly and longingly, as though he were in pain. I received my baby, and the man said, 'God bless you, ma'am, you've given me my Christmas gift.'

I said nothing more than a muttered thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tightly, and why I was saying, 'My God, my God, forgive me.' I had just witnessed Christ's love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes. I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not.. I felt it was God asking, 'Are you willing to share your son for a moment?' when He shared His for all eternity. How did God feel when he put his baby in our arms 2000 years ago. The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me,'To enter the Kingdom of God , we must become as little children.'

Sometimes, it takes a child to remind us of what is really important. We must always remember who we are, where we came from and, most importantly, how we feel about others. The clothes on your back or the car that you drive or the house that you live in does not define you at all;
it is how you treat your fellow man that identifies who you are.