“There are friends who would stick closer than your own brother or sister…”

– The Bible

One of my favorite song when I was in College and until now is the classic gospel song “friends” by Michael W Smith. Some of you would smile, and still remember this beautiful old song about friendship.

Many people depend on friendship for survival. Some would definitely literally die without friends.

Choosing our friends is very important though, we need to choose someone who would really care for us and not use us. Choose someone who chooses good over bad. And most importantly choose someone who loves God and follow His commands.

If there is one ingredient which adds warmth & love to our lives, it is FRIENDSHIP!!

FRIENDS surround us with the beauty of caring with them we can share what we see, what we feel & what we love. They help us with our problems because they listen as they listen, we begin to hear the language of our own hearts.

We can walk along the remembered paths of our lives & share our experiences.

We can work the soil of forgotten dreams that needed to be tended & nurtured again

We can always return to a friend like going back to a special place and find the same warm feeling unchanged by time or distance

Life gives us friends to share the precious times & memorable moments. Life gives us friends so we can share the growing up & growing down and old.

With friends we have a place to go to be accepted & understood.

Together we can laugh. Together we can cry.

In the heart of a friend, our thoughts are heard, our feelings are held, our lives are made more full, more rich, more open, more beautiful & more blessed!

This blog is dedicated to all of my friends both old and new ones! God loves you.

 

“In Christ alone, I build my trust,

and find the glory

in the power of His name…. 

In every victory, let it be said of me

my source of hope,

my source of strength

is Christ alone!”

 

 

Dear readers I hope you will like this inspirational thoughts from my father regarding his admiration for the little insects in which most of us, his children, only knew as those who bite or sting or just look plain ugly. These little insects tells us amazing truths about our broken dreams and building our dreams again.

 

Bees collects honey and store it in their hives, if a wild animal breaks their hive & steals their honey, they will keep on building their honeycombs, thus making more honey. Bees are warriors and they protect their hive with their lives.

  

He liked the ants because if the some creature destroys their home, they will do the same thing-immediately start building anew their home, working together for a common goal. My father told me that the ants were the most respectful of all because they greet each other when they meet each other and they are the most industrious, they work, work and work.

 

He also liked the spiders because if their webs were destroyed, they will start repairing the damage right away or build a whole new & better one. Spiders are strong insects, they are loners, often regarded as a source of fear and admiration, they work in solitude and work skillfully.

 

The lesson he learned from these little insects was that:

 

“Sometimes, the world may surprise us by destroying even our most carefully built plans. But if we choose to be ready to start all over again no matter what, eventually we will achieve great results. We just have to take one step at a time!”

 

“If we fall in life we must be able to stand up and start moving on, we must understand that these trials are here because there is a purpose, if our plans doesn’t work and if our dreams are broken – it means there are better things to come – all we have to do is pray and trust God”

 

“In Christ alone, I build my trust, and find the glory in the power of His name….  my source of hope, my source of strength is Christ alone!”

 

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My son, do not forget my teaching,

but keep my commands in your heart,

for they will prolong your life many years

and bring you prosperity.

 

Proverb 3:1-2

 

Recently, the UN’s World Health Organization has sent medical help to northern Yemen, because of internal conflicts couple of weeks ago.

 

Medical assistance such as professionals and medicine and supplies to treat people who have sustained injuries during the fighting, which media reports say has lasted a week in the mountainous region of Yemen. Further supplies will be sent to the area again.

 

Medical professionals and medical assistant has been dispatched from various areas to help poor people here. WHO is working with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on a joint health and nutrition response to the current emergency.

 

Although attention is focused on young babies and those with high-risk medical conditions, more older children who were previously healthy need help from medical assistant from hospitals to help stop infections and deaths. Of the 2.1 million children younger than 5 years, 78 percent of them are older than 12 months.

 

Most children were hospitalized and those who were treated in hospitals by medical assistant to assist them in their medical conditions that significantly identified them as being at greater risk for severe diseases.

 

Severe shortage of medical professionals such as medical assistants are lacking in severe places like these.  Trainings for quality medical assistants are lacking nowadays, one of the most prevalent school is St Agustine School of Medical Assistants, it offer quality school for health care professionals to be professionally prepared in emergency situations like this. 

 

 

 We hope there will be a better world for tomorrow.

 

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The eye of a man,

Picturesque profoundly

Reflects the thousand miles

Of life’s journey

Glimpsing the joy and sadness..

The beauty and ugliness…

Of life’s struggle to survive.

 

The eye of man

It can never lie…

For indeed it is…

the window of our soul

 

- Leo Fuentes

 

 

Psalm 92:5

 

How great are Your works oh God,

How profound Your thoughts.

 

 

 

The most beautiful part of our body are the eyes… for indeed it expresses the thoughts of our heart and soul.  Through it one can see the youthfulness, the tiredness, the glow of happiness, sadness, fear, desperation, the desire, failure, brokenness, victory, success or love.

Caring for the eyes is one important thing… However if ones vision is blurred one must do something immediately before it results to blindness. Wearing eyeglasses sometimes camouflage what the real expressions are.  It also hides the beauty of one’s eyes.

 

 

Disposable contact lens is one way it can correct our vision without the hassle of eyeglasses, disposable contact lenses can correct our vision comfortably and conveniently even to the most sensitive eyes. Disposable lenses are safe and healthy options for ones blurring eyes. The exciting thing about these lenses is that one can choose the color of our eyes.. it’s enhances the beauty of our eyes,, its really exciting.

  

Next time you would be ask to identify which of a person’s body you would love most in a person,,, let it be the EYES.

 

 

 

 

 

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Throw out the non-essential numbers in your life: age, weight & height. Be thankful and be proud about it.

 

Keep only the cheerful friends around. The “grouches” pull u down. If you really need a grouch, there are probably a few dozen of your relatives to do the work.

 

Keep on learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, interior design, gardening …whatever. Just never let the brain idle.

 

Laugh often, long & loud… Laugh until you gasp for breath. Laugh so much that you can be tracked in the store by your “distinctive laughter”.

 

The tears happen… Endure, grieve, cry hard enough, & move on. The only person who is with us in our entire life is … ourselves.

 

Surround yourself w/ what you love, whether it is family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies … whatever. Your home is your refuge.

 

Cherish your health. If it is good – preserve it. If it is unstable – improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve – get help.

 

Don’t take guilt trips. Go to the mall, the next county, a foreign country… but not guilt.

 

Tell the people u love, that you love them at every opportunity.

 

REMEMBER, Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

 

I have learned that……

 

Your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don’t even know you.

 

You cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.

 

No matter how much I care, some people just don’t care back.

 

It is hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people’s feelings and standing up for what you believe.

 

It takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.

 

Praying hard is essential,, pray with all of your heart and believe… Your faith will see you through the harshness of life.

 

Remember, a Faith not worth dying for, is not a faith worth living for.

MOM, YOU’RE THE BEST!

Mom has always been the best, her painstaking world revolves around us her children.. we are who we are now because of her.. Like Dad who pass away when we were young, we love her so much. Thanks to a friend, this story which I come across during mother’s day made me cry… hope you’ll like it:

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take my MOM out to dinner. “I love you, but I know your MOM loves you & would love to spend some time with you!”

My MOTHER has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of work & three children made it possible to visit her only occasionally.

That night, I called to invite her to go out for dinner. “What’s wrong, are you well?” she asked…I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you, just the two of us,” I said. She thought about it for a moment, “I would like that very much.”

Friday after work, I drove over to pick her up. She waited at the door with coat on. She had curled her hair & wearing the dress she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled as radiant as an angel. “I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed, they can’t wait to hear about our meeting.”

My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. I had to read the menu since her eyes could only read large print. I lifted my eyes & saw Mom staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips. “It was I who used to read the menu when you were small,” she said. Now it’s time that You relax & let me return the favor, I responded.

We had an agreeable conversation – nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent events of each other’s life. As we arrived at her house later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if u let me invite u!”

A few days later, my MOM died of a massive heart attack. Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from where we dined. An attached note said: “I paid this bill in advance. I wasn’t sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for 2 plates one for you & the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son.”

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: “I LOVE YOU” and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve.

DONT JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER

This story was emailed to me by a friend, and I want to share with you, I hope you’ll find inspiring:

A lady in faded gingham dress w/ husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked timidly w/o an appointment into Harvard University President’s outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard & probably didn’t even deserve to be in Cambridge.

“We’d like to see the president,” the man said softly. “He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary snapped. “We’ll wait,” the lady replied.

For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping they would finally be discouraged & go away. They didn’t, the secretary grew frustrated & finally decided to disturb the president, eventhough it was a chore she always regretted.

“Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she said to him. He sighed in exasperation & nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn’t have the time to spend w/ them, he detested gingham dresses & homespun suits cluttering up his outer office.

The president, stern faced & with dignity, strutted toward the couple. The lady told him, “We had a son who attended Harvard for a year. He loved Harvard & was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband & I would like erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus.” The president wasn’t touched. He was shocked. “Madam,” he said, gruffly, “we can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like cemetery.”

“Oh, no,” the lady explained quickly. “We don’t want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.” The Pres. rolled his eyes. He glanced at gingham dress & homespun suit, then exclaimed, “A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much building costs? We have over $7.5M in the physical buildings here at Harvard.”

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all it cost to start a university? Why don’t we just start our own?” Her husband nodded. The president’s face wilted in confusion & bewilderment.

Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up & walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the university that bears their name, Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

Moral Lesson:

Whether the historical acount of this literature is true or not, one thing should remain, whe must not judge a person.   A modern day example also is Susan Boyle a singer, whom audiences easily judged base on appearance and the clothes she wears.

We hope not to be judgemental in the way we treat people, after all, the best gift that we could receive comes in unsuspecting package: Salvation bought about by a person who was born in a manger, a carpenter’s son and was crucified and died for our sins.

Let us always remember the golden rule:  ”Dont do unto others what you dont want others do unto you.”

Dear readers I want to share this story about how much God longs for our attention. I hope you get inspired much as I do –

A young & successful executive was traveling a bit too fast down a neighborhood street in his new Jaguar. As he passed, a brick smashed into the car’s side door. He slammed on the brakes and went to the spot where the brick had been thrown.

Angry, he grabbed the nearest kid & pushed him up against a parked car shouting, “What the hell was that all about? Who are u? Just what the hell are u doing? That’s a new car & that brick u threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did u do it?”

The young boy was apologetic. “Please, please, I’m sorry but I didn’t know what else to do. I threw the brick because no one else would stop!” With tears dripping down his face, he pointed to a spot around a parked car. “He is my brother. He rolled off the curb & fell out of his wheelchair. I can’t lift him up. Would u please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt & too heavy for me.”

Moved beyond words, he tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair. Then, he took out his fancy handkerchief & dabbed at the fresh scrapes & cuts. A quick look him seemed everything will be okay. “Thank you. May God bless you!” said the grateful child. Too shook up for words, he simply watched the boy push the wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long, slow walk back to the car. The damage was very noticeable but he never bothered to repair the dented side door to remind him of this message:

“Don’t go thru life so fast that someone has to throw a brick to get your attention! God whispers in our souls & speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don’t listen, some brick of trials may come our way to remember that there is God!”

HOW TO PRAY:   THE FIVE FINGER WAY

1. Your thumb is nearest you. So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C. S. Lewis once said, a “sweet duty.”

2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.

3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God’s guidance.

4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest finger, as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.

5. And lastly comes our little finger – the smallest finger of all which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, “The least shall be the greatest among you.” Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

“Let me explain the problem science has with Jesus Christ.” The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

“You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?”

“Yes sir,” the student says.

“So you believe in God?”

“Absolutely!”

“Is God good?”

“Sure! God’s good.”

“Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?”

“Yes.”

“Are you good or evil?”

“The Bible says I’m evil.”

The professor grins knowingly. “Aha! The Bible!” He considers for a moment.

“Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?”

“Yes sir, I would.”

“So you’re good…!”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“But why not say that? You’d help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn’t.”

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. “He doesn’t, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?”

The student remains silent.

“No, you can’t, can you?” the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

“Let’s start again, young fella Is God good?”

“Err…yes,” the student says.

“Is Satan good?”

The student doesn’t hesitate on this one. “No.”

“Then where does Satan come from?”

The student : “From…God. .”

“That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything, correct?”

“Yes.”

“So who created evil?” The professor continued, “If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.”

Without allowing the student to answer, the professor continues: “Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?”

The student: “Yes.”

“So who created them?”

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. “Who created them? There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized.

“Tell me,” he continues onto another student. “Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?”

The student’s voice is confident: “Yes, professor, I do.”

The old man stops pacing. “Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?”

“No sir. I’ve never seen Him”

“Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?”

“No, sir, I have not.”

“Have you ever actually felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelled your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?”

“No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t.”

“Yet you still believe in him?”

“Yes.”

“According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?”

“Nothing,” the student replies. “I only have my faith.”

“Yes, faith,” the professor repeats. “And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.”

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of his own. “Professor, is there such thing as heat?”

“Yes,” the professor replies. “There’s heat.”

“And is there such a thing as cold?”

“Yes, son, there’s cold too.”

“No sir, there isn’t.”

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain.

“You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.”

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

“What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?”

“Yes,” the professor replies without hesitation. “What is night if it isn’t darkness?”

“You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it’s called darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?”

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. “So what point are you making, young man?”

“Yes Professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.”

The professor’s face cannot hide his surprise this time. “Flawed? Can you explain how?”

“You are working on the premise of duality,” the student explains. “You argue that there is life and then there’s death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.”

“Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?”

“If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do”

“Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?”

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

“Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?”

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

“To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.”

The student looks around the room. “Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor’s brain?” The class breaks out into laughter.

“Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain, felt the professor’s brain, touched or smelled the professor’s brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir. So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?”

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. “I guess you’ll have to take them on faith.”

“Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life,” the student continues. “Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?”

Now uncertain, the professor responds, “Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.”

To this the student replied, “Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.

God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.”

The professor sat down.