Reaching For The Stars

I came to realize one day a thing in life that we all often take
for granted.

We reach for the stars because they are so beautiful and they
are something we want so bad.

Yet we also have a beautiful flower on our table picked from our
flower garden that we can have and we push it aside unnoticed.

Life is also like that.

We want something we can’t have like the stars, but what we can
have like the flower, we don’t even acknowledge.

Take time to enjoy the flowers that you have instead of trying
to touch the stars that you can’t reach.

Stars are beautiful like other things in life but they were
never meant for us to have.

This is a lesson from God to me as what my priorities should be.

Be thankful for the things we have because we may lose them
someday and we will know how much we should have treasured them.

A MountainWings Original by subscriber Darrell, from Maben, MS

All I Need is a Miracle

A woman was walking along the beach when she stumbled upon a
genie’s lamp. She picked it up and rubbed it. Lo-and-behold a
genie appeared. The amazed woman asked if she got three wishes.

The Genie said, “Nope. Due to inflation, constant downsizing,
low wages in third-world countries and fierce global
competition, I can only grant you one wish. So, what’ll it be?”

The woman didn’t hesitate. She said, “I want peace in the
Middle East. See this map? I want these countries to stop
fighting with each other.”

The Genie looked at the map and exclaimed, “Gadzooks, lady!
These countries have been at war for thousands of years. I’m
good, but not THAT good! I don’t think it can be done. Make
another wish.”

The woman thought for a minute. She said, “Well, I’ve been
trying to find the right husband. You know, one that’s
considerate and fun, likes to cook and helps with the
housecleaning, has a great sense of humor and gets along with
my family, doesn’t watch sports all the time, rich, super
handsome, a great lover and is completely faithful and won’t
even think about another woman. That’s what I wish for. A good
mate.”

The Genie let out a long sigh and said,
“Let me see that map again.”

SCARS

Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to
go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house.

In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving
behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not
realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was
swimming toward the shore.

His mother, in the house was looking out the window, saw the two as they got
closer and closer together. In utter fear, she ran toward the water, yelling
to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became
alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother.

It was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him. From
the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the
alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the
two.

The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too
passionate to let go.

A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck, took
aim and shot the alligator.

Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived.

His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on
his arms, were deep scratches where his mother’s fingernails dug into his
flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he
would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with
obvious pride, he said to the reporter, “But look at my arms. I have great
scars on my arms, too. I have them because my mom wouldn’t let go.”

You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not
from an alligator, or anything quite so dramatic. But, the scars of a
painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep
regret.

But, some wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to let go.

In the midst of your struggle, He’s been there holding on to you. The
Scripture teaches that God loves you. If you have Christ in your life, you
have become a child of God. He wants to protect you and provide for you in
every way.

But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations. The swimming hole
of life is filled with peril – and we forget that the enemy is waiting to
attack. That’s when the tug-o-war begins, and if you have the scars of His
love on your arms be very, very grateful.

He did not – and will not – let you go. Time is a very precious gift of
God; so precious that it’s only given to us moment by moment.

– Author Unknown

What’s Your Price?

Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.
~George Washington~

Virtue begins when it can’t be bought.
~Nathaniel Bronner Jr.~

Hello. How Are You?

1.) Hello.
3.) How are you?
4.) Hello. How are you?

Four words or less could make a world of difference.

I just heard the sad news that a colleague of mine took his
own life over the weekend. My initial reaction was: why? I
guess my reason was that we both work for a company that is
fairly stable in this economy, his life was full of energy on
and off work, he was young and he had a lot of friends.
Everything was perfect!

Or so it seemed.

Hello.
At a session to share our memories of him, someone brought it
up that it might be a good idea to always reach out to people
we know who might be going through rough times emotionally,
financially, spiritually or in any other way they might not be
feeling fulfilled.

How are you?
My expansion on this is to say this should not just be to our
friends and family alone but to anyone we come in contact with
in our daily life or even just once in a lifetime.

There have been moments in my life that I needed to share
things on my mind but did not know who to speak with. Or
moments that I just wanted to talk to a stranger who will not
give a biased opinion because they were my friends. When
people go through hard times, they become more of what they
are, the quiet withdraw more or the talkative increase their
chatter. A few simple signs could tell us something is wrong.

Hello, how are you?
When I was much younger, a girl on my street caught my eye and
I always promised myself that I would summon the courage to
say hello and become her friend. I never did. She died of a
sickness I had survived a few years earlier. My family was
aggressive with testing and we diagnosed it very quickly.

I keep wondering, what if I had said those four words, would
it have led to me sharing my survival story and would she
still be alive now? I will never know the answer to that.
However, you can! Not the answer to my question but you can
say those few words and you never know; it may just save a
life!

My MountainWings Moment resolution is, as simple as it may
seem, 1, 3, 4 or more words may just bring back a life or
bring a smile at least.

I know I need a smile to get me going once in a while.

~A MountainWings Original by Peter Debo Fadesere,
New Orleans, LA~

SANDBOX ROCK

SANDBOX ROCK

A little boy was spending his Saturday morning playing in his sandbox. He
had with him his box of cars and trucks, his plastic pail, and a shiny, red
plastic shovel. In the process of creating roads and tunnels in the soft
sand, he discovered a large rock in the middle of the sandbox. The lad dug
around the rock, managing to dislodge it from the dirt. With no little bit
of struggle, he pushed and nudged the rock across the sandbox by using his
feet. (He was a very small boy and the rock was very huge.)

When the boy got the rock to the edge of the sandbox, however, he found that
he couldn’t roll it up and over the little wall. Determined, the little boy
shoved, pushed, and pried, but every time he thought he had made some
progress, the rock tipped and then fell back into the sandbox. The little
boy grunted, struggled, pushed, shoved — but his only reward was to have
the rock roll back, smashing his chubby fingers. Finally he burst into tears
of frustration.

All this time the boy’s father watched from his living room window as the
drama unfolded. At the moment the tears fell, a large shadow fell across the
boy and the sandbox. It was the boy’s father. Gently but firmly he said,
“Son, why didn’t you use all the strength that you had available?”

Defeated, the boy sobbed back, “But I did, Daddy, I did! I used all the
strength that I had!”

“No, son,” corrected the father kindly. “You didn’t use all the strength you
had. You didn’t ask me.”

With that the father reached down, picked up the rock, and removed it from
the sandbox.

Do you have “rocks” in your life that need to be removed? Are you
discovering that you don’t have what it takes to lift them? There is One who
is always available to us and willing to give us the strength we need. When
the apostle Paul faced times of a broken spirit and sapped strength, he
proclaimed to the Corinthian church, “My grace is enough for you. When you
are weak, then my power is made perfect in you” (2 Corinthians 12:9b NCV).
When we are broken in spirit and our strength is spent, we can turn to our
Savior Jesus.

– Author Unknown

The President

Today is President’s Day. To most Americans it’s really no big
deal, their only concern is, “Can I get a day off from work?”

There are no cards in the greeting card section for The President.

Most don’t think about The President unless it’s to complain
about something he’s done. No matter what The President does,
he can’t please everyone and there is always a large bunch of
protestors outside wherever he goes. No matter what.

If you notice on TV, there’s hardly ever a large bunch of
supporters outside waving signs. It’s usually protesters.

I know many say they could do a better job but think about it.
How well do we do running our own lives, family, and budget?
If we have a family with children and a spouse, think of the
issues that we have dealing with them.

Just ask one question; “Suppose my failures, shortcomings, goof
ups and even choking on a peanut were major headlines?”

Suppose your doctor visits and medical reports made headlines?

Our family is usually all one color, one religion, one culture,
bound by immediate blood, and we know the excuses that we have
when we mess up.

Now add different races, cultures, religions, backgrounds,
socio-economic needs, educational levels, nationalities and a
hundred other variables.

Then there’s the secret stuff. We all have secret stuff, so
does the nation and national leadership. You have no idea about
the secret stuff just as most don’t know the secret stuff
outside of your immediate family or bedroom.

Secret stuff is necessary.

Plus, The President has his own personal problems. He has problems
with his children and it’s probable that his wife doesn’t smile
at him ALL of the time either. She no doubt stands in the
protestor camp on occasion. Many, if not most, of The Presidents
have had infidelity issues but so have many preachers.

Read the MountainWings issue, “So What About Jesse?”
I wrote it when both Clinton and Jesse were in the midst of their
infidelity problems. http://www.mountainwings.com/past/1020.htm

The President is human with human problems and he is still
supposed to solve America’s and the world’s problems.

Perfect – NO.
Made mistakes – Absolutely and he will make plenty more.

Could I do a better job? I doubt it.

Sure, we’ve got ready solutions but it just isn’t that simple.
It’s like every football fan has a better plan than the coach
but let them take a team and try to win the Super Bowl.
It’s not as easy as it looks from the armchair.

I think The President is doing a good job but then I think all
of them have done good jobs in spite of the big mistakes.

So Mr. President, whether the rest of the nation agrees with me
and I am sure plenty don’t, I think you are doing a great job
considering the complexity of it all.

You were ordained to be there, for God always sat the King upon
the throne for His purposes.

Timothy said, “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people.
As you make your requests, plead for God’s mercy upon them, and
give thanks. Pray this way for kings and all others who are in
authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in
godliness and dignity.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2 NLT)

Mr. President, I plead God’s mercy upon you and give thanks
for all that you do.

I understand a little of the pressure, the pitfalls, the problems,
and the everyday peculiarities of life that you deal with.

Thank you for keeping this country as peaceful as possible,
as quiet as possible, and with as much Godliness and dignity as
you can command, for you have taken a stand, whether folks like it
or not.

Happy President’s Day!

~A MountainWings Original~

REMEMBER THE DUCK

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given
a slingshot to play with, out in the woods. He practiced in the woods, but
he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back
to dinner.

As he was walking back, he saw Grandma’s pet duck. Just out of impulse, he
let fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and
grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see his
sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch that day grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.”

But Sally said, “Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen
today, didn’t you Johnny?” And then she whispered to him, “Remember, the
duck?” So Johnny did the dishes.

Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing, and Grandma said,
“I’m sorry but I need Sally to help make supper.”

But Sally smiled and said, “Well, that’s all right because Johnny told me he
wanted to help.” And she whispered again, “Remember, the duck?” So Sally
went fishing and Johnny stayed.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, he finally
couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he
killed the duck. She knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, “Sweetheart, I
know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. But
because I love you, I forgave you. But I was just wondering how long would
you let Sally make a slave of you.”

I don’t know what’s in your past. I don’t know what one sin the enemy keeps
throwing up in your face. But whatever it is, I want you to know something.
Jesus Christ was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing. But
because He loves you, He is ready to forgive you. Perhaps He’s wondering how
long you’ll let the enemy make a slave out of you. The great thing about
God is that He not only forgives, but He forgets.

– Author Unknown

How Did You Spend Your Valentine’s Day?

As an avid MountainWings reader, I can’t tell you how many times
your timing has been so perfect in helping me through whatever
was going on in my life. I mean, it is just amazing! But this
time, you helped me find an answer that I desperately needed.

Last week, my husband, myself, and our two children, ages
7 and 10 decided to go out to Red Lobster for dinner, a special
treat for us.

I had received a gift card for Christmas and we hadn’t used it
yet. My husband is a Computer Tech for a large hospital here in
California. It was his weekend to be on call, so we had to stay
around town anyway. We live in Sacramento.

We decided to go to dinner at 5:30 as Red Lobster always has a
long waiting list. My husband got paged around 5:00, had to
make a call and wait for a call back, so we ended up leaving
later than planned, a little after 6:00pm.

We are on our way to the restaurant, it’s dark out, and my
husband is telling me all about this new program he just put on
our computer and everything it could do. We are traveling down
a busy street, four lanes, 45mph, and I looked out my window.

I said, “Oh My God! There’s a man back there, and a bike, in
the ditch! I know that’s what I saw! A man and a bike, on the
side of the road, in the ditch!”

He said, “Ok, we’ll turn around and go take a look.” We turned
around, went down the road, turned back the way we had traveled,
and sure enough, there was a man, face down, on the side of the
road.

My husband stopped, turned on our emergency flashers, as there
is no place to pull off; he got out and went to the man. I got
on my cell phone and called 911. They said someone had called,
and help was on the way. I told the kids to sit still,
everything would be ok, and I got out to join my husband.

The man was trying to stir, my husband was telling him not to
move around, so I knelt down beside him and talked to him, put
my hand on his shoulder, asked him to try not to move, that help
was on the way, and we would stay with him.

He tried to turn his head to see me, he was facing the ditch,
he moved his arm. I just gently, softly caressed his shoulder
to let him know he wasn’t alone, to try and comfort him, and
asked him to please be still, and try not to move.

The sheriff got there, it seemed like 5 to 10 minutes had
passed. Two guys came from across the street, they said they
had found him, taken the bike off the top of him, and gone to
call for help.

I stayed with him until the firemen came, then I moved out of
their way. I could not believe this! Someone had hit a human
being with their car and left them for dead. How could this be?

I asked the Sheriff, “How could someone not know they hit him?”
He said, “I’m sure they did know, and that’s why they kept
going, it happens everyday.”

The sad truth is, that here in Sacramento, it does happen
everyday. The Sheriff asked us if we saw anything, and we told
him that we didn’t, that I had just happened to look out my
window and see him as we were driving by. He took our names and
our phone number incase the CHP wanted to contact us, but
doubted they would since we didn’t have any information.

By this time, we could hear the ambulance coming, so we left as
not to be in the way.

This man has been on my mind ever since. The lack of human
compassion is just beyond my comprehension. At first, it
bothered me a bit, the Sheriff, and the firemen, they didn’t
seem to care as much as I did. But then I realized very quickly
that they have to step back from these situations, or they
couldn’t do what they do everyday.

But I can’t get this man out of my mind. Why was my husband
paged, our dinner plans delayed? Why did I look out my window
into the darkness at that very moment and see this man?
Why were we put in that place, at that time?

Why is this stranger so important to me?

As we drove away, all I could think about was this poor guy,
just an average guy, probably doesn’t have much money since his
bike was his transportation, in blue jeans, sneakers, a light
jacket, and a comb sticking out of his back pocket.

What kind of person could hit him with their car, and just leave
him for dead? How is this poor man going to feel?

So unimportant. I don’t want this man to feel unimportant.
Maybe that’s why we were involved in this trauma, because he is
important. I don’t know the answers. I just know that I’ve
been having trouble trying to go on about my daily life, and not
think about him.

I called the Sheriff’s dept. on Tuesday to try and find out
where they took him. They transferred me to CHP. They were
able to tell me the hospital he was taken to. I called there,
but without a name, they couldn’t tell me anything.

I called back to CHP, told them my story, and asked if they
could help me to find out about this man. They said they really
appreciate the fact that I care, and thanked me for caring, but
unfortunately, they cannot give me any information.

I was afraid of that, and I totally understand why it has to be
that way. The sad truth is, there are some pretty sick people
in this world, and they have to protect this man’s identity.

My heart was sad, I really feel a need to reach out to this man,
to show him some compassion, but how can I? I know that if it
is meant to be, it will happen, and if not, then I will have to
let it go.

I sat at my desk, feeling sad, with this man on my mind.
I don’t know why this is so important, but I know that it is.

Automatically, I click on my email, and there’s MountainWings
“52X”. I saw it earlier, I just hadn’t taken the time to read
it yet. But now feeling low, I thought would be a good time to
read it.

The first line,

“How do you know when you are doing the right thing?”

I continued to read, but couldn’t concentrate; I kept going back
to that first line. I was almost to the end, couldn’t tell you
what I was reading, I kept going back to the first line,
“How do you know when you are doing the right thing?”

Then it came to me… the Chaplain! All hospitals have a
Chaplain. I’ll bet if I call and talk to the Chaplain, tell
them my story, they will help me.

I wouldn’t expect them to give me personal information, such as
a name, but maybe they could tell me if this man is OK and if he
has friends and family around.

I’ve been making Valentines with my kids for friends and family.
I just have to know if this man has someone around that cares.

I finally got a call back from the Chaplin, and I told her my
story. She said she would see what she could find out, and call
me back. She called back and said she found him.

When I asked if he was doing ok, she said, “Considering the
extent of his injuries, he’s doing ok.” I asked her,

“Is he paralyzed?”

She said yes, and seemed puzzled that I knew that. But while I
was kneeling next to him, trying to comfort him, I knew.

When he tried to move around, his legs never moved, just his
head and his arm. I didn’t realize until I said it, that I
knew. My heart sank so low for him. I asked if he had any
family around him. She said that he told her he had a brother
and a sister, she thinks they have been to see him, but doesn’t
know if they live here.

She said that she talked to him, and he didn’t mind if we came
to visit him. I’m going to call the Chaplain the day after
tomorrow, Valentine’s Day.

We are going to go and visit him, take him a valentine, some
flowers, show him that we care, and are so sorry about what has
happened to him.

I don’t know what to say, to this stranger, whose life is
forever changed. I do know, that when the time comes, I will
find the things that need to be said, the things that he needs
to hear. God has never let me down, he always gives me the
right words at the right time. I just know with all of my heart
and soul, that I am doing the right thing.

It’s not about being a nice person, or having people tell you
that you are nice for caring, that has nothing to do with
anything. This goes so much deeper than that. There is some
reason that we came across this stranger, this possibly new
friend. Someday it will all be understood.

Thank you for a MountainWings Moment that gave me the answer
that I was so desperately searching for at the time.

~A MountainWings Original by Gail Donohoe~

A Contented Mind

To be satisfied with a little, is the greatest wisdom;
and he that increaseth his riches, increaseth his cares;
but a contented mind is a hidden treasure,
and trouble findeth it not.
~Akhenaton~

A contented mind is a hidden treasure,
and trouble findeth it not.

An excellent quote for the times of today.