Sweet Old Fisherman...

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"Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin.  It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too." ~Frederick Buechner

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The following story is true and shared from Karin's blog "Yesterday, Today and Forever ~ Jesus is the Same".   I hope no one has dry eyes with this one....

Our house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance of   Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.  We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to out-patients at the clinic.   

One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door.  I opened it to see a truly awful looking man.  "Why, he's hardly taller than my 8-year-old," I thought as I stared at the stooped, shriveled body.  But the appalling thing was his face, lopsided from swelling, red and raw.  

Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, "Good evening.  I've come to see if you've a room for just one night.  I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and there's no bus 'til morning."   

He told me he'd been hunting for a room since noon but with no success, no one seemed to have a room.  "I guess it's my face .... I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments .."  

For a moment I hesitated, but his next words convinced me: "I could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch.  My bus leaves early in the morning." I told him we would find him a bed, but to rest on the porch..  I went inside and finished getting supper.  When we were ready, I asked the old man if he would join us.  "No, thank you.  I have plenty."  And he held up a  brown paper bag. 

  

When I had finished the dishes, I went out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes.  It didn't take a long time to see that this old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body.  He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter, her 5 children, and her husband, who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury. 

He didn't tell it by way of complaint; in fact, every other sentence was preface with a thanks to God for a blessing.  He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease, which was apparently a form of skin cancer.  He thanked God for giving him the strength to keep going... 

And, on his next trip, he arrived a little after 7 in the morning.  As a gift, he brought a big fish and a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen!  He said he had shucked them that morning before he left so that they'd be nice and fresh.  I knew his bus left at 4:00 a.m. And I wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for us.   

In the years he came to stay overnight with us, there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden.  

At bedtime, we put a camp cot in the children's room for him.  When I got up in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded and the little man was out on the porch. He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, haltingly, as if asking a great favor, he said, "Could I please come back and stay the next time I have a treatment?  I won't put you out a bit.  I can sleep fine in a chair."  He paused a moment and then added, "Your children made me feel at home.  Grownups are bothered by my face, but children don't seem to mind." I told him he was welcome to come again.  

Other times we received packages in the mail, always by special delivery; fish and oysters packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed.  Knowing that he must walk 3 miles to mail these, and knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly precious. 

When I received these little remembrances, I often thought of a comment our next-door neighbor made after he left that first morning. "Did you keep that awful looking man last night?  I turned him away!  You can lose roomers by putting up such people!" Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice.  But, oh!, if only they could have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear. 

I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with gratitude to God. Recently I was visiting a friend, who has a greenhouse, as she showed me her flowers, we came to the most beautiful one of all, a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with blooms.  But to my great surprise, it was growing in an old dented, rusty bucket.  I thought to myself, "If this were my plant, I'd put it in the loveliest container I had!" 

My friend changed my mind.  "I ran short of pots," she explained, "and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn't mind starting out in this old pail.  It's just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden." She must have wondered why I laughed so delightedly, but I was imagining just such a scene in heaven. "Here's an especially beautiful one," God might have said when he came to the soul of the sweet old fisherman.  "He won't mind starting in this small body." All this happened long ago - and now, in God's garden, how tall this lovely soul must stand.   I hope no one forgets that Sweet Old Fisherman and the lessons for us all in his story.

"The LORD does not look at the things man looks at..  

Man looks at the outward appearance, 

but the LORD looks at the heart." 

1 Samuel 16:7b

Half Full & Aloha Friday Question

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"Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Love.  Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself." ~Og Mandino

Half Full Friday is a series of weekly posts that Eye Girl originally started in June 2009.  Now the it is hosted by Sprinkles at Wyldechylde.  We believe that a lot of our happiness is determined by our attitude about the things that happen to us. So by participating, we are deciding to see the glass as half full, instead of half empty. We are choosing to concentrate on the positives, instead of dwelling on the negatives. Our Half Full Friday posts are a way to do just that. They are a list of the things in our life that have brought us happiness over the past week. We are determined to find the something good in every day. Are you?

"Happiness is spiritual, born of truth and love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it." ~Mary Baker Eddy

For the next week, we challenge you to keep a list of at least one thing that brought you happiness each day.

I'm Happy and Thankful for many things every day... especially this week:

• For honestly being very hopeful and happy every day! 

• For 'trusting' each day things will work out in my life!

• For seeing old friends and classmates soon!

"Love with your whole being all the days of your life.  Your reward will be True Happiness." ~unknown

It's also "ALOHA FRIDAY" Everyone!!  If you want to join in the fun? Post your own question on your blog and leave your link at the Aloha Friday post at An Island Life. Then you can visit the other participants if you wish...It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends or see what people are thinking about this week and join in a conversation or two if you like.

"The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved -- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves." ~Victor Hugo

My question:  When my sons were younger it seemed easier to show them how much I love them.  Hugs, doing things with them, daily conversations and saying 'I love you' everyday.
How do you show Love to older children who have started their own lives and moved far away?

My answer:  I try to think of ways to 'show' them how much I love and miss them by sending them 'care' packages, messages, 'occasional' phone calls and visits.  I don't want to 'bug' them too much because I know they are very busy.
Although I wanted them to start their own lives and am very proud of them, it's still hard having them so far away.  However knowing my sons love me and that they know how much I love them back, makes it so much easier!

"To love and be loved is the greatest happiness of existence." ~unknown

Have a beautiful weekend full of Love!!
Hugs and Blessings,

~ Coreen XOXO

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"There is authentic unconditional love in every instance of healing, allowing the heart's peace to flow toward others, and knowing that love is the only gift that can outshine fear and despair." ~Steve Brunkhorst

forcedgreen.com

"We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread, but there are many more dying for a little love." ~Mother Teresa (1910-1997)

Love Heals!

by Sabine Shah

When life hurts, love heals

When words fail, love speaks

When all is lost and all is gone

Love gives strength to move on

When it rains, love shines

Love embraces, when hearts pine

Shattered souls love quickly mends

Love is a mentor, love is a friend

Where there is love, there is no grief

Love is spring's first green leaf

Love is young and love is old

Love is earth and love is gold

Love is why we are born

Love is why we go on and on! 

"As you begin to understand the immense power and love you hold inside, you will find an unending surge of joy, light and love that will nourish and support you all the days of your life." ~Susan Jeffers

Are you hiding?

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"Hiding a passion is inconceivable; because passion is in essence made to be seen."  ~Roland Barthes

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"Never again clutter your days or nights with so many menial and unimportant things that you have no time to accept a real challenge when it comes along, and follow your passion.  This applies to play as well as work.  A day merely survived is no cause for celebration.  You are not here to fritter away your precious hours when you have the ability to accomplish so much by making a slight change in your routine.  No more busy work.  No more 'hiding' from success, passion or love.  Leave time, leave space, to grow.  Now. Now!  Not tomorrow!" ~Og Mandino

 "Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place." ~Zora Neale Hurston

Half Full & Aloha Friday question

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"Life is about trusting your feelings and taking chances, losing and finding happiness, appreciating the memories, learning from the past, and filling your heart with happiness." ~unknown

Half Full Friday is a series of weekly posts that Eye Girl originally started in June 2009.  Now the it is hosted by Sprinkles at Wyldechylde.  We believe that a lot of our happiness is determined by our attitude about the things that happen to us. So by participating, we are deciding to see the glass as half full, instead of half empty. We are choosing to concentrate on the positives, instead of dwelling on the negatives. Our Half Full Friday posts are a way to do just that. They are a list of the things in our life that have brought us happiness over the past week. We are determined to find the something good in every day. Are you?

"A happy heart makes a cheerful face." ~Proverbs 15:13

For the next week, we challenge you to keep a list of at least one thing that brought you happiness each day.

I'm Happy and Thankful for many things every day... especially this week:

• For my beautiful nieces and her 4th birthday party with family last weekend! 

• For discovering new interest and enjoying the world around me. 

• For getting my car in the garage just in time before the storm and Hugh hail last night!

"Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it." ~Buddha

It's also "ALOHA FRIDAY" Everyone!!  If you want to join in the fun? Post your own question on your blog and leave your link at the Aloha Friday post at An Island Life. Then you can visit the other participants if you wish...It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends or see what people are thinking about this week and join in a conversation or two if you like.

"Wherever you go, go with all your Heart." ~Confucius 

My question:  What does 'go with all your Heart' mean to you?

My answer:  I believe it means you live your life with all the good feelings and thoughts that are (hopefully) in your heart.  Caring, giving, serving, helping, loving and encouraging others. 

"If you think with your head, a heart is just an organ that pumps blood.  But if you think with your heart, you know that a heart is the core of human existence.  A heart feels, emotes, and expresses.  With a heart you can perceive, understand, and judge.  Often a heart is accorded more importance than the brain." ~quotations.about.com

"May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed." ~Psalm 20:4  

Have a 'heartfelt' weekend everyone!!
Hugs and Blessings to you All,

~ Coreen XO

New Beginnings...

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“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”   ~Seneca

puttyinmyhands.blogspot.com

New Beginnings by Gertrude B. McClain

It's only the beginning now
...a pathway yet unknown
At times the sound of other steps
...sometimes we walk alone

The best beginnings of our lives
May sometimes end in sorrow
But even on our darkest days
The sun will shine tomorrow.

So we must do our very best
Whatever life may bring
And look beyond the winter chill
To smell the breath of spring.

Into each life will always come
A time to start anew
A new beginning for each heart
As fresh as morning dew.

Although the cares of life are great
And hands are bowed so low
The storms of life will leave behind
The wonder of a rainbow.

The years will never take away
Our chance to start anew
It's only the beginning now
So dreams can still come true.  

missouriskies.org

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a new beginning. The end is where we start from.” ~T.S. Eliot

Life is...

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"Life is just a mirror, and what you see out there, you must first see inside of you." ~unknown

 "Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be." ~Grandma Moses

"Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.  Life is beauty, admire it.  Life is bliss, taste it.  Life is a dream, realize it.  Life is a challenge, meet it.  Life is a duty, complete it.  Life is a game, play it.  Life is a promise, fulfill it.  Life is sorrow, overcome it.  Life is a song, sing it.  Life is a struggle, accept it.  Life is a tragedy, confront it.  Life is an adventure, dare it.  Life is luck, make it.  Life is too precious, do not destroy it.  Life is love, fight for it."     ~Mother Teresa

"Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can." ~Danny Kaye