Trials

There was once a devout mother who went through a deep trial. One by one, trials slowly crush her faith to the point of rebellion. First, her husband and children died from a vehicular accident, she was the only survivor. But what would life be when all your love ones are gone? With this, she felt so depressed that her business started having problems and she end up with a huge debt. All this happened in a very short time. She has nothing.

She can not understand why she went through trials so much. She has been a good person and serves the Lord. She is active in a lot of church activities and volunteer work. She obeyed the Ten Commandments and helps those in need. And yet, why all these trials and tribulations?

With all her sufferings, she went to church and confronts the Lord. She screamed at the top of her lungs to ask the Lord: “Why?”  The people in the church thought she was crazy, for she was acting like one. She appears to be so lost and distraught and just keep walking without a direction. All the time, asking why…

Her feet lead her to her mom’s house. Immediately, she went in the house and upon seeing her mother, knelt down and cried like a baby.

Woman: Mother! My mother! Please help me! God sent some trials and tribulations into my life.

The mother looked at her as she was pleading and remained silently still.

Woman: I do not know what to do, mother. I have been a good servant of the Lord. I did everything to give glory to God in the highest! How could this happen to me? I do not know if I can still continue to serve the Lord with all these trials in my life.

Woman: Mother, have mercy on me. Please help me.

Mother: Go fetch me three pots, pour some water and put them on the woodstove.

Woman: Mother! This is not the time for cooking.

Mother: Do what I say.

The daughter obeyed her mom’s instruction despite confuse. She got 3 big pots and put them on top of the woodstove, with fire burning woods like crazy. A few minutes later, all three pots were boiling, boiling, and boiling…

Woman: Mother, the water’s boiling.

The mother glance at the boiling water, walk away and came back with carrots, eggs and coffee.

Into the first pot she dropped all carrots. She came to the second pot and gently put the eggs into it. The third pot is where the coffee goes. A few minutes later, the water began to boil for the second time.

Woman: Mother, I do not understand why are we doing this?

Mother: Come closer to the first pot and tell me what do you see?

Woman: I see carrots that became very soft from boiling, almost mushy and are easy to crush.

Mother: What about the second pot?

Woman: I see eggs. The liquid form inside turned into hard and solid after subjected to boiling.

Mother: What about the third pot?

As the woman move closer to the third pot, she stopped and enjoyed the aroma of the coffee, so inviting. Mmmmmmm…

Woman: Mother, it smells so good!

The mother smiled and hugs her with love.

Mother: My dear, the boiling is likened to the trials in our life. God spread some trials as we desire to get closer to Him. This is to test our faith. How far can we get closer to Him is how much trial we can endure to prove that we are worth His love.

Woman: Mother, what about the carrots, eggs and coffee represents?

Mother: The carrots, eggs and coffee represent the three kinds of hearts for the people who served God. These people who went through trials like you did. 

The carrot represents those people who went through trials in life and lost their faith. If you noticed, the carrots have a firm shape before boiling. The boiling represents the trials. The boiled carrots became soft, mushy and most importantly, lost its shape. These are the kind of people who let trials change their faith in the Lord. They get discouraged easily and lose their hope in the Lord.

The eggs characterize those people who serve the Lord on a short run. They overcome a few trials and as life get tougher, their hearts become harder. Soon, they would believe that they can do it on their own and without God’s help. They end up not wanting to serve the Lord in the end because they become proud and arrogant.

Woman: What about the coffee?

Mother: These are for those people who accept any trial in life with faith in the Lord. That despite of trials, they keep going and believing. They don’t become soft like the carrots and hard like the eggs. The coffee remains as is and spreads aroma to everyone near. These are the people who never lose their sight of God, even if trials after trials try to break them apart. These are the people who remain faithful to God’s love no matter what life brings.

My dear, I believe that your heart represents the coffee. That after all these trials, you continue serving the Lord with all your might, your strength, and with all your love. You will be a shining example to everyone. You will spread the coffee’s aroma through your continued service to the Lord to lead people closer to God. That amidst all trials; you go on to give thanks to the Lord for making you stronger everyday. God’s love is abundant, enjoy!

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Parable Of The Pencil - Pencil story

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.

"There are 5 things you need to know," he told the pencil, "Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be."

"One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone's hand."

"Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil."

"Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make."

"Four: The most important part of you will always be what's inside."

"And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write."

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.


Now replacing the place of the pencil with you. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God's hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but you'll need it to become a stronger person.

Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.

Four: The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside.

And Five: On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.



Allow this parable on the pencil to encourage you to know that you are a special person and only you can fulfill the purpose to which you were born to accomplish.

Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think that your life is insignificant and cannot make a change.



Source: Indianchild.com

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Wedding Invitations

Browsing on the net, I happen to catch a glimpse of an article by yahoo titled Wedding Gift Sparks Epic Text Battle: Is Marriage Etiquette Dead? I read on and tried to understand what is it all about. It made me realize one thing : LOVE is dead in this marriage.

Is a wedding a way to earn money or to share a happy moment to family and friends? Maybe it was like that originally. The new generation has changed, perhaps the whole essence of what is a wedding? There were different views expressed in this article, some defending the brides and some sided with the giver. There are two sides of this story as always it is. The giver and the receiver.

As a receiver, the bride plans a wedding, elaborately and extravagantly for her dream wedding. As a bride, I want it to be the best day of my life and that should be okay. The bride has a right to execute according to how she wants her wedding day.  She would be in charge of how much to spend and where to get the money; where to seize the moment and how to convey the message of a wonderful wedding in her  heart. This is very normal for a bride to be...

However, let's look at the other part of the wedding. Who is going to be there? Who would I want to be there? Who should be in my wedding? If a bride believes that a wedding is something to share, then it would be easy because it would be simple and quick. But if the bride thinks a wedding is something that she rely on for her future life, then it has to be grand and expects from her guest list a gift that will take care of her future married life.

The giver on the other hand prepares for the excitement of this wedding. In fact, sometimes the giver would spend a fortune to keep up with the crowd. As a giver, it is important to understand if the bride is close or not. Is she a family member? Is she a good friend or an acquaintance?  The closeness of their relationships matter to the giver. That is normal for any giver unless he or she has a lot to spend and splash on for no reason.

The giver not knowing what to expect, tries their best to find something fun, good and appropriate for the bride and groom. It is hard for a give to know exactly what the couple wants or expect unless stated in the invitation card. It is not easy for a giver who wants to give the best for the couple at an affordable price. Something worth remembering and yet not pricey. Something pricey if the invited quest can afford but without memorable attachment to it would be easy. It all depends on what kind of a person is the giver.  

My thoughts tried to understand what went wrong in this wedding, supposed to be the best day of the couple's life, uniting into one.

Maybe, I should be upfront on my next wedding invitation when sending the RSVP and remember to ask " What is your expectation? Are you inviting me to share your blissful day or you expect me to take care of your future by paying my plate?". It seemed absurd but honestly, it will clear up my mind to make a good decision - whether I can afford such invitation or not.

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The Horse and The Goat

There was a farmer who had a horse and a goat…..

One day, the horse became ill. So he called the veterinarian, who said:

"Well, your horse has a virus. He must take this medicine for three days.

I'll come back on the 3rd day and if he's not better, we're going to have to put him down.

Nearby, the goat listened closely to their conversation.

The next day, they gave the horse the medicine and left.

The goat approached the horse and said: “Be strong, my friend.

Get up or else they're going to put you to sleep!”

On the second day, they again gave the horse the medicine and left.

The goat came back and said: "Come on buddy, get up or else you're going to die!

Come on, I'll help you get up. Let's go! One, two, three..."

On the third day, they came to give the horse the medicine and the vet said:

"Unfortunately, we're going to have to put him down tomorrow. Otherwise,

the virus might spread and infect the other horses".

After they left, the goat approached the horse and said: "Listen pal, it's now or never!

Get up, come on! Have courage! Come on! Get up! Get up! That's it, slowly! Great!

Come on, one, two, three... Good, good. Now faster, come on...... Fantastic! Run, run more!

Yes! Yay! Yes! You did it, you're a champion...!!!"

All of a sudden, the owner came back, saw the horse running in the field and began shouting:

It's a miracle! My horse is cured. We must have a grand party. Let's kill the goat!!!!

The Lesson:

Sometimes, nobody truly knows which employee actually deserves the merit of success, or who's actually contributing the necessary support to make things happen. 

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STUNNING STORY ABOUT DESTINY

World wants to know about Boynton couple's fairy tale beginnings at Disney

If Sleeping Beauty recounted over and over again how she met her prince in the woods "quite by accident," her dinner guests might roll their eyes and groan.

But unlike the love story in Sleeping Beauty, the story of Alex and Donna Voutsinas' meeting is a true Disney fairy tale worth retelling. The Boynton Beach couple has been telling it to their friends for the eight years they've been married, but only now is it starting to spread beyond family lore - and across the world over the Internet.

A week before the Voutsinases were to be married in March 2002, they were sifting through old photos to create a slideshow for their reception when Donna held up a Polaroid of her at age 5. She and her two brothers were at the Magic Kingdom, posing with a Disney character. Her family had just moved to Florida from New York's Long Island and the 1980 trip was their first to Disney.

But Alex found something familiar in that picture, too. In the background, to the left, was a man he immediately recognized. It was his father, Tony, pushing a young boy in a stroller. A boy Alex thought looked too much like his own baby pictures.

Alex grabbed the photo and raced to his mother's house, where they sifted through hundreds of old photos until they came to a set from their trip to Disney in 1980. The family had been living in Montreal at the time, and it was also Alex's first visit to Disney. In all the photos, Tony and Alex, 3 at the time, are dressed just as they are in Donna's print.

Twenty-two years before they were married, Alex Voutsinas and Donna Balzano were captured in the same image at Disney World .

It's a small world, after all.

"I believe everybody crosses paths at one time or another, but to have it documented like we did just blew my mind," Alex said. The story had been something to amuse visiting friends. But when a friend suggest Alex post the photo and story on Facebook on May 30, the fairy tale was sprinkled with pixie dust. One friend shared it with another, and then another.

Inside of a week, CNN.com had posted it on front page of its website. The story on Yahoo.com already has more than 3 million views. Calls came in from Canadian press, the BBC and the major network morning shows. CBS's The Early Show, NBC's Today Show and ABC's Good Morning America all are clamoring to be the first national outlet to have the kismet couple.

Good Morning America, whose parent company is Disney, hinted their meeting might make for the perfect fairy tale ending. "We did this just for fun," Voutsinas said, "but if I can take my kids to Disney, I'm going to jump at the opportunity."

Alex and Donna didn't meet until 1995, when she took a job at the Voutsinas' Ramada Hotel franchise. They married, had three boys, and they love going to Disney still. But now, when they get home, they carefully study all the little girls in the background of their pictures.

"Maybe their future wives are in the background," Alex said. "You never know."


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