I read this today and share the link at the bottom!!!

April 24, 2012
Storms are for our Good
Mary Southerland

Today’s Truth
Psalm 46:1 (NRSV) “God is our refuge and strength, a tested help in times of trouble.”

Friend to Friend
While vacationing in the mountains, a man watched as a lumberman occasionally jabbed his sharp hook into a log, separating it from the others floating down the mountain stream. The man asked the lumberman why he was separating some of the logs.

The worker replied, “These logs may all look alike to you but a few of them are very different. The ones I let pass are from trees that grew in the valley. They were always protected from the storms. Their grain is coarse. The ones I have hooked and set apart from the rest came from high up on the mountains. From the time they were small, they were beaten by strong winds. That toughens the trees and gives them a fine and beautiful grain. They are too good to use for plain lumber so we save them for our best work.”

I don’t like storms. Blue skies and bright sunshine are my personal preference. The same is true in life. I often think boredom is highly underrated and tend to long for a day without problems, a crisis or some kind of disaster. When a storm does hit, my first reaction is to look for a way of escape. I want to avoid pain and sidestep complicated situations if at all possible. However, looking back over my life, the reality is that my greatest growth and the deepest truths God has to offer have been accomplished through the fiercest storms.

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He feverishly prayed for God’s rescue, but with every day that passed, his hope weakened. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood for protection from the elements, and to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. Everything was lost. Stunned with grief and anger, the man cried, "God, how could you do this to me!" The next morning, he woke to the sound of a ship approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. "How did you know I was here?" the weary man asked. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied. Storms are for our good.

Let’s Pray
Father, I want to thank You for the storms in my life because they make me turn to you. They keep me on my face before You. I am desperate for Your power and presence at work in my life. Anything that makes me cry out to You can be counted as a blessing. I love You, Lord, and trust You with every storm that comes my way.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

Now It’s Your Turn
Read 1 Peter 4:12-13 “Do not be surprised at the painful things you are now suffering. These things are testing your faith.” (ICB) In your own words, describe the testing you are going through today in your life. How is it testing and strengthening your faith?

Read 2 Corinthians 6:6 (NLT) “We have proved ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, our sincere love, and the power of the Holy Spirit.” This verse lists the qualities God wants to create in us through storms that come our way. Which ones are present in your life? Which ones is He trying to produce in you today? Are you willing to let Him do so?

More from the Girlfriends
Your trials are many and you have been battered by some brutal storms. I know. But more importantly, God knows. In Him, you are a storm survivor. And when you are face to face with a storm, you are standing on the edge of discovery. Don’t tell God how big your storm is. Tell your storm how big your God is!

http://www.crosswalkmail.com/ViewMessage.do?a=view&m=mtyscdyyt&r=rjngrgtnrltt&s=fhqgsrdngqgdynfbzlctcdryhzzyqjdcssf&f=false&ft=R2lybGZyaWVuZHMgaW4gR29k

or even......

Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.

Thomas Jefferson

Free-hug man speaks out
2006-09-28, Sydney Morning Herald (Australia's leading newspaper)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/freehug-man-speaks-out/2006/09/28/1159337257...

The man behind the latest YouTube sensation has spoken out for the first time about his global cuddling controversy. Serial hugger Juan Mann describes the free hugs he hands out...as fast-food emotion. His cuddling campaign received an international dose of publicity today, after a clip showing his public displays of affection won a coveted front page spot on the video sharing website. An American television audience of millions also watched him at work, when the video was broadcast on the prime-time breakfast program Good Morning America yesterday. Today, the hugger was at it again, brandishing his "free hugs" sign in the busy pedestrian thoroughfare, and having quite a few people take him up on his offer. "It's a way to make people smile," Mann said. "For every person who gets a hug, you see five walk past with a smile on their face." But his efforts to spread the love became a little too popular for some people's liking, according to a blurb on the YouTube video, which said: "As this symbol of human hope spread across the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign BANNED." Undeterred, Mann collected more than 10,000 signatures on a petition he presented to the City of Sydney council. Demands for a halt to the hugs petered out shortly after, and the end of the clip shows Mann hugging an official. City worker Elly Mitchell, who handed out a few free hugs on her lunch break today, said she was inspired to organise [an] event after seeing the video online. "We're going to hug the city," Ms Mitchell said.

Steady Decline in Major Crime Baffles Experts
2011-05-24, CNBC/New York Times
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43151654

The number of violent crimes in the United States dropped significantly last year, to what appeared to be the lowest rate in nearly 40 years, a development that was considered puzzling partly because it ran counter to the prevailing expectation that crime would increase during a recession. In all regions, the country appears to be safer. The odds of being murdered or robbed are now less than half of what they were in the early 1990s, when violent crime peaked in the United States. Small towns, especially, are seeing far fewer murders: In cities with populations under 10,000, the number plunged by more than 25 percent last year. Criminology experts said they were surprised and impressed by the national numbers, issued ... by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and based on data from more than 13,000 law-enforcement agencies. There was no immediate consensus to explain the drop. But some experts said the figures collided with theories about correlations between crime, unemployment and the number of people in prison. Take robbery: The nation has endured a devastating economic crisis, but robberies fell 9.5 percent last year, after dropping 8 percent the year before.

Beautiful!
I like this article, Seakolony!
Thank you for sharing it.

CeriseRose

You are welcome!!! Just sad the thread did not take off the way I planned it.

Just keep sharing what pleases the Lord
and edifies us believers.

Glad you're here.

Fla. boy, 11, walking to D.C. for homeless kids

Zach's 'My House to the White House' trip to raise money for less fortunate

TAMPA, Fla. — At age 11, Zach Bonner has already walked farther and done more for charity than many grown-ups.

Now he's about to make good on his vow to walk more than 1,200 miles from Tampa to Washington to bring attention to the plight of homeless kids in the United States.

The boy with the spiky red hair came up with the idea in 2007, then hiked nearly 300 miles from his home near Tampa to the state capital, Tallahassee. Last year, he walked another 270 miles or so from Tallahassee to Atlanta.

On Monday he'll set out for the final and most demanding leg of the journey, well over 600 miles from Atlanta to Washington. He figures it'll take about two months.

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Zach expects to cover around 11 miles a day. Along the way, he'll collect donations and letters from people urging President Barack Obama to take more action to alleviate homelessness among children. He's contacted the White House about meeting with Obama, but has yet to hear back.

"I just decided I wanted to do something big," the soft-spoken fifth-grader said earlier this week.

Charitable child
Zach became a local celebrity of sorts at age 7 when he pulled his red wagon around his neighborhood collecting bottled water and food for victims of Hurricane Charley, which hit Florida in August 2004. He ended up sending 27 pickup truck loads of stuff.

Once he started helping people, especially kids, he couldn't stop. He put together and distributed about 1,200 backpacks full of toiletries, food and other necessities for homeless kids. Now he even has his own registered nonprofit charity, the Little Red Wagon Foundation Inc.

"My plan is to help as many kids as I can, have fun and keep it simple," he says on the Web site.

President George W. Bush found out about Zach's work and gave him a Presidential Call to Service Award during a Tampa visit in 2006. Standing beside Air Force One, Bush shook the boy's hand and told him how proud he was.

Zach said he was inspired by a TV program about a peace activist named Mildred Norman, known as "The Peace Pilgrim," who walked back and forth across the country for 28 years. That's when the idea for the "My House to the White House" walk came to him.

"He told everybody before I had a chance to say no," said his mom, Laurie. "It's just him. It's who he is."

Film crew follows along
His long walk during summer vacation isn't expected to interfere with school.

A Tampa RV dealership is donating use of a motor home that Zach will sleep in and his mom will drive. His 21-year-old sister, Kelley, will be in a red Volkswagen Beetle decorated with the logo of his foundation. He'll try to get campground space and meals donated along the way. The trip is budgeted at $6,000.

The nonprofit Philanthropy Project has a film crew following Zach, too, and plans to make a movie about his life. British rock legend Elton John counts himself among Zach's fans and has pledged $25,000 to the boy's charity if he finishes the trek.

Staying away from the interstate highways, Zach's sojourn will take him through Greenville, S.C., Raleigh, N.C., and Richmond, Va. His progress will be charted on a Web site, http://www.zachtracker.com.

Once he gets to Washington around July 9, Zach will participate in activities at the Sasha Bruce House, an emergency shelter for homeless youth that Obama visited for a day of service before his inauguration in January. Some of the money Zach is raising will benefit the shelter.

"I'm excited," he said. "A little nervous, but pretty much excited."

It makes me wonder how we as individuals can spread love and hope in the world surrounding us. So many people make a mark in such simple and small ways that expand beyond what they intend.......how can we be catching???

We cannot single-handedly solve all the world's ills.
But in Jesus Name we can put our hands to the plow.

The world's destruction is inevitable.
But the Love of Christ can give great relief to those
who may be suffering.

"And whatsoever ye do in word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God and the Father by him."

amen!!!