Stories to inspire

[FineLinen]

During the gold rush, a man who had been mining in Colorado for several months quit his job, as he hadn’t struck gold yet and the work was becoming tiresome. He sold his equipment to another man who resumed mining where it had been left off.

The new miner was advised by his engineer that there was gold only three feet away from where the first miner stopped digging.

The engineer was right, which means the first miner was a mere three feet away from striking gold before he quit.

The Moral:

When things start to get hard, try to persevere through the adversity. Many people give up on following their dreams because the work becomes too difficult, tedious, or tiresome–but often, you’re closer to the finish line than you may think, and if you push just a little harder, you will succeed.

 

[FineLinen]

Quality of character

An official of a mission board, who knew it takes more than just desire to make a missionary, was appointed to examine a candidate for the mission field.

He told the young man to be at his house at six o'clock in the morning. The young man complied and arrived a six o'clock sharp. The examiner kept him sitting alone in the room until ten.

Then he finally came in and said abruptly, " Young man, can you write your name?"

A little taken aback by the simplicity of his question, the man paused.

Before he could get a word out, the examiner blurted, "What, you don't know what it is?"

The mission board official put him through a series of questions of that nature and then went to report to the mission board.

"Okay," he said, "he will do."

I tried his patience for hours and hours and he did not break down; Then I insulted him and he did not lose his temper....

This candidate answered with patience, fortitude, and gentleness. His faith was vindicated by the very quality of his character. He will make a good missionary.

 

[FineLinen]

Fear

There is an old Indian fable that tells of a mouse who was in constant distress because of its fear of cats.

So a magician took pity on it and turned it into a cat so it would have no more fear.

Now as a cat, it was in fear of dogs.

So the magician turned it into a dog.

Now, as a dog, it was stressed out in fear of tigers.

Then the magician turned the dog into a tiger.

Now, as a tiger, it was shaking in fear of hunters.

The magician finally said to the tiger,

"Be a mouse again. You only have the heart of a mouse, and I cannot help you."

 

[FineLinen]

I Will Walk Again

POWER MESSAGE SPECIAL #118: I will walk again! The Inspiring Story of Justus Edwards – Phil Henry Power Gospel

"Hard work always pays off; mere talk puts no bread on the table. The wise accumulate wisdom; fools get stupider by the day." -MSG

 

[FineLinen]

Hope for the hopeless

FIVE MIN. POWER MESSAGE #82: She Hurts Cancer, 3-10-19 – Phil Henry Power Gospel

"You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom." -MSG

 

[FineLinen]

Story of the bamboo

Once upon a time lay a beautiful garden. And there in the cool of the day was the Master of the garden, who went for a walk. Of all the dwellers of the garden, the most beautiful and beloved was a gracious Bamboo. Year after year Bamboo grew yet more beautiful and he was conscious of his Master’s love and watchful delight. Yet he was modest and gentle. Often when Wind came to revel in the garden, Bamboo would throw aside his dignity and dance merrily, tossing and swaying and leaping and bowing in joyous abandon. He would lead the great dance of the garden which most delighted his Master’s heart.

Renato Amato » The Story of Bamboo

 

[FineLinen]

A street preacher and the birth of a man of God.

In a tiny farming community in western Pa. a remarkable man of God was born.

In the progression of his life he worked for a tire company. While on his way home from work one day, he overheard a street preacher say "If you don't know how to be saved just call on God saying Lord, be merciful to me a sinner."

Upon returning home he climbed into the attic and heeded the preacher's advice. On that fateful day God called a modern day prophet to Himself.

His name: Aiden W. Tozer (A.W. Tozer)

A.W. Tozer

 

[FineLinen]

Mickey Rooney

Rooney’s private life was turbulent, and his eight marriages became the fodder for late-night comedians’ jokes. But the challenges he survived.

After the deaths of his mother and fifth wife in 1966, he battled substance abuse and financial problems. In the depths of the valley Rooney had an unusual encounter that he said changed his life.

Over breakfast at a Lake Tahoe casino coffee shop, Rooney was greeted by a busboy with “blond curls, a white-rose complexion, and shining teeth,” he recounted.

When the young man called his name, Rooney started to stand, thinking he had a telephone call. But the busboy leaned toward him and whispered in his ear, “Mr. Rooney, Jesus Christ loves you very much.”

Then the mysterious busboy vanished.

When Rooney looked for the young man and gave his description to the manager of the establishment, he was told that no such person worked there. Rooney believed he was visited by an angel.

By the 1990s Mickey boldly proclaimed a very orthodox faith centered on Jesus Christ as his Savior and being an “unabashed Christian.”

“I’ve given my life to God and I try and do the right thing, but inevitably, and unfortunately, I do the wrong thing. I suffer from being human.”

 

[FineLinen]

More money or more time?

A study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of California Los Angeles wanted to find out, "if you had to choose between more time and more money, what would it be?"

While they found most respondents answered, "more money", they also found that those who preferred "more time" were generally happier!

A wealthy businessman was shocked to see a fisherman sitting beside his boat, playing with a small child.

The businessman asked, "Why aren't you out fishing?"

The fisherman replied, "Because I've caught enough fish for one day."

"Why don't you catch some more?" the businessman further inquired.

"What would I do with them?" asked the fisherman.

"You could earn more money," said the businessman.

"Then with the extra money, you could buy a bigger boat, go into deeper waters, and catch more fish. Then you would make enough money to buy nylon nets. With the nets, you could catch even more fish and make more money. With that money, you could own two boats, maybe three boats. Eventually, you could have a whole fleet of boats and be rich like me."

"Then what would I do?" replied the fisherman.

"Then you could really enjoy life," answered the businessman.

The fisherman looked at the businessman quizzically and asked, "What do you think I'm doing now?"

 

[FineLinen]

In the olden days of the 1980's there were rotary dial phones.

You put your finger in a numbered spot on a circular dialer which clicked as it returned to its place and registered the 7 or 10 numbers you selected. It took a full 10 to 20 seconds to complete a call. Then came touch-tone phones.

You pushed a button, it beeped, and you could make a call in two and a half to three seconds.

Today phones are smarter, they are "smart" phones; and they do everything but make coffee for you in the morning, although soon you can program them to start your coffee maker before you wake up. You can send or receive emails, text, Facebook, "Skype", play games, study French, listen to music, record love letters, pay your bills, watch movies...your phone can be the interface for your life, and it is, for many people!

These days when you get a phone -- a "smart phone", the first thing you do is to find the best “apps” for it. Thousands and thousands of apps are available, with more being created every 5 minutes. Your apps define the interface of your life.

There are also God apps that come to us throughout the Scriptures, and they're free - every one guaranteed to be a top-level "interface" for your life!

 

[FineLinen]

The Final Goodbye

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/ma...in-wheelbarrow

"Love never fails"

 

[FineLinen]

The Cracked Pot

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.

But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.

‘I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.’ The old woman smiled, ‘Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?’ ‘That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.’ For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.’


Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. In this world, nothing goes to waste. You may think like the cracked pot that you are inefficient or useless in certain areas of your life, but somehow these flaws can turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

 

[FineLinen]

A Goose Tale

A goose was having surgery. His mate tried to 'break into the clinic' to be nearby.

 

[FineLinen]

Hopeless Plan =

https://ca.yahoo.com/news/tried-walk-water-florida-york-184139088.htm

 

[FineLinen]

One day a passerby saw a homeless man on the roadside. He stopped for a moment to hand him some loose change and casually said "God bless you, my friend.".

"I thank God," said the homeless man, "I am never unhappy."

"What do you mean?" the passerby asked.

"Well," he said, "when the sun is out, I thank God -- when it rains, I thank God. When I am full, I thank God and when I am hungry, I thank God. And, since God's will is my will, and whatever pleases Him pleases me, why should I say I am unhappy when I am not?"

The man looked at him in astonishment and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am a King," said he.

"Where, then, is your Kingdom?" asked the man.

"In my heart." The homeless man replied.

 

[FineLinen]

Jack Canfield – Chicken Soup For The Soul Co-Creator

Jack Canfield is the creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series. He’s also one of the best motivational speakers, professional coach, and an incredibly inspiring author who published The Success Principles.

Jack and his co-author Mark Victor Hansen pitched the original Chicken Soup for the Soul to over 130 different publishers. But none of them were interested and said no one “wants to read 100 inspirational stories.”

After 100+ pitches, their agent dropped them as well, but they were determined to get the book published.

Luckily they never gave up and continued to persevere until their book was picked up by a small publisher in Florida.

Now there are over 250 Chicken Soup for the Soul Books and over 500 MILLION copies sold worldwide. If they had given up these inspirational stories wouldn’t have been read across the world and they wouldn’t have made millions of dollars.

Perseverance Lesson =

Never give up! Could you imagine if he quit on the 129th publisher? Where would his life be now?

 

[FineLinen]

Wm. Wilberforce

William Wilberforce led a campaign against the British Parliament to abolish slavery in the late 1700's and early 1800's.

During the course of his intense efforts, Wilberforce came to a desperate place of discouragement, feeling he had absolutely no more strength to continue.

In this condition, he was about to give up, when his elderly friend, John Wesley, lying on his deathbed, was informed of his friend William's distress.

Wesley requested pen and paper, and with a quivering hand, wrote these words....

"Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them stronger than God? Oh be not weary of well-doing! Go on, in the name of God and in the power of his might, till even American slavery shall vanish away before it."

John Wesley died six days later, but William Wilberforce fought for forty-five more years, and in 1833, three days before his own death, witnessed the abolition of slavery in Britain.

 

[FineLinen]

The Ant and the Contact Lens

Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens. "Great", she thought. "Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry."

She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the ledge. But it just wasn't there.

She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she may find her contact lens.

When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of the bible verse "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth."

She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?"

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!

The story doesn't end there. Brenda's father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens with the caption, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."

I think it would do all of us some good to say, "God, I don't know why You want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if You want me to carry it, I will."

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

Yes, I do love GOD. He is my source of existence and my Savior. He keeps me functioning each and every day. Without Him, I am nothing, but with Him....I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13)

 

[FineLinen]

A Grateful Customer's Letter To His Late Wife's Hairdresser

Since the start of the lockdown, many people have joked and laughed about missing barbers and hairdressers as their hair has grown longer and shaggier than ever before. Social media has been flooded with hilariously cringe worthy images of DIY haircuts, from the lopsided to the patchy, a style now commonly referred to as the ‘pandemic haircut.’

For Illinois hairdresser Sara Verkuilen, receiving a heartfelt letter from a customer reminded her of the power a simple haircut can have.

It was sent from a man whose wife had gotten a haircut from Sara in December of last year. His wife was suffering from dementia. Sara had no idea what an impression she made on this couple until now.

"Dear Sara,

This is a little bit awkward. But I've waited a really long time to pass this on to you.
My wife and I came in for haircuts shortly before Christmas of last year.
My wife was suffering from dementia, and you treated her as if you'd been working with dementia patients all your life. You let us sit next to each other, and when it came time for her cut you turned her chair towards me so I could watch her expression as you cut her hair.

It turned out even better than I thought it would.

Sadly, she died in March. And that haircut was one of the last, best moments of her life. She felt so pretty. She visited the mirror in her bathroom several times during the day and would come out beaming.

To see her so happy was priceless.

Looking back, it was likely dozens of haircuts you gave that day. But one which revitalized a woman's sense of self and her singular beauty. I hope you always realize the power of your profession.
It's so easy to take things like that for granted.

Sincerely,

A grateful customer"

One small act can make one big difference in a day, in a life.

 

[FineLinen]

I Want To Die Broke

With wealth comes great responsibility. For one billionaire, that means ‘giving while living’.

Chuck Feeney is spending most of his fortune on charity while he’s alive to see its impact. In fact, his goal is to die broke.

Chuck Feeney, co-founder of retail giant Duty Free Shoppers, was once a billionaire. Over his lifetime, he amassed a fortune of over $8 billion dollars selling luxury goods to tourists. Now age 90 he has nothing left and couldn’t be happier.

It was Feeney’s lifetime ambition to give away his entire fortune before he died, a concept he called “Giving While Living”— spend most of your fortune on charity while you are alive to see its impact instead of funding a foundation upon death.

As he signed papers to formally dissolve his foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies, Feeney said he was very satisfied with “completing this on my watch” and urged other members of the super-rich to “try it, you’ll like it.”

“Wealth brings responsibility,” he often said. “People must define themselves, or feel a responsibility to use some of their assets to improve the lives of their fellow humans, or else create intractable problems for future generations.”

Over the last four decades, Feeney donated his wealth to charities, universities, human rights groups and foundations worldwide all while living a remarkably frugal lifestyle. Feeney didn’t own a car or a home, he only had one pair of shoes and flew economy class even when his family or friends who were on the same plane flew business.

Christopher Oechsli, the president and chief executive of The Atlantic Philanthropies, said Feeney would not preach his views to other members of the global super-rich, “But he would scratch his head and say ‘how many yachts or pairs of shoes do you need? What is all this wealth accumulation about, when you can look about you and see such tremendous needs,’” as shared in an article by The Guardian.

Unlike many wealthy philanthropists who greatly publicize their charitable efforts, all of Feeney’s donations throughout his lifetime were made anonymously. Because of his “clandestine, globe-trotting philanthropy campaign,” Forbes magazine dubbed him the James Bond of Philanthropy.