The King with 4 Wives

Once upon a time...


There was a rich King who had 4 wives.

He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated
her to the finest of delicacies. He gave her nothing but the best.

He also loved the 3rd wife very much and was always showing her off to
neighboring kingdoms. However, he feared that one day she would leave him
for another.

He also loved his 2nd wife. She was his confidante and was always kind,
considerate and patient with him. Whenever the King faced a problem, he
could confide in her to help him get through the difficult times.

The King's 1st wife was a very loyal partner and had made great
contributions in maintaining his wealth and kingdom. However, he did not
love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took
notice of her.

One day, the King fell ill and he knew his time was short.

He thought of his luxurious life and pondered, "I now have 4 wives with me,
but when I die, I'll be all alone.

Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I have loved you the most, endowed you with
the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying,
will you follow me and keep me company?"

"No way!" replied the 4th wife and she walked away without another word.

Her answer cut like a sharp knife right into his heart.

The sad King then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you all my life. Now
that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?"

"No!" replied the 3rd wife. "Life is too good! When you die, I'm going to
remarry!"

His heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, "I have always turned to you for help and
you've always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep
me company?"

"I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!" replied the 2nd wife. "At the
very most, I can only send you to your grave."

Her answer came like a bolt of thunder and the King was devastated.

Then a voice called out:

"I'll leave with you and follow you no matter where you go." The King
looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, she suffered
from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the King said, "I should have taken
much better care of you when I had the chance!"



In Truth, we all have 4 wives in our lives...

Our 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in
making it look good, it'll leave us when we die.

Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, it will
all go to others.

Our 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been
there for us, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

And our 1st wife is our Soul, often neglected in pursuit of wealth, power
and pleasures of the ego. However, our Soul is the only thing that will
follow us wherever we go.

So cultivate, strengthen and cherish it now! It is your greatest gift to
offer the world.


Let it Shine!

Unconditional Love

Unconditional Love

I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was Sociology. The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had been graced with. Her last project of the term was called "Smile." The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions. I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway, so, I thought this would be a piece of cake, literally.

Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonald's one crisp March morning. It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son. We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did. I did not move an inch.... an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved.

As I turned around I smelled a horrible "dirty body" smell, and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men. As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was "smiling". His beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God's Light as he searched for acceptance. He said, "Good day" as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation. I held my tears as I stood there with them.

The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted. He said, "Coffee is all Miss" because that was all they could afford. (If they wanted to sit in the restaurant and warm up, they had to buy something. He just wanted to be warm).

Then I really felt it - the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes. That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me, judging my every action. I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the table that the men had chosen as a resting spot. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman's cold hand. He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Thank you." I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, "I did not do this for you. God is here working through me to give you hope."

I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down my husband smiled at me and said, "That is why God gave you to me, Honey, to give me hope." We held hands for a moment and at that time, we knew that only because of the Grace that we had been given were we able to give. We are not church goers, but we are believers. That day showed me the pure Light of God's sweet love.

I returned to college, on the last evening of class, with this story in hand. I turned in "my project" and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, "Can I share this?" I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class. She began to read and that is when I knew that we as human beings and being part of God share this need to heal people and to be healed. In my own way I had touched the people at McDonald's, my husband, son, instructor, and every soul that shared the classroom on the last night I spent as a college student. I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn: UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE.

Much love and compassion is sent to each and every person who may read this and learn how to LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS - NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE. If you think this story has touched you in any way, please send this to everyone you know.

An Angel wrote:

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

To handle yourself, use your head. To handle others, use your heart.

God Gives every bird it's food, but He does not throw it into its nest.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. -- John 3:16

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. -- Philippians 4:13

Days of Inspiration

Monday
...Wash Day

Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and vanity, so I may serve you with perfect humility through the week ahead.

Tuesday
...Ironing Day

Dear Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles of prejudice I have collected though the years so that I may see the beauty in others.

Wednesday
...Mending Day

Oh God, help me mend my ways so I will not set a bad example for others.?

Thursday
...Cleaning Day

Lord Jesus, help me to dust out all the many faults I have been hiding in the secret corners of my heart.

Friday
...Shopping Day

Oh God, give me the grace to shop wisely so I may purchase eternal happiness for myself and all others in need of love.

Saturday
...Cooking Day

Help me, my Savior, to brew a big kettle of brotherly love and serve it with clean, sweet bread of human kindness.

Sunday
...The Lord's Day

Oh God, I have prepared my house for you. Please come into my heart so I may spend the day and the rest of my life in your presence.

George Carlin's Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16!

And then the greatest day of your life . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out.

There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50

and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70!

After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there.

Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay "them".

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets,keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable,improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9 Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

The Week My Life Stood Still

In a moment your life can change so much and altar all your plans. Last week end I found out the hard way that I am not invincible, that I am vulnerable to unforseen illnesses. I guess it is that time to really think hard on things in my life.

I know it has been a long time since I last actually wrote a blog not just posted a forward. But I guess this pass week gave me a lot of time to think about things. The way I live or the way I even eat. Well sadly this became a reality all too fast when I was admitted into the hospital for something that I ate.

It's kind of hard to believe that you cause yourself such pain to the point of being helpless. And all the while you keep wondering when the pain will finally go away and nothing seems to help so finally you give in and ask for help and there I was being taken to Emergency in too much pain to even deal with it anymore. All of sudden your whole life comes crashing down and all you can think is make it go away.

So after being admitted into the hospital I start to believe that things will get better well as it turned out I had to have surgery and I wasn't allowed anything to eat or drink until after the operation which for some reason was taking a long time to be done. Even with the reassurance of my family standing by I still found the pain excruciating enough to give in to the medicince. Considering I have never really been the type of person to take pill for pain I found it became a necessity just to make it through another day.

With my mouth begging for something to drink to take away the dryness in my mouth I was finally appeased with these cotton swabs dipped in lemon juice of all things to keep moisture in my mouth of all things considering that lemons tend to dry your mouth. I don't maybe it is just sick hospital humor to give you things. Finally the dryness went away and I just lay there for my appointed time for my operation.

Well my time had finally arrived and I was put out and just like that just as I remember staring at the lights in the operating room I was staring at the ones in recovery and all I can thing is where am I and is it over already. Well now came the hard part recouping and being able to move around enough to go back to my home. Instead over the next couple of days I never felt so helpless to not be able to move cause muscles ached so much. I actually needed some one to pull my legs out of the bed and lift my head cause everything went stiff. So I am finally here back home and moving around slowly but still moving around soon I will be back to normal or as close to normal as can be after an experience like this.