LIFE IS LIKE A PENCIL ...

Thank you to every man and woman who has served this great nation in the United States military! I am so proud of you all. You have done your country proud.

I hope you were all able to get out in the nice weather and enjoy a parade and takes lots of bows of gratitude from a grateful nation.

Got this poignant piece of philosophy from Antoinette:

                      A PENCIL MAKER TOLD THE PENCIL 5 IMPORTANT LESSONS
JUST BEFORE PUTTING IT IN THE BOX :


                      1.) EVERYTHING YOU DO WILL ALWAYS LEAVE A MARK.

                      2.) YOU CAN ALWAYS CORRECT THE MISTAKES YOU MAKE.

                      3.) WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS WHAT IS INSIDE OF YOU.

                      4.) IN LIFE, YOU WILL UNDERGO PAINFUL SHARPENINGS,
                          WHICH WILL ONLY MAKE YOU BETTER.

                      5.) TO BE THE BEST PENCIL, YOU MUST ALLOW YOURSELF
                          TO BE HELD AND GUIDED BY THE HAND THAT HOLDS YOU.

                      We all need to be constantly sharpened. This parable
may encourage you to know that you are a special person, with unique
God-given talents and abilities.  Only you can fulfill the purpose which you
were born to accomplish. Never allow yourself to get discouraged and think
that your life is insignificant and cannot be changed and, like the pencil,
always remember that the most important part of who you are, is what's
inside of you.

Got this from my friend, Kate, here in Effingham:

LORD PROP US UP...

Every time I am asked to pray, I think of the old deacon who always prayed, 'Lord, prop us up on our leanin' side.' After hearing him pray that prayer many times, someone asked him why he prayed that prayer so fervently.

He answered, 'Well sir, you see, it's like this... I got an old barn out back. It's been there a long time; it's withstood a lot of weather; it's gone through a lot of storms, and it's stood for many years.

It's still standing. But one day I noticed it was leaning to one side a bit..

So I went and got some pine poles and propped it up on its leaning side so it wouldn't fall.

Then I got to thinking about that and how much I was like that old barn. I've been around a long time.

I've withstood a lot of life's storms.. I've withstood a lot of bad weather in life, I've withstood a lot of hard times, and I'm still standing too. But I find myself leaning to one side from time to time, so I like to ask the Lord to prop us up on our leaning side, 'cause I figure a lot of us get to leaning at times.

Sometimes we get to leaning toward anger, leaning toward bitterness, leaning toward hatred, leaning toward cussing, leaning toward a lot of things that we shouldn't . So we need to pray, 'Lord, prop us up on our leaning side, so we will stand straight and tall again, to glorify the Lord.''


If you stare at this barn for a second you will see who will help us stand straight and tall again.