Everyone likes to be a member of a "family" whose standards are high, whose reputation is respected, and whose accomplishments generate praise.

Summing it all up friends, I say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on thing true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-- the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly;things to praise, not things to curse. The Bible

Wherever a man turns he can find someone who needs him. Albert Schweitzer

How wonderful it is that nobody need to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. Anne Frank

I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good things I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. William Penn

Rewards for a runner's toil is not what he gets for it, it is what he becomes because of it. Dean Spolstra

You are responsible not only for what you say, but also for what you do not say. Martin Luther

A fool show his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult. Jewish Proverb

Enthusiasm is contagious. It is difficult to remain neutral or indifferent in the presence of a positive thinker. Dennis Waitley

Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same. Frances Reigler

People may doubt what you say but they will believe what you do. Lewis Cass

You have never really lived until you've done something for someone who can never repay you.

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big difference that we often cannot forsee. Marian Wright Edelman

How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world. William Shakespeare

Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. Solomon

Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation sincerely and without expectation of anything in return. Ralph Marston

Every time you smile at a someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. Mother Teresa

Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of. Charles Spurgeon

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. Beverly Sills

Appreciation can make a day-- even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary. Margaret Cousins

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

When you're in your nineties and looking back, it's not going to be how much money you made or how many awards you've won. It's really what did you stand for. Did you make a positive difference for people? Elizabeth Dole.

The human race is divided into two classes, those who go ahead and do something, and those who sit and inquire, "Why wasn't it done the other way." Oliver Wendell Holmes

Life becomes harder for us when we live for others, but it also becomes richer and happier. Albert Schweitzer

Your smile will give you a positive countenance that will make people feel comfortable around you. Les Brown

A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. Jewish Proverb

Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway. Mother Teresa

When one door closes another opens, but we often look so regretfully upon the closed door that we don't see the one that has opened for us. Alexander Graham Bell

Learn from the mistakes of others, you can never live long enough to make them all yourself. John Luther

May the road rise to meet you, May the wind always be at your back May the sunshine warm upon your face The rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, May GOD hold you in the palm of His Hand. An Old Irish Blessing

Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another into the light. Norman B Rice

There never was any heart truly great and gracious that was not also tender and compassionate. Robert South

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turn outs. Vaclav Havel

Faith goes up the stair that love has made and looks out the window that hope has opened. Charles H Spurgeon

The hotter the fire the purer the gold. Charles Stanley

Faith, like light, should always be simple and unbending; while love like warmth, should beam forth on every side and bend to every necessity of the brethren. Martin Luther

If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can not buy! Anonymous

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree. Martin Luther

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength Corri Ten Boom

If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

Mother Theresa

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

Joy burst into our lives when we go about doing the good at hand and not trying to manipulate things and times to achieve joy. C. S. Lewis

Opportunities are seldom labeled.

John A Shedd

Hard words, if they be true, are better than soft words, if they be false. Charles H Spurgeon

An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered. GK Chesterton

The Value of Life

The value of life is not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them; a man may live long yet live very little.

Montaigne

How You Choose to See Things

Three men were laboring in a field of boulders and large stones. Sweat ran from their foreheads as they swung their heavy picks again and again. A curious passer-by approached the men and asked each what he was doing. The first man answered in a stern and abrupt voice: Can't you see I'm breaking rocks! The second man replied in a matter of fact way: Can't you see I'm earning my salary! The third man smiled - his eyes gleaming with enthusiasm- and proclaimed: Can't you see I'm helping to build a cathedral! I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. Charles Swindoll

My First Blog!!!

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.