Special Speech

Many people in life would like to gain more confidence or to increase their self esteem. In this article, I give free tips on how to do this. I myself have managed to change my whole life by implementing the advice given. I hope it also proves beneficial for you.

I am Stephen Hill from England. I had many issues as I grew up from a child, through the teenage years, and finally to adulthood which had a damaging affect on my confidence levels. These included:

A bald patch on my head

A speech impediment known as a stutter

A weight problem, I was basically too fat

I am quite short at five foot four

Certain people I met would be quite nasty and would try to make fun of me. They would succeed as I would be very hurt from their comments, even though I tried to never show it.

These people were making my life a misery and by the age of twenty-two I had had enough. I decided I needed a big change in attitude and started to read books about life and about positive thinking etc.

These were the things I had to take on board:

It is not important what other people think of you, it is what you think that counts

You need to start to like yourself

There are various things about your person, you do not like but which you can not change. You therefore have to start accepting these things and realising that maybe there are other people in life who are more unfortunate than you.

You need to have respect for yourself

Do not accept second best in life

Be happy

I tried hard to implement this advice and even though it was not easy to change, I knew I had to. I basically live life to the full now and try not to worry about anything trivial.

Stephen Hill has a number of websites including:

stuttering therapy

lasik laser treatment

lasik surgery

Yes, if you are a manager you should meditate. There is no exception possible. You can’t escape this one. But first, let’s have a look behind the reason.

Why should you?

If you have read the article (here on ezinearticles), “The Three Pillars of Successful Resource Management,” than you know that discipline is one of the pillars. The importance of discipline is often underestimated, at least in business.

Discipline is about managing the will. Will power, the power of the will is important in business management. The whole concept of management is based on this management of the will of others.

Even more important is your self management. In life we are to select what we desire and discard what doesn’t suits us. Discipline is doing just that; making sure that you keep focused and concentrated. You might want to deviate from what said and promised to do earlier, but this will make you less credible.

Meditation is the means of gaining discipline. And if you realize that discipline is important in business, that you should give the example. This doesn’t mean that you need to drag your little carpet with you each day and meditate for five minutes in a lost moment. It does mean however, that you should know where you are talking about.

If you learn to meditate, you will experience the difficulty with it; you need practice, practice and practice…

But rather than giving only difficulties, meditation also gives you harmony and rest. Maybe only for one day, but probably enough to experience what really matters. Also in business.

© 2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days.

You can apply for a free demo account

What is the Spirit of Recovery?

The Spirit of Recovery is based on biblical principles.
It is our intention to provide a service to the community and to our Creator.
Our hope is to provide a means for people to succeed in business with an emphasis on families.
Our Goal is to be a part of the strengthening of the family unit by providing a path that we too have at one time or another walked. Hopefully we can guide the people around some of the traps and snares in business and in life.

The Founder of CrowSites.com has had great challenges in the past, with sickness, tragedy, injury that caused great loss to him and his loved ones. Through many struggles, much perseverance and the Grace of our Creator he overcame what seemed to be “against all odds”.

His personal mission now is to use the negative experiences as well as the positive ones to help others.

This is his story which explains why he has this mission.

After a horrible accident which crushed my shoulder, sent the C1 vertebrae inch into my brainstem and a severe brain injury our family was left with little to no income and as time passed we began to lose everything to the point of being homeless and living on the street. This is a very cruel and painful way for a man to see his family have to live. One day a man stopped us on the street and asked us what was going on. He asked how this happened and we explained. We were dirty, tired, hungry, scared and losing all hope fast. This man put us into the car, as dirty as we were and said nothing. He went and got us a place to stay, clean clothes and food. He handed me an envelope and said here, I hope this will help. I was in awe! I asked for his address or a way to contact him to repay him. He refused, but He did ask me to make him one promise, a solemn promise. He asked me to promise, that when I overcame that I would do one thing, “Pay it forward”.

I made that promise… After recovering for a few days in a warm place, clean and filled with food, I used the resources he had given to get into a Rehabilitation Program. I spent two years learning to do a lot of things over again. Overcoming the injuries, learning how to live again and I was given an intensive education in marketing and business. I worked hard and felt like giving up on more than one occasion but I pushed on. For all my hard work and perseverance I was given the very honorable award of “Client of the Year Award” for the entire state out of thousands of nominees. A dinner was held in my honor with an award from the Governor. I made a promise to that man that day long ago and to my self the day I received the award. My promise was to try to help take one tear from a child’s eye, one tear from a mother’s eye and one tear from a father’s eye.

This brings us to the here and now.

Do you know a family who needs help to get back on track?

Contact helpafamily@crowsites.com or wanttohelpafamily@crowsites.com

CrowSites.com is the next internet trend dont miss out on this amazing business. http://www.EzineCrow.com - A Division of http://www.CrowSites.com

Copyright 2005 Crowsites.com

Each person is unique and it is that individuality that we as a whole draw strength from. We should use such advantages to our benefit. Plato often wrote about this in The Republic, that each member of a society ought to do what they are best at and be alleviated from responsibility of those things they are not good at, which can be done by others. The individual and the society gain the most using this methodology. Why have we not considered this wise advice in our culture? Instead we often put people into jobs they are unsuited for in patience, competence and ability. Who benefits? Would a Football team, which actually wants to win the game do that? After all; the guy with the strong foot and lanky build ought to be the kicker, not a lineman, for he would only be good for one play.

Yet as our world becomes more PC, we seem to be too worried about hurting feelings in the real world and try to make everyone equal, people are not equal; not genetically and certainly not through different experience of nurturing. For instance I am a terrible accountant and could be good at that but it would be a living hell for me to try. This would serve no one if I were assigned to that position, would it? An accountant may be less suited for the activities that I tend to excel in.

We are so quick to judge and label people with disorders or categorize them and duly place them where society has agreed upon in advance that they must be, rather than looking into the individual. Schools are too quick to prescribe students as ADHD and put them on Prozac. We should be finding out where the superior traits can do the most good. From our studies of different people we find that lower intelligence levels find themselves happier in repetitive jobs.

We know that “A” type personalities make lousy accountants and do not like fine details. So what do ADHD people have, we know they do not have a lack of intelligence necessarily. So why is it a disorder if the person shows signs of higher intelligence, after all wouldn’t that be a sign of strength and a positive attribute? The ADHD individual may not always score the highest on the English section of the SAT tests, but we know they are not stupid. So take a person who is smart, but fidgety. What would they be most suited for? What do they excel in and what would they be most suited for as an occupation?

The ADHD individual normally do not have the opportunity to get lots of certificates or degrees, they probably hate school. It probably feels like torture for them, so then we should find a need for their genetic make-up and you win, actually we all win. Or we could continue to classify them as an owner of a deficient brain with an insurmountable disorder and then pump drugs into their body to alter the natural flow of their individual thought. We are not paying attention close enough to the issues of ADHD and Bi-polar disorder, (there is that word again) we do not take into account the incredible amount of prescription drugs being given to our youth like Ridalin (Sp?) and Prozac and their affects on the learning ability of our children and young adults in real terms and actual intelligence levels due under utilized brain power being wasted on mood control and baby sitting drugs as I call them at this age.

A recent report by Carnegie is interesting in that it talks about the problems of delivering productivity and ethics back to the work place by starting in the schools and in hind sight is a valuable study even though a prediction of the past and a mission for the future may not take into consideration the newest problem of the current decade; that our miss uses of drugs in the brains of our students is hurting our ability to get to that lofty goal. It is very much an optimist approach to rest the bar of productivity, ethics and expectations, yet not very real world in terms of the reality of the over all parents, teachers and publics objectives to over medicate. People just are not too concerned about these issues and we are artificially numbing the brains of millions of students each year calling it a way to calm the unruly, high energy, ADHD, Bi-polar kids. It is a noble and worthy cause to want order in the classrooms and be able to teach larger groups of students, but I do not see the long-term benefits of denying what it is to be human and calling much of what is normal behavior a disorder. There may well be 1-2% which need some type of medication, but in some schools the numbers of medicated kids is 13-17%, that is simply not good for the flow of thought in kids and teens. Middle school reform in today’s metro sectors is by far the most difficult challenge.

The American School Board Journal also touches on this subject and has a reading recommendation list on these topics of drug use. I believe it is possible to change the direction and current course.

Accountability in Action-A Blueprint for Learning; By Douglas B Reeves.

Conflicting Missions?-Teachers Unions and Educational Reform; By Tom Loveless.

Motivating and Learning Strategies for College Success-A Self-Management Approach, By Myron H Dembo.

http://www.aacap.org/web/aacap/publication…am/disaster.htm

We can build schools now or prisons later. But no matter how many schools you build you must not impede the flow of thought in the minds of kids. High energy kids or those who learn differently should be cultivated and put into activities to burn off that excessive energy through exercise. This is much better than slowing down their systems artificially unless it is completely necessary. What does Prozac due to kids? Well I suggest you read the book; “Living on Prozac” in case you doubt some of what we are saying here and it doesn’t just stop in schools, 17% of the American Population takes this stuff, it is a consideration. Prozac takes 30 days to start working so obvious it is changing after the chemical reaches critical mass, which means it is changing everything. One Fraternity at a Major Medical College gets lists of females who are taking Prozac so they can date them. The Fraternity has an incredible record stating that 86% of those girls will put out on the first date. So much for these scientific white paper field studies, maybe these guys are on to something? The reasoning seems to point to a drug, which takes the edge off, reduces inhibitions and causes somewhat irrational behavior. Either that or these guys are super studs? You be the judge, but is a drug which causes such behavior worthy of our children?

The human brain generally is fully formed by age 6, yet there are many kids on mind-altering drugs prior to the age of six, is this wise? So first thing needed in our study is to allow the brain to have flow of thought and that starts in the nurturing of our students. We must resist turning off the brains of our kids, we have enough adults who have already stopped thinking, for instance look how some of these people drive? Think about it.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

You may manage to cleverly invest, acquire a wonderful home and a lavish lifestyle and still not feel as if you have found your pot-of-gold. You may still feel “wanting.” We live in one of the richest countries in the world, but the overall level of happiness here is lower than in many poorer countries. So, the question is, if money can’t buy happiness, what can?

Great wealth, personal success, and even fame is a lot of times a smoke screen and cover up what a person is really desiring. What they desire has substance and depth to it. Underneath it all, at their core they really desire attributes like joy, a sense of aliveness, peace of mind, happiness, connection, and fulfillment.

A Fulfilling Life is:

Special to You - What creates a fulfilling life for one person, isn’t necessarily the right combination for you. The essential ingredients are related but how it is unveiled varies with each person. Embrace who you are and revel in the significance and value you and all you represent bring to this world!

A Medley - Fulfillment isn’t just a by-product of those front page or news worthy experiences in life. The “every day” life occurrences contribute substantially to fulfillment. Here are some examples: being in the fastest checkout lane at the grocery store, finding no line at the post office, finding a “great” parking place even though the mall parking lot is packed with cars of holiday shoppers, and on and on.

All-Embracing - Fulfillment includes every area of our life. And whether we like it or not, each area of our life influences all the others, sometimes markedly and sometimes subtly. If you are not beaming from ear to ear about one or more areas of your life, just be open and receptive for your life to fine tune itself into that which is in your highest and best interest, and it will! With not a lot of planning (or concern) on your part your life will naturally evolve so your puzzle parts are in perfect alignment with each other. And the best part is; all areas will continue to adjust themselves, so your best possible life is available to you at any given time.

Ever-Evolving - What is fulfilling today, may not be fulfilling down the road. Fulfillment is not fixed; it is constantly adapting with our ever- changing life.

Can you stop the stars from coming out each night or the sun from shining brightly on a cloudless day? No, and so it is with the changes that naturally occur in our lives. When we release resistance, we have to change we are automatically carried along in the flow of life with grace and ease, allowing us to be available for all that life has to offer.

Fulfillment can never be gotten from anything we recall from the past, or something we look forward to in the future. Genuine fulfillment is experienced in the present moment, all of your senses are employed and you are filled with satisfaction and pleasure (the stuff that puts a smile on your face). And you know that; Ah hh, this is a great moment. It’s knowing that whatever is going on right now is perfect.

Once you get familiar with these moments, you cannot go back to what was (nor do you want to). An awareness is formed; you get plugged in. You start to experience more and more of these moving and powerful moments until your entire life becomes a truly fulfilling experience.

Here’s one for the road. When you treat yourself as you would someone you really love you’ll experience a level of satisfaction and fulfillment that’s otherwise unavailable. No one knows as much about you as you do. When you need a lift, rely on the world’s expert on you. If you haven’t yet appreciated yourself today, now would be a good time for it. If you have, appreciate yourself for having appreciated yourself. Ah hh, doesn’t that feel good!

Mary Kay Buttery, 2006

A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. - unknown

Mary Kay is a natural healer, passionate that people discover simplicity and fulfillment in their everyday experiences. She facilitates live events and is available for private and phone consultations. Be sure to visit her website and sign up for her, which is filled with inspirational, motivational and helpful information on creating a life you truly love.
If you want Mary Kay to speak at an event in your area or you want to contact her: call 702-239-5451 or e-mail marykay@sfgtd.com.

Most people like movies. Some, like me, are enthralled by them. I am sure that making a movie is a lot of work; but to me, it seems like it must be the most fun in the world. I especially love movies that I can get so caught up in that they become real; so real that I forget that I am watching a movie. I fantasize about becoming an actor/director in a movie that I have scripted.

It would become known as a classic. Drama, comedy, action, romance, special effects, stunning plot twists and more. It would be like creating magic. All arising out of my imagination. What fun!

Try this perspective on for size…

The real you is the spiritual being who has chosen to live this experience of being alive on planet earth right now. You are the actor / director / screenplay writer of this marvelous virtual reality movie called your life.

As the actor, you get to choose how to play the character, what emotions to experience, what responses to circumstances, what nuances to bring to your role, how real to make your assumed character, what motivations drive the person you are playing.

As the director, you get to choose the perspectives (camera shots), paint the scene, set the tone, coach the actor to be the best, control the pace of action, emphasize certain aspects of the plot, play down others and bring the storyline to life, make it real and believable.

As the screenwriter, you get to create the main character (hero), script the story, decide how it unfolds, how it turns out, add clever dialogue, add in other interesting characters, add in the plot twists and turns, adapt the story as the characters develop their roles and as the director emphasizes certain perspectives of the storyline.

Finally, as the editor, you get to patch together the multitude of scenes into one coherent whole. You even get to cut out some scenes and leave them on the cutting room floor as not being essential to the final version.

The real you, your higher self, your spiritual essence knows this is a movie. You, as the ultimate method actor, get so caught up in your role that you forget it is a movie. You may have forgotten that you are also the director and the screenwriter and most certainly have forgotten that you will be the editor who cuts and pastes all the action shot to create the final version that the real you will enjoy as audience.

It is time to remember that you can choose how this all unfolds and turns out. It is time to become a conscious creator.

“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts…”

William Shakespeare

Everything is a metaphor!

© Leslie Fieger. All rights reserved worldwide.

Leslie is the author of The DELFIN Knowledge System Trilogy: The Initiation, The Journey and The Quest plus many more success publications. He also the co-author of The End of the World with Hugh Jeffries and Alexandra’s DragonFire with his daughter Ashley. Subscribe to his free and ad-free eZine at http://www.ProsperityParadigm.com or http://www.LeslieFieger.com.

Reprinting and republishing of this article is granted only with the above credit included. Permission to reprint or republish does not waive any copyright.

Direct Answers - Column for the week of December 16, 2002

I recently went on a date with this guy I met online. We had been emailing for a few weeks before we decided to go out together.

We met at a restaurant, and he brought me a huge vase of flowers. He was sweet, polite and gentlemanly toward me and our conversation was good. But I felt embarrassed by all the attention given to me by the waitresses and bus staff regarding the flowers.

That’s not even the whole story. You see, at the end of the date, this guy drove me home and got this huge box out of the trunk. He said he had gotten something else besides the flowers. We went in the house, I opened the box, and it was a DVD player!

I told him I couldn’t accept such an expensive gift, but he refused to take it back. My family keeps telling me to give it back to him, and that it is morally wrong to keep it. I told him how I felt about the flowers and DVD player, and he just said he gets carried away sometimes.

I don’t want to date him anymore, but because he and I have a lot in common I thought we could be friends. He has agreed to be friends, but I still have the DVD player! Part of me wants to keep it because I’ve wanted one for so long, but I could never afford it because I am unemployed.

I want to do the right thing and give it back, but then again, I want so much to be able to keep it. What do you think?

Ramona

Ramona, people who give something “over the top,” usually expect something in return. That something is usually a thing you would not have given freely in the beginning.

When you create a chink in what is acceptable, you open yourself to all kinds of consequences, and you create a propensity in yourself to act weakly. Accepting this gift makes you look bad. It makes it appear your standards depend on the price being right.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of writing an advice column is this. We get to see so many patterns of behavior repeated again and again. The behavior we see in your letter often ends in one of two places. Either you become vulnerable to men who think they can buy what they want from you, or you end up married to a man you didn’t even want to date. Send it back.

Tamara

Catching Fleas

In February 2002 my friend Helen asked to borrow money or the bank would take her house. The money Helen borrowed I was saving for new carpet in my house. When I asked for it back, she said she lent the money to her friend Sandi, who is having an affair on her husband. Helen promised to repay the loan once Sandi repays her.

Helen is also having an affair, and I even covered for her with her husband by saying she was with me. In August I charged the carpet on a no-interest, no-payment credit card. If I don’t get the money back by February 2003, I owe the whole amount plus six months of finance charges.

If I take Helen to court, all of this including her cheating will come out in the wash. What can I do to save this friendship and get my money back?

Karen

Karen, we make our own future, but in a way so subtle most of us can’t figure it out. Involving yourself with deceitful people in a web of deceit was bound to come back to haunt you. If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.

Perhaps a lawyer could help. But if you can’t get your money returned, consider it the most valuable lesson you have learned in a long, long time.

Wayne

About The Author

Authors and columnists Wayne and Tamara Mitchell can be reached at www.WayneAndTamara.com.

Send letters to: Direct Answers, PO Box 964, Springfield, MO 65801 or email: DirectAnswers@WayneAndTamara.com.

Why ‘you are special’?

Why and how does it matter?

Things you can say to yourself to feel great and special always.

Why ‘you are special’?:

You are special. Just like your fingerprint is unique, you are a unique person with a special purpose. No one is born to do the things you were born to do.

You are special because God made you special.

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous–and how well I know it.” (Psalm 139:13-14 NLT)

A great philosopher James Allen wrote in his book ‘As a Man Thinketh’ -

“As a being of power, intelligence, and love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.”

Do not compare yourself with others. There is no need to compare yourself with another person. If you look around, there may be many people who excel in your field. You can learn from them, but do not let them intimidate you. Never, ever compare yourself with others whether you feel they are superior to you or inferior to you. Do not let that hinder your genius. Be your best and that is all what matters. When you are at your best, everything you do is a masterpiece. You do not have to prove anything to anybody.

You have the same three-pound brain like everybody else, which is capable of doing wonderful things. There is a story about C.V.Raman, a genius who won the Nobel Prize for Physics: One of his students was once experimenting with an X-ray tube of 1-kilowatt power. The student felt depressed when he came to know that a scientist in England is experimenting on the same problem with a 5-kilowatt X-ray tube. With a smile, Raman suggested his student, “The solution is very simple; use your 10-kilowatt brain on the problem.” You too have the 10-kilowatt power brain and you too can use it for your own special purposes. The whole world of opportunity is open to you. Think of all the wonderful things you can do and enjoy.

Why and how does it matter?:

By realizing that you are special, you can make a difference in the world, you can have an impact on your surroundings. The successful accomplishments of your goals and dreams lead to greater contribution to yourself, your family, and the world.

By being your best, you can make a great impact on the society, like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, or C.V.Raman. You have the unique qualities and exceptional genius. Imagine the impact the world can experience by having hundred Edisons.

Take action. There was a young man who was an artist. He used to get discouraged thinking that, may be there are other good artists who are better than he is. Few of his friends encouraged; few others discouraged him. He went ahead and participated in the competition anyway. When he won the award, a guy commented, “This does not mean that you are the best. There may be other good artists, who did not participate in the contest”. May be true, but participation was important. By not participating, you lose your chance to be successful.

By taking action, you bring your unique credentials to the table. You make the world a better place to live. Step out and do something.

“The difference between what we are capable of doing and what we do, can solve most of the problems in this world.” - Mahatma Gandhi.

There is enough for all of us. There is an abundance of good things and abundance is available to you. By keeping in mind that you are special, you will have abundant supply of opportunities and ideas to excel in your chosen endeavor.

Things you can say to yourself to feel great and special always:

Take a piece of paper and write down the following self-affirmations. Keep the paper with you always and read it whenever you can, minimum two times a day. You will experience a difference, because spoken words are so powerful.

• God made me special.

• I am a lot stronger and more powerful than I think.

• I have unlimited potential.

• All the power is within me; I can achieve anything I set my mind to.

• I am abundant. My life is abundant with good things.

• Every day, in every way I am becoming better and better

• I strive for excellence in everything I do.

• I deserve the best.

You deserve to be successful. You deserve to be great.

About The Author

Vinayak Bhat is a software consultant and a business owner. He is one of the editors at Success4Sure.com, which provides the excellent tools and resources to help you in realizing your goals and dreams. You can find many free articles, e-books and successful home business tools at http://www.success4sure.com This article may be freely reprinted and distributed in its entirety only, providing this entire byline.

I have had the great privilege of having a mother for 51 years
and being one for 28 years. The older I get, the more I
appreciate the most wonderful gift that God could have ever
given me, my own mom. I see myself in her in many ways
and in other ways, I’m nothing like her. I have made many
mistakes in my life, ones that my mother would never have
made, but she respected me as an individual and never
tried to interfere. She knew she gave me a firm foundation
on which to come back into. I can’t say she wasn’t heart
broken at times for some of my decisions. But, she had faith
in God and His promises. And this is what makes a godly
mother.

She took me to church on Sundays and she made sure I
had a proper upbringing. She taught me how to be secure in
who I was, and made me aware of my own moral beliefs. I
was fortunate to have a godly mother who introduced me to
a loving God by showing me that same love, unconditionally.
She passed down these attributes to me and by the time I
had my children, they were also aware of the love I had for
them, no matter what they may have done.

In looking back on my life, I have to admit that I turned from
the right path and chose my own course for awhile, and God
wasn’t a very big part of it. It’s a typical human reaction to
retreat and hide from God when you know you’re behaving
badly. Once these circumstances catch up with you, God
then becomes the main focus again and this is where He
takes us into the woodshed and teaches us the lessons we
thought we could do without! It goes to show that you can
never hide from God, He’ll find you every time and He will
correct you.

“Train up a child in the way he should go (and in keeping
with his individual gift or bent), and when he is old he will
not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (Amplified)

When we are raised in God’s Word, or have raised our own
children that way, we must trust that everything will turn out
for the good even when it seems like all is lost. It’s not a
matter of “If” but rather “When” things will turn around. Just
like my own mother, she never lost hope that I would come
back to Christ. I thank her for her prayers.

Once God’s Word has entered into your life, you will never
depart from it. Thank God He knows the disobedience of
children and the rebellious condition of their hearts. He is
always ready and waiting to forgive. And God gave mothers
this unconditional love also.

There are several mothers mentioned in the Bible that set
examples for us today. A godly mother is a rare commodity
in today’s society and she is more precious than gold. What
makes a mother like this so special in God’s eyes? Let’s
look at a few examples.

First there was Hannah. God had left her barren and as any
normal woman, she had strong maternal instincts. She was
one of two wives and her husband Elkanah’s other wife,
Peninnah, had no sympathy for Hannah’s childless
condition. Hannah laid her burden before God in prayer and
promised Him that if He would allow her to conceive, she
would give him back in lifetime service.

That’s exactly what happened. God gave her a son called
Samuel and he was raised by Eli the high priest. Hannah
was a woman of her word and God blessed her and these
blessings were handed down to Samuel as well. (Read 1
Sam. 1).

Another special mother was Eunice. There isn’t much said
about her, but Paul gave her credit when he wrote to her son
Timothy (2 Tim.) Eunice raised Timothy in God’s Word. This
wasn’t particularly easy for her since her husband was a
Greek and did not believe in Jesus. There are many women
today who have husbands that are non-believers but are
raising their children to be godly people, and they are to be
commended for their service to the Lord.

“But as for you, continue to hold to the things that you have
learned and of which your are convinced, knowing from
whom you have learned (them).” 2 Tim. 3:14 (Amplified)

Eunice didn’t abandon her hope in raising Timothy to be a
Christian. Eunice also had a godly mother named Lois who
had a major part in Timothy’s upbringing. They taught young
Timothy the word of God from the moment he was old
enough to understand it and for this, it stuck with him in his
later years. Paul recognized the great importance of these
two women in Timothy’s life. Can you see yourself in any of
these godly mothers?

As anyone knows, mothers are the major factor in molding
us into the people we are and that in turn, we pass them
onto our own children and grandchildren. Mothers have
many roles in their life, just as God Himself. A mother is
gentle, loving, fair, patient, encouraging but also must be a
disciplinarian. A loving mother must always correct her
child in order to make them a responsible person later on.
Sometimes it doesn’t make us very popular, but when all is
said and done, we will forever be remembered on our
special day. What our children may not see as a benefit
today, will look back and thank us. Children are foolish, but
since we are the adults, we have the wisdom and need to
use it!

“Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod
of discipline will drive it far from him.” Proverbs 22:15
(Amplified)

The best gift we as moms can give our children is
discipline. It makes for a strong, secure and responsible
adult. Face it, the world is a tough place to exist and has no
patience for fools.

It was never my intention to give my two young sons
everything they thought they wanted. I made them aware of
the reality that was waiting for them. I wanted them to realize
that they would appreciate things better if they had to work
for them. Today both of them are earning their own way in
the world and doing a great job of it at that.

It is my goal in life that when I reach the end of my days, I
can look back not in regret, but rather that I have left a legacy
of God’s Word in my own childrens’ lives and they in turn will
hand this down to their children. That is the true meaning of
being a godly mother and succeeding in the plan that God
has laid out for each and every one of us.

When a mother has eyes of faith, she will see God at work
in everything.

If this article has touched you, won’t you please add a
comment and give God the glory today?

Vivian Gordon writes inspirational and spiritual articles
in which to help strengthen the Believer’s walk in Christ.
They are often taken from today’s point of view and
used in conjunction with what God says about certain
situations and how we are to handle them. There is
always an answer for every problem. These articles are
not all about asking God “why?” but in finding the
answers.

What is it that makes people stay up until the wee hours of the morning one night out of the year? My primary objective in life is not to see how late I can stay up, but getting up in the morning.

If I can get up each morning, it is a major accomplishment that I should celebrate with eggs, bacon and a hot cup of coffee which is about all the celebrating I can handle.

I’m not anxious to see someone drop the ball on New Year’s Eve. I do enough of that myself throughout the year and believe me, nobody cheers.

One thing I am most careful to do each New Year’s Day is make out my resolutions for the coming year. New Year’s resolutions represent one of the most ancient of human rituals. I say “human rituals” because it is not known whether the animal or plant world enjoy such exhilarating rituals. The evidence at this point in time is inclusive.

Perhaps Mark Twain was correct when he observed, “humans are the only animals that blush or need to.”

I have not always held such high and lofty views of the New Year’s resolution. Once, when I was young and did not know any better, I completely ignored this yearly ritual.

My good friend and mentor, the Reverend Frank Simmons, set me straight on this important issue. My early pastorate was close to Frank’s and we spent much time together. I learned so much from him, things they do not teach in college.

Each New Year’s Day we would spend in each other’s society. One year Frank and his wife would entertain us at his parsonage and the next year my wife and I would reciprocate. It was at our parsonage one year when I made the casual remark that I did not believe in New Year’s resolutions.

As far as I was concerned, a New Year’s resolution was a useless attempt to interfere with scientific laws. My best resolve is not going to change much in the long run. Besides, I can’t run that far these days. My mind is bigger than my legs.

For example. Have you ever noticed that a New Year’s resolution is stronger at its birth than any subsequent period? My best intention in January is a long faded memory by July.

Most New Year’s resolutions are simply lame attempts to apologize for the past year and a promise of better behavior in the year ahead. People spend so much energy in the creative act of coming up with a good set of New Year’s resolutions that there is no energy left to actually keep them for more than two consecutive days.

Frank allowed me to dig my hole as deep as possible and then in his unique way, let me know that I was wrong. I always took criticism from him very seriously.

“Can you tell me,” he asked with a mischievous twinkle, “the origin of the New Year’s resolution and who made the first one?”

Of course, he caught all of us off guard with this one. My good wife suggested that maybe it was Samson who resolved to give up female barbers.

Everyone had a good laugh at that one. Frank especially enjoyed it, slapping his knee and roaring with laughter.

My thoughts turned to the biblical book of Ecclesiastes. “When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.” (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 KJV.)

In my mind, a vow is the same thing as a resolution.

As important as it is to make a vow, or resolution, keeping it is more important. If you cannot, or will not, keep it, better not make it.

A resolution is not an opportunity to boast. It should be done very carefully and sincerely.

Many people at this time of the year make resolutions such as attending church more regularly, reading their Bible and praying every day, and giving more money to their local church.

Such resolutions are music in the ear of every pastor. The problem is, the band stops playing in mid-February.

If everyone who made such resolutions actually kept them for an entire year, most pastors would have heart attacks by September. Thankfully, there is no actual medical danger for the cleric population.

Back to Frank’s intriguing question. “Can you tell me the origin of the New Year’s resolution and who made the first one?”

During our lively discussion of the subject Frank kept quiet. He just leaned back in his chair, listening to the deliberation with a devilish grin playing across his face. Gradually, the rest of us grew silent and directed our attention toward Frank.

“All right,” I finally begged, “tell us. Where did the New Year’s Resolution originate and who make the first one?”

Frank knew he had us right where he wanted us.

“Not many people know,” Frank began, “that the New Year’s resolution has biblical roots. It began with Adam.”

He certainly had my attention and I leaned forward to catch every word. With great deliberation Frank explained, “As the first couple began their second year in the Garden of Eden, Adam turned to Eve and said, ‘Honey, this year I’m going to turn over a new leaf.’”

Rev. James L. Snyder is an award winning author and popular columnist living with his wife, Martha, in Ocala, Florida and can be contacted at jamessnyder2@att.net.