Net Miles Of Smiles

Calm, serene, tranquil, peaceful

Ripples slowly moving towards the shore

Cascading Falls flowing leisurely downstream

Gently gliding over smooth stones

Fishes swimming freely in close circles

Hearts content with the ebb and flow

Peace, still inner peace

Come and fill my soul with calm.

(c) Marvelous

Comments (0) Jul 24 2008

You know, Lord,
How I serve You
With great emotional fervor
In the limelight.
You know how eagerly
I speak for You
At a women’s club.
You know how I effervesce
When I promote
A fellowship group.
You know my genuine enthusiasm
At a Bible study.
But how would I react , I wonder,
If You pointed to a basin of water
And asked me to wash
The calloused feet
Of a bent and wrinkled old woman
Day after day,
Month after month,
In a room where nobody saw
And nobody knew?

– Ruth Harms Calkin

++++

Love’s secret is to be always doing things for God and not to mind because they are such very little ones. You may never receive recognition in this life for the kind things you do, but someday you will receive praise from God. He notices!

Comments (0) Jul 24 2008

When an old lady died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Dundee, Scotland, it was believed that she had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through her meager possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital. One nurse took her copy to Ireland.

The old lady’s sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the North Ireland Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on her simple, but eloquent, poem. And this little old Scottish lady, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this “anonymous” poem “Crabby Old Woman.”

<><><><><><><><><>

What do you see, nurses?
What do you see?
What are you thinking
When you’re looking at me?

A crabby old woman,
Not very wise,
Uncertain of habit,
With faraway eyes?

Who dribbles her food
And makes no reply
When you say in a loud voice,
“I do wish you’d try!”

Who seems not to notice
The things that you do,
And forever is losing
A stocking or shoe?

Who, resisting or not,
Lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding,
The long day to fill?

Is that what you’re thinking?
Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse,
You’re not looking at me.

I’ll tell you who I am
As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding,
As I eat at your will.

I’m a small child of ten
With a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters,
Who love one another.

A young girl of sixteen
With wings on her feet
Dreaming that soon now
A lover she’ll meet.

A bride soon at twenty,
My heart gives a leap,
Remembering the vows
That I promised to keep.

At twenty-five now,
I have young of my own,
Who need me to guide
And a secure happy home.

A woman of thirty,
My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other
With ties that should last.

At forty, my young sons
Have grown and are gone,
But my man’s beside me
To see I don’t mourn.

At fifty once more,
Babies play round my knee,
Again we know children,
My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me,
My husband is dead,
I look at the future,
I shudder with dread

For my young are all rearing
Young of their own,
And I think of the years
And the love that I’ve known.

I’m now an old woman
And nature is cruel;

Read More

Comments (0) Jul 22 2008

I read of a reverend who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end.

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He noted that first came the date of her birth
And spoke of the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years.

+++

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Comments (0) Jul 17 2008

I`m growing slow and somewhat weak…

my eyes are growing dim…

my laughter`s growing fainter and…

I`ve lost a lot of vim…

I`m growing careless in my dress…

and deeper in each sigh…

and as for music I enjoy…

a restful lullaby…

but nonetheless my faith grows strong…

my hopes are growing too…

and I am growing fonder of…

the dreams that I pursue…

I`m growing much more tolerant…

Read More

Comments (0) Jul 17 2008

We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers;

wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.

We spend more, but have less; buy more but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families;

more conveniences, but less time;

we have more degrees, but less sense;

more knowledge, but less judgment;

more experts, but more problems;

more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much,

spend too recklessly, laugh too little,

drive too fast,

get too angry too quickly,

stay up too late, get up too tired,

read too seldom,

watch too much TV,

and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.

We talk too much, love too seldom and lie too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life;

we’ve added years to life, but not life to years.

We’ve been all the way to the moon and back,

but have trouble crossing the street to meet our neighbors.

We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space;

we’ve done larger things, but not better things;

we’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul;

we’ve split the atom, but not our prejudice;

we write more, but learn less;

plan more, but accomplish less.

We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait;

we have higher incomes; but lower morals;

more food but less appeasement;

more acquaintances, but fewer friends;

more effort but less success.

We build more computers to hold more information,

to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication;

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Comments (0) Jul 11 2008