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WITandWISDOM(tm) - April 11, 2003 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." - Artier Rubenstein Source: Quotes of the Day, mailto:rheamo@centurytel.net?subject=Subscribe_Quotes_of_the_Day ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Most people do not see angels because they have not learned where to look. When I was a young girl in India, my mother worked as a house servant to a very wealthy family. My father was gone, so the task fell to my mother to care for the family he left behind: two daughters, a small son, and our grandmother. With dwindling resources, she did what she could to keep us together. We lived on the estate in quarters that were comfortable, though lacking in the luxury we had once known. It did not really matter to me. What I truly loved were the gardens, and I was permitted to walk in them as I wished, inhaling the satin perfume of roses that stretched out in a tapestry of singular beauty. My mother's employer was not a kind man; his earthly success made him blind to his humble roots. Among his acquisitions, those he most prized were his women, and there came a day when both my sister and I won his unsought attention. Within a short time, offers of marriage were made to our mother for both us. He was refused, his rage was stoked, and we found ourselves suddenly without a home or money for our basic needs. On the whim of a small pity, we were allowed to stay in the basement room of a grain shed, where we were instructed to use anything in it, but nothing else. Here, we would wait for Mother to find work. Whether we starved was entirely our own burden. Our grandmother was a meticulously honest Christian woman, taking nothing that was not earned or given. However unfair our situation, it was understood that we would not steal our way through. So we prayed. And waited. And prayed. Hunger crept over us and became a silent specter in our room, though we did what we could to minimize its presence. We sang and played games, mended clothing, and told stories late into the dark nights. While we had faith in God's ability to see us through, my heart sorrowed for our brother. He was too young, I thought, to understand this burden, and I prayed that there would be food, if only just for him. I had mistaken my brother's innocence for a lack of wisdom, as one night I heard a whispered prayer. "Dear Jesus," he said, "I don't need any food just yet. But please send some for my sisters and grandmother. They're too old to understand." A miracle happened that night, showing itself in the morning as a small pile of grain on the floor. It was enough to grind into flour, with a remainder to sell at market for fruit and vegetables. That evening's supper may have been the simplest yet most abundant meal we had ever shared. We thanked God and fell asleep. When morning broke in a thousand shades of pink, our miracle was happening again, though this time we witnessed the agent of our gift. Above us, through a hole in our ceiling, a tiny mouse pushed the grains, stopping when there was enough for only one day. Enough for only one day is what God's mouse gave us for many weeks. Until three days before Mother returned, we wanted for nothing. We never forgot the small mouse sent to deliver us from hunger - and our great God who sent the mouse. By Colleen Hossack As told to Darcie Hossack, Kelowna, British Columbia Source: Adventist Review, ISSN 0161-1119, (c) January 9, 2003, http://www.adventistreview.org/ Submitted by Nancy Simpson ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: "Out-Of-The-Office" E-Mail Here are some fun alternatives to liven up your out-of-the-office e-mails. 1. Thank you for your e-mail. Your credit card has been charged $5.99 for the first ten words and $1.99 for each additional word in your message. 2. Thank you for your message, which has been added to a queuing system. You are currently in 352nd place, and can expect to receive a reply in approximately 19 weeks. 3. Due to a transporter malfunction, I am now in the 24th century, and I don't know when I'll be back. But hey, leave a message. Someone might get to it. 4. In case of a business emergency, I may be reached 24 hours a day at (insert boss's cell phone number here). 5. The e-mail server is unable to deliver this message. Please restart your computer and try sending again. 6. Please reply to this e-mail so I will know that you got this message. Source: Clean Laugh, http://www.cybersalt.org/lists.htm ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: How is playing the bagpipes like throwing a javelin blindfolded? You don't have to be good to get everyone's attention. - The Jokesmith Source: Reader's Digest, Copyright (c) February 2000, http://www.readersdigest.com/ ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: A number of years ago Nikita Khrushchev, premier of the former Soviet Union, gave a major address on the state of Soviet affairs before the Supreme Soviet in Moscow. During his presentation Khrushchev was highly critical of Stalin. While Khrushchev was speaking someone from the audience sent up an embarrassing note. "Premier Khrushchev, what were you doing when Stalin committed all these atrocities?" Khrushchev angrily shouted, "Who sent up this note?" Not a person stirred. "I will give him one minute to stand up." The seconds ticked off. Still no one moved. "All right, I will tell you what I was doing. I was doing exactly what the writer of this note was doing - exactly nothing! I was afraid to be counted." Source: Adventist Review, ISSN 0161-1119, (c) February 2003, http://www.adventistreview.org/ Submitted by Nancy Simpson |