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WITandWISDOM(tm) - August 30, 2006 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: We are made to persist. That's how we find out who we are. - Tobias Wolff Source: Inspire, http://www.inspirelist.com/ ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: "A Mitzvah Lady " The author wishes to remain anonymous Edited by Shmuel Greenbaum From: http://www.TraditionOfKindness.org My friend Judy has been a foster parent for over 20 years. Now that her own children are married with children of their own, she cares for two Down syndrome girls, an autistic 20-year old boy, and a 5-year old emotionally disturbed child! Sunday was visiting day at the overnight camps, so she hired a car service for the day, to drive her (about three hours each way) to the camps and back. First she visited the girls. They are, thank G-d, very high functioning, and were eagerly waiting for "Mommy" to arrive. They had a blast showing her around the camp, introducing her to their new friends, etc., just like any other campers would do. After several hours with her girls, she made the trip to the boys' camp. She found Joey lying dejectedly on his bed, since there were no activities scheduled at the time for boys without visitors. As soon as Joey saw her, his face lit up, and he excitedly cried out "Mommy!" as he ran towards her. Judy took Joey to the lake to go rowing with him, and on the way saw two other dejected young men. "You have no visitors?" she asked. "OK, so you're also coming with us to the lake". And they all trudged down the path together, for an unbelievable afternoon of fun. Alex, the car service driver, was with her this whole time, and saw everything she was doing. When she got home, she asked Alex how much she owed him, guessing it would be at least US$300. He responded with, "You are a mitzvah lady. You did a big mitzvah today. I can't take any money from you; that will be my mitzvah!" He even refused to let her just reimburse him for the gas and tolls. Not a penny. Judy told me this story because she couldn't get over how Alex refused to accept any money after driving around in the New York heat wave all day. And according to Alex, Judy is the real hero. Source: Kind Words, mailto:Kindness-subscribe@PartnersInKindness.org ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: DANVILLE, Va. (July 28) - Electrician Michael Hoskins is not averse to browsing when he drops off trash at the Route 41 dump bin, and a recent visit rewarded is curiosity. Hoskins said he discovered a 188-year-old King James Bible. Now he's fending off offers approaching $1,000 for the find. For more including a picture visit: http://tinyurl.com/fgkce Submitted by Carol Blum ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: The captain had executed a few maneuvers that had never been taught at the Naval Academy. Angrily, the admiral in charge of the fleet flashed a quick message to the captain, saying, "You are the dumbest, most ignorant, absolutely idiotic sailor ever put on God's blue ocean!" When it was delivered, the captain told the radioman to read it to him. The radioman hesitated. The captain insisted. The radioman coughed and read the degrading message in front of a whole bridge full of officers. Without skipping a beat, the captain covered for himself, saying, "Take that below and have it decoded!" Submitted by Lorraine ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: A study was done by psychologist Dr. Henry H. Goddard, on energy levels in children. He used an instrument he called the "ergograph." How he ever got some children to stand still long enough to connect them to the machine is a mystery. But he did, and his findings are fascinating. He found that when tired children are given a word of praise or encouragement, the ergograph shows an immediate upward surge of new energy. When the children are criticized and discouraged, the ergograph shows their physical energy take a sudden nose-dive. Those results could be probably be duplicated in adults. When we are praised our energy levels go up. When we are criticized our energy levels go down. From: Holwick’s Illustrations, http://www.holwick.com/ Source: SermonCentral Weekly Newsletter, http://www.sermoncentral.com/newsletter_subscribe.asp