Praying Hands

Many of us would have seen the picture of The Praying Hands, also present in many Christian homes, but would almost certainly not have heard the moving story behind this popular picture.
Here is the story.
THE STORY BEHIND THE PICTURE OF THE PRAYING HANDS

Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg , lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood.

Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of the elder children, Albrecht and Albert, had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full well that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the Academy.

After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines.

They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg .

Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrecht's etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.

When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht's triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were, "And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you."

All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, "No ...no....no ..no."

Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, "No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg . It is too late for me. Look ... Look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother ....for me it is too late."

More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer's hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, water colors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world, but the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer's works. More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home or office.

One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother's abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply "Hands," but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love "The Praying Hands." The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second look. Let it be your reminder, that no one - no one - ever makes it alone!

"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace."

Shared by

Carol Steficek

God's Awesome Accuracy in His Creation

 Fascinating, I've never given most of this a thought!!!!
 God's accuracy may be observed in the hatching of eggs.
 For example: 

 -the eggs of the potato bug hatch in 7 days; 
 -those of the canary in 14 days; 

 -those of the barnyard hen in 21 days;
 -The eggs of ducks and geese hatch in 28 days;
 -those of the mallard in 35 days;
 -The eggs of the parrot and the ostrich hatch in 42 days.
 (Notice, they are all divisible by seven, the number of days in a
 week!)

  God's wisdom is seen in the making of an elephant. 

 The four legs of  this great beast all bend forward in the same direction. No other quadruped is so made. God planned that this animal would have a huge body, too large to live on two legs... For this reason He gave it four fulcrums so that it can rise from the ground easily. 

 The horse rises from the ground on its two front legs first. A cow rises from the  ground with its two hind legs first. How wise the Lord is in all His works of creation! 

 God's wisdom is revealed in His arrangement of sections and segments, 
 as well as in the number of grains.  

-Each watermelon has an even number of stripes on the rind. 
 -Each orange has an even number of segments.
 -Each ear of corn has an even number of rows.
 -Each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains.
 -Every bunch of bananas has on its lowest row an even number of
   bananas, and each row decreases by one, so that one row has an even
  number and the next row an odd number.



 -The waves of the sea roll in on shore twenty-six to the minute in    all kinds of weather. 

 All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks, and the Lord
  specified thirty fold, sixty fold, and a hundred fold - all even
  numbers.

  God has caused the flowers to blossom at certain specified times
    during the day, so that Linnaeus, the great botanist, once said that
    if he had a conservatory containing the right kind of soil, moisture
   and temperature, he could tell the time of day or night by the flowers
   that were open and those that were closed!

  The lives of each of you may be ordered by the Lord in a beautiful
   way for His glory, if you will only entrust Him with your life. If you
   try to regulate your own life, it will only be a mess and a failure.


  Only the One Who made the brain and the heart can successfully guide
    them to a profitable end.

Apolitical Aphorisms

Funny but sadly true in many ways. Please pray for our elected officials and the future of the world.

If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates.~Jay Leno~

The problem with political jokes is they get elected.
~Henry Cate, VII~

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office
~Aesop~

If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these State of the Union speeches, there wouldn't be any inducement to go to heaven.
~Will Rogers~

Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.
~Nikita Khrushchev~

When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm
beginning to believe it.
~Clarence Darrow~

Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your
opponents will do it for you.
~Author unknown~

Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel.
~John Quinton~

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.
~Oscar Ameringer~

I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I
will stop telling the truth about them.
~Adlai Stevenson, campaign speech, 1952~

A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.
~ Tex Guinan~

I have come to the conclusion that politics is too serious a matter to be
left to the politicians.
~Charles de Gaulle~

Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to
change the locks.
~Doug Larson~

There ought to be one day -- just one -- when there is open season on
senators.
~Will Rogers~

HOW DO YOU LIVE YOUR DASH?

HOW DO YOU LIVE YOUR DASH?

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning….to the end.
He noted that first came her date of birth
And spoke the following date with tears.
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years (1900-1970). 

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth…
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own;
The cars…the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.
So think about this long and hard…
Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left,
That can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough
To consider what’s true and real.
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger,
And show appreciation more.
And love the people in our lives
Like we’ve never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect,
And more often wear a smile…
Remembering that his special dash
Might only last a little while.
So, when our eulogy’s being read
With your life’s actions to rehash…
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

(author unknown)

A Letter from God

A letter from the Post Office... this is absolutely the best!!  We don't know who replied, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter office  who understands LOVE..........................  Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month.  The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was  crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.  She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to  heaven, God would recognize her.  I told her that I thought that we could, so she dictated these words:  Dear God,  Will you please take care of my dog?  Abbey died yesterday and is with you in heaven.  I miss her very much.  I 'm happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.  I hope you will play with her.  She likes to swim and play with balls.  I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog.  I really miss her. Love, Meredith  We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey & Meredith,  addressed it to God/Heaven.  We put our return address on it.  Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she  said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven.  That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office.  A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet.  I told her that I thought He had.  Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch  addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand.  Meredith opened it.  Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies.'  Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God  in its opened envelope.  On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:  Dear Meredith,  Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help and I  recognized her right away.  Abbey isn't sick anymore.  Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart.  Abbey loved being your dog.  Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to  keep your picture in so I'm sending it back to you in this little book for  you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.  Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you  write it and sending it to me.  What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.  By the way, I'm easy to find. I am wherever there is love.  Love,  God

ALIVE

I have this acronym “ALIVE” on a post-it note on my desk.  A dear friend introduced it to me at a time in my life when I was feelings pretty discouraged and lost. Wherever I go – this post-it note ends up on my desk in one of those little wire picture frame holders. I keep it to remind me of how I should live because it is so easy to loose track of what is important in life, what really matters and where I am going. It helps me focus on the things of God and to let go of the things that, at the time can seem immensely important, but if not of God truly are of little value. I want my life to model a person of integrity and honor, and in this world we can become so distracted by worldly things that our focus gets lost. So I keep this post-it note to bring me back so I don’t become so discouraged in life to no longer care. Days and months can go by and I can forget this little post-it note is there. But then there are days, like today, when I need it the most to remind me to “always live in view of eternity.”  I hope you will copy this and put in a place where you too will be reminded of the Hope you have and where to place your focus so you can “always live in view of eternity.”

Written by Patty B. ♥

Love and Accept Yourself

As God Loves and Accepts You

We are often most critical of ourselves, but God wants us to love ourselves. We need to love and accept ourselves for who we are, just as we are. Those with a healthy self-esteem are able to recognize their strengths, know their limitations  and still value themselve unconditionally. 

Affirmation for the Week: 

"I am a worthy, valuable and lovable person who is unconditionally loved by God."

Ephesus

This is a writing about a trip and tour to Ephesus, Turkey, from which Carol Steficek returned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Background:

     Ephesus was a well situated trade center, close to the Maeander Valley and with harbor access to the Cayster River.  It was Arzawa Kingdom's "Apasa" which is mentioned in Hittite documents.  The Temple of Artemis was erected in 500 B.C.  It was considered to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The outdoor theater seated 50,000 people and was the largest in the world.  Ephesus was once the capital of the Asian province.  The population was more than 200,000 people.

     

 

    The Ephesus church was established by St. Jean in the 1st century.  The 7th & 8th centuries brought attacks by the Turks and in the 10th century the name of the city was changed to Ayasuluk.

     

After Alexander, many Anatolian cities were rebuilt and renewed, including Ephesus.  The streets crossed each other at right angles, the slopes were terraced, and the buildings arranged orderly.

    

   Tour:

      Of all the ruins we toured, this was the most complete. We walked from the top of the city downward along a street called Kurets Street.  Partial buildings and temples remain on each side. The street itself is lined with large columns and statues in various states of repair.  The entire street pavement was marble and very slippery even in the dry weather and sunlight. Plus, it is anything but level as the marble slabs don't meet well anymore.  At least two people on our tour fell.   Everything is ornately carved -- the top entrances of the temples, statues, the top capitals of the columns. One of the largest partial structures remaining was the 3 story Celsius Library.  There was some evidence of the Christian influence as we saw some stones of buildings with crosses carved in them.  We could see the remains of some mosaic floors.  There is still much archeological digging and restoring taking place and cats and dogs freely roam the ruins.

    It is now amazing for me to open my Bible to the book of Ephesians and realize that I actually walked in the footsteps of St. Paul.

    I'm sorry there is no way to adequately describe what I saw and experienced without pictures and even then they don't do the tour justice.

Written by 

Carol Steficek 

Delta Airlines Patroitism

Some things are still going right in the USA.
This is really a great thing Delta is doing.
 Note this is at Atlanta Ga. Airport .

Thank God for the 49% of we Americans who 
still stand for dignified patriotism.


Delta Airlines


I had no idea Delta does this.
God Bless them!

Thank You Delta Airline employees.



http://www.youtube.com/embed/c_VGxfmDmEo

Messages from God...Day 2

Hi Lord - nice, short, & to the point

  

If you take 1 minute to read this prayer,  imagine how many prayers are going up for our country.   _____________________________________________________________                                                 Hi Lord,                       It’s me.                                              We are getting older       and things are getting bad here. Gas prices are too high, no jobs, and food and heating costs too high. I know some have taken You out of  our schools, government and even Christmas,  but Lord I'm asking You  to come back and re-bless America  We really need You!  There are more of us who want You  than those who don't! Thank You Lord! I Love you.       "Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil ...it has no point."

Messages from God...Day 1

I have a whole list of these that I will post over the coming week.

ARE WE LISTENING?

IDLE THE DAY AWAY

9/26/13

 What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; 

and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops.

Matthew 10:27

In today’s life of hustle bustle, where weekends are booked months in advance, and where the social calendar carries scribbles overflowing the margins. And this is also where smart phones are synced with family members finding time to just sit and talk about nothing is a fanciful wish…. Not even a dream, for who has the time to dream now? When not too long ago was a time when many of us dared to day-dream.

I asked few friends what would they do if they were given a day to be free and everyone had a list that had some common wishes such as read, garden, go to park, walk, etc etc. If I were to be asked this question I would say I will do absolutely nothing. I will find myself a small hillock, reach there at sunrise, and stay there as long as I can. I will sit there for hours feeling the oneness with nature and observing the majestic march of the day.

As I near turning fifty, I have begun to think less about the daily struggle and more about what awaits us all in the end. Not death necessarily but thoughts such as, what is really important, time spent shopping or having coffee with a friend, time spent in endless senseless parties or spent in introspection. It is quite a paradox that, as our bodies’ age and one might think we need to rest more, our sleep switch gets messed up. I could sleep through the night but it seems that the bladders and the prostates are self-programmed to nudge everyone awake to drag the tired bodies out of the bed. Then one lays there cajoling sleep to return to the bed, but it evades us almost like a punitive lover.

So instead of lying in bed watching the numbers in the digital clock face mutate, I would get up and

chose to walk to my perch in the low hills. The dawn would be utterly silent, the newly made light just touching the tops of the trees in a glad and sure way. The distant hiss of the freeway, which I am so accustomed to now as the white noise, would also fade in background, as I would focus on the lone crow starting up somewhere and then prompting few other birds to chime in, chuckling and whistling but totally hidden from view.

A small smile would part my lips naturally instead of the caffeine high muscles pulling at them, and I would gaze at the shadowy pockets of vegetation now emerging into view. The bushes are woven tight as thatch, the trees, eucalyptus, oak and cherry looming above the bushes. As I would pass few houses, I might see the bright globes of lemons or oranges gobbling at the dark competing for visibility with the splashes of pink begonias. The shadows congeal as I start climbing eagerly anticipating the isolation from human life and connecting with the nature life.

From my slight elevated post the walls of houses scattered at lower levels look tall and mute, soft breeze swaying the treetops, as if shooing the birds fully awake. They stretch their wings lazily and glide into the crisp morning air. Out peeks the glorious sun from behind the hills, and the show is on. The bougainvillea over the walls of a house wall appear to be twisting towards the sun in great puffed up balls of leaf and thorn and flame red flowers.

Maybe I can see pair of cars pinked by the morning sun roll silently, and slowly the lights in the few kitchen windows go out, Like the birds humans also leave their nest in search of daily bread. If anyone were to ask what am I looking for my answer would be introspection. Connection, some sort of insight into lives, lived equally with my own and pain, the sort of pain and trauma that define and delimits any life on this earth. Maybe I will find it, or maybe I will just keep gazing and marveling at the ebullient life all around me. As the day will unfold I may discover simple joys of letting my eyes soak in the abundant beauty around me, let my nose smell faint fragrances that are lost in the exhaust of gas and diesel, let my skin be softly touched by the breeze and let my ears hear the crescendo of nature. My heart will sing, my heart will soar. and my mind will idle like a car put in neutral, ready to roar and drive off on a freeway of free thoughts.

I will sit there giddy with happiness, the kind of happiness akin to watching a tipped over basket of playful kittens. I will do nothing and truly idle the day away….what would you do?

Written by 

Nandita Bhatnagar

How Great Thou Art

9/18/13

This is an amazing song on YouTube. One man recorded it. By recording the song and then recording various harmonies three more times he created a one man quartet presentation. If one person sings along with him as she watches it there will be a quintet. If many persons sing along with his video there will be a virtual choir singing praise to the Lord. 

This is beautiful. You have to watch it at least three times, once to watch the Vance Perry singing, once to look at the pictures, and once to sing along with him

. . . . . He put in a lot of effort making this production all my himself.

     

        Here is the link...Enjoy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=dxCRIF0m79w&feature=related

Just For Fun

This is a really cute video about saying grace before breakfast.







https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=503889036344237&set=vb.154798851253259&type=2&theater

Fun Christian Sayings

9/14/13

These will make you smile.

• Church Parking Lot Sign: “FOR MEMBERS ONLY. Trespassers will be baptized.”
• “No God-No Peace… Know God-Know Peace.”

• “Free Trip to Heaven… Details Inside!”
• Try out Sundays.  They are better than Baskin-Robbins.'
• “Wanting for a new look?  Have your faith lifted here!”
• An ad for one church has a picture of two hands holding stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments are inscribed and a headline that reads, “For fast, fast relief, take two tablets.”
• When the restaurant next to a church put out a big sign with red letters that said, “Open Sundays,” the church reciprocated with its own message: “We are open on Sundays, too.”
• A singing group called “The Resurrection” was scheduled to sing at a church.  When a big snowstorm postponed the performance, the pastor fixed the outside sign to read, “Resurrection is postponed.”
• People are like tea bags-you have to put them in hot water before you know how strong they are.
• “God so loved the world that He did not send a committee.”
• “Come in and pray today.  Beat the Christian rush!”
• “When down in the mouth, remember Jonah.  He came out all right.”
• “Sign broken.  Message inside this Sunday.”
• “Right truth decay-study the Bible daily.”
• How will you spend eternity-Smoking or Non-smoking?”
• “Dusty Bible leads to Dirty Lives.”
• “Come work for the Lord.  The work is hard, the hours are long and the pay is low.  But the retirement benefits are out of this world.”
• “It is unlikely there’ll be a reduction in the wages of sin.”
• “Do not wait for the hearse to take you to church.”
• “If you’re headed in the wrong direction, God allows U-turns.”
• “If you don’t like the way you were born, try being born again.”
• “Looking at the way some people love, they ought to obtain eternal fire insurance soon.”
• “This is a Ch_ _ch.  What is missing?” (U R)
• “Forbidden fruit creates many jams.”
• “In the dark?  Follow the Son.”
• “Running low on faith?  Stop in for a fill-up.”
• “If you can’t sleep, don’t count sheep.  Talk to the Shepherd.”
• If you pause to think– You’ll have cause to thank!
• As sure as God puts his children in the furnace, He will be in the furnace with them.
• God won’t be looking for your medals, degrees or diplomas–, He’ll be looking for your scars.
• Give God what’s right–, not what’s left!
• Trade God your pieces for His peace.
• When you get tired talking to your friends about God–, talk to God about your friends.
• It’s hard to stumble when you’re on your knees.
• “Will the road you’re on get you to my place?”….God
• ‘Pray’ is a four letter word that you can say anywhere (except in a public school).
• Make your eternal reservations now— ‘smoking’ or ‘non-smoking’?
• Jesus built us a bridge, with 2 boards and 3 nails.
• Count your blessings! Recounts are OK—
• Don’t be God’s weakest link!
  • It’s not the outlook– it’s the up look that counts!
  • He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly.

• They see our methods, He sees our motives.
• Plenty of folks give the Lord credit– few give Him cash!
• Finding hell is easy ! It’s at the end of a ‘Christ-less’ life.
• The greatest of evils is our indifference towards evil!
• If you cheat on the test, don’t thank the Lord for the “A”.
• Count your blessings, not your problems.
• If you can’t sleep, don’t count sheep; talk to the Shepherd.
• Good old knee-ology is as good as some theology.
• A good place for the “buck to stop” is at the collection plate.
• In this life it’s not what you have but Who you have that counts!
• A hypocrite is a person who’s not himself on Sunday.
• Money is a great servant but a terrible master!
• God gives every bird its’ food, but He does not throw it into its nest.
• He who loses money, loses much; He who loses a friend, loses more; He who loses faith, loses all.
• God made round faces; man makes ‘em long.
• Honesty is not only the best policy; it is the will of GOD!
• What does it take for God to get our attention?
• There are many things in my life for which I am ashamed, but Jesus is not one of them.
• You can’t walk with God and hold hands with Satan at the same time.
• Faith is a journey, not a destination.
• Jesus never taught how to preach— only how to pray.
• Jesus declared the truth; He never gave opinions.
• When was the last time you told God you love Him? He is still listening.
• We are as full of the Holy Spirit as we want to be.
• We need to seek God Himself more than His gifts.
• We become like what we worship.
• Sin will keep you from the Bible but the Bible can keep you from sin.
• Give Satan an inch and he’ll be a ruler.
• A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit….Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Mat 7:18&20NIV
• The Bread of life never gets stale.
• Knowledge puffs you up– Love lifts you up.
• Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death.
• For all you do, His blood’s for you!
• Big Bang theory– God spoke and “Bang!”  It happened–
• Christians aren’t perfect– Just forgiven.
• “I’m a fool for Christ– Who’s fool are you?”
• Would you rather trust a guy who wrote a book— or the One who wrote The Book?

• Into each life a little rain must fall– Who’s your umbrella?
• T.G.I.F.– Thank God I’m Forgiven

Shared by

Corinne Mustafa