The Danger of Comparison A guy met one of his schoolmates several years after school and he could not believe his eyes; his friend was driving one of the latest sleek Mercedes Benz cars. He went home feeling awful and very disappointed in himself. He thought he was a failure. What he didn’t know was that his friend was a driver and had been sent on an errand with his boss’s car! Rosemary nagged her husband always for not being romantic. She accused him of not getting down to open the car door for her as her friend Jane’s husband did when he dropped her off at work. What Rosemary didn’t know was that Jane’s husband’s car had a faulty door that could only be opened from the outside! Sampson’s wife went to visit one of her longtime friends and was very troubled for seeing the three lovely kids of her friend playing around. Her problem was that she had only one child and have been struggling to conceive for the past five years. What she didn’t know was that only one of those kids was the biological child of her friend and he had sickle cell and had just a year left to live; the other two were adopted! Life does not have a universal measuring tool; so create
Two Wrongs That Make A Right There were two houses standing next to each other. In one of them resided a very unhappy family. The spouses yelled at each other, they fought and quarreled all the time. The other was a place of happiness and calm. During one of the fights, a wife asked her husband: “Did you ever hear them quarrel or yell over at that house? No! So, go there and see what they do to avoid it!” The husband stood at the window of his neighbors and watched. There they were busy doing their own thing. The wife was in the kitchen cooking and the man sat at the table writing. The phone rang and the man jumped up and headed to the hallway to get it. On his way he bumped into a vase, it fell and broke. He got down to his knees and started picking up the pieces. The wife ran into the room from the kitchen. She also knelt down and started helping her husband to pick them up. The man said to his wife: “I am so sorry. I rushed to get the phone and bumped into the vase. It fell and got broken.” The wife replied: “No, honey, it is my fault. I put it there on the way. That’s why
Anger Management As a carpenter went home after closing from his workshop, a black, poisonous cobra entered his workshop. The cobra was hungry and hoped to find its supper lurking somewhere within. It slithered from one end to another and accidentally bumped into a double-edged metal axe and got slightly injured. In anger and seeking revenge, the snake bit the axe with full force. What could a bite do to a metallic axe? Instead, the cobra’s mouth started bleeding. Out of fury and arrogance, the cobra made to strangle and kill the object that was causing it such pain by wrapping itself very tightly around the blades. The next day when the carpenter opened his workshop, he found a seriously cut, dead cobra wrapped around the axe blades. The cobra died not because of someone else’s fault but faced these consequences merely because of its own anger. Sometimes when angry, we try to cause harm to others, but as time passes by, we realise that we have only caused more harm to ourselves instead. For a happy life, it is best we learn to ignore and overlook some things, people, incidents, affairs and matters. It is not necessary that we react to everything. Step back and ask yourself if the matter is really worth responding or reacting to. People that
Time to Fly from the Nest Ginny and I sat on the deck, like we do a lot, and watched the world flow by. A robin flew into the tree in the yard. It had a twig in its mouth. “Looks like they’re building a nest,” Ginny said. “I think you’re right.” I watched the robin select a perfect spot and thread the branch into position. A second robin with a twig joined the first. Throughout the next few days, we watched the mates work together to construct a resting place for their soon-to-be-laid eggs. The nest was completed. A few days later, momma bird settled into her new home. The two parents took turns warming the eggs, always aware of the needs of the other and their precious charge. Each knew the other needed nourishment and the eggs needed warmth. It was a perfect partnership. Every hour or less, the two robins traded places keeping the eggs safe, while the other flew off in search of warmth. The rains fell. At night, the temperatures dropped below freezing, but the two robins, who chose a safe position for their nest, stuck by their eggs. They knew their duties. The wind blew; the tree rocked, and the robins held tight. The eggs would not fall on their watch. A week or
When Daddy Prays I could not keep it to myself anymore. I drove all the way to Dad’s office and confessed to him I was in love with a young lady. He asked for her name and description. He kept smiling as I described her to him. Afterwards, we prayed together and trusted God for His leading. Daddy did not say a word. Two days later, my wife said “Yes” to my marriage proposal. I told both dad and mom as a birthday gift for him. My mom smiled and said, “Months earlier when your father went to preach at the Corpers’ Fellowship, he saw her and the Holy Spirit told him then, “Isn’t she the wife of your son?” I was the only unmarried son. So it had to be me. But daddy kept his peace about this and did not utter a word until I told him. I want to talk to men: You must be the priest of your home. Nothing must happen without your knowledge. If your wife is the one waking you up for family devotion and setting the pace, then something is wrong with you. You must chart the course of your children’s lives in prayer. Call them by name in prayer and prophesy over them. Bless your wife daily. Lay hands on her
