Be thou faithtful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Revelation 2:10

    Shep and Mr. McMahon were inseparable. The good natured collie
seemed to understand McMahon, who talked to him as if he were human. As
usual he was by his master’s side when McMahon fell down a flight of
stairs, seriously injuring his head.
    Shep, always close to his
master, squeezed into the ambulance, whining encouragement while
licking his bloody face. As they carried the man into the hospital,
Shep pressed close to the stretcher, touching his master’s hand with
his nose. Down the long corridor they went to the waiting elevator that
was to take McMahon to the operating room.
    "Sorry, old boy," said the attendant in white, as Shep pushed into the elevator, "no dogs allowed."
  McMahon, even in his pain, saw the sadhness in Shep’s eyes. Leaning
down, he stroked his head and whispered, "It’s all right, old pal. I’ll
be back soon. You wait for me here."
    The expression in Shep’s
eyes turned to trust. Many times he had waited at the entrance of a
building where dogs can’t go. So Shep settled down by the elevator
patiently awaiting his master’s return.
    But McMahon didn’t come
back. He died the next day and the undertaker carried him out through
another exit. Since his master had never failed him, Shep knew he must
obey his last command, "Wait for me here." Each time the elevator
reached that floor, Shep was ready to spring forward to meet him,
listening for the voice he loved.
    For more than ten years Shep
waited at that elevator door. Doctors, nurses, and visitors brought him
food, water, and a soft mat, but his brown eyes kept glancing at the
elevator.
    Occasionally they coaxed him outside for exercise and
fresh air, but he was eager to return to his post. His greatest
happiness was in obeying his dead master. Shep finally died by the
elevator door.
    Only a dog, yes, but where could you find truer
loyalty, obedience, and devotion? Shep didn’t find it hard to be
faithful, for his motive was love. If you fallen in love with your
Saviour, you’ll choose to live by this beautiful promise, "Be thou
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."

1) THE GIFT OF LISTENING . . .But you
must REALLY listen. No interrupting, no
daydreaming, no planning your response.
Just listening.
2) THE GIFT OF AFFECTION
. . .Be generous with appropriate
hugs,kisses, pats on the back and
handholds.Let these small actions
demonstrate the love you have for family
and friends.
3) THE GIFT OF LAUGHTER . . .Clip cartoons. Share articles and
funny stories. Your gift will say, "I
love to laugh with you."
4) THE GIFT OF A
WRITTEN NOTE . . .It can be a simple
"Thanks for the help"note or a full
sonnet. A brief,handwritten note may be
remembered for a lifetime, and may even
change a life.
5) THE GIFT OF A
COMPLIMENT . . .A simple and sincere,
"You look great in red," "You did a super
job" or "That wasa wonderful meal" can
make someone’s day.
6) THE GIFT OF A
FAVOR . . .Every day, go out of your way
to do something kind.
7) THE GIFT OF
SOLITUDE . . .There are times when we
want nothing better than to be left
alone. Be sensitive to those times and
give the gift of solitude to others.
8)THE GIFT OF A CHEERFUL DISPOSITION . . .
The easiest way to feel good is
to extend a kind word to someone,
really it’s not that hard to say, Hello
or Thank You. Friends are a very
rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile
and encourage you to succeed. They lend
an ear, they share a word of praise,
and they always want to open their hearts
to us.
–Author Unknown

                  A
man found a cocoon of a butterfly
One day a small opening
appeared
He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours
It struggled
to force its body through that little hole
Then it seemed to stop making
any progress
It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could
And it
could go no farther.
So the man decided to help the butterfly
He took a
pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.
The
butterfly then emerged easily,
BUT,It had a swollen body and
small,shriveled wings
He continued to watch the butterfly
He expected
that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge
And the body would
contract
Neither happened!
In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its
life crawling Around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.
It was never
able to fly.
The man acted with well-intentioned kindness
But he didn’t
understand the consequences.
The restricting cocoon and the
struggle required to get through the tiny opening, were nature’s way of
forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly once it achieved it’s
freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what weened in
our life.
If nature allowed us to go through life without any Obstacles,
it would cripple us.
We would not be as strong as we could have been
And
we could never fly
Have a great day, great life, and struggle a
little.Then fly!

–Nikos Kazantzakis

There are three kinds of love, -unselfish, mutual, and selfish.

The unselfish love is of the highest kind.The lover only minds the
welfare of the beloved and does not care for his own sufferings.
In
mutual love the lover not only wants the happiness of his beloved but has
an eye towards his own happiness also. It is middling.
The selfish
love is the lowest. It only looks towards its own happiness, no matter
whether the beloved suffers weal or woe.

–Ramakrishna

When one door closes, another opens. But we often look so long and so
regretfully upon the closed door that we don’t see the one that has
opened for us.
–Helen Keller

I don’t like to commit myself about heaven
and hell - you see, I have friends in both places.^.^V;
–Mark Twain

The
man who does not read good books is at no advantage over the man who
can’t read them.
–Mark Twain