On Gratitude

By Oprah Winfrey~

I live in the space of thankfulness - and I have been rewarded amillion times over for it. I started out giving thanks for smallthings, and the more thankful I became, the more my bounty increased.That's because what you focus on expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it. Opportunities, relationships, even money flowed my way when Ilearned to be grateful no matter what happened in my life. 'Say thank you!'

Those words from my friend and mentor Maya Angelou turned my life around. One day about ten years ago, I was sitting in my bathroom with the door closed and the toilet lid down, booing
and a hooing on the phone so uncontrollably that I was incoherent.'Stop it! Stop it right now and say thank you!' Maya chided.

'But you don't understand,' I sobbed.

To this day, I can't remember what it was that had me so far gone, which only proves the point Maya was trying to make. 'I do understand,' she told me. 'I want to hear you say it now. Out loud 'Thank you.'' Tentatively, I repeated it:'Thank you - but what am I saying thank you for?''

'You're saying thank you,' Maya said, 'because your faith is so strong that you don't doubt that whatever the problem, you'll getthrough it. You're saying thank you because you know that even in the eye of the storm, God has put a rainbow in the clouds.

You're saying thank you because you know there's no problem created that can compare to the Creator of all things.'

'Say thank you!' So I did - and still do.

Only now I do it every day. I kept a gratitude journal! , as Sarah Ban Breathnach suggests in Simple Abundance, list at least five things that I'm grateful for.

My list includes small pleasures: the feel of Kentucky bluegrass under my feet (like damp silk); a walk in the woods with all nine of my dogs and my cocker spaniel Sophie trying to keep up; cooking fried green tomatoes with Stedman and eating them while they're hot; reading a good book and knowing another awaits.

My thank-you list also includes things too important to take for granted: an 'okay' mammogram, friends who love me, 25 years at the same job (and loving it more than the first day I started), a chance to share my vision for a better life, staying centered, having financial security.

I won't kid you, having money for all the things I want is a blessing. But as I look back over my journals, which I've kept since I was 15 years old, 99 percent of what brought me real joy had nothing to do with money. (It had a lot to do with food, however.)

It's not easy being grateful all the time. But it's when you feel least thankful that you are most in need of what gratitude can give you: PERSPECTIVE. Just knowing you have that daily list to complete allows you to look at your day differently, with an awareness of every sweet gesture and kind thought passed your way. When you learn to say thank you, you see the world anew.

And as Meister Eckhart so eloquently stated: 'If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is 'Thank you God', that would suffice.

Article re: Food For The Poor

Teaching Haitians to feed themselves for a lifetime—Food For The Poor brings modern fishing technology to primitive Haitian villages

COCONUT CREEK— Destitute fishermen in Haiti who once struggled to feed their children can now catch 300 to 400 pounds of fish per day, thanks to a recent gift of state-of-the-art fishing equipment from Food For The Poor.

“They only want a better life for their children. These fishermen used to row leaky boats a few hundred feet from shore and catch fish you could fit into a small aquarium. Now they’re hauling in hundreds of pounds of queen snapper that can feed a small village,” said Robin Mahfood, president and CEO of Food For The Poor Inc., Florida’s largest charitable organization.

The South Florida charity installed three model fishing villages in impoverished communities on Haiti’s north coast in May. Poor fishermen were outfitted with everything needed to catch deep-sea fish such as queen snapper, kingfish and yellow-eye snapper. Each fishing village received four 24-foot fiberglass boats with outboard engines, 100-quart coolers, safety equipment, a locked shed for equipment storage, global positioning system (GPS) fish finders and kerosene freezers to store catches and sell them to local markets.

The villages were funded by generous donations from churches and donors in the United States. Food For The Poor also mapped the coastline of Haiti to find the best fishing areas and trained the fishermen on how to use the GPS systems and market their catches. Each boat is commanded by one captain and up to five men or women. Like crop rotation taught to farmers, the fishermen were trained to prevent over-fishing and depletion of fish stock.

Mahfood explained that the fishermen are required to contribute a minimum of 5 percent of their catches to feed the community’s poorest residents and are also responsible for training the younger men and women so they can pass along the new fishing skills on to the next generation. Food For The Poor’s staff in Haiti monitors all of the fishing villages.

The poorest country in the Western hemisphere, Haitians lose one out of three children to the deadly effects of malnutrition, according to the United Nations.Food For The Poor started humanitarian aid in Haiti in 1985. The third largest relief and international development organization in the nation, Food For The Poor works in 16 countries across the Caribbean and Latin America. Since 1982, they have provided clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and emergency relief to the poorest of the poor across these countries. More than 96 percent of all donations to the organization go directly to programs that help the poor.

For more information, please visit the charity’s website at http://www.foodforthepoor.org/.

The Reading of Psalm 23

There was once a Shakespearean actor who was known
everywhere for his one-man show of readings and
recitations from the classics. He would always end his
performance with a dramatic reading of Psalm 23. Each
night, without exception, as the actor began his
recitation -- "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not
want" -- the crowd would listen attentively. And then,
at the conclusion of the psalm, they would rise in
thunderous applause in appreciation of the actor's
incredible ability to bring the verse to life.

But one night, just before the actor was to offer his
customary recital of Psalm 23, a young man from the
audience spoke up. "Sir, do you mind, if tonight, I
recite Psalm 23?"

The actor was quite taken aback by this unusual
request, but he allowed the young man to come forward
and to stand front and center on the stage to recite
the psalm, knowing that the ability of this unskilled
youth would be no match for his own talent. With a
soft voice, the young man began to recite the words of
the psalm. When he was finished, there was no
applause. There was no standing ovation as on other
nights. All that could be heard was the sound of
weeping. The audience had been so moved by the young
man's recitation that every eye was full of tears.
Amazed by what he had heard, the actor said to the
youth, "I don't understand. I have been performing
Psalm 23 for years. I have a lifetime of experience
and training, but I have never been able to move an
audience as you have tonight. Tell me, what is your
secret?"

The young man humbly replied, "Well, sir, you know the
psalm ... but I know The Shepherd."

It really makes a difference.

Author Unknown
Jeremiah 24:7 "I will give them a heart to know me,
that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will
be their God, for they will return to me with all
their heart."

It's Done!!!!

After many attempts, lots of frustration, and a lot of prayer (thank you, everyone)...

MY HOUSE HAS FINALLY SOLD!!!

I couldn't be happier! I feel as if a weight has lifted off my shoulders. The millstone is no longer around my neck!

Praise God!!!!!

Can You Sleep When the Wind Blows?

Years ago a farmer owned land along the Atlantic
seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands.
Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the
Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged
across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings
and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for
the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.
Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age,
approached the farmer. "Are you a good farm hand?" the
farmer asked him.

"Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the
little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the
farmer, desperate for help, hired him.
The little man worked well around the farm, busy from
dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the
man's work.

Then one night the wind howled loudly in from
offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a
lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's
sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled,
"Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before
they blow away!"

The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No
sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."
Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to
fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to
prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered
that all of the haystacks had been covered with
tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens
were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The
shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied
down. Nothing could blow away.

The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant,
so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind
blew.

MORAL: When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally,
and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you
sleep when the wind blows through your life? The hired
hand in the story was able to sleep because he had
secured the farm against the storm.
We, as believers in Christ, secure ourselves against
the storms of life by grounding ourselves in the Word
of God. We don't need to understand, we just need to
hold His hand to have peace in the midst of the
storms.

Luke 8:22-25 "One day Jesus said to His disciples,
‘Let’s go over to the other side of the lake’. So they
got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, He fell
asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the
boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
The disciples went and woke Him, saying, ‘Master,
Master, we’re going to drown!’ He got up and rebuked
the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided,
and all was calm. ‘Where is your faith?’ He asked His
disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one
another, ‘Who is this? He commands even the winds and
the water, and they obey Him.’"

New York Event

I just wanted to let everyone know about Food For The Poor's next event in New York City. Please visit the New York City Event website.

Homesick

It's amazing how time flies when you are busy and living in paradise ;) I love my new home state -- the weather really suits me. I feel spoiled by the year-round warmth and I don't miss the changing of the seasons. I loved being on my back patio Christmas morning, soaking in the morning sun. And every chance I get, I spend my mornings out on the patio with my coffee and a good book -- my Bible, a novel, study materials, whatever. I really enjoy my job and feel like I'm making a difference. I can't really imagine moving back to Ohio right now (or maybe ever).

But, I miss everyone so much. This Sunday is Mother's Day and I won't be with my mom. I just received an evite for my youngest nephew's 1st birthday party which I won't be home for. He's not going to grow up knowing me the way my other neices and nephews do. I miss my family to the point of heartache. And I miss my friends -- girls' night, coffee at Starbuck's, having a good cry or laughing until your sides hurt, planning showers/parties together, all of it!

I've met good people down here and I get along with all of the women in my department at work (which is such a relief after the stressful job I left in Ohio). I've attended a couple of churches. But no really good "bosom friends," yet.

I go home in August. I really can't wait!