PRAYING HANDS

There are hands that help and comfort,
Hands that plan and teach,
Hands that rest and hands that strive
For a goal just out of reach,
Hands that grasp and hands that give,
Hands that work and play,
Friendly hands and loving hands
That soothes life's cares away.
But praying hands are dearest
In the sight of God above
For in their sweet and earnest clasp
Are reverence and love.
No hands can do an unkind act
Nor cause another care
Nor sin against Our Father's love
When they are clasped in prayer.
Author Unknown

Our Father and our God, we confess that we’re not always ready for
you, for your sharp demands, your call for our ultimate commitment. We confess that we often fail to take you seriously. Our faith is weak, our service is poor; we are slow to do good. We have avoided responsibility; judges others too quickly; made many excuses, and by-passed our duty. We confess that we’re not always joyful in life, because we forget that you’re with us. We want to pledge our
honesty and sincerity in this prayer. Fill us with your Holy Spirit, that this prayer will be truly our own, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Henry Baumann

Open your heart to the promise of daybreak. Welcome each morning, embrace all it brings. See every dawn as the Father’s own promise. For life is a gift, and it holds wondrous things.
Ezekiel 34:26

Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one so that when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift.

When the door of happiness closes, another opens, but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one that has been opened for us.
The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've every had.

It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.

Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back! Don't expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their heart, but if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours.

It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

Don't go for looks; they can deceive. Don't go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.

Find the one that makes your heart smile. There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real!

Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy.

Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives.

Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss and ends with a tear. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
Author Unknown

Dear God, help me to savor the changing seasons, the happiness, the tears, each and every year. Give me the wisdom to dare to try, to keep on learning, caring, and growing. I know that with you beside me, it will be a future that's rich in beauty, joy, and love. Help me to follow my dreams, taking time every step of the way to see all the splendor, to taste all the joys, that you will freely give each day.
Amen

Almighty God, our gracious heavenly Father, if we thank you for
the blessings of life, for warmth of clothing, the shelter of
house, for bread and meat, for daily work and thoughtful friends,
and reasonable margins of security and comfort, and yet have no
pain of heart, no anguish in the midst of our ease, that even now
other children of yours starve, homeless and helpless, with no sign
of caring, fearing tomorrow more than death, then leave us without
your blessing until we learn the ways of mercy. Deliver us from the
gross sin of indifference, and sanctify to us what we enjoy by the
courage and kindness with which we share it, and may we walk
through the neighborhood of this imperfect world, doing your will,
even to the least of our brethren as unto you, in Jesus name. Amen
Henry Baumann

GOD KNOWS
When you are tired and discouraged from fruitless efforts...
God knows how hard you have tried.
When you've cried so long and your heart is in anguish...
God has counted your tears.
When you feel that your life is on hold and time has passed you by...
God is waiting with you.
When you're lonely and your friends are too busy even for a phone call...
God is by your side.
When you think you've tried everything and don't know where to turn...
God has a solution.
When nothing makes sense and you confused or frustrated...
God has the answer.
When suddenly your outlook is brighter and you find traces of hope...
God has whispered to you.
When things are going well and you have much to be thankful for...
God has blessed you.
When something joyful happens and you are filled with awe...
God has smiled upon you.
When you have a purpose to fulfill and a dream to follow...
God has opened your eyes and called you by name.
GOD KNOWS
Remember that wherever you are or whatever you are facing!
Author Unknown

May you have
Enough happiness to keep you sweet
Enough trials to keep you strong
Enough sorrow to keep you human
Enough hope to keep you happy
Enough failure to keep you humble
Enough success to keep you eager
Enough friends to give you comfort
Enough wealth to meet your needs
Enough enthusiasm to look forward
Enough faith to banish depression
Enough determination to make each day better than yesterday!
Author Unknown

When you draw close to God, God will draw close to you.
James 4:8

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10

The walls of a house are not built of wood, brick, or stone, but of truth and loyalty.
The house is not a structure where bodies meet, but a hearthstone upon which flames mingle, separate flames of souls, which, the more perfectly they unite, the more clearly they shine and the straighter they rise toward heaven.
Your house is your fortress in a warring world, where a woman’s hand buckles on your armor in the morning and soothes your fatigue and wounds at night.
The beauty of a house is harmony.
The security of a house is loyalty.
The joy of a house is love.
The plenty of a house is in children.
The comfort of a house, of a real human house, is God Himself, the same who made the stars and built the world.
Author Unknown

One father is more than a hundred Schoolmasters.
George Herbert, Outlandish Proverbs, 1640

Nothing I’ve ever done has given me more joys and rewards than being a father to my children.
Bill Cosby

My father’s hands, when I was young,
would lift me in the air.
They would keep me ever sheltered
from the world and all its cares.
My little hands were no match for his hands
with all their might,
and I’d feel a calm assurance when he’d
squeeze my fingers tight.
My father’s hands.

As I grew older, my father’s hands
would mean even more to me.
They would toss a ball and bait a hook,
or even more amazingly
paint a set, nail the wood,
and withstand the hammer’s pain –
then soften to hold his children.
His hands were never the same.
My father’s hands.

Now that I have children of my own,
my father’s hands aren’t as close.
But that doesn’t matter – for now, it seems,
I’m using them the most.
For the hands that guided and molded me
are now shaping my children lives.
His hands will never lost their grip,
Because they’re being multiplied.
My father’s hands.
Mitch Townley

Thanks for the hardship and pain I experienced as a child; the sickness and death I survived. They were only lessons I learned in becoming a man, and not punishment and guilt for things I had only thought in my mind.

Thanks for the painful need for acceptance I had as I tried to replace the loves I had lost. The need gave me an understanding and empathy for others with even a greater need for love and understanding than myself. It gave me the way to gain my acceptance by giving my love to other even more barren hearts.

Thanks for the loss of a parent, so needed, so loved. It taught me by example of my mother's equal loss and how strong a human can be in the face of tragedy. Her dignity and strength were beyond my comprehension and yet, through her example, I learned.

Thanks for the strength and hope through each stage of life to continue to improve and understand not only my own life but also all my brothers and sisters of the world. It is only through loving ourselves that we can understand the meaning and true beauty in the greatest gift of love.

Thanks above all for being a caring and loving God who resides within each of us to remind us that impossible is possible and that forgiveness is not only possible but necessary.

And most importantly of all, thank you for reminding us that love is the key to all the questions, fears and desires in our small, but beautiful world of yesterdays, today's and tomorrows.
Author Unknown

A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty.
Author Unknown

It is much easier to become a father than to be one.
Kent Nerburn, Letters to My Son: Reflections on Becoming a Man, 1994

Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave, be strong. Do all your work in love.
1 Corinthians 16: 13-14

Dear Lord, Today let me make someone's day happier. I pray that Your light will shine through me, that Your love will flow through me and that I may be ever aware of Your Spirit within me. Amen

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Colossians 3:12-14

There are little eyes upon you, and they’re watching night and day.
There are little ears that quickly take in every word you say.
There are little hands all eager to do anything you do.
And a little boy who’s dreaming of the day he’ll be like you.
You’re the little fellow’s idol -- you’re the wisest of the wise.
In his little mind about you, no suspicions ever rise.
He believes in you devoutly, hold all you say and do.
He will say and do, in your way – when he’s grown up just like you.
There’s a wide-eyed little fellow who believes you’re always right.
His eyes are always opened, and he watches day and night.
You are setting an example every day in all you do.
For the little boy who’s waiting to grow up, to be like you.
Author Unknown

The man of integrity walks securely.
Proverbs 10:9

4 years old: My daddy can do anything.
5 years old: My daddy knows a whole lot.
6 years old: My dad is smarter than your dad.
8 years old: My dad doesn't know exactly everything.
10 years old: In the olden days when my dad grew up, things were sure different.
12 years old: Oh, well naturally, Father doesn't know anything about that. He is too old to remember his childhood.
14 years old: Don't pay any attention to my Father. He is so old-fashioned!
21 years old: Him? My Lord, he's hopelessly out-of-date.
25 years old: Dad knows a little bit about it, but then he should because he has been around so long.
30 years old: Maybe we should ask Dad what he thinks. After all, he's had a lot of experience.
35 years old: I'm not doing a single thing until I talk to Dad.
40 years old: I wonder how Dad would have handled it. He was so wise and had a world of experience.
50 years old: I'd give anything if Dad were here now so I could talk this over with him.
Too bad I didn't appreciate how smart he was.
I could have learned a lot from him.
Author Unknown

A Father's Prayer
Lord, I need your help today.
I want to care for those you've sent into my life,
To help them grow in body, mind, and spirit,
To help them develop the special gifts you've given them.
But I also want to free them to follow their own paths
And bring their loving wisdom to the world.
Help me to embrace them without clutching,
To support them, without suffocating,
To correct them without crushing.
And help me to live joyfully and playfully myself
So they can see your life in me
And find their way to you.
Author Unknown

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
James 5:16

A father’s love gives strength to his sons,
Guidance to his daughters, and protection to the home.
He is the most important teacher in their lives, because in him,
His children see the qualities they will look for in other men.
Jean Kyler McManus

I watched intently as my little brother was caught in the act. He sat in the corner of the living room, a pen in one hand and my father's hymnbook in the other. As my father walked into the room, my brother cowered slightly; he sensed that he had done something wrong. From a distance, I saw that he had opened my father's brand-new book and scribbled across the length and breadth of the entire first page with a pen. Now, staring at my father fearfully, he and I both waited for his punishment.

My father picked up his prized hymnal, looked at it carefully, and then sat down without saying a word. Books were precious to him; he was a clergyman and the holder of several degrees. For him, books were knowledge, and yet, he loved his children. What he did in the next few minutes was remarkable. Instead of punishing my brother, instead of scolding or yelling or reprimanding, he sat down, took the pen from my brother's hand and then wrote in the book himself, alongside the scribbled. John had made: "John's word 1959, age two. How many times have I looked into your beautiful face and into your warm, alert eyes looking up at me and thanked God for the one who has now scribbled in my new hymnal? You have made the book sacred as have your brothers and sister to so much of my life." Wow, I thought. This is punishment?

From time to time I take a book down not just a cheesy paperback but a real book that I know I will have for many years to come and I give it to one of my children to scribble or write their names in. And as I look at their artwork, I think about my father, and how he taught me about what really matters in life: people, not objects; tolerance, not judgment; love which is at the very heart of a family. I think about these things, and I smile. And I whisper, "Thank you Dad!"
Author Unknown

Oh Lord, teach me to be a good Dad. Open my heart and give me a love others can count on ...a steadfast, unconditional love that will not fail. Help my time and effort be dedicated to making dreams come true. Help me to make each unfolding day beautiful bringing out unique talents and skills in others, so that they will be able to face every challenge that lies ahead. As You flow through me to minister to others, I know that You are flowing within me to heal my life too. Thank You for flooding the deep places of my life with Your electric love. Help me to hear Your soft, gentle call as You work through me to accomplish Your will. Thank you for the gift of life. When I would choose to stay and rest on the blessings You've given me, remind me there will always be time for my comfort, but now is the time to love others.
Amen

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.
Clarence Budington Kelland

I was never one to eavesdrop when someone was having a chat.
But late one night as I came through our yard, I found I was doing just that.
My wife was talking to our youngest son as he sat on the kitchen floor,
So I stopped quietly to listen just outside the back screen door.
Seems she'd heard some kids bragging about their daddy's jobs.
How they were big executives...and then they asked our son,
"What fine career does your father have?" their queries began.
He mumbled low, as he looked away, "He's just a working man."
My good wife waited till they all had left, then called our young boy in.
She said, "I have something to tell you, Son," as she kissed his dimpled chin.
"You said your dad's just a working man, and what you said was true.
But I doubt if you know what that really means, so I'll explain it to you."
"In all the sprawling industries that make our country great.
In all the shops and stores and trucks that daily haul our freight...
Whenever you see a new house built, remember this, my son.
It took the common working man to get that big job done!"
It's true executives have nice desks and stay real clean all day.
They plan big projects to achieve...send memos to relay.
But to turn their dreams into fact, remember this, my son.
It takes the common working man to get those big jobs done!"
Well, I choked back a tear and cleared my throat as I entered through the door. My young son's eyes lit up for joy as he jumped up off the floor.
He gave me a hug as he said, "Hey, Dad, I'm so proud to be your son...
Cause you're one of the men ‘the special men’ who get the big jobs done."
Author Unknown.

Oh Lord, help me to know that what I might think is unimportant, others will cherish. Remind me that what I do and don’t do, will alter the life of someone else. Help me to know that sometimes the deepest feelings are the ones kept inside -- feelings of affection, gratitude or pride or feelings of disappointment, inferiority, embarrassment or fear. Help me to always show the feeling of love and to be the nourishment my family needs. Amen

There are little eyes upon you, and they're watching night and day.
There are little ears that quickly take in every word you say.
There are little hands all eager to do anything you do.
And a little boy who's dreaming of the day he'll be like you.
You're the little fellow's idol -- you're the wisest of the wise.
In his little mind about you, no suspicions ever rise.
He believes in you devoutly, hold all you say and do.
He will say and do, in your way when he's grown up just like you.
There's a wide-eyed little fellow who believes you're always right.
His eyes are always opened, and he watches day and night.
You are setting an example every day in all you do.
For the little boy who's waiting to grow up, to be like you.
Author Unknown

A father carries pictures where his money used to be.
Author Unknown

I looked at you and smiled the other day.
I thought you'd see me, but you didn't.
I said, "I love you" and waited for what you would say.
I thought you'd hear me, but you didn't.
I asked you to come outside and play ball with me.
I thought you'd follow me, but you didn't.
I drew a picture just for you to see.
I thought you'd save it, but you didn't.
I made a fort for us back in the woods.
I thought you'd camp with me, but you didn't.
I found some worms for fishing, if we could.
I thought you'd want to go, but you didn't.
I needed you just to talk to, my thoughts to share.
I thought you'd want to, but you didn't.
I told you about the game, hoping you'd be there.
I thought you'd surely come, but you didn't.
I asked you to share my youth with me.
I thought you'd want to, but you couldn't.
My country called me to war.
You asked me to come home safely.
But I didn't.
Author Unknown

Dear God help me to be the first to say, "I love you". Please show me the way when I don't know how.
Amen

If I had my child to raise all over again,
I'd build self-esteem first, and the house later.
I'd finger-paint more, and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I would care to know less and know to care more.
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.
I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I'd do more hugging and less tugging.
I'd see the oak tree in the acorn more often.
I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.
I'd model less about the love of power, and more about the power of love.
Author Unknown

Dear God, fill me with Your boundless love. Open my eyes so that I may see where my help is needed. Help me to take advantage of each opportunity I have to offer someone a helping hand, a kind word, a listening ear, a pat on the back, hope. Guide me in reaching out to others. May I be a channel of Your peace. Amen

The parents of a graduate
Have much they should be proud of.
All ought to congratulate
Not our work, but their love.
Know that you have made me, me;
You shape my efforts still.
Only your sincerity
Underlies my will.
Nicholas Gordon

You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world.
Tom Brokaw

One handclasp lifts a soul. One star can guide a ship at sea. One word can frame the goal. One vote can change a nation. One sunbeam lights a room. One candle wipes out darkness. One laugh will conquer gloom. One step must start each journey. One hope will raise our spirits. One touch can show you care. One voice can speak with wisdom. One heart can know what’s true. One life can make the difference. You see it’s up to YOU!
Author Unknown

By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact. But I am prouder – infinitely prouder – to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys. It is my hope that my son, when I am gone, will remember me not from the battle but in the home repeating with him our simple daily prayer, “Our Father Who Art in Heaven.”
General Douglas MacArthur

Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands.
Protect them as they protect us.
Bless them and their families for the selfless acts
they perform for us in our time of need.
I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen

You go no where by accident.
Wherever you go, God is sending you.
Wherever you are, God has put you there.
He has a purpose in your being there.
Christ who dwells in you has something
He wants to do through you where you are.
Believe this and go in His grace and love and power.
Richard C. Halverson, Chaplain of the United States Senate

O God, help me to touch someone today with my eyes, my words,
my smile, my voice, my laughter, Your word.
Change my life, so I can make a difference.
Let my actions bring someone closer to you.
Help me to make Christmas last all year.
Help me to use my gifts for Jesus.

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