Wake up!

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Father was a hardworking man who delivered bread as a living to support his wife and three children. He spent all his evenings after work attending classes, hoping to improve himself so that he could one day find a better paying job. Except for Sundays, Father hardly ate a meal together with his family. He worked and studied very hard because he wanted to provide his family with the best money could buy.

Whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

The day came when the examination results were announced. To his joy, Father passed, and with distinctions too! Soon after, he was offered a good job as a senior supervisor which paid handsomely.

Like a dream come true, Father could now afford to provide his family with life’s little luxuries like nice clothing, fine food and vacation abroad.

However, the family still did not get to see father for most of the week. He continued to work very hard, hoping to be promoted to the position of manager. In fact, to make himself a worthily candidate for the promotion, he enrolled for another course in the open university.

Again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

Father’s hard work paid off and he was promoted. Jubilantly, he decided to hire a maid to relieve his wife from her domestic tasks. He also felt that their three-room flat was no longer big enough, it would be nice for his family to be able to enjoy the facilities and comfort of a condominium. Having experienced the rewards of his hard work many times before, Father resolved to further his studies and work at being promoted again. The family still did not get to see much of him. In fact, sometimes Father had to work on Sundays entertaining clients. Again, whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family.

As expected, Father’s hard work paid off again and he bought a beautiful condominium overlooking the coast of Singapore. On the first Sunday evening at their new home, Father declared to his family that he decided not to take anymore courses or pursue any more promotions. From then on he was going to devote more time to his family.

Father did not wake up the next day.

~Live everyday to the fullest and tell everyone you love them. Dream as you'll  live forever and live as you'll die tomorrow.

~~~Happy Father's Day!!!~~~

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A Promise for Today

Give it a try for 30 days and watch how much your life will improve.

I Promise Myself...

To be so strong that nothing can disturb my peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person I meet.

To make all my friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make my optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature I meet.

To give so much time to improving myself that I have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of myself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words, but in great deeds.

To live in the faith that the whole world is on my side, so long as I am true to the best that is in Me.

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Getting To Heaven

A Matter Of Faith

Jesus paid the penalty for your sins by His death. When

you admit you are a sinner and place your faith in Him

alone for forgiveness, you will be reconciled to God. 

While working with third- and fourth-graders at our church’s Vacation Bible School, I decided to give all 25 of the children a gift on the last day. But I told them that in order to receive it, they would each have to tell me how a person can get to heaven.

It was interesting to hear what these 9- and 10-year-olds said. Many were clear that salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ, but some were not yet equipped to explain the gospel. “You have to be good and go to Sunday school,” said one. Another asked tentatively, “You have to pray to God?” Still another: “If you are nice to your friends and obey your mom and dad.”

As I gently tried to direct the thinking of each child to the central element of salvation—faith in Jesus who died to pay for our sins and then rose again—I thought that these kids represented so many others in our world who don’t yet understand the gospel.

How about you? Are your ideas about salvation based on biblical truth? Think about the importance of what Jesus did for you. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 16:31). There is so much more at stake than getting a free gift for answering a question.

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Believing Christ died—that’s history; believing Christ died for me—that’s salvation. 

~Our Daily Bread

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Missing Square Puzzle

Do you have any explanation?

SOLUTION

The key to the puzzle is the fact that neither of the 13×5 "triangles" is truly a triangle, because what would be the hypotenuse is bent. In other words, the hypotenuse does not maintain a consistent slope, even though it may appear that way to the human eye. A true 13 × 5 triangle cannot be created from the given component parts.
The four figures (the yellow, red, blue and green shapes) total 32 units of area, but the triangles are 13 wide and 5 tall, so it seems, that the area should be  units. But the blue triangle has a ratio of 5:2 (=2.5:1), while the red triangle has the ratio 8:3 (≈2.667:1), and these are not the same ratio. So the apparent combined hypotenuse in each figure is actually bent.
The amount of bending is around 1/28th of a unit (1.245364267°), which is difficult to see on the diagram of this puzzle. Note the grid point where the red and blue hypotenuses mate, and compare it to the same point on the other figure; the edge is slightly over or under the mark. Overlaying the hypotenuses from both figures results in a very thin parallelogram with the area of exactly one grid square, the same area "missing" from the second figure.

According to Martin Gardner, the puzzle was invented by a New York City amateur magician Paul Curry in 1953. The principle of a dissection paradox has however been known since the 1860s.
The integer dimensions of the parts of the puzzle (2, 3, 5, 8, 13) are successive Fibonacci numbers. Many other geometric dissection puzzles are based on a few simple properties of the famous Fibonacci sequence.

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Love Bears All

To me love is not a conquest, much less one conquest after another. 

Conquest denotes subjugation, a submission to a more powerful will. 

You do not make a person submit to your will and mold her as you see fit to make her more lovable in your eyes. 

You love her for what she is. 

You do not gloss over her imperfections, you learn to live with her flaws. 

You do not brag to your friends that she is yours for the taking, there is no place for braggadocio in love. 

You wait instead anxiously for the time she tells you she loves you, no matter if it may never happen and in the meantime the uncertainty is making you miserable. 

You do not lead her on with empty displays of affection. 

You do not boost her ego with false praises, only to give her the ultimate put-down by taking her for a fool. 

You find yourself speechless with admiration and fear that the slightest touch will betray the depth of your emotion. 

You do not cry foul when you see that the course of love has not gone according to your fervent wishes. 

You do not bawl at her, "How dare you make me feel love, take my heart, and then disappear from my life." 

You do not demand the return of glorious days long past. 

You do not blame her for your shattered illusions and waylaid dreams and least of all, for your broken heart. 

Even in the lowest troughs of self-pity and despair, you cannot bring yourself to cause her the slightest grief. 

You would rather die than give her the slightest hint that she has anything to do with your unhappiness. 

Love bears all-- maybe not always with a smile that's big enough for all the world to see, but just one that's brave enough to tell her it's okay, you'll live so she doesn't have to feel bad.



~quickmelt

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Y.O.L.O.

217...

The number of days before 12-21-12 or what we called DOOMSDAY in Mayan calendar. Really??? If that's it, I don't think so... haha... YOLO...

I will tell you exactly what to expect. The morning after the end of the world (as indicated in the movie 2012), the sun will come up, the birds will start chirping, people will get out of their beds and get ready for work. Moms will hug their kids and everything will pretty much be like it was the day before the end of the world.

Only one thing will be different. All of the people who were talking about it as though it was real will be saying that they knew that it was not really going to happen.

The day after that there will be a new date for the end of the world predicted, and those same people will be talking about how it is real.

P.S. You Only Live Once so live your life to the fullest! Do everything for the glory of GOD!!!

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
~Matthew 7:21

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A Place for You

I have a home in heaven above

From sin and sorrow free—

A mansion which eternal love

Designed and formed for me. —Bennett 

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A couple who brought their elderly aunt to live with them were concerned that she would not feel at home. So they transformed a room in their house into an exact replica of her bedroom at the home she left behind. When their aunt arrived, her furniture, wall hangings, and other favorite things felt like a special “Welcome home!” to her.

In John 13:36–14:4, we read that at the Last Supper Jesus spoke to His disciples and tried to prepare them for His death. When Simon Peter asked, “Where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward” (13:36). Jesus was still speaking directly to Peter (and also meant it for all of His followers) when He said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions [rooms]; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (14:2-3).

Heaven is a family gathering of believers from every tribe and nation, but it is also our Father’s house—and in that house He is preparing a room just for you.

When you arrive in heaven and Jesus opens the door, you’ll know you’re home.

For the Christian, heaven is spelled H-O-M-E.

~Our Daily Bread

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Twin psyche - Free Verse

My soul,

in its quiet moment,

is a vessel

waiting to be filled

with redeeming blood

that gives

the rhyme of passion,

but takes

the rhythm of lust.

My spirit,

in its breaking point,

is a songbird

singing to itself

of haunting lullabies 

that jolt 

the night still 

and merry dirges 

that still the day chaotic.

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Right here waiting

Oh, can't you see it baby
You've got me going crazy

Wherever you go
Whatever you do
I will be right here waiting for you
Whatever it takes
Or how my heart breaks
I will be right here waiting for you

I thought my happiness was without end. I thought that since we had naturally gravitated toward each other, it would be a simple thing to get together and be sweethearts until our hearts gave out in our golden years.  Of natural causes, not of exhaustion, like I don't feel like loving her anymore.  Of a coronary disease, maybe, not some mysterious happenstance, like where is the love we used to know?

Where did it go? I don't know. Maybe it was too beautiful to last. Maybe the deities who bestowed this wondrous gift on me decided they could not extend their generosity any further. Maybe it wasn't love at all.  Maybe it was merely a sweet but insignificant friendship, that in my romantic delusion I had exaggerated into a grand love affair. 

  

Even to this day, when I have successfully convinced myself and unsuccessfully convinced my friends that I have fallen out of love with her, I cannot help but cast one last glance in her direction every time she says goodbye and starts to walk away to an existence entirely separate from my own.  I keep my eyes on her until the last hair on her head is out of sight, trying to preserve every detail of her appearance in my memory until the time I will see her again.

I loved her smile most of all.  It must have been the same smile which ignited the sun to shine for the storm to be overwhelmed.  Swirling masses of dark clouds and slowly, one by one, little fingers of light coalesce to reveal a brilliant arc of colored light in the sky.  I remember how she used to smile at me when we'd pass each other in the school corridors.  Reflexively I'd smile back, grinning like silly, my meager lips stretched up to my ears, my face dangerously close to splitting.  She'd give me that dazzling smile of her and everything would stop just like that.  It was as if the world had ceased to exist; it was only me and her: her glistening retainers made the vertiginous dance of my heart.

  

Call it stupidity, call it insanity, call it obsession, call it infatuation, call it whatever you want, it was love, sweet bittersweet love.  With love, as with faith, if you believe that's justification enough, no explanation is necessary.  If you do not, no explanation is possible.  When you are blessed enough to love, it will change you in so many ways you can never be the same again.

Love means different things to different people, different things at different times.  Like everything, it changes.  It waxes and wanes like the moon.

In all my years of loving one girl with all the love my heart could hold, I learned that no matter where I went, no matter what I did, no matter who I was with, there was only one person for me, no matter if she long ago ceased to feel the same way.  It was not her fault that I was so unhappy for so long, it was simply my misfortune, my cross to carry.  In spite of everything, I am a better person, and I will forever be indebted to her for teaching me how it is to love.  Never mind that her teaching was done mostly in absentia.  I madly, deeply, truly loved her.  I hope never to dishonor that love by engaging in cheap flings with whoever catches my fancy at the moment.

  

It is never easy to lay open the door to your heart, because love and rejection get in the same way.  Love is not for the faint-hearted.  I loved once, and later I am still reeling from it.  Having survived one heartbreak has not lessened my fear of going through another.  Thus I envy people who can plunge headlong into relationships after but just some tentative attempts at getting to know another person.  I envy people who can meet strangers and shortly afterward declare that they were meant for each other.  I envy those who are not afraid to go after their happiness and damn the consequences.  I envy people who can go from conquest to conquest without feeling diminished by it.

I can never be like them.  I don't think like them.  Once you've tasted manna from heaven, why bother with bread from the baker?  Nothing compares with it.

  

One love, one lifetime — that is my hope.

I wonder how we can survive this romance
But in the end if I'm with you,
I'll take the chance...

~quickmelt

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The Old Windmill

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When our hearts grow weary,

When our spirits dim,

He will go before us,

Leave it all to Him. —Anon. 

A man who grew up on a ranch in West Texas tells about a rickety, old windmill that stood alongside his family’s barn and pumped water to their place. It was the only source of water for miles.

In a strong wind the windmill worked well, but in a light breeze it wouldn’t turn. It required manually turning the vane until the fan faced directly into the wind. Only when properly positioned did the windmill supply water to the ranch.

I think of that story when I meet with pastors from small churches in remote areas. Many feel isolated and unsupported—caregivers for whom no one seems to care. As a consequence, they grow weary and struggle to bring life-giving water to their flock. I like to tell them about the old windmill and our need to daily reposition ourselves—to intentionally turn toward the Lord and His Word and to drink deeply from Him who is the source of living water.

What’s true for pastors is true for all. Service for God flows from within, outward. Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). It’s when God speaks to our depths that we are able to touch the lives of others. To refresh others, let’s return to the Source of life regularly.

When you’re weary in life’s struggles, find strength in the Lord.

~Our Daily Bread

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LeBron James wins 2012 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award

NEW YORK -- LeBron James of the Miami Heat is the winner of the Maurice Podoloff Trophy as the 2011-12 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award, the NBA announced today. James earns the honor for the third time in four seasons and becomes the first player since Michael Jordan to win at least three MVPs.

James totaled 1,074 points, including 85 first-place votes, from a panel of 121 voters that consisted of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada as well as an NBA.com MVP fan vote. For the third consecutive season, the NBA and Kia Motors America gave fans the opportunity to submit their votes by ranking their top five choices through a dedicated Web page on NBA.com. The fan vote counted as one vote and was compiled with the 120 media votes to determine the winner. Players were awarded 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five for third, three for fourth and one for each fifth-place vote received.

Rounding out the top five in voting are Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant (889 points, 24 first-place votes), the Los Angeles Clippers' Chris Paul (385, six first-place votes), the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant (352, two first-place votes), and San Antonio's Tony Parker (331, four first-place votes).

James led the Heat to a 46-20 mark and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Despite averaging a career-low 37.5 minutes, the eight-time All-Star led the NBA in plus-minus score differential (+7.6) and ranked third in scoring (27.1 ppg), while pacing the Heat in assists (6.2 apg) and tying for the team lead in rebounds (7.9 rpg). In addition, James established career bests in field goal percentage (.531) and three-point field goal percentage (.362).

This season, James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month twice (January and February), and he captured Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors six times, extending his NBA record for the most Player of the Week awards to 37. James has scored double-figure points in 419 consecutive career games, the seventh-longest streak in NBA history, behind Michael Jordan (866), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (streaks of 787 and 508), Karl Malone (575), Moses Malone (526), and Oscar Robertson (428).

The NBA MVP trophy is named in honor of the late Maurice Podoloff, the first commissioner of the NBA who served from 1946 until his retirement in 1963.

As part of its support of the Most Valuable Player Award, Kia Motors America will donate a new Kia Sorento CUV to Akron Public School After School Program benefiting the Wheels for Education Program. Kia Motors will present a brand new Sorento to the charity of choice of each of five

2011-12 year-end award winners as part of the "The Kia NBA Performance Awards." Following this season, Kia Motors will have donated a total of 21 new vehicles to charitable organizations since its support of the NBA's prestigious year-end honors began with the 2007-2008 season.

The 2011-12 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award is part of a series of on-court performance awards called "The Kia NBA Performance Awards." The series, currently in its fifth season, is a significant part of the multiyear marketing partnership between Kia Motors America and the NBA, and also includes the Most Improved Player, Defensive Player, Sixth Man awards, and this year for the first time, Rookie of the Year. It also includes the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month which are awarded during the regular season. For more information on the "The Kia NBA Performance Awards" visit www.NBA.com/performanceawards.

Attached are the voting results for the 2011-12 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award. The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP.

2011-12 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award Results

Player, Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Total Points LeBron James, Miami 85 25 9 1 1 1074 Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City 24 83 13 1 0 889 Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers 6 5 32 35 25 385 Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 2 5 30 39 30 352 Tony Parker, San Antonio 4 3 31 31 22 331 Kevin Love, Minnesota 0 0 4 6 20 58 Dwight Howard, Orlando 0 0 1 1 5 13 Rajon Rondo, Boston 0 0 0 2 6 12 Steve Nash, Phoenix 0 0 0 1 4 7 Derrick Rose, Chicago 0 0 1 0 0 5 Dwyane Wade, Miami 0 0 0 1 3 6 Russell Westbrook, OKC 0 0 0 1 1 4 Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas 0 0 0 1 1 4 Tim Duncan, San Antonio 0 0 0 1 0 3 Joe Johnson, Atlanta 0 0 0 0 1 1

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All-Time Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award Winners

Year Player Team 2011-12 LeBron James Miami Heat 2010-11 Derrick Rose Chicago Bulls 2009-10 LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers 2008-09 LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers 2007-08 Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers 2006-07 Dirk Nowitzki Dallas Mavericks 2005-06 Steve Nash Phoenix Suns 2004-05 Steve Nash Phoenix Suns 2003-04 Kevin Garnett Minnesota Timberwolves 2002-03 Tim Duncan San Antonio Spurs 2001-02 Tim Duncan San Antonio Spurs 2000-01 Allen Iverson Philadelphia 76ers 1999-00 Shaquille O'Neal Los Angeles Lakers 1998-99 Karl Malone Utah Jazz 1997-98 Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls 1996-97 Karl Malone Utah Jazz 1995-96 Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls 1994-95 David Robinson San Antonio Spurs 1993-94 Hakeem Olajuwon Houston Rockets 1992-93 Charles Barkley Phoenix Suns 1991-92 Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls 1990-91 Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls 1989-90 Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers 1988-89 Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers 1987-88 Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls 1986-87 Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers 1985-86 Larry Bird Boston Celtics 1984-85 Larry Bird Boston Celtics 1983-84 Larry Bird Boston Celtics 1982-83 Moses Malone Philadelphia 76ers 1981-82 Moses Malone Houston Rockets 1980-81 Julius Erving Philadelphia 76ers 1979-80 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Los Angeles Lakers 1978-79 Moses Malone Houston Rockets 1977-78 Bill Walton Portland Trail Blazers 1976-77 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Los Angeles Lakers 1975-76 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Los Angeles Lakers 1974-75 Bob McAdoo Buffalo Braves 1973-74 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Milwaukee Bucks 1972-73 Dave Cowens Boston Celtics 1971-72 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Milwaukee Bucks 1970-71 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Milwaukee Bucks 1969-70 Willis Reed New York Knicks 1968-69 Wes Unseld Baltimore Bullets 1967-68 Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia 76ers 1966-67 Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia 76ers 1965-66 Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia 76ers 1964-65 Bill Russell Boston Celtics 1963-64 Oscar Robertson Cincinnati Royals 1962-63 Bill Russell Boston Celtics 1961-62 Bill Russell Boston Celtics 1960-61 Bill Russell Boston Celtics 1959-60 Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia Warriors 1958-59 Bob Pettit St. Louis Hawks 1957-58 Bill Russell Boston Celtics 1956-57 Bob Cousy Boston Celtics 1955-56 Bob Pettit St. Louis Hawks

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