Food for thot

Retold by Dave Lindstedt

Once
upon a time, in a northern Mediterranean town, there lived a husband
and wife who became successful merchants. Their shop in the town square
bustled with activity. But even though their business was quite
profitable, they were heartbroken because they were unable to have any
children. As time passed, they prayed that God would give them a child
to brighten their later years. At last a son was born. They named him
Nicholas and they lavished on him their love.

As Nicholas grew, he spent his afternoons scurrying around the shop
with his parents. In the evening, he liked to sit at his father's desk
and watch as his father counted the day's proceeds. Always, before he
began, Nicholas's father would drop a gold coin into each of three
small cloth bags on a corner of the desk.

"This is for tomorrow, Nicholas," he would say, "so you'll always have soup with your bread."

Continue reading "The Legend of St. Nicholas and the Gold"

Posted by David Butler

Some are black and some are white,

Some are wrong and some are right,

Some get rich and some stay poor,

Some make peace and some make war.

Some are yellow, some are brown,

Some are up and some are down,

Some go far, some fall behind,

Some are mean and some are kind.

Some are reds and some are greens,

Some stay quiet, some make scenes,

Some say yes and some say no,

Some will tell you where to go.

But underneath our different skin,

The same heart beats, deep within.

For brothers, sisters all are we,

Meant to live in harmony.

HARMONY IN A WORLD as wracked by tension, strife,
prejudice and violence as the one we live in today? Impossible! you
might think, as you're tempted to put this in the nearest trash can.
But please just take a minute to read on and at least consider the
solution offered herein.

Continue reading "The Color of Love"

Posted by David Butler

A retelling of 1 Kings 17:8-16

By Joyce Suttin

"Have you something for me to eat, something to drink?" the unassuming stranger asked. "I'm weak from hunger and weary from my journey. Please, I beg you."

My heart reached out to him. I felt the same hunger pains. Zarephath, like wherever this man was fleeing from, was in the grip of famine. I too was weak and weary. I too needed someone to rescue me before I perished.

I had almost nothing, and he was asking me to give him what little I had. If it had only been me, I would have given him my last morsel without a second thought. I had given God plenty of reasons to turn His back on me. I didn't deserve to live, but what about my little boy, the light of my life, whom I adored?

"Come. … Of course, come in," I answered haltingly. "But, you see, I have nothing to give you. I have only enough flour and oil to prepare one last meal for my son and myself before we die. We were gathering sticks for the fire when you came up the path."

He was a handsome child, but now gaunt from having eaten very little for several weeks. A smile lightened his lips. He always had a smile. "Mother, I have found some sticks, too. The wind caused them to fall in the night. They will make a nice fire."

The man looked deep into the child's eyes. "Surely, the Lord has led me here," he said.

I looked over at my boy, his curly brown hair tousled by the breeze. His eyes were fixed on me, the way small children look at their mothers with expectancy and trust.

"Do not fear," the man said. "Make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me. Then make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord God, 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.'"

I went to the shelf and took down the oil jar. It was light in my hands, nearly empty. Why was I doing this for a stranger? It didn't make sense.

"Light the fire, my son, while I make the bread."

I took the sack of flour from its bin. It too was nearly gone. As I kneaded the dough, a strange thing happened. Energy returned to my hands. My feet felt light as I took it to the oven. This bread was different.

I struggled to ignore my pangs of hunger as the room began to smell of freshly baked bread, and I avoided my son's attentive stare.

The man reached for the bread as I offered it to him. He held it up to God and said, "Lord, bless this food You have provided, and bless these hands that have prepared it." He turned to me and smiled. "Now make for yourself and your son."

"But I have just used the last…" I hesitated. His eyes told me that I should just do as he said.

"Son, hand me the flour and the oil."

The boy's eyes were filled with wonder as he handed me the flour. The sack was heavier than it had been in days. Then he passed me the oil jar, and as he did, oil splashed on our hands. Our hearts, like the jar of oil, were full to overflowing.

And God was true to His word. A handful of flour and a few drops of oil kept the three of us alive for nearly three years, until the famine had passed.


You don't have to be a millionaire to give what you've got.

There is not one of God's children who cannot afford to give something to His work. You may think you can't afford to give, or you may not be able to give a lot at first, but God blesses everybody that gives. If you're not rich, that's all the more reason to give, so God can bless you and help you have more.

God's finances work the opposite from the world's. The world says, "When I've got my million, then I'll start giving." But the Lord says, "Start giving what you've got now, and then I'll give you more." Man says, "Me first. Self-preservation is the first law of nature." But God says, "Put Me and Mine first, and I'll take care of you afterwards."[[footnote: Matthew 6:33]]

God's way to plenty is to give sacrificially of what you now have. "There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty."[[footnote: Proverbs 11:24]] The more you share, the more God will heap on you, and the more you'll have to share. Love gives itself rich.

—David Brandt Berg

Posted by David Butler

(Charles Swindoll)
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of
attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than
education, than money, than circumstances,
than failures, than success, than what other
people think or say or do. It is more important
than appearance, ability, or skill. It will make or
break a company, a church, a home.
We have a choice every day regarding the
attitude we will embrace from that day. We cannot
change our past, we cannot change the fact that
people will act in a certain way. The only thing that
we can do is play on the one string that we have,
and this string is attitude. I am convinced that life
is ten percent what happens to me and ninety
percent how I react to it. And so it is with you.
We are in charge of our attitudes.

Choose good attitudes—they’re contagious!

Posted by David Butler

Get the best out of this wonderful season, without it getting the best of you!

Adapted from D.J. Adams

Christmas is a great time for sharing, for getting together with old friends and new, for rediscovering the importance of family and of spirituality. But Christmas can also be hectic and even frustrating if we don't manage our time and our moods correctly. I know. I run a book and game store that gets tremendously busy during November and December, and yet I, too, have a family that wants me to spend extra time with them, shopping to do, parties to go to, and so on. Since I talk to a lot of frantic people every year around this time, I have some words of advice that hopefully can help you get the best out of this wonderful season, without it getting the best of you.

Keep your perspective.

Remember what Christmas is about: a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The concepts of "peace on earth" and "goodwill toward men" (and women!) are universal and worth sharing. It's sometimes difficult to remember this when you're battling for a parking space in an overcrowded mall parking lot, but it's worth the effort.

Plan ahead.

Why are so many of us shocked each year that it's suddenly almost Christmas and we haven't done a thing to prepare? Yes, you can wait till the last minute, but how much better and easier to pick up gifts early, wrap them, and put them in a closet? You can even start Christmas craft projects in July! By the time December rolls around, you won't have much to do except to enjoy yourself—and you'll be the envy of those of us who wish we'd been as organized!

Continue reading "Christmas Stress Busters"

Posted by David Butler

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for some underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
Doing the right thing anyway, in spite of opposition or your own feelings, is the making of great men and women; it's the path to success.


Credited to Mother Teresa

Posted by David Butler