Faith Family Friends

Celebrating the Joy of Living & Home Making ~

Baking, Cooking, Decorating, Tea Time, and taking Inspiration from those I love and the world around me...

A sharing of my heart and my home from a Christian perspective

...with a wee bit of whimsy added.

Saturday 18 April 2009

Spiritual Sundays ~ Change Your Thinking!


Hello Friends. I received a short story through email this past week and thought I would share it with you. You may have read this before but I think it is worth a second read! It will take just 37 seconds to read this and change your thinking.

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, and where they had both been on vacation.

Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and colour of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while the children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every colour and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene. One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band - he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days, weeks, and months passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

Epilogue: There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.

"Today is a gift, that is why it is called the Present."

When I read this story, I cannot help but think of the scripture verse from Philippians 4:8 - "Whatever is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy, think on these things."

The scriptures also tell us that there is life and death in the power of the tongue! We have the power to make someone else's life better just by having a good attitude!

Let's have an attitude of gratitude and be a blessing to others!

I pray you were encouraged today and I hope you will go visit Spiritual Sundays for a wonderful array of devotionals and stories. Just click on the Spiritual Sundays button on my sidebar.

The Lord be with you & bless you!

Pink Saturday



"Happy Pink Saturday" my dear bloggy friends.
Showing off pink treasures is so easy for me because there is so much of this romantic blush of colour in my home. However, one does start to run out of pinks after a while. I actually had to go looking for some pink today!

Something that I have never shared before are the following items~
A little votive candle sitting sweetly on a Rose Chintz saucer. This is much like a little Rose Chintz hurricane lamp I saw advertised on the Internet. I just decided to make my own.

These are two wee demi-tasses that I have in the Rose Chintz pattern. See how small they are in comparison to a regular sized teacup?

Lastly, here is a piece of cranberry glass, a gift from Hubby.

Now, I will show you a bunch of flowers and teacups. Can you guess what I'm going to be doing with these?

I will show you my new creation next week!

Hope your day will be wonderful in every way and please go visit Beverly and all the other pinkies participating in today's fun event. Just click on the link or the Pink Saturday button on my sidebar. http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/