TO BUY A MIRACLE!

A little girl went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet. She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times, even. The total had to be exactly perfect. No chance here for mistakes. Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall's Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door.

She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention, but he was too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good. Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it!

"And what do you want?" the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages," he said without waiting for a reply to his question. "Well, I want to talk to you about my brother," Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. "He's really, really sick...and I want to buy a miracle."

"I beg your pardon?" said the pharmacist. "His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?"

"We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I'm sorry but I can't help you," the pharmacist said, softening a little. "Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn't enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs."

The pharmacist's brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, "What kind of a miracle does your brother need?" "I don't know," Tess replied with her eyes welling up.! I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can't pay for it, so I want to use my money."

"How much do you have?" asked the man from Chicago. "One dollar and eleven cents," Tess answered barely audibly. "And it's all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to."
"Well, what a coincidence," smiled the man. "A dollar and eleven cents---the exact price of a miracle for little brothers." He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said "Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the miracle you need."

That well dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neurosurgery. The operation was completed free of charge and it wasn't long until Andrew was home again and doing well. Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place. "That surgery," her Mom whispered, "was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?"

Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost...one dollar and eleven cents....plus the faith of a little child. In our lives, we never know how many miracles we will need. A miracle is not the suspension of natural law, but the operation of a higher law.

“Father, help us to retain and to walk in a ‘child-like’ Faith that knows no limits.”

Wherever you celebrate, here's reason for GREAT praise. When we think of the finished work of Christ, we think of forgiveness of sins, but it is so much more. Take a look at the list below to see what the finished work of Christ has accomplished for you. Thank God for this gift, his gift. No language can praise Him enough! ~ 2Cor. 9:15 (But we can certainly try! )

The Finished Work of Christ
What has the finished work of Christ done for you? It is a perfect and complete work done just for you. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. (Heb. 10:14)

1. All your sins are forgiven (Eph. 4:32, Col. 2:13, 1 John 2:12).
2. Satan has been disarmed and defeated (Col. 2:15).
3. The record of charges against you has been canceled and nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14).
4. The old sin-loving sinner you were has been crucified, dead and buried and gone (Rom. 6:4).
5. The old you no longer lives, but Christ lives in you and you now live by the faith of the Son of
God who loved you and gave Himself for you (Gal. 2:20).
6. You are dead to sin and alive to God (Rom. 6:11).
7. You have been washed, justified and sanctified (1 Cor. 6:11).
8. You are the temple of God and the Spirit of God lives in you (1 Cor. 3:16).
9. Christ is your very life (Col. 3:4).
10. You are a new creation in Christ – the old has passed away, the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17).
11. There is no more condemnation, shame and punishment (Rom. 8:1).
12. The world has been crucified to you and you have been crucified to the world ( Gal. 6:14).
13. You are born again and overcome the world (1 John 5:4).
14. Christ in you is the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).
15. You are complete in Christ and He is the head of all rule and authority (Col. 2:10).
16. Jesus is in the Father and you are in Jesus and Jesus is in you (John 14:20).
17. You have died to the law and have been released from it. (Rom 7:6).
18. Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace (Rom. 6:14).
19. You are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21).
20. Christ in you is your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30).
21. You have been sanctified and made perfect forever (Heb. 10:14).
22. Christ has set you free and you are free indeed (John 8:36).
23. You have an anointing from God and you know the truth (1 John 2:20).
24. God is for you and will give you all things (Rom. 8:31, 32)
25. You have been given the victory (1 Cor. 15:57).
26. You are born of God and Jesus keeps you safe, the evil one cannot touch you (1 John 5:18)
27. You are from God and overcome evil spirits because greater is He who is in you than He who
is in the world (1 John 4:4).
28. You have been called, justified, sanctified and glorified (Rom. 8:30).
29. Jesus is praying for you (Rom. 8:34)
30. You have been given everything you need for life and godliness through Christ (2 Pet. 1:3).
31. You have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph. 1:3).
32. Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ- not hardship, persecution, famine, danger,
death, demons, Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell
can’t keep God’s love away. Nothing in all creation will be able to separate you from the love
of God in Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:35-39).

LAS VEGAS CHURCHES

This may come as a surprise to those of you not living in Las Vegas, but there are more Catholic Churches than Casinos! Not surprisingly, some worshippers at Sunday Services will give Casino chips rather than cash when the offering basket is passed. Since they get chips from many different Casinos, the Churches have devised a method to collect the offerings.

The Churches all send their collected chips to a nearby Franciscan Monastery for sorting, and then the chips are taken to the Casinos of origin and cashed in. And, of course, this is all done by – Chip Monks!

[Editor’s Note: My response to this is to tell those folks who sent this to me to: “Get Thee to a Punnery!" :-)]


LIFE IN THE 1500'S

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. – Hence, the rhyme, “Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.”

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lea d poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Now, whoever said History was boring?


GOOD NEW / BAD NEWS

Two 90-year-old women, Rose and Barb, had been friends all of their lives. When it was clear that Rose was dying, Barb visited her every day. One day Barb said, "Rose, we both loved playing women's softball all our lives, and we played all through High School. Please do me one favor: when you get to Heaven, somehow you must let me know if there's women's soft-ball there." Rose looked up at Barb from her deathbed and said, "Barb, you've been my best friend for many years. If it's at all possible, I'll do this favor for you." Shortly after that, Rose passed on.
At midnight a few nights later, Barb was awakened from a sound sleep by a blinding flash of white light and a voice calling out to her, "Barb, Barb." "Who is it?" asked Barb, sitting up suddenly. "Who is it?""Barb -- it's me, Rose."

"You're not Rose. Rose just died." "I'm telling you, it's me, Rose," insisted the voice. – "In Heaven," replied Rose. "I have some really good news and a little bad news."

"Tell me the good news first," said Barb. "The good news," Rose said, "is that there's Softball in Heaven. Better yet, all of our old buddies who died before us are here, too. Better than that, we're all young again. Better still, it's always springtime, and it never rains or snows. And best of all, we can play softball all we want, and we never get tired."

"That's fantastic," said Barb. "It's beyond my wildest dreams! So what's the bad news?"

"You're pitching Tuesday."

"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice." ~ Cherokee Proverb ~



WOMEN DRIVERS!

I tell you, women drivers are a hazard to traffic. Driving to work this morning on the freeway, I looked over to my left and there was a woman in a Mustang doing 65 miles per hour with her face up next to her rear view mirror putting on her eyeliner!

I looked away for a couple seconds and when I looked back she was halfway over in my lane. It scared me so bad I dropped my electric shaver in my coffee, and it spilled all over my cell phone!


THE TAVERN VS. THE BAPTIST CHURCH

In a small conservative town, a new tavern started a building to open up their business. The local Baptist church started a campaign to block the bar from opening with petitions and prayers. Work progressed, however right up until the week before opening, when a lightning strike hit the bar and it burned to the ground.

The church folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church was
ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, either through direct or indirect actions or means. The church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection to the buildings demise in its reply to the court.

As the case made it's way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork at the hearing and commented, "I don't know how I'm going to decide this, but as it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner that believes in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that doesn't!"

Hmmm!

POSITIONED TO PRAY

We were the first ones to come upon the accident. My quick thinking husband, always good in an emergency, calmly took charge while we waited for the ambulance to arrive. I watched as a little boy was lifted from the wreckage.

Feeling helpless and with a knot in my stomach I did the only thing I could do at that moment. I prayed for that little boy. I asked God to intervene in that young life and to spare him and heal him.
Several years later I had my own two boys at swimming lessons. I chatted with one of the moms as she marveled out loud that her son was able to be in swimming lessons. She told me about the terrible accident he had been in and the extent of his injuries. As we talked I realized this was the little boy I had prayed for as I stood on the side of the road.

I told the mom I had been there... that my husband was the one who had helped her husband from the wreckage. I told her that I had been there praying and was so excited to see how God had been at work. She too believed in God and was thankful for the miracle of healing in her son's life.

God positions His children in places where prayer is needed. Have you ever wondered why you came upon a desperate situation? Or found yourself alongside someone at work who is going through great hardship? Or discovered a neighbor is battling a difficult circumstance in health, relationship or finances?

God positions His children to pray. He knows the ups and downs of every life. He knows when there is little or no influence of God in a life or a situation. He works on this earth through the prayers of His people so He puts His people where prayer is needed.

Look around with fresh eyes today. Take note of the situations that come onto your radar screen as you walk through your day. Pray for those needs you become aware of. Even dare to tell someone you will be praying for them. Ask God for courage to offer a prayer out loud with someone when He presents the opportunity. It may be the very reason you are in that very place today.

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Librarian Abigail Goldberg says that sometimes there are requests for books she just cannot help her patrons with. Two examples to ponder:
A book on Cleopatra – must have photos.
The play Romeo and Juliet – the edition with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Hmmmmmmm!