Posts Tagged ‘Family’
Ice Cream Prayer, The
December 28th, 2009 | Author: Pure Thoughts Admin
Last week I took my children to a restaurant. My six-year-old son asked if he could say grace. As we bowed our heads he said, “God is great and God is Good. Let us thank Him for the food, and I would even thank you more if mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And Liberty and justice for all! Amen!”
Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman remark, “That’s what’s wrong with this country. Kids today don’t even know how to pray. Asking God for ice-cream! Why, I never!”
Hearing this, my son burst into tears and asked me, “Did I do it wrong? is God mad at me?” As I held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table. He winked at my son and said, “I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer.” “Really?” my son asked. “Cross my heart.”
Then in theatrical whisper he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started this whole thing), “Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes.”
Naturally, I bought my kids ice cream at the end of the meal. My son stared at his for a moment and then did something I will remember the rest of my life. He picked up his sundae and without a word walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her, “Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes and my soul is good already.”
Mother’s Worth
December 21st, 2009 | Author: Pure Thoughts Admin
An ounce of mother is worth a ton of priest.
Passing the Torch
November 10th, 2009 | Author: Pure Thoughts Admin
John LeBlanc
Most of you know that both my dad and my father in law died in the same week this past July. Since then my wife and I have been busy literally selling the farm my parents lived on and disposing of all the farm equipment and 75 years accumulation of business, farm and personal stuff. Just going through it is a long process, not to mention disposing of it.
I found a few really neat things I had not seen since I was a kid right away. I decided then and there that there would not be any wholesale removal of anything. The memories those things brought back were just too valuable.
After many hours, days and weeks of blood, sweat and tears literally, on the top shelf of my Dad’s workshop covered with dirt daubers and spider webs was a Gerber baby food jar. Inside it was a key ring. On the key ring was a Nickel alloy almost round magnet the size of a dine and about 4 mm thick.
My dad was a radiator repairman and welder. One of the problems right after WWII was radiators had a lot of iron parts on them that caused repair problems. Dad needed a handy magnet to sort out these parts. His uncle was a metallurgist at a local refinery and made that magnet for him. As a kid I always remember it on his key ring. About 10 years ago I asked what happened to it and he told me he did not know.
He obviously put it in a safe place. I found it.
Dad, it is on my key ring just like it was on yours.
The torch is passed.
When it came time to do the same thing at my father in law’s house my brother in law “I just can’t do it” is what he told me. Too sensitive of a guy. My dad took that sensitivity out of me with a little strip of leather and the admonition to “suck it up and take it like a man”.
My Dad’s parents were both killed when he was 16 in 1932 in the midst of the depression. Dad knew what “suck it up and take it like a man” meant. He had been there, done that. I often thought of him telling me that and it got me through many a dismal hour in my youth, the U S Army, at Philmont and all along life’s path.
I even passed it along to my daughters. My 23 year old is often heard telling her whining friends to “suck it up and take it like a man” and they do!
Anyway, the time came to clean out my father in law’s attic. He notoriously saved EVERYTHING, packaged it in an appropriate box or bag, tied it with string and labeled it. This was brought to my attention when my wife and I had our first child (the 23 year old) and she was ready to start coloring with Crayolas.
Grandpa fetched my wife’s coloring books and Crayolas from the attic where he put them some 35 year earlier.
Slow Dance
November 1st, 2009 | Author: Pure Thoughts Admin
-Author Unknown
Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round
Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last
Do you run through each day on the fly
When you ask “How are you?” do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores running through your head?
You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last
Ever told your child, We’ll do it tomorrow
And in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch, Let a good friendship die
‘Cause you never had time to call and say “Hi”?
You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift….
Thrown away…
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.
Golf Lessons with Daughter
October 21st, 2009 | Author: Pure Thoughts Admin
By Donald Hoke
Like every golfer, I can’t wait for the start of the golf season. But I have a special reason: my new playing partner, my 8-year-old daughter, known affectionately as “the Terrorist.”
When she was only 2, her mother and I bought the little rascal a child-sized seven iron. It was way too big for her, but she dragged it around the house. About the time she was 5, she started accompanying her daddy to the driving range and putting green.
She and I chipped around in the back yard until she started to hit the ball with some authority. One day, she put a Titleist through the bathroom window, which resulted in a torrent of tears After that, we confine golfing to the driving range.
Then last spring, I said to the Terrorist, “What do you say we play ‘real’ golf on a ‘real’ golf course?
“Yeah! Daddy!” came the enthusiastic response.
So the following Saturday morning, we drove to a nine-hole, par three course. It is a family-friendly course with slow greens, a driving range and a putting green on which to warm up. One rarely has to wait at the first tee.
After a torrential rain, water collects along the left side of the first fairway. And a ditch lies along the second fairway. Otherwise, it is hard to get into trouble on a course with virtually no rough. Just the place for an 8-year-old, and her daddy.
THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL
October 16th, 2009 | Author: Pure Thoughts Admin
A weary mother returned from the store,
Lugging groceries through the kitchen door.
Awaiting her arrival was her 8 year old son,
Anxious to relate what his younger brother had done.
“While I was out playing and Dad was on a call,
T.J. took his crayons and wrote on the wall!
It’s on the new paper you just hung in the den.
I told him you’d be mad at having to do it again.”
She let out a moan and furrowed her brow,
“Where is your little brother right now?”
She emptied her arms and with a purposeful stride,
She marched to his closet where he had gone to hide.
She called his full name as she entered his room.
He trembled with fear–he knew that meant doom!
For the next ten minutes, she ranted and raved
About the expensive wallpaper and how she had saved.
Lamenting all the work it would take to repair,
She condemned his actions and total lack of care.
The more she scolded, the madder she got,
Then stomped from his room, totally distraught!
She headed for the den to confirm her fears.
When she saw the wall, her eyes flooded with tears.
The message she read pierced her soul with a dart.
It said, “I love Mommy,” surrounded by a heart.
Well, the wallpaper remained, just as she found it,
With an empty picture frame hung to surround it.
A reminder to her, and indeed to all,
Take time to read the handwriting on the wall
A Stranger Passed By
October 15th, 2009 | Author: Pure Thoughts Admin
I ran into a stranger as he passed by.
“Oh, excuse me please” was my reply.
He said, “Please, excuse me too,
Wasn’t even watching for you.”
We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said good-bye.
But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.
Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My daughter stood beside me very still.
When I turned, I nearly knocked her down.
“Move out of the way,” I said with a frown.
She walked away, her little heart broken
at how harshly I had spoken.
While I lay awake in bed,
God’s still small voice came to me and said,
“While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use,
But the children you love, you seem to abuse.
Look on the kitchen floor,
You’ll find some flowers there by the door.
Those are the flowers she brought for you.
She picked them herself, pink, yellow and blue.
She stood quietly not to spoil the surprise,
And you never saw the tears in her eyes.
“By this time, I felt very small,
and now my tears began to fall.
I quietly went and knelt by her bed;
“Wake up, little girl, wake up,” I said.
“Are these the flowers you picked for me?”
She smiled, “I found ‘em, out by the tree.
I picked ‘em, because they’re pretty like you.
I knew you’d like’em, especially the blue.
I said, “Daughter, I’m sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn’t have yelled at you that way.”
She said, “Oh, Mom, that’s okay.
I love you anyway.”
I said, “Daughter, I love you too,
And I do like the flowers, especially the blue.”
God is Good
May 5th, 2009 | Author: Pure Thoughts Admin
My dear Auntie,
You make my day complete and paint my face with such a glee.
I’m very happy that I know you’ll always be there,
Always ready to make us feel that you really care.
That’s why I always ask Him to always bless you and your family,
Keep you away from any jeopardy and lighten your adversity.
From everyday works He guide you always,
And make your life the best of days.
I know He must have heard my prayer,
Coz He lengthen your life keep you away from all sorts of danger.
He gave you a family that we’re paragon of sweetness and virtue,
A family that really loves you.
