Paid in Full - A glass of milk

"People will be rewarded for 

what they say, 

and they will also be rewarded for 

what they do." 

Prov. 12:14

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?” “You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.” He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.”

As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.

Year’s later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to the case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She began to read the following words:

“Paid in full with one glass of milk”

Signed, Dr. Howard Kelly.

Author,

Unknown

Are you a whale or a mermaid?

"Ultimately, I am what I choose to be; 

my self-esteem follows the same path." 

-Anonymous

In a large city in Australia, a poster
featuring a young, thin and tan woman
appeared in the window of a gym.
It said, “This summer, do you want to be
a mermaid or a whale?”

A middle-aged woman, whose
physical characteristics did not
match those of the
woman on the poster,
responded publicly to the question
posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern,

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans.)
They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby whales.
They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp.
They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia,
the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia.

Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs.
They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other
than humans.They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone
in the world.

Mermaids don’t exist.

If they did exist, they would be lining up outside
the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due
to identity crisis.  Fish or human?
They don’t have a sex life because they
 kill men who get close to them, not to mention
how could they have sex? Just look at them…
where is IT?

Therefore, they don’t have kids either.

Not to mention, who wants to get close to a
girl who smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me: I want
to be a whale.

P.S. We are in an age when media puts into
our heads theidea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy
an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver,
and a piece of chocolate with my friends.

With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and
wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room,
it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we
aren’t heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy.

Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, “Good grief,
look how smart I am!

After that reading that what is there to say except; so which are you going to be
a Whale or a Mermaid?

What did you do today?

In this blog I started to write a comment only to delete it forever and only this morning I found in one of my readings the words and thoughts that fit in with this story.  I've been reading Joanna Weaver's book "Having a Mary Spirit" for worship.  In it one of the sections talks about Broken Chains and Perpetual Feasts (p.193 - 195); now why would I use this illustration.  Read it first and then my comments. 

A man came home from work and found his 5 children outside, still in their pyjamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn around garden, The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and no sign of the dog, walking in the door, he found ...an even bigger mess. 

A lamp had been knocked over, the throw rug was against one wall, In the front

 room the TV was on loudly with the cartoon channel, the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened.  He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pyjamas, reading a novel...

She looked up at him, smiled and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?' She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world do I do all day?...

''Yes," was his incredulous reply..
She answered, 'Well, today I didn't do it.’

I won't condemn this woman, it sounds like she decided to take a holiday from it all.  However, with my Yr 11 Health class we have been covering the topic of addictions.  There are more types then just ones about drugs etc.  Words are the food for the soul.

Like the Indian parable about the son coming to the father about why we do things.  He was told we have two wolves in our bodies.  The Good one and the bad one.  The son asked which one wins.  The fathers' reply was which ever one you feed the most.

Now back to Joanna's comments on this she use to read Christian novels cover to cover.  She could not put them down until she had finished it and then read another back to back.  God asked her to go on a fast for a year.  No novels for a whole year.  For her it was giving up some thing for Lent.  She then realised she needed to spend quiet quality time reading her bible   It took her four years before she read novels again, but now the addictive power of reading has changed she now no longer devours them like potato chips, but can go months with out reading any.  Sometimes she slips up but then uses Yo - you prayer (p.192,93) to ask for help from God to over come it.  This is leaving everything to God and not worrying about it.