July 2006

Week One

Unseen Beauty

~ E. Jay Ritter

Sometimes I think my eyes are blind
To many beauties on this earth,
For when I stop to view, I find
There's things I've missed, great things of worth.
Great, though they are, I've passed them by
Without once stopping long to see
The beauty, or to reason why
This earthly thing had come to me.

I've passed by stone, and shells and weeds
And never thought to look them o'er.
They did not meet my daily needs.
I wondered what God made them for.
But, Oh, the beauty there displayed,
The colorings of dainty hue
When sunbeams on them gently played,
There's beauty rare for me and you.

If we would only stop awhile,
Along our rapid road of life,
To analyze a word or smile,
'T'would foster love instead of strife.
That's why I think my eyes are blind
To many beauties on this earth
For when I stop to view, I find
There's things I've missed, great things of worth.

Week Two

Self-Management

~ Author Unknown

"The most difficult person for you to manage and control is you yourself. No one is properly qualified to manage others before he has learned to manage and control himself. Here are a few rules for self-management that a reader has sent in: Make yourself do the things that count...Never give yourself an alibi...Don't blame others and, even if they are to blame, try to understand...Be scrupulously honest with yourself...Don't be a slave to your whims...Let others know the goals for which you are striving...Be firmest with yourself...Live on your present income, not on future expectations...Give more attention to bossing yourself than to bossing others."

Week Three

Every-Day Miracles

~ Frances H. O'Brien

God, let me be content
With simple things;
The twinkling of a star,
A bird that sings,
The roaring of a wave,
A sunset view,
A tiny blade of grass,
A drop of dew,
Autumn's golden splendor,
A flower fair,
The echo of a woods,
A baby's stare,
The stillness of the night
A sky of blue,
Memories to treasure,
A friend that's true,
A swallow's swift descent,
A timid fawn,
A mother's loving care
The sun at dawn.
Simple things? Forgive me
Human frailty!
Each one a miracle revealing Thee!

Week Four

Tattletale

~ Edward Anthony

"Belinda has spilled her chocolate milk
All over her 'rithmetic book,
And most of the pages are soaking wet
And have a choc'laty look."

Suppose Belinda had spilled even more?
Suppose she had spilled a whole pail?
Is that any reason, Frederick John,
Why you should carry the tale?

Now all you have done is stir up others
To cup their hands and yell
That Frederick John put wax on the floor
The morning his teacher fell.

And Frederick John turns a rather bright red,
As the others continue to shout,
For it's often true that the one who tattles
Can also be tattled about.

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