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Sharon 1587 6727 Trenton	Re: MIKE BUMBALOUGH's DAILY INSPIRATIONS and BLESSINGS. 11/14/2007 12:39:21 PM
	A Daily Prayer Dear God, I thank You for this day. I thank You for my being able to see, hear and breath this today. I'm blessed because You are a forgiving and an understanding God. You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me. Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said or thought that was not pleasing to you. Please keep me safe from all danger and harm. Help me to use this day with a new attitude and more gratitude. Let me make the best of each and every day to clear my mind so that I can hear You. Let me not whine and complain over things out of my control. I know that You know my heart. Continue to use me to do Your will. Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others. Keep me strong that I may help the weak. Lift me up that I may have words of encouragement for others. I pray for those that are lost and can't find their way. I pray for those that are downtrodden. I pray for those who don’t know You. I thank You for the belief I have in You. I believe that You change people and circumstances when they trust in YOU. I pray for all my brothers and sisters; for each and every *family* *member in their households. I pray for peace, love and joy in their homes that they are free of* *debt* and all their needs are met. I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than You. Every battle we fight is in Your hands. I pray that these words will comfort the hearts of everyone that sees them. I pray that I will be able to ask all with the understanding and acceptance of Your will in all things. All things I offer to you in the name of Your Son, Jesus the *Christ*. Smile, and make someone else Mike You can view Mike's Daily Blessings at http://www.TheWoods.phpbbnow.com Please invite Mike to your friends list here: http://community.adlandpro.com/go/papaof7/

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Sharon 1587 6727 Trenton	Re: MIKE BUMBALOUGH's DAILY INSPIRATIONS and BLESSINGS. 11/21/2007 6:13:26 PM
	Christians ~ By Maya Angelo When I say…”I am a Christian” I’m not shouting “I’m clean livin’.” I’m whispering “I was lost, Now I’m found and forgiven.” When I say…”I am a Christian” I don’t speak of this with pride. I’m confessing that I stumble And need Christ to be my guide. When I say…”I am a Christian” I’m not trying to be strong. I’m professing that I’m weak And need His strength to carry on. When I say…”I am a Christian” I’m not bragging of success. I’m admitting I have failed And need God to clean my mess. When I say…”I am a Christian” I’m not claiming to be perfect, My flaws are far too visible But, God believes I am worth it. When I say…”I am a Christian” I still feel the stingof pain. I have my share of heartaches So I call upon His name. When I say…”I am a Christian” I’m not holier than thou, I’m just a simple sinner Who received God’s good grace, somehow! So well said wouldn’t you say? So often non-Christians perceive Christians as a group of high and mighty do-gooders. Could it we our fault? Are we any better than anyone else? Of course not, Christ died for all and therefore all are welcome into His fold. We’re only different because we have humbly accepted the invitation and admitted we are sinners. We’ve begged for the forgiveness He so freely offers. We need to tell His story in love and without a condescending attitude. He desires that none should perish. Love one another and be kind to all people. Our lives tell far more than we can say. Your humble Christian Friend, Mike Bumbalough/Minister You can view Mike's Daily Blessings at http://www.TheWoods.phpbbnow.com Please invite Mike to your friends list here: http://community.adlandpro.com/go/papaof7/

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Sharon 1587 6727 Trenton	Re: MIKE BUMBALOUGH's DAILY INSPIRATIONS and BLESSINGS. 11/22/2007 9:16:08 PM
	Here is an oldie but goodie I hope will bring joy to you. The Blessing Of Thorns =================== Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes as she pushed against a November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had been easy, like a spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a minor automobile accident stole her ease. During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son. She grieved over her loss. As if that weren't enough, her husband's company threatened a transfer. Then her sister, whose annual holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not come. What's worse, Sandra's friend infuriated her by suggesting her grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. "She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra with a shudder. "Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?" she wondered aloud. For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear- ended her? For an airbag that saved her life but took that of her child? "Good afternoon, can I help you?" The shop clerk's approach startled her. "I....I need an arrangement, "stammered Sandra. "For Thanksgiving? Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the Thanksgiving Special?" asked the shop clerk. "I'm convinced that flowers tell stories," she continued. "Are you looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this Thanksgiving? "Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. " Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the shop clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you." Then the door's small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, "Hi Barbara...let me get your order." She politely excused herself and walked toward a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped...there were no flowers. "Want this in a box?" asked the clerk. Sandra watched for the customer's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers!?! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed. "Yes, please," Barbara replied with an appreciative smile. "You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again," she said as she gently tapped her chest. "Uhh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with, uhh... she just left with no flowers!" "Right...I cut off the flowers. That's the Special... I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet. "Oh, come on, you can't tell me someone is willing to pay for that?" exclaimed Sandra. "Barbara came into the shop three years ago feeling very much like you feel today," explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had lost her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was into notallowed, and she was facing major surgery." "That same year I had lost my husband, "continued the clerk," and for the first time in my life, I had to spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too great a debt to allow any travel. "So what did you do?" asked Sandra. "I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly. "I've always thanked God for good things in life and never thought to ask Him why those good things happened to me, but when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time for me to learn that dark times are important. I always enjoyed the 'flowers' of life, but it took thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort. You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others. "Sandra sucked in her breath as she thought about the very thing her friend had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God." Just then someone else walked in the shop. "Hey, Phil!" shouted the clerk to the balding, rotund man. "My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement ....twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator. "Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind me asking why she wants something that looks like that? "No...I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. "Four years ago my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we slogged through problem after problem. He rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she learned from "thorny" times, and that was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific "problem" and give thanks to Him for what that problem taught us." As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend the Special!" "I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life." Sandra said to the clerk. "It's all too... fresh." "Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that thorns make roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember, it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns." Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on resentment. "I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out. "I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute." "Thank you. What do I owe you?" asked Sandra. "Nothing." said the clerk. "Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me. "The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you'd like to read it first." It read: "Dear God, I have never thanked you for my thorns. I have thanked you a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to you along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of your rainbow look much more brilliant." ~Author Unknown~ HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! Debbie and I wish you safety, good health, peace and joy today and everyday under God's care. Mike You can view Mike's Daily Blessings at http://www.TheWoods.phpbbnow.com Please invite Mike to your friends list here: http://community.adlandpro.com/go/papaof7/

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Sharon 1587 6727 Trenton	Re: BLESSINGS FROM MIKE BUMBALOUGH~A DEAR FRIEND. 11/27/2007 1:24:14 PM
	APPLES OF GOD Each day is an opportunity to start all over again…to cleanse our minds and hearts anew and to clarify our vision. And let us not clutter up today with the leavings of other days. Take yesterday’s worries and sort them all out And you’ll wonder whatever you worried about; Look back at the cares that once furrowed your brow I fancy you’ll smile at most of them now. They seemed terrible then, but they really were not; For once out of the woods, all the fears are forgot. Unknown The Cure for Anxiety 25 "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 "And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 "Do not worry then, saying, `What will we eat?' or `What will we drink?' or `What will we wear for clothing?' 32 "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:25-34). Oh how I need this lesson. Maybe someone else reading this today needs to trust God in the same way that I need to. Go now, put your worry aside, and give someone a blessing today. Mike *You can view more of Mike's Daily Blessings at* *http://www.TheWoods.phpbbnow.com*

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Sharon 1587 6727 Trenton	Re: MIKE BUMBALOUGH's DAILY INSPIRATIONS and BLESSINGS. 12/12/2007 10:32:26 AM
	THE SANDS OF CHRISTMAS I had no Christmas spirit When I breathed a weary sigh, And looked across the table Where the bills were piled too high. The laundry wasn't finished And the car I had to fix, My stocks were down another point, The Chargers lost by six. And so with only minutes Till my son got home from school I gave up on the drudgery And grabbed a wooden stool. The burdens that I carried Were about all I could take, And so I flipped the TV on To catch a little break. I came upon a desert scene In shades of tan and rust, No snowflakes hung upon the wind, Just clouds of swirling dust. And where the reindeer should have stood Before a laden sleigh, Eight Humvees ran a column Right behind an M1A. A group of boys walked past the tank, Not one was past his teens Their eyes were hard as polished flint, Their faces drawn and lean. They walked the street in armor With their rifles shouldered tight, Their dearest wish for Christmas, Just to have a silent night. Other soldiers gathered, Hunkered down against the wind, To share a scrap of mail And dreams of going home again. There wasn't much at all To put their lonely hearts at ease, They had no Christmas turkey, Just a pack of MREs. They didn't have a garland Or a stocking I could see, They didn't need an ornament - They lacked a Christmas tree. They didn't have a present Even though it was tradition, The only boxes I could see Were labeled "ammunition." I felt a little tug And found my son now by my side, He asked me what it was I feared, And why it was I cried. I swept him up into my arms And held him oh so near And kissed him on the forehead As I whispered in his ear. "There's nothing wrong, my little son, For safe we sleep tonight Our heroes stand on foreign land To give us all the right. To worry on the things in life That mean nothing at all, Instead of wondering if we Will be the next to fall." He looked at me as children do And said, "it's always right, To thank the ones who help us And perhaps that we should write." And so we pushed aside the bills And sat to draft a note, To thank the many far from home, And this is what we wrote: "God bless you all and keep you safe, And speed your way back home. Remember that we Love You so, And that you're not alone. The gift you give you share with all, A present every day, You give the gift of liberty And that we can't repay." ~ Michael Marks ~ This was sent to me by a friend, Sgt. Lucas Pickard, who was wounded in the Middle East war. When we begin to stress over Christmas it would be helpful to reflect on where so many of our dedicated military personnel are spending their time during the holidays. Furthermore, relfect on the fact that some families will never have their Loved Ones home for the holidays again! Think about it! Mike You can view Mike's Daily Blessings at http://www.TheWoods.phpbbnow.com Please invite Mike to your friends list here: http://community.adlandpro.com/go/papaof7/

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