Opposition

Cripple him and you have a Sir Walter Scott.
Lock him in a prison cell and you have a John Bunyon.
Bury him in the snows of Valley Forge, and you have a George Washington.
Raise him in poverty and you have Abraham Lincoln.
Subject him to bitter religious strife, and you have Franklin Delanore Roosevelt, the only U.S. President to serve four terms in office.
Burn him so severely in a school house fire that doctors say he will never walk again and you have a Glenn Cunnigham, who set the world record in 1934 for running the mile in 4 minutes and 6.7 seconds.
Deafen a genius compsoer and you have a Ludwig Van Beethoven.
Drag Him more dead than alive from a rice paddy, an you have a Rocky Blyer, running back for the great 1970 decade Pittsburgh Steelers.
Have them born into a society filled with racial prejudice and hatred, and you have Booker T. Washington, Harriet Tubman, or Martin Luther King, Jr.
Have him born into a Nazi concentration camp, paralyze him from the waist down at the age of four, and you have an Eastman Pearlman, the incomparable pianist.
Call him retarded and write him off as uneducated, and you have Albert Einstein.
Amputate the cancer-ridden leg of a young Candian, and you have a Terry Fox, who ran half way across Canada on artificial legs. Take both legs away from him and you have a Douglas Bater, an RAF fighter pilot who was captured three times by the Germans and who escaped three times on artificial limbs.
Label him too stupid to learn and you have a Thomas Edison.
Blind him at the age of 44, and you have a John Milton, who 16 years later wrote the great novel, "Paradise Lost."
Call him dull, hopeless, and flunk him out of  school in the sixth grade, and you have the famous statesman Winston Chruchill.
Tell a boy who loves to draw that he has no talent, and you have a Walt Disney.

Take a man who did nothing wrong to anyone, and spit on Him, mock Him, humiliate Him, be His trusted friend and then completely turn your back on Him, accept His loving kindness and service for years and then crucify Him, and after all this, have Him still forgive you, and you will have a Jesus of  Nazareth, the Christ.

http://mabrystudios.typepad.com/reflections_of_christ/2008/03/reflections-sli.html
This is a slideshow called, "Reflections of Christ". It's one of my favorite things to watch when I'm having a bad day. It always brings tears to my eyes. I KNOW my Redeemer lives.

Gratitude

I have been thinking about gratitude quite a bit this past week. I read an article about gratitude that was very interesting with fascinating facts and great tips and just had to share!
Start a gratitude journal of things your thankful for in your everyday life. Even the little things! Like the cream cheese on your bagel, your hot shower, your comfy bed, the hug that was well needed.
Optimism and gratitude can be learned by working on your thoughts and staying positive and sometimes you have to FORCE the positive!
As my family was eating Thanksgiving dinner we went around the table and shared three things we were thankful for and how nice it would be to be able to ponder on what we are thankful for throughout the entire year!?
Studies show that an increased focus on gratitude can offer a lasting boost. One way to help shift a person's outlook--and one that's gained buzz on talk shows, including Oprah's is by keeping a gratitude journal.
The benefits from counting blessings are tangible emotionally and physically. People are 25% happier and more energetic if they keep gratitude journals, have 20% less envy and resentment, sleep 10% longer each night and wake up 15% more refreshed, exercise 33% more and show a 10% drop  in blood pressure compared to persons who are not keeping these journals.
These statistics blew me away and made me realize how important being grateful is for me spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally.
I've decided to purchase a blank book where I will list at least three things per day. They can be big or small but there are always things to be thankful for in my daily life. Soon you will be able to look back on your lists of all the things you are grateful for; especially the days when your stressed or depressed. Remember that all gratitude doesn't need to be saved for the journal. Tell the people in your life how much you appreciate them. From people in your family to sales clerks and postal employees you encounter in your day. Everyone likes to know that they're appreciated and their positive reactions can help put you in a positive mood too!

Go get them gratitude journals! :)

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. --Melody Beattie

For The Love of Food

Hello Friends and Family! Welcome to my very own blog! And of course, the first post is devoted to food!! My passion and love in life!  Glorious food! Ok, anyone who lives in Utah or visits here will love this treasure I came across. I always love stumbling upon small diners or holes in the wall that have killer foods that you want to tell everyone about! Food and company are my favorite things! When those are put together they make the best memories! I'm ready to do some exploring! Who wants to come?Here we go!

http://www.saltlakemagazine.com/Salt-Lake-Magazine/June-2009/Utah-Locavore-100/