Happiness, it’s all about decision! – Arthur Unknown

A 92 years old short and very well-presented man, who takes great care in his appearance, is moving into a retirement home today.

His wife of 70 years has recently passed away and he is obliged to leave his home.

After waiting several hours in the retirement home lobby, he was told that his room is ready.

As he uses his cane to walk slowly to the elevator, the Administrator describes his small room to him, including the sheet hung at the window which serves as a curtain.

“I like it very much”, he says, with the enthusiasm of an 8 year old boy who has just been given a new puppy.

“You haven’t even seen the room yet, hang on a moment, we are almost there.”

“That has nothing to do with it “, he replies.  “Happiness is something I choose in advance.  Whether or not I like the room does not depend on the furniture, or the décor.  Rather it depends on how I decide to see it.

“I have already decided in my mind that I like my room.  It is a decision I take every morning when I wake up.

“I can choose to spend my day in bed listing all the difficulties I have with the parts of my body that no longer work very well, or I can get up and give thanks to Heaven for those parts that are still in working order.

“Every day is a gift, and as long as I can open my eyes, I will focus on the new day, and all the happy memories that I have built up during my life.”

“Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw in later life what you have deposited along the way. “

So, my advice to you is to deposit all the happiness you can in your bank account of memories.

Remember these simple guidelines for happiness:
1. Free your heart from hate.
2. Free your mind from worry.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

Such bad luck! Why does God deliberately let unfortunate follow us?

There was a ship that sank on its voyage, a sailor survived and drifted to a small island of nowhere.  In order to survive, he cut some branches and palm leaves to build a shabby tree house.

He prayed every day, “God, please keep me safe on this island and help me to find a way to leave here.”

He prayed the same prayer every day… one day passed… two days passed… three days passed…  After a month, he was still trapped on this small island.

One evening while walking on the beach, he smelt of smoke in the air.  When he followed the smell, he found the shabby tree house that he had been staying for the past month was on fire!  By the time he reached to the spot, the treehouse was gone, but left with ashes!

He cried out angrily, “God, not only did you not answer my prayer, but now you have taken away the only shelter I have!”  He was furious and later that evening he felt asleep on the beach.

Instead of wake up by himself in the next morning, as he did for the past month, he was woken up by someone patting him…  “Wait… What!!  What is patting me?”  He was shocked when he opened his eyes, there were crewmen surrounding him, who paddled to the beach to rescue him.

The sailor was over the moon and asked his rescuers, “How did you know I am here?”  They replied, “We saw the signal you made last night!”  The sailor became so puzzled, “Signal?” then suddenly he remembered it was the “unfortunate” of his shabby tree house and how he shouted to God for hours.

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There were times we were angry about the unfortunate events happened to/around us, we blamed God not looking after us, we may even cursed God.

However, please believe that God does not deliberately:

• let unfortunate follow us;
• let us not able to find a job;
• let us fail in examination;
• let us fall in trouble.

In fact, God intentionally:

• send us some setbacks;
• block our essence.

Because He has arranged us with countless blessing.  A lot of things may seem to be curse or unfortunate at the time, but in fact they are God’s (not too obvious) blessing.

Just like this story, our Father in Heaven was so humorous, He used some unpredictable events to lead to a pleasantly surprise at the end.

There were things in life that made us wonder, made us doubt, made us feel injustice, but when we look back now, we can find God was not deliberate, He has always been there.

Isaiah Chapter 55 verses 8-9 (ERV)

⁸ The Lord says, “My thoughts are not like yours.
    Your ways are not like mine.
⁹ Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so my ways are higher than your ways,
    and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.

 

Who will Take My Son?

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art.  They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael.  They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.

When the Viet Nam conflict broke out, the son went to war.  He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier.  The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door.  A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.

He said, “Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life.  He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly.  He often talked about you, and your love for art.”

The young man held out his package, “I know this isn’t much.  I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.”

The father opened the package.  It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man.  He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting.  The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears.

He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture.  “Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me.  It’s a gift.”

The father hung the portrait over his mantle.  Every time visitors came to his home, he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later.  There was to be a great auction of his collections.  Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.  On the platform sat the painting of the son.

The auctioneer pounded his gavel.  “We will start the bidding with this picture of the son.  Who will bid for this picture?”

There was silence.  Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, “We want to see the famous paintings.  Skip this one.”

But the auctioneer persisted, “Will someone bid for this painting?  Who will start the bidding?  $100?  $200?”

Another voice shouted angrily, “We didn’t come to see this painting.  We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts.  Get on with the real bids!”  But still the auctioneer continued, “The son!  The son!  Who’ll take the son?”

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room.  It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son.  “I’ll give $10 for the painting.”  Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.

“We have $10, who will bid $20?”

“Give it to him for $10.  Let’s see the masters.”

“$10 is the bid, won’t someone bid $20?”

The crowd was becoming angry, they didn’t want the picture of the son.  They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.  The auctioneer pounded the gavel.  “Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!”

A man sitting on the second row shouted, “Now let’s get on with the collection!”  The auctioneer laid down his gavel, “I’m sorry, the auction is over.”

“What about the paintings?”

“I am sorry.  When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will.  I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time.  Only the painting of the son would be auctioned.  Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.  The one who took the son gets everything!”

God gave his Son 2,000 years ago to die on a cruel cross.  Much like the auctioneer, His message today is, “The Son, the Son, who’ll take the Son?”  Because whoever takes the Son gets everything.

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