Season of Life

Things you can learn which are applicable to our season of life:-
* Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
* When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.
* Take naps and always stretch before rising.
* Run, romp, and play daily.
* Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.
* Be loyal.
* Never pretend to be something you're not.
* Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
* Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
* Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
* On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
* When you are happy, dance around and shake your entire body.
* No matter how often you are criticized, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout. Run right back and make friends.

* Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joy ride.
If I had it all to do over I would work less and go for more joy rides with my sons and bride. The anchors on ESPN's SportsCenter often joke that "an injured athlete is day to day, but then again, aren't we all?" The reality is we are all day to day. Even moment to moment. Life can change in a heartbeat. When the opportunity for a joy ride comes along make it a habit to jump on board.

* When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
One thing I can count on when I come in the door is that Hannah will be there vibrating with excitement. Wouldn't it be nice to greet your loved one with that enthusiasm? Be sure to bring smelling salts the first time.

* When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.I love this one. People often don't know how to react to friends going through a trial like Joni. I wrote an earlier post about being a good cancer buddy that is being published in Crosswalk.com: The Magazine this month. We have found that the mere caring presence of friends has been healing. We don't need answers. We really don't need handy Bible verses. We just need a little emotional nuzzling.

* If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
This really resonates with where I am right now. I want to be a authentic follower of Jesus. And at times the way to do that seems buried in a sea of bad experiences, bad decisions, and bad Christians. But I intend to keep digging. I want to dig into His Word more completely and into fellowship with God more authentically. I want to dig into my shortcomings more honestly and allow the Spirit of God to reveal and repair those more completely.

I am believing in the promise of James 1:5 NIV "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."
- Burchett Family
Tags: Motivation, Inspiration, Thoughts, Christianity, NIV

Everyone is Beautiful in God's Eyes

At the prodding of my friends, I am writing this story. My name is Mildred Hondorf. I am a former elementary school music teacher from Des Moines, Iowa. I've always supplemented my income by teaching piano lessons-something I've done for over 30 years.
Over the years I found that children have many levels of musical ability.I've never had the pleasure of having a prodigy though I have taught some talented students. However I've also had my share of what I call "musically challenged" pupils. One such student was Robby. Robby was 11 years old when his mother (a single mom) dropped him off for his first piano lesson. I prefer that students (especially boys!) begin at an earlier age, which I explained to Robby. But Robby said that it had always been his mother's dream to hear him play the piano.

So I took him as a student. Well, Robby began with his piano lessons and from the beginning I thought it was a hopeless endeavour. As much as Robby tried, he lacked the sense of tone and basic rhythm needed to excel. But he dutifully reviewed his scalesand some elementary pieces that I require all my students to learn.

Over the months he tried and tried while I listened and cringed and tried to encourage him. At the end of each weekly lesson he'd always say, "My mom's going to hear me play some day." But it seemed hopeless. He just did not have any inborn ability. I only knew his mother from a distance as she dropped Robby off or waited in her aged car to pick him up. She always waved and smiled but never stopped in.

Then one day Robby stopped coming to our lessons. I thought about calling him but assumed because of his lack of ability, that he had decided to pursue some-thing else. I also was glad that he stopped coming. He was a bad advertisement for my teaching!

Several weeks later I mailed to the student's homes a flyer on the upcoming recital. To my surprise Robby (who received a flyer) asked me if he could be in the recital. I told him that the recital was for current pupils and because he had dropped out he really did not qualify. He said that his mother had been sick and unable to take him to piano lessons but he was still practicing.
"Miss Hondorf .... I've just got to play!" he insisted.

I don't know what led me to allow him to play in the recital. Maybe it was his persistence or maybe it was something inside of me saying that it would be all right.

The night for the recital came. The high school gymnasium was packed with parents, friends and relatives. I put Robby up last in the program before I was to come up and thank all the students and play a finishing piece. I thought that any damage he would do would come at the end of the program and I could always salvage his poor performance through my "curtain closer."

Well the recital went off without a hitch. The students had been practicing and it showed.Then Robby came up on stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked like he'd run an egg-beater through it. "Why didn't he dress up like the other students?" I thought. "Why didn't his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?"
Robby pulled out the piano bench and he began. I was surprised when he announced that he had chosen Mozart's Concerto #21 in C Major. I was not prepared for what I heard next. His fingers were light on the keys, they even danced nimbly on the ivories. He went from pianissimo to fortissimo ... from allegro to virtuoso. His suspended chords that Mozart demands were magnificent! Never had I heard Mozart played so well by people of his age.

After six and a half minutes he ended in a grand crescendo and everyone was on their feet in wild applause. Overcome and in tears I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robby in joy. "I've never heard you play like that Robby! How'd you do it? "Through the microphone Robby explained: "Well Miss Hondorf . . . remember I told you my mom was sick? Well, actually she had cancer and passed away this morning. And well she was born deaf so tonight was the first time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special."

There wasn't a dry eye in the house that evening. As the people from Social Services led Robby from the stage to be placed into foster care, I noticed that even their eyes were red and puffy and I thought to myself how much richer my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil.

No, I've never had a prodigy but that night I became a prodigy of Robby's. He was the teacher and I was the pupil. For it is he who taught me the meaning of perseverance and love and believing in yourself and maybe even taking a chance in someone and you don't know why. Robby was killed in the senseless bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April of 1995.

Tags: Motivation, Inspiration, Thoughts, Dream

The Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Las Vegas Sands Corp ("LVS") was awarded the project to develop the Integrated Resort (IR) at Marina Bay by the Singapore government.

LVS committed a high development investment of US$3.85 billion. Together with the land price and other associated capital costs, the total investment by LVS would exceed US$5 billion. This is one of the largest investments in the world for a single IR. The IR will include the first casino in Singapore. The IR, to be known as Marina Bay Sands, is scheduled to be opened in 2009.

Its proposal includes plans for 2,500 hotel rooms, 1.2 million square feet of flexible meetings, incentive,convention and exhibition (MICE) space, one million square feet of retail space, three large entertainment venues and a Paiza Club, LVS' successful premium player venue.

It will also be the region's first museum that boasts the best in international cultural and populist exhibits; extensive entertainment programming spanning Broadway, Bollywood, music, sports, fashion and an array of entertainment from Southeast and North Asia; a high-end retail mall featuring sophisticated product offerings; world-class spa and fitness facilities; and fine dining restaurants offering gourmet cuisines from award winning chefs. To know more what are in store at Marina Bay Sands, read more in the IR factsheet.

Lead architect for the said IR is Moshe Safdie and Associates, USA (more architectural drawings in this site).

LVS is a hotel, resort, and gaming and exhibition/convention company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company owns The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center, where it hosts exhibitions and conventions, in Las Vegas and the Sands Macao in the People's Republic of China Special Administrative Region of Macao.

The company is also developing additional casino hotel resort properties, including The Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas and The Venetian Macao Casino Resort in Macao.
Tags: Travel, Leisure, Resort, Las Vegas Sands, Marina Bay, Singapore, Macao, Las Vegas, Casino

Desert Race in Jordan

A horse rider from the Middle East competes in a 120 km (75 miles) International Endurance Race in the desert of Wadi Rum in southern Jordan on 14 November 2006.
Tags: Sports, Race, Middle East, Wadi Rum, Jordan

World Carrom Championships

Beginning today till 22 Nov 2006, World Cup Carrom Championships will be held in New Delhi, India.

16 member countries would be fielding four men and four women players for the event. He also said that the doubles would be a knockout affair while singles will be on league-cum-knockout basis. To play carrom, you need to know The Laws of Carrom.
Tags: Sports, Carrom, New Delhi, India

Catholic School Maths

A ten year old boy was failing math. His parents tried everything from tutors to hypnosis, but to no avail. Finally, at the insistence of a family friend, they decided to enroll their son in a private Catholic school. After the first day, the boy's parents were surprised when he walked in after school with a stern, focused and very determined expression on his face, and went right past them straight to his room, where he quietly closed the door. For nearly two hours he toiled away in his room - with math books strewn about his desk and the surrounding floor. He emerged long enough to eat, and after quickly cleaning his plate, went straight back to his room, closed the door, and worked feverishly at his studies until bedtime. This pattern continued ceaselessly until it was time for the first quarter report card.

The boy walked in with his report card - unopened - laid it on the dinner table and went straight to his room. Cautiously, his mother opened it, and to her amazement, she saw a bright red "A" under the subject of MATH. Overjoyed, she and her husband rushed into their son's room, thrilled at his remarkable progress. "Was it the nuns that did it?", the father asked. The boy only shook his head and said, "No." "Was it the one-on-one tutoring? The peer-mentoring?" "No." "The textbooks? The teachers? The curriculum?" "Nope," said the son. "On that first day, when I walked in the front door and saw that guy they nailed to the 'plus sign,' I just knew they meant business!"
Tags: Jokes, Humour, Funny, Catholic, Maths

Freedom of the City of London

Jimmy Choo has been granted the title of ‘Freedom of the City of London’. Malaysia's first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj received a Honorary award in 1968, followed by Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah of Selangor (a Malaysian sultanate royalty) in 2003 who received the same title as Jimmy Choo.

Honorary Freemen include Florence Nightingale, Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela. Prominent figures that have been awarded the title ‘Freedom of the City of London’ include British Prime Minister’s wife, Cherie Blair (due to receive the title on 27 Nov) and opera singer Luciano Pavarotti.

The ancient custom of ‘privileged’ and ‘free status’ can be traced back to 1237 and the perks include the right to herd sheep over London Bridge, to go about the city with a sword and to be drunk and disorderly without fear of arrest. In contemporary society, the award tends to be ceremonial, given to those who have served the city in some exceptional capacity, or upon any whom the city wishes to bestow an honour.

Steeped in tradition, the Freedom ceremony took place in the Chamberlain’s Court at the historic Corporation of London’s Guildhall. Jimmy Choo is scheduled to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Malaysian International Fashion Awards at the end of the month.
If you think you are qualified for this Award, click here for the procedure wise.
Tags: Jimmy Choo, Fashion, London, London's Guildhall