(Sorry this is long...but it IS priceless!)

One of the main hindrances to living your best life now is
selfishness. As long as you are focused on what "you" want, &
what "you" need, you will never experience God's best. If you
really want to thrive, you must be a giver!

If we want to reap good things, we too, must sow some good seeds.
If you want to reap happiness, you have to sow some "happiness"
seeds by making other people happy. If you want to reap
financial blessings, you must sow financial seeds in the lives
of others. If you want to reap friendships, you should sow a seed and be a friend.

THE SEED ALWAYS HAS TO LEAD!

The reason many people are not growing is because they are not
sowing. They are living self-centered lives. Unless they
change their focus and start reaching out to others, they will
probably remain in that condition.

Some people say, "I've got a lot of problems. I don't care about
sowing seeds. I want to know how I can get out of MY mess.
This IS how you can get out of your mess. If you want God to
solve your problems, help solve somebody else's problem. Get
some seed in the ground.

When you meet other people's needs, God has promised that He will
make sure your needs are supplied. If you need a financial miracle, go buy somebody a cup of coffee tomorrow morning, or
give a little "extra" in the offering at church. If you don't have any money, do some physical work for somebody; mow
somebody's lawn, pull some weeds, wash their windows. Make
someone a pie. Do SOMETHING to get some seed in the ground!

If you are lonely or lacking in friends, don't sit at home
month after month, all alone, feeling sorry for yourself. Go to
the nursing home and find someone else who is lonely whom you
can befriend. Go to the hospital and find somebody you can
cheer up. If you'll start sowing those seeds of friendship,
God will bring somebody great into your life. When you make
other people happy, God will make sure that your life is filled
with joy!

We need to be more seed-oriented than need-oriented!
It is possible to give away and become richer!
It is also possible to hold on too tightly and lose everything!

We should constantly be on the lookout for ways that we can be
a blessing. We should get up each morning, looking for ways to
help others. If you will do that, God's blessings will chase
you down and overtake you.

Granted, the temptation to be selfish is strong. Many people
get sucked into the trap of living with the attitude:"What's
in it for ME?" "How can YOU make MY life better?" Our
attitudes should be just the opposite. "Whom can "I" bless
today?" "Whom can "I" encourage today?" "Where is a need "I"
can meet today?" I've made up my mind. I'm going to be a
giver in life. I've simply learned that planting seeds works.
And I plan to continue sowing seeds and reaping the harvest!
(Taken from the new "best seller" YOUR BEST LIFE NOW, by Joel
Osteen)

Here I sit on Christmas evening...right in the middle of one
of the biggest snow storms to hit the midwest in decades. We
are way out in the country....FARTHER out in the WOODS :-)...
we can't get to family...and they can't get to us. So I
decided to share a few of my most treasured "clippings" with
anyone with the time to read.

May you all have a very blessed, rest of the old year...
and an even MORE blessed 2005. To BE blessed...Go and bless!
kathryn