Wise Words for You

Long ago, about 2000 years, when King Herod ruled Judea (now part of Israel), God sent the angel Gabriel to a young women who lived in the northern town of Nazareth. The girl's name was Mary and she was engaged to marry Joseph. The angel Gabriel said to Mary: 'Peace be with you! God has blessed you and is pleased with you.' Mary was very surprised by this and wondered what the angel meant. The angel said to her 'Don't be afraid, God has been very kind to you. You will become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and give birth to a baby boy and you will call him Jesus. He will be God's own Son and his kingdom will never end.' Mary was very afraid but she trusted God. 'Let it happen as God chooses.' She replied to the angel. Gabriel also told Mary that her cousin, Elizabeth who everyone thought was too old to have children, would have a baby boy whom God had chosen to prepare the way for Jesus. Mary said goodbye to her family and friends and went to visit...

His mom had been listening, as she had each day. She was so proud of him for not giving up. Royston and his mom would sit for hours together while PJ played the song over and over until it was perfect! Royston was so proud of himself and his mom was so proud of him too! Royston said, “thank you so much for buying me this guitar. I guess you believed in me before I even believed in myself!” Royston’s mom said,” That’s what moms’ are for! With this guitar you will make beautiful music forever. Now what better gift could there be?” Royston said, “This is the best birthday gift ever.” Royston and his mom sat together on a nest of leaves while Royston played his music as the sun set around them. This is the end of the story but if you like this story please let me know in the comments. 

“Oh, mom, is this what I think it is?” Royston hoped she had gotten all his hints about what he wanted. A new guitar! The kind that his favorite band plays. Shiny blue and sounding awesome! Royston pulled apart the wrapping paper and yanked off the bow. He opened the box and it was…… the guitar! Royston was so happy. He immediately picked it up and started playing. Only to his surprise, it did not sound too good. Royston quickly got discouraged and threw down the guitar. Mom picked it back up and said, “Royston, try again. You’ll never know how good you could be if you give up now.” Royston was disappointed. He wanted the guitar, but he did not want to take the time to learn to play it. Reluctantly, so he did not hurt his mom’s feelings, he picked the guitar back up and tried again. It sounded just as bad. He got very upset! “Royston”, said his mom, “never give up. Practice, practice, and practice. Soon you’ll see that you can accomplish any thing you set your mind to.” That ni...

Royston frog opened his eyes to the bright sun of a new day. He stretched out his long legs and stuck out his tongue to taste the morning air. Royston hopped out of his bed onto the green, dew soaked leaves and raced to his mom’s nest nearby. “Wake up, mommy, wake up,” Royston shouted with excitement! “Good morning, my baby boy”, his mom said. Royston yelled, “Do you know what today is?” His mom teased, “No, what is today?” “My Birthday”, exclaimed Royston. “I’m 9 years old today.” “Oh,” mom said, “Is it your birthday TODAY?” “Mom, you remember, don’t you?” said Royston. “Of course I do. It’s my favourite day of the year,” mom said. She pulled out a big box with a bright red bow. “Happy Birthday, Royston!” Part Two coming up very soon keep your eyes peeled

It was the night the dear Christ-Child came to Bethlehem. In a country far away from Him, an old, old woman named Babouscka sat in her snug little house by her warm fire. The wind was drifting the snow outside and howling down the chimney, but it only made Babouscka's fire burn more brightly.  "How glad I am that I may stay indoors," said Babouscka, holding her hands out to the bright blaze.  But suddenly she heard a loud rap at her door. She opened it and her candle shone on three old men standing outside in the snow. Their beards were as white as the snow, and so long that they reached the ground. Their eyes shone kindly in the light of Babouscka's candle, and their arms were full of precious things--boxes of jewels, and sweet-smelling oils, and ointments.  "We have travelled far, Babouscka," they said, "and we stop to tell you of the Baby Prince born this night in Bethlehem. He comes to rule the world and teach all men to be loving and true. We carry...

IT WAS TWO DAYS before Christmas and young Maggie Dotson was already being told that her Christmas wish would not be coming true. Paxton she was told, would not be coming back.  A year before that December day an injured baby deer had been abandoned in the woods behind the Dotson’s home. So weak was the little deer, that he hadn’t the strength to run from Maggie’s father when he approached him. As he carried the little deer towards their home, Maggie rushed outside and greeted her father with great excitement.   “Wow, a deer! What happened to him, Daddy?” asked Maggie. “Well, I’m not sure how he managed to do it, but he mangled one of his hoofs pretty severely,” Mr. Dotson said.  Maggie leaned in to take a better look. “Poor little reindeer. Can we keep him, Daddy?”  “First of all, he’s a white¬-tailed deer,” laughed Mr. Dotson. “And no, we can’t keep him. He’s a wild animal, Maggie. I’ll do everything I can and then he’ll have to be set free.” While gently rubb...

On the night before Christmas Eve, he was persuaded to attend his office Christmas Party. He took the poem along and showed it to a colleague. The colleague was impressed and insisted that Robert read his poem aloud to everyone else at the party. Somewhat embarrassed by the attention, he took the small hand written volume from his pocket and began to read. At first the noisy group listened in laughter and amusement. But then became silent and after he finished, they broke into spontaneous applause. Later, and feeling quite pleased with himself, he went home, wrapped the book in Christmas wrapping and placed it under the modest Christmas tree. To say that his daughter was pleased with her present would be an understatement. She loved it! When Robert returned to work after the Holiday, he was summoned to the office of his head of department. He wanted to talk to Bob about his poem. It seemed that word had got out about his reading at the Christmas party. The Head of Marketing was...

F1 snapped up by Channel 4 as BBC exits deal early Channel 4 has swooped to pick up the free-to-air TV rights to  Formula One  for the first time after a cash-strapped BBC moved to pull out of its deal three years early. The broadcaster has struck a three-year deal with Formula One World Championship thought to be worth as much as £35m-per-year to air 10 races a season from 2016. The TV rights are thought to have cost about £25m annually while television production, which  Channel 4  will put out to pitch, will cost about £10m a year. Channel 4, which beat rival ITV by making a pledge not to air advertising during live races, will also broadcast highlights of all 21 Grands Prix and qualifying sessions. It replaces the BBC, which has drastically cut back its sports rights portfolio in a bid to contribute to finding £700m in savings across the corporation, which had signed a six-year deal to  jointly air races with Sky in 2012 .  “I am sorry that...

Robert May was a short man, barely five feet in height. He was born in the early part of the last century, that is to say, the nineteen hundreds. Bullied at school, he was ridiculed and humiliated by other children because he was smaller than other boys of the same age. Even as he grew up, he was often mistaken for someone's little brother. When he left college he became employed as a copywriter with Montgomery Ward, the big Chicago mail order house. He married and in due course, his wife presented him with a daughter. Then when his little daughter was two years old, tragedy struck; his wife was diagnosed with a debilitating disease. She became bedridden and remained so until she died. Nearly everything he earned went on medication and doctor's bills. Money was short and life was hard. One evening in early December of 1938 and two years into his wife's illness, his four-year-old daughter climbed onto his knee and asked, “Daddy, why isn't Mummy like everybody el...

How wonderful it is when you have someone who you can call your beloved. With them, even the most habitual and ordinary things can give you a special kind of joy and take on a whole new importance. Here’s a list of ten things which all loving couples do. 1. Share the shower When your relationship advances, you eventually begin taking showers together. You scrub each other’s backs and sometimes even shampoo and condition each other’s hair. Those brave foot-massaging gals might even scrub the guy’s feet with a body scrub. 2. Watch the same TV show while you’re in different places You’ll both be watching a show (maybe he’s at work and you’re at home) and text each other back and forth—sometimes you’ll even call—to assure you ARE watching it. 3. Occupy certain positions and sides of the bed What couple doesn’t have designated sides of the bed? Couples understand their love’s need ...

They say there is a science behind everything and that's also true of the music that we listen to. Now a Dutch doctor has come up with an exact formula behind the songs that make us feel good. Cognitive Neurologist Dr. Jacob Jalij found there are certain things that make a song 'upbeat'. Some of these factors include positive lyrics, a tempo of 150 beats per minute and also putting the song into a third major key. Here's his list of top 10 feel good songs from the last 50 years: Don't Stop Me Now - Queen Dancing Queen - ABBA Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys Uptown Girl - Billy Joel Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor I'm A Believer - The Monkees Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper Livin' On A Prayer - Job Bon Jovi I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor Walking On Sunshine - Katrina & The Waves The research was carried out by technology brand Alba and involved Dr Jolij going through 126 songs and getting Brits' feedback on the songs that...

A study released by the Royal Voluntary Service has discovered the 6 songs that us Brits know all the words to. According to the research, the average Brit can recite 9,792 song words to the tunes we love and we walk around with an average of three songs floating around our heads at any one time! And good news if you're the type of person who likes to sing or hum a tune wherever you go because singing can also help to recall memories and emotions and enhance mental performance. The  Royal Voluntary Service  which is charity that helps older people, carried out the study to raise awareness of the benefits of music to older persons. They've just launched the  'Sing Your Heart Out' campaign  which aims to get choirs around the country to raise money for the charity. Here are the Top 6 songs we know all the words to: 1.    Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen  2.    Dancing Queen by  Abba   3.    Yeste...

He has played some really profound characters in his career, but you may be surprised to learn that Keanu’s real life has been plagued by sorrow. We look at celebrities and think their lives are ‘perfect,’ forgetting that they too are just human beings trying to be happy and live the best possible life. Keanu felt compelled, for whatever reason, to take this photo at this moment and write some deeply wise words on his social media feed. He wrote: You see these people behind me? They are rushing to work and not paying attention to anything. Sometimes we get so caught up in our daily lives that we forget to take the time out to enjoy the beauty in life. It’s like we’re zombies. Look up and take your head phones out. Say Hi to someone you see and maybe give a hug to someone who looks like they’re hurting. Help out someone. You have to live e very day like it’s your last. What people don’t know about me is that I had depression a couple of years back. I never ...

The RNLI and people from across Cornwall and the country are remembering the lives lost 34 years ago during what became known as the Penlee Lifeboat Disaster. Lifeboat volunteers and members of the public paid tribute on social media to the eight lifeboatmen who lost their lives while attempting to rescue the crew of the Union Star on December 19, 1981. On Twitter, volunteers from RNLI stations across Cornwall, such as Newquay, Falmouth and St Ives, paid tribute to the crew that lost their lives in heavy seas trying to rescue the crew of the Union Star. The ship had lost both her engines in the heavy seas, eventually calling in the lifeboat Solomon Browne from Penlee for assistance. Despite being able to rescue four of the eight members of the crew of the Union Star, both ships were lost in the storm, a total of 16 dead. The crew of the Solomon Browne were all given posthumous medals for their actions. The people of Mousehole turned off their Christmas lights at 8pm in...

These are, in my view, the biggest-selling singles about Christmas and the festive season. It is tough to decide which tracks should be included. Some are obvious. Others are borderline. Being a 'Christmassy' single isn't enough; there has to be an explicit reference to a clear aspect of Christmas / New Year etc in the title or lyric. The line lies somewhere between "Walking In The Air" (included) and Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Power Of Love" (not included). A good indicator is whether or not the track would sound inappropriate when played outside the festive season.    1 Band Aid Do They Know It's Christmas? 1984/1985/2007    2 Boney M Mary's Boy Child 1978    3 Wham! Last Christmas 1984/1985/2007 /2008/2009/2010    4 Harry Belafonte Mary's Boy Child 1957    5 Band Aid 20 Do They Know It's Christmas? 2004    6 Slade Merry Xmas Everybody 1973/1981/1983 /1998/2006/2007/2008/2010 ...