Life Book 2011
39 common sense tips to make Life more fulfilling and stress-free.

Put the Glass Down and See the Difference
The problems and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. But think about it a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything.

Pay It Forward
As I walked to my car just amazed at God's love that had just been shown. I cried when I told my husband because I just felt right there, right then, in a world where there is so much going bad, I witnessed God's love.

The value of friendship: Priceless
Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person’s life. God puts us all in each other’s lives to impact one another in some way. Look for God in others.

The Second Chance Wont Come...
Life might not give you a second chance. So never waste a moment when you can make up for your deeds.

The Daffodil Principle
The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principle of celebration: learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time - often just one baby-step at a time - learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time.

Don't Let Life Get in The Way of Your Life
We all have our forts destroyed at some time in our lives. Many of those forts aren't all that big or strong. Some, like mine, don't fall so easily. But, when they do, we need a plan to rebuild.

Have Faith and Move Forward
They tell me all the time "sometimes when things pass you by, it's because there is something better waiting for you in the wings, You need to have faith and move forward", so that's what I did. I had faith and I moved forward.

Glass of Milk
The good deed you do today may benefit you or someone you love at the least expected time. If you never see the deed again, at least you will have made the world a better place - And, after all, isn't that what life is all about?

The Prince of Screw Ups
The heroes of the Bible were screw ups too. Imagine if you will a television announcer making the introductions of the great Bible heroes.

What do you fear?
Fear can be debilitating. Fear cripples many, limits abilities to enjoy even the simplest things in life and in some cases stops people from having medical procedures that could prevent major health issues.

10 Rules for a Happy Day and Happy New Year

What Goes Around, Comes Around
This is a true story that had happened in 1892 at Stanford University. Its moral is still relevant today.

Pencil and Eraser
I found this conversation between the pencil and the eraser very inspirational.

God's Love
We are living in a time where the love of many are going cold. Due to lack of love many problems are happening in family, in society and even in churches. It may be easy to love our own family or our own church members. But to love others it may be difficult.

White Envelopes
It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.

It Must Be Raining
The news reporter was telling the story of one of many food banks in our area that were serving those in need of the basics for the holidays. Throughout the holidays we see such reports over and over, unlike the other 11 months when the same people are hungry, in need of clothing, basic services and a little help with life.

Why walk when you can fly?
Soar Beyond Your Fears

Ten Points of Prayer (by Parumala Thirumeni)
Prayer helps education to enhance truth, virtuous life, faith, reverence and mutual respect.

Prayer and God's Help
Prayer gives expression to our striving towards communion with God. This communion is the natural manifestation of our love for God and of God's love for us.

God's love is always available
Fear arises from the absence of God's love in a person's life. Of course, God's love is always available to anyone who wishes to receive it. But many times, we ignore the hand that God lovingly holds out to comfort, encourage and guide us into his family circle.

Important Tips for Life
Be yourself. Because whatever you are, YOU are the best.

The Sacrifice of...Fools!
1 Samuel 15:22 tells us that, "to obey is better than sacrifice." God Himself reiterates this concept in Hosea 6:6 by saying, "I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice."

Sleeping While the Wind Blows
When you're prepared -- spiritually, mentally, and physically -- you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?

God Used A Toothache... (Touching Story)
The service was unbelievable. Mr. Scott shared the "untold" stories from Columbine, the stories he has dedicated every waking moment of the rest of his life to sharing. He talked at length about the 12 students, including his daughter Rachel, who left this world on April 20.

Me and God
A Good Lesson for those who are on the verge of losing Hope and contemplating 'Quitting Life.'

I Believe ...
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything..

The Kingdom of God is Like...GRAVITY!

The Secret of Contentment

Some Good Quotes to Reflect on

Positive Thoughts
This should probably be taped to your bathroom mirror so you can read it every day.

The Gossip
A woman repeated a bit of gossip about a neighbor. Within a few days the whole community knew the story. The person it concerned was deeply hurt and offended.

On The Development of an Ever-Widening Fruitful Perspective
A tree is known by its fruits, as Christ said. As the tree springs forth and grows taller & wider, its horizons widen and more and more people around it begin to notice it.

You Can't Do That
Kyle is the adventurer of this decade and many more to come. He will amaze many with his extraordinary skill and make us all reflect on the things we never attempted, because we were told, "You can't do that!"

A Story to Live By
"Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you're alive is a special occasion."

A Good and Comforting Read

Respecting Everyone
God uses ordinary people to carry out His extraordinary plan. So, don't dismiss anyone as not important.

Identify The True Spirituality
Jesus and his disciples, during their life time, healed many sick people. But they never had the attitude put out by today’s so called ministry healers.

Calling God Father
Lord's prayer begins with 'Our Father.' We must consider two things here: 1) in what sense God is our Father, and 2) what we owe Him because He is our Father.

Sanctifying Ourselves
We are the body of Christ. Let us sanctify ourselves.

Charismatic Influence in Orthodox Church
The Pentecostal and all other churches are doing some missionary works in converting some people to Christianity by employing various means, including false propaganda of miracles, charismatic healing and bribing and through several unchristian methods.

Cursed under law Blessed in JESUS
Have we ever seen how Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law? Have we ever seen the King in His beauty through a faiths view of our Saviour allowing our curse of the broken law to be placed upon His head?

Afflicted for good
Every trial that Moses had just been through was of the goodness of God. The goodness of God is where Moses saw His glory.

Holy Fear
We accept the inspired Book as infallible and prove our esteem by our obedience. We have no terror of the Word, but we have a filial awe of it.

The Empty Box
There will come a time when each of us will be asked by our Father to share what we value most.

God's service
Three choice blessings will be ours in the glory-land.

Triune Progress
Orthodox spirituality has as its goal the deification of man and his union with God, without being merged with Him.

The Most Rewarding Virtue
We have to respect people who are less talented and versatile than we are. They too are God's children. It is not their fault that they do not have great talents. God gives different talents to His children so that all can work together in harmony for the common good.

The Most Powerful Effective Spiritual Work
Christ call upon us to pray before God. He persists in asking us to pray and not lose heart, to pray with persistence and passion. This call points to the source from which we receive the power for conversion, renewal, and growth.

Ten Point Program - Translating Orthodox Christian Ideals Into Daily Life
By living the Orthodox Life you put Christ's commandments and way of life deep into...

A Power That Changes Lives
The world now thirsts to see living faith in the person of Jesus Christ; not simply to hear about it, but to live it. So many books tell about Christ; so many preachers speak about Christ; but so few people live and speak WITH Christ.

Faith - an Illustration
What is faith and how is it different from science?

Idols
I wonder if there are idols in life that are not so obvious? If a person gives all of their attention to something, works at improving their connection to it and trusts that something to make their life worthwhile; is that an act of worship?

Having a Bad Day
I really hate that and when I see the ugliness in me, I want to cry because I couldn't or didn't stop it.

Theosis From The East by St Ephrem the Syrian
Divinity flew down to draw humanity up.
For the Son had made beautiful the deformities of the servant and so he has become a god, just as he desired.

I am the light of the world
Light from Sun is same. But same light that makes plants grow, hardens clay. The response is completely different. Likewise, blessings are.

What makes a Saint?
A true Christian must encourage the people to come nearer to the LORD, and not to the Saints. Yes, we must respect the Saints because God has established them as his holy people and we must also respect the relics of Saints because these are `anointed by the SPIRIT' too.

The Second Coming of Christ
As Christians, we look forward to the return of Christ – the Second Coming. It will be a time of blessing for believers but also a time of upheaval and judgment for the wicked.

Some Thoughts on Prayer

Blessings & Difficulties
In the world we live in today, it is very easy to get so incredibly caught up in all of the demands that culture places on us that we don't have any time to spend with God.

Can You Run and Hide from God?
Lessons from Jonah and Ninevah.

Some Thoughts on the Book of Revelation

Faith is 'Taking God at His Word'
'Taking God at His word' is alien to the current Secular Humanistic way of thinking that doubts even the 'Virgin Birth' and the 'Resurrection'. Secular Humanism is part and parcel of God's plan for the 'end times'.

Who is God? Who Is Man?

Peace of God
A Christian Perspective. In those stressful times when we feel like we just need a break, could it be that we are really looking for peace? What about when we awake in the middle of the night and can't sleep, what are our thoughts then? Isn't the cry of our heart really to find peace?

Give the Gift of Hope this Holiday Season
During the holidays, it is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of decorating, shopping and socializing. While all this activity is part of what makes the season special, it is important to take time to reflect on the larger meaning of the holidays -- caring and sharing.

The Heart of a Humble Parent
When you make a decision that negatively affects your life or the lives of others, be the first to admit it. Admit your mistake and resolve to handle any resulting consequences of your actions.

Focus On The Joy
It's the Holiday Season --A new year is just around the corner! You're already thinking about how you'd like next year to be a little different than the last, right? But instead of thinking of performance, and efficiency, and control, I'd like you to take this opportunity to think about how many things in your daily life do you do " just for the joy of it"?

Joy and Spirituality 
"A merry Heart does like good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones." Although this verse was written 3,000 years ago, it reflects knowledge discovered through fairly recent scientific investigations. Depressed people have weakened immune systems, and humor is good for your health.

Our God Is Awesome
Amazing Story that illustrates that with God everything is possible.

Heaven and Hell: The Real Difference
A man spoke with the Lord about heaven and hell.

Positive Attitude
Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator.

What if You're God
His words echo in my consciousness. Even now - nearly 20 years later. "You can learn something from every person you encounter in your life." These were the words spoken by my 9th grade Latin teacher. It's unclear why his words have stuck with me all these years.

Mrs. Thompson and Teddy
An inspirational story of how a teacher learned that she could make a difference in her students. Teaching involves more than just teaching reading, writing and arithmetic.

It all depends on the way you look at things.
If you have love, friends, family, health, good humor and a positive attitude towards life, you've got everything! You can't buy any of these things. You can have all the material possessions, but if you are poor in spirit, you have nothing.

Parable Of The Pencil
There are 5 things you need to know, he told the pencil, before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be. And the principles apply to our lives too.

Take Hold Of Every Moment
"Never save something for a special occasion. Every day in your life is a special occasion". Those words changed my life.

A Child Can Make a Difference
Everyone has dreams. It's just a matter of whether or not they're ever acted upon. Most children have big dreams there's no way they could materialize on their own. This is where you come in.

Catch of a Lifetime
An 11-year old learns a valuable lesson while fishing: Ethics are simple matters of right and wrong. It is only the practice of ethics that is difficult.

It's What You've Got That Counts
In order to experience the value of change in your life, you don't have to throw out everything you already have and start all over. That's not only intimidating, it's usually just not possible, and is much less practical. Here are some unique ways to use what you've got to help your life work FOR you instead of against you.

Compassion and Forgiveness By Dr. J. Mathew, Chief Editor, Holisticonline.com
Recently, I read two stories that touched me greatly. They convinced me that, in spite of all the headline news about terrorism and evil in all parts of the world, there is some “good” left in ordinary people. I would like share these stories with you.

The Man Who Didn't Have Email
A great story with a moral. According to the author, the moral of the story is, "1- Internet is not the solution to your life. 2- If you don't have internet, and work hard, you can be a millionaire." However, unfortunately, you may be closer to be an office boy in Microsoft than being a millionaire!

The Trouble Tree
Don't take your troubles home. Hand them over to God and let Him tackle it.

In The Valleys I Grow
Sometimes life seems hard to bear,
Full of sorrow, trouble and woe
It's then I have to remember
That it's in the valleys I grow.

The Big Rocks
If you sweat the little stuff, then you'll fill your life with little things you worry about that don't really matter, and you'll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff.

Lunch with God
An inspirational story of how a little boy and an old lady learned a valuable lesson while looking for God. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring; all of which have the potential to turn a life around. Take no one for granted and embrace all equally with joy!

Thank you, God, for sending me a professional!
A woman received a phone call that her daughter was very sick with a fever. She left work and stopped by the pharmacy for some medication for her daughter. When returning to her car, she found with dismay that she had locked her keys inside the car.

Letting Go - Simple tips to staying in balance
An important part of becoming healthy and staying in balance is letting go of tension, stress and deeply buried or surface negative emotions such as anger, frustration, fear, hurt, pain and hate. I mentioned these so-called negative emotions because I have not yet found anyone who was ill or out of balance because he or she was living in or holding onto an abundance of joy and love. However, people are often ill because of the loss of joy and love from their lives; some have never known either of these emotions.

Changing Destinations ... Universal Detours for a Better Life
I recently worked with several people who are in the lowest points in their lives. It seems that everywhere they turn and everything they do creates a new avalanche of loss. Some of these people were, at one time, wealthy individuals, but, because of changes around them, they suddenly lost everything. The others were living comfortable lives and it seemed like everything just stopped working for them. In all cases, they were slowly sinking into despair because they couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Open Letter from God
A refreshing and inspiring reading when the whole world seems to be fighting for religious supremacy - to determine whose religion is the right one. Is there any need for fighting or arguing among us to see who is powerful, whose belief is right etc.  Open Letter from God may help you to live a righteous life and put your priorities in the right place.

A Morning Wish
The sun is just rising on the morning of another day. What can I wish that this day may bring me? A very inspiring, almost prayer-like reflection on our needs, wishes and priorities.

The Perfect Heart
What makes a heart perfect is not by its shape or its condition. It depends on how it is used. A flawless heart does not make it perfect. To be perfect, you should share your love and accept love from others.

From Failure to Gratitude
A great inspirational story. Read it when you think life had been cruel to you and when you are  trying to dig out of difficulties faced in life. Even in the midst of great tribulation and hardship, there is much to be thankful for.

A Heavenly Vision
I would like to share a spiritual experience with you that not only was very personal to me, but I believe it has value to every person's life. This occurred in a devastating moment of my life.

Your Greatness Begins With The Tiniest of Waves
If you wait for "just the right moment" before you undertake any significant venture, you're likely going to be about where you are now -- still waiting. Why is that? Because as most anyone who has gone before you will tell you, there is rarely a "right time" to set out in search of one's destination.

A Beautiful Flower In A Broken Pot
An inspirational, must read story. How a family learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with gratitude to God. 

What Goes Around Comes Around
Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country. A story of unconditional love.