Sunday visit

                Visited orphanage to bring our simple contribution to the 130 boys.

December /January new Activities

  We are glade to let you known that in the past months in our province we have been able to contribute with six humanitarian projects . 

New Year Happiness Wishes

I suspect that if you asked people what their main goal in the new year is that somehow their answer would boil down to being happy. Resolutions represent changing factors in our lives that are obstacles to being happy. But what is the happiness that people pursue? We usually discuss happiness as a subjective category that each person fills in for themselves. We no longer have the notion that happiness is something more defined than that.

If we are created by God, He’s made us for certain purposes, and our happiness is tied up in pursuing those purposes. God has created all kinds of things that add to our happiness, but only if we engage them in the way He intended. Misuse can never lead to their ultimate purpose.

So to be happy we have to find the proper paths to it.—Melinda Penner

Defining happiness

Is happiness really attainable? It is a question many have sought to answer—debated in philosophy halls, whispered about at slumber parties, promised in innumerable marketing campaigns—and particularly at the turn of a new year. Our countless approaches to pursuing happiness are as diverse as our many definitions of the word. But what if the attainability of happiness is intimately connected to our answer to another question? Namely, what is the source of your greatest enjoyment in life? In other words, could there be a connection between your worldview and your capacity to experience happiness?

In a significant study, Armand Nicholi, professor of clinical psychiatry at Harvard University, compared the life and work of Sigmund Freud to that of C. S. Lewis. Each cultural giant was recognized for the remarkable accuracy with which he observed human emotion and experience. And yet, each man defined and experienced happiness in strikingly different manners, through radically different worldviews.

Freud’s experience and understanding of happiness emerged as fundamental to his materialist understanding of the world. He observed happiness to be “a problem of satisfying a person’s instinctual wishes.” Consequently, the possibility of attaining happiness was met with pessimism. Freud recognized that the human appetite is never fully satisfied. … Sadly, Freud’s life itself reflected his definition of happiness. His letters were increasingly filled with pessimism and depression, even mentioning drug use as the only effective mood-lifter he could find.

What makes C. S. Lewis a fascinating point of comparison is that like Freud, he too was intensely pessimistic about the possibilities of happiness early in life. And yet as emphasized by many biographers and close friends, his life was profoundly transformed in his early thirties, following a dramatic shift in worldview. … Happiness, for Lewis, could not ultimately be met in the material. As he found himself approaching a worldview shaped by something beyond the material, Lewis first thought he was coming to a place, an idea, and found instead that he came to a Person, one within the material world and also beyond and behind it. In fact, it was the surprise of finding a Person that first redefined the notion of happiness for him—happiness from within this source of joy that marked his life even during times of pain and loss.

In this new year of potential promise, ultimate sources of happiness may be as worth considering as each possible option or hopeful resolution. The psalmist writes of a creator as a source within and beyond the material. “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” There may well be a connection between our capacity for happiness and our understanding of life. In the Christian view, Christ stands in flesh and blood calling you nearer that your joy may be transformed by a present and enduring love.—Jill Carattini

Happy Festivities Season

                                                                                                       26/ Dec/2018

        

 Dear  blog reader

           We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2019

                              May God give you as a present His peace

                                                         Yours

                                                                                   Joyful Small Garden

Christmas Story

           A Slice of Life   

By Carol McAdoo Rehme

Jean heaved another world-weary sigh. Tucking a strand of shiny black hair behind her ear, she frowned at the teetering tower of Christmas cards waiting to be signed. What was the point? How could she sign only one name? A “couple” required two people, and she was just one.

The legal separation from Don had left her feeling vacant and incomplete. Maybe she would skip the cards this year. And the holiday decorating. Truthfully, even a tree felt like more than she could manage. She had canceled out of the caroling party and the church nativity pageant. Christmas was to be shared, and she had no one to share it with.

The doorbell’s insistent ring startled her. Padding to the door in her thick socks, Jean cracked it open against the frigid December night. She peered into the empty darkness of the porch. Instead of a friendly face—something she could use about now—she found only a jaunty green gift bag perched on the railing. From whom?  she wondered.  And why?

Under the bright kitchen light, she pulled out handfuls of shredded gold tinsel, feeling for a gift. Instead, her fingers plucked an envelope from the bottom. Tucked inside was a typed letter. It was a ... story?

The little boy was new to the Denmark orphanage, and Christmas was drawing near, Jean read. Already caught up in the tale, she settled into a kitchen chair.

From the other children, he heard tales of a wondrous tree that would appear in the hall on Christmas Eve and of the scores of candles that would light its branches. He heard stories of the mysterious benefactor who made it possible each year.

The little boy’s eyes opened wide at the mere thought of all that splendor. The only Christmas tree he had ever seen was through the fogged windows of other people’s homes. There was even more, the children insisted. More? Oh, yes! Instead of the orphanage’s regular fare of gruel, they would be served fragrant stew and crusty, hot bread that special night.

Last, and best of all, the little boy learned, each of them would receive a holiday treat. He would join the line of children to get his very own....

Jean turned the page. Instead of a continuation, she was startled to read: “Everyone needs to celebrate Christmas, wouldn’t you agree? Watch for Part II.” She refolded the paper while a faint smile teased the corner of her mouth.

The next day was so busy that Jean forgot all about the story. That evening, she rushed home from work. If she hurried, she’d probably have enough time to decorate the mantel. She pulled out the box of garland, only to drop it when the doorbell rang. Opening the door, she found herself looking at a red gift bag. She reached for it eagerly and pulled out the piece of paper.

...to get his very own orange, Jean read. An orange? That’s a treat? she thought incredulously.

An orange! Of his very own? Yes, the others assured him. There would be one apiece. The boy closed his eyes against the wonder of it all. A tree. Candles. A filling meal. And an orange of his very own.

He knew the smell, tangy sweet, but only the smell. He had sniffed oranges at the merchant’s stall in the marketplace. Once he had even dared to rub a single finger over the brilliant, pocked skin. He fancied for days that his hand still smelled of orange. But to taste one, to eat one? Heaven.

The story ended abruptly, but Jean didn’t mind. She knew more would follow.

The next evening, Jean waited anxiously for the sound of the doorbell. She wasn’t disappointed. This time, though, the embossed gold bag was heavier than the others had been. She tore into the envelope resting on top of the tissue paper.

Christmas Eve was all the children had been promised. The piney scent of fir competed with the aroma of lamb stew and homey yeast bread. Scores of candles diffused the room with golden halos. The boy watched in amazement as each child in turn eagerly claimed an orange and politely said “thank you.”

The line moved quickly, and he found himself in front of the towering tree and the equally imposing headmaster.

“Too bad, young man, too bad. But the count was in before you arrived. It seems there are no more oranges. Next year. Yes, next year you will receive an orange.”

Brokenhearted, the orphan raced up the stairs empty-handed to bury both his face and his tears beneath his pillow.

Wait! This wasn’t how she wanted the story to go. Jean felt the boy’s pain, his aloneness.

The boy felt a gentle tap on his back. He tried to still his sobs. The tap became more insistent until, at last, he pulled his head from under the pillow.

He smelled it before he saw it. A cloth napkin rested on the mattress. Tucked inside was a peeled orange, tangy sweet. It was made of segments saved from the others. A slice donated from each child. Together they added up to make one whole, complete fruit.

An orange of his very own.

 Jean swiped at the tears trickling down her cheeks. From the bottom of the gift bag she pulled out an orange—a foil-covered chocolate orange—already separated into segments. And for the first time in weeks, she smiled. Really smiled.

She set about making copies of the story, wrapping individual slices of the chocolate orange. There was Mrs. Potter across the street, spending her first Christmas alone in 58 years. There was Melanie down the block, facing her second round of radiation. Her running partner, Jan, single-parenting a difficult teen. Lonely Mr. Bradford losing his eyesight, and Sue, sole caregiver to an aging mother....

A piece from her might help make one whole.

12 Days of Christmas

Gifts given yesterday at the hospital to the children with cancer and sang together joyful Christmas songs to them.

Happy Thanksgiving Day! With a Message

A Thankful Heart

By Dan Weaver-White

As we all busily prepare for Thanksgiving each year, we find ourselves using words like thankful and grateful. They seem to flow out of our mouths with such ease that it seems that we use them every single day. There is something about preparing the biggest meal of the year and gathering with our friends and families that puts the words thankful and grateful at the forefront of our minds. When we gather together on Thanksgiving, many of us relay to others all of the blessings that we have in our lives. We go around the table and each person recites his list of things for which he is thankful. In school, we encourage our students to tell us what they are thankful for, and in our churches we sing songs and give testimonials about all the blessings that we have received from God. We seem to think that it would not be Thanksgiving if we did not go through this yearly ritual.

Being thankful on Thanksgiving is a hugely important thing to do, but often once the turkey is eaten, the pumpkin pie has been sliced, and the dishes are washed, we go back to not being as thankful as we know we should be. It is not that we do not have anything to be thankful for, but the ordinariness of our lives and the negative things of the world begin to quickly weigh us down again, and we find ourselves focusing more on the negative things associated with this life than the positive things.

Having a thankful heart and being grateful for all that we have should not be something that we do once or twice a year. It should be a way of life for all of us. When we have a grateful heart, we have more peace in our lives. When we have a grateful heart, we have less negativity in our lives, and we see events and situations in a different light. When we live our lives with a thankful heart, we feel lighter and happier. We feel that life has meaning and that we can overcome all the obstacles that come our way.

I know that in my own life there have been times when it has been a struggle for me to think of something that I am grateful for, but looking back on the valleys of my life now, I can see that there certainly were many things to be grateful for. If the valleys of life do nothing more for us, they teach us just how much we have to be thankful for. Of course, the valleys of life teach us far more than that. They teach us to have faith, to be strong, and to lean on God. They show us that God is still in the miracle- making, prayer-answering business, and soon we realize that had we not walked through the valley we would not have all the blessings that we now have.

I, like so many people, become very reflective during this time of year, and I have increasingly found myself being thankful for the valleys in my life. When we gather on Thanksgiving, we find ourselves being thankful for the same things year after year. The things that we list are so very important, and they certainly are blessings from God that we should be thankful for, but maybe we should try something a little different this year.

Maybe in addition to reciting our usual list of things for which we are thankful, we should find ourselves reflecting more on the things that we did not think were blessings when they first occurred. Maybe we should say that we are thankful for the valleys and turbulent times in our lives. Maybe we should say that we are thankful for the pain that we endured this year, be it physical, mental, or emotional. Maybe we should list the times we have been disheartened or depressed as a blessing that happened to us this year. I believe that if all would do this, we would see just how far we have come because of those trials.

I believe we would see how much God was with us during those times, and I believe that other people would begin to see their own struggles in a very different way. When they see that we can actually be thankful for the valleys in our own lives, they will begin to see the valleys of their lives differently.

We have all been called to bring light to the world. We have all been called to show what miracles God is capable of doing, and sharing our struggles and being truly thankful for them is one of the many ways that we can answer our calling. Being thankful for the struggles in this life and realizing that with God’s help we can overcome those struggles and be better, stronger people because of them will help all of us live every day with a grateful heart. We will find ourselves sharing what we are grateful for, not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day that we live. Being grateful and truly living with an attitude of thankfulness will lead to peace, and peace matters.