MY 10 RESOLUTIONS Author Unknown

This coming year, I have decided that with God's help, I shall:-

Give up complaining . . . focus on gratitude.

Give up harsh judgments . . . think kind thoughts.

Give up worry . . . trust divine providence.

Give up discouragement . . . be full of hope.

Give up bitterness . . . turn to forgiveness.

Give up hatred . . . return good for evil.

Give up anger . . . practice patience.

Give up pettiness . . . put on maturity.

Give up gloom. . . enjoy the beauty that is around me.

Give up gossiping . . . control my tongue.

TIPS FOR SECURE INTERNET BANKING TRANSACTIONS

Here are a few tips to ensure the security of your internet banking transactions:

1. Do not click on web links embedded in emails or pop-ups in unfamiliar web sites. These may lead to malicious web sites designed to trick you into revealing personal and financial information.

2. Be skeptical of unsolicited e-mails, especially those that concern personal / account information. Delete suspicious emails or email attachments without opening them, even if they seem to have originated from someone you know.

3. Install the latest patches on your operating system, web browser, and anti-virus programs to safeguard your computer from attacks. Securely manage your password by:
• Using a password that is easy for you to remember but hard for others to guess.
• Keeping your password confidential at all times by not writing it down or divulging to anyone.
• Disabling the "save and remember the password" browser feature.
• Changing of your password if you think it has been compromised.

NO MORE WITH ME Author Unknown

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me! I don't mean to hold you up," he said as he struggled to get off the escalator.

I'll admit to it. There have been times when walking or driving behind an older person I've gotten impatient and upset. I've huffed and zoomed around them because I was in a hurry to get nowhere. Perhaps I'm more aware of it now because I see myself there one day soon. Today I saw myself in this old man's shoes and it caused me to slow down, stop and ask for his forgiveness.

He was about five or six people ahead of me. I was in a hurry and saw him as an obstacle. I've seen people get off the end of an escalator and stop dead in their tracks, gather their things and suddenly there's a pile up of angry people behind them. You can't stop an escalator full of people behind you. Like the Energizer bunny, they keep on goin'.

This man was well aware of the challenge. He tried desperately to step aside. Fumbling with his small packages, struggling to gain his footing, you could see how troubling this was for him. "I'm sorry. Please forgive me! I don't mean to hold you up," he said as he struggled to get off the escalator.

I suddenly saw this in a whole new light. It was like I was watching my future. I felt sorry for him. I felt sick to my stomach because this man was apologizing to everyone, when we should have been helping him and calming his fears.

One by one, people zipped around him. I heard a few angry comments whispered as one lady passed by him.

I saw me.

By the time I got to him he was just about steady on his feet.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know there was more," he said.

"No, sir. No more with me," I said. This really hit me hard. I realized right then how sad it was that the world was in such a hurry. That, of course, included me. But...no more with me. Count me out.

This wonderful man paid his dues. For whatever time he had spent on this earth, he most likely walked many rough roads and too many important miles. Now he should be apologizing for moving slower?

My heart ached as I looked into his eyes. I wished that I could see what he had seen all those years. His face weathered from life itself, was creased and wrinkled. The small soft pockets under his eyes and the gentle lines that curved up and around them told me he had many happy moments, too. Those were traces left behind from laughter and a smiling, happy man.

"My friend, can I help you with those things?" I asked.

Hesitant at first, he finally said, "Well, yes, thank you!"

I placed my hand under his left arm and walked with him a safe distance away from the rush of people.

"So what are you shopping for, sir?"

"Oh, just a little something for my neighbor. She's a young mother raising kids on her own. She's always so nice to me. I thought a box of candy for Mother's Day..." he said, stopping suddenly as he searched his inside pocket of his sport coat.

"Do you need something?" I asked.

"Oh, no. Here. I think I have it right here. I always carry them with me," he said. Then pulling out a hand full of papers he shuffled through them and handed me a business card that read: "John A. Pomicter Friend to all...enemy to no one! I said a prayer today and you were the answer. Thank you!"

"That's for you," he said. "Thanks for stopping to help an old man."

"My friend, you helped me. I discovered that I was unhappy with the world and I was part of the problem. Now I'll be part of the solution. No more with me!"

"Then this was meant to be," he said smiling.

"You know God sends me gifts every day and always at least one special person. You were my gift for today! Let's go get some chocolates, my friend."

GREAT GOLF SHOT By Marion Smith

Every once in a while I hit a great golf shot. I feel so good as the ball flies down the fairway, arching beautifully before landing in the perfect spot. Or perhaps I sink that long putt that no one would have thought possible .”Yes, I would say to myself…those shots are in me, but they only seem to come out once in awhile!”

There is something else within me, and He is the Holy Spirit. God gave Him to live within my heart when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. He produced fruit in my life- love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. I am now wondering if this beautiful fruit of the Spirit only comes out of me once in awhile—just like that good golf shot! I hope not! I pray this fruit would constantly be evident in my life, showing others (and reminding myself) there IS something special about a person when she (or he) is indwelled by the Holy Spirit.

If you are a Christian, you too have the fruit of the Spirit. Is it ripe and ready to be shared with others?

THE STORY OF THE ALMONDS By Alan Bates

I woke up shivering on the morning of Thanksgiving Day 1969. I'd pulled a canvas tarp over me while laying on a hay bail in a barn just off the road I was hitchhiking on, north of Sacramento going north to Oregon . Freeway 5 was closed for repairs so I found myself on some country road in the middle of no where. I couldn't sleep with all those roosters crowing in my ear so I quietly sneeked back to the road with my friend Tom. We saw the sun come up to another clear crisp chilly California sunny day. The road was completely deserted of cars for a long time until a black man in a white pick up finally came by and graciously pulled over to pick us up. He headed north to the freeway and let us off at the first off ramp, again in the middle of no where.

We stood there on the side of the freeway for a long time watching the sun slowly rise in the sky and feeling our tongues slowly swell with thirst and hunger. Why was I doing this?

It must've been noon with the sun high and the air hot and dry. I thought, "I must be out of God's will. Nobody has come down this road to pick us up."

I said, "Why don't we test God to see what His will is. You stand on one side of the road and I'll stand on the other. The one who gets the first ride, that's the way we're suppose to go."

But then my heart smote me. I hadn't come this far to go back. I knew it was for God that I'd come this far. How could I be so unresolute? I wasn't anywhere near dead yet. I sure was in pain though, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual pain.

Then I said, "Why don't we go over to that almond grove and see if we can get something to eat?" Tom agreed. So we jumped the fences and started going from tree to tree. Not one almond! I saw another grove on the other side of the drainage ditch and said, "Let's try over there." I found one hanging on a tree and another on the ground, but nothing else. So we gave up.

We jumped the fences back to the road and stood there quiet, thinking, praying. No traffic. I thought about all the early settlers, our forefathers who had walked into this land a hundred years ago. I thought about the early saints and Israelites who'd persevered though their wildernesses.

Finally it came to me I shouldn't just be dependent on some driver who might pass by.

If God wants me to go to Oregon I could walk just like all those who've paved this road before me. So I said to Tom, "Let's walk to a better place to hitchhike." I could see a long way. I didn't see a better place to hitchhike. But any place was better than here.

So we started walking through what felt like the Sahara desert. The sun baking down on our skin, the dry wind, the thirst, and the breeze of the cars going by. I didn't even turn to the traffic any more, I just put out my left arm, thumb up.

I was looking down at the gravel and sand I was walking on just putting one foot in front of the other. Then I saw a pebble that looked strangely different than the others and stopped to look at it. Tom caught up and said, "What are you looking at?" I bent down and picked up an almond just laying there along the side of the road.

We joked and rejoiced and said grace and very carefully divided it up savoring every morsel. Then we started stepping down the road again. Again and again we stopped and stooped to pick up more almonds until we started putting them in our pockets.

Then a white station wagon pulled over in front of us and we ran up to it.

The couple inside offered us a ride and said to get in the back seat. When we got in we saw the floor covered with almonds! They were almond growers who had just harvested. They said, "Help yourself."

They gave us a ride to a perfect place to hitchhike. We'd hardly got out of the car before someone else stopped and gave us a ride all the way to the front door of the commune we were going to in central Oregon , 10 miles off the freeway. We ate Thanksgiving dinner with them and slept under warm blankets that night.

Just before I woke up the next morning I heard a voice asking me, "Where were the almonds?" I said, "Lord, not on the trees, but on the road." Then was opened to me even further the scripture in Matthew 6:31 - 33, "... Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we clothe ourselves?'. For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. ..."