Friday, December 21, 2012

Blessings of Christmas


Blessings of Christmas


Good morning my fellow Rotarians.  With the holidays it is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season, especially when it comes to helping those less fortunate.  Our club does a great job in this area, but sometimes we may miss how simple acts of kindness can change lives forever.  This is a short story from Norman Vincent Peale.

Dr. Peale, a noted minister and author, tells the story of a young girl from Sweden who was spending the holiday season in New York City while living with an American family.  Her chores included helping around the house, but she didn't have much money. So she knew she couldn't buy nice Christmas presents for her host family—besides, they already had so much, with new gifts arriving every day from family and friend.

With just what little money she had, she went out and bought an outfit for a small baby, and then set out on a journey to find the poorest part of town and the poorest baby she could find. At first, she received only strange looks from people when she asked them for help. But then a kind stranger, a Salvation Army bell-ringer, guided her to a poor part of town and helped her deliver her gift.

On Christmas morning, instead of giving her host family gifts, she told them about her act of kindness done in their name. Everyone was speechless, and yet everyone was blessed—the girl for giving, the wealthy family for seeing others with new eyes, and the poor family for receiving an unexpected gift.

We all have many opportunities to show kindness, especially at Christmastime. We can help strangers by delivering gifts to needy kids or serving homeless families at a soup kitchen. Or we can simply look for everyday ways to be kind, like allowing someone to go ahead in a long line, or giving that bell-ringer a little extra change and a few encouraging words.

Maybe our gift-giving mode inspires us to give to others at Christmas.  Maybe the season makes us more aware of our families, friends and those in our communities. Or maybe it's because two thousand years ago, the earth received the most perfect, most loving gift of all; God’s son, Jesus Christ.   This is a special time of year to remember this special gift.  Christmas begins with CHRIST, the real reason for this season.   

Whatever your reason, this Christmas show kindness, it is what we do as Rotarians, because it is truly more blessed to give than to receive.

To you and your family I wish you a very Merry Christmas a blessed New Year!  And that’s the bottom of the news on this Friday December 21, 2012.  

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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Christmas Laughs


Christmas Laughs

Good morning my fellow Rotarians. The Christmas season is well upon us and for our news this morning, I thought I’d share a few humorous Christmas stories…

Trust Him?
On the Sunday before Christmas Reverend Billy Graham was visiting a town where he was to give a Christmas message. That afternoon he went to visit a parishioner; however, he needed to drop a package off and asked a young boy where he could find the post office. When the boy gave him directions, Reverend Graham thanked him and said, 'If you'll come to the Church this evening, you can hear me telling everyone how to get to heaven.'

The boy replied, 'I think I'll pass sir. If you don't even know your way to the post office, how do you know the way to heaven?'

Christmas Spirit
It was just before Christmas and the magistrate was in a happy mood. He asked the prisoner who was in the dock, 'What are you charged with?' The prisoner replied, 'Doing my Christmas shopping too early.' 'That's no crime', said the magistrate. 'Just how early were you doing this shopping?'

'Before the shop opened', answered the prisoner.

Mirror Image
On Christmas Eve, Nathan thought it would be nice to buy his wife a little gift for the next day. Always short of money, he thought long and hard about what to buy.' Unable to decide, Nathan visited the cosmetics section of a local store and asked the clerk, 'How about some perfume?' She showed him a bottle costing $150. 'Too expensive,' he muttered.

The young lady returned with a smaller bottle for $75. 'Oh dear,' Nathan groused, 'still far too much.'

Growing rather annoyed, the sales girl brought out a tiny $20 bottle and offered it to him. Nathan became really agitated, 'What I mean', he whined, 'is I'd like to see something really cheap.'

So, the sales girl handed him a mirror.

So, guys, how is your shopping coming along? And that’s the bottom of the news on this Friday December 14, 2012.

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Thursday, December 06, 2012

Reindeer Exposed!


Reindeer Exposed!

Good morning my fellow Rotarians. Since we have now officially entered the Christmas season I want you all to know that as your Rotary Reporter I take my responsibility very seriously to honestly report things so you understand fact from fiction.

Now is the time to reveal the truth about Santa’s reindeer.


Recently a report was released by the Alaskan Fish and Game Department. The report states that both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year. The male reindeer drop their antlers during the early winter, usually around late November to mid December. Female reindeer, however, retain their antlers until after they give birth in the spring.

 

Therefore, according to every historical rendition depicting Santa’s reindeer, from Rudolph to Comet to Donner and Biltzen… every one of them has to be female.
 

We should have known this.
 

Think about it. Only women would be able to drag a fat man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost!
 

And there you have it, the truth exposed about Santa’s reindeer. So, here’s my question for the guys… can you handle this revelation?
 

And that is the Bottom of our News on this Friday, December 7, 2012.
 

PS... May we never forget the 2400 Americans who died at Pearl Harbor on this day, December 7, 1941.

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