THANKFUL THURSDAY CODE:

Thankful Thursday: What VIAMARIE is thankful for this week Peaceful living Pure Food Proper exercise Plenty of water Prayer & fasting Periods of fresh air and sunshine Perfect rest Links to other Thankful Thursdays (If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below; or, you can post in the comments)

This is how I felt thirty five years ago when I graduated from my Bachelors in Nursing. All I wanted was just to do bedside nursing to the best of my ability. As days went on, I started to realize that what I have just been through as a student is a mere foretaste of what lies ahead. There were many days wherein everything seems to be askew and I seem pitifully helpless to do anything about it. There were a lot of instances when I had to fully fathom the complexities of human behavior within and outside the workplace. Also there was this very vast wealth of knowledge that had to be explored in the medical field which I didn't learn in school.

All these posed as a challenge to me so barely nine months on the job, I got married and was promoted as Headnurse of the OB/Gyne Division. A few months later I was offered the position of Nurse Supervisor. Since I was about to deliver my first child, it was at this point when I had to assess the situation and study my options. I was not too sure if I was capable of the very big responsibility of running a workforce of almost 300 nursing professionals considering my age. But with God guiding me all the way, I accepted the offer and I am proud to say that I did a very good job. With lots of prayers, I became brave, I held fast to my ideals and I considered the lumps and bumps along the way as part of my continuing education. These experiences in this 250 bed hospital led me to higher positions years later in another hospital but this time in administration.

Today I received a sweet smile from my grandson, NICKY. I cherish that look that he saves for special times.

I only have one child, a sweet, talented and beautiful daughter. And then seven years ago God saw fit to bless us with a male. He is a perfect little grandson who captured us all immediately. We soon learned that NICKY doesn't enjoy the cooing, loving and cuddling that a girl shares. Instead, he has a rare special smile that tugs at my heart. Most of the time he is a rough and tumble boy, but when especially pleased or happy, NICKY sends you this most gorgeous smile. In his seven years I have found myself watching his face often for that special smile.

Today, as we all handed him our birthday gifts, his face lit with that smile that melts my heart. In the same way, I love it when God smiles down on me. Just as I pleased NICKY with a small gift, God is pleased when we seek Him with our whole heart. Communicate with Him in prayer, study and obey his Word and God will bless us with His divine favor and peace in our lives.

A smile from my only grandson and a smile from my heavenly Father make a perfect day for me!

Lots & lots of kisses for you!!!

There was once a bunch of tiny frogs that arranged a run competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants.

The race began...honestly no one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You can hear statements such as: "Oh,WAY too difficult...they will NEVER make it to the top"... or "Not a chance that they will succeed... the tower is too high!"

The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one except for those who in a fresh tempo were climbing higher and higher. The crowd continued to yell, "It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!"

More tiny frogs got tired and gave up... but ONE continued higher and higher. This one wouldn't give up! At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower except for the one tiny frog. After a big effort, the tiny frog was the only who reached the top. Then all the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it?

A contestant asked the tiny frog how the one who succeeded found the strength to reach the goal? It turned out... that the winner was DEAF!!!

More than a year ago, an officemate informed me that my friend had been borrowing money from people outside of our company using my name. She made them believe that I was in dire need but was embarrassed to do it personally because of my status as the highest officer of our company. It reached a point that these persons had been requesting to personally collect from since I have been failing to pay them for months now. I was so shocked to hear this so I confronted my friend but she denied the report. She used the excuse that this was the doing of people who wanted to destroy our relationship. Since she was my long time friend, I believed her.

Months later a lady came to see me in my office and she told me that I owed her a big sum of money and I have been in default for more than a year. She was embarrassed to do it but she needed the money very badly so she had to personally collect from me. It was only then that I realized that the report was true all along.
It was a signal of the end of a friendship.

We've all been there. There were days when all we would think about is the next game we'd play, what food to eat or what kind of toy to ask for. And who would ever forget that feeling of excitement as we tried to discover new things-how do caterpillars turn out to become butterflies, how do fishes survive in an aquarium or what causes lightning? How fun it was to learn new things!

But as we reached adolescence, we left that sense of excitement and simplicity. Little do we realize how important being a child at heart is. It doesn't mean being dependent always or throwing tantrums but seeing every new thing that comes our way with excitement.

Adulthood tossed us into the sea of wants and wishes. Back in our childhood days, playing in the sandbox or chasing each other made us happy and contented then. Now, how quickly do we complain on things we don't have?

My friends and I decided to join them and we definitely had fun. It made us remember how simple and happy life was when we were their age and at the same time it also taught us how to be a child at heart again.

"I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me."
Psalm 131:2

Thank God It's Friday!!! I had a very busy week and it has really worn down my body and my spirit. So this afternoon after my last meeting with the team, we all stayed behind in the board room and started to exchange stories...many of them were funny.

This story made all of us laugh out loud and I hope it will make you laugh too.

A married couple in their early 60s was out celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary in a quiet, romantic little restaurant when suddenly, a tiny yet beautiful fairy appeared on their table and said, "For being such an exemplary married couple and for being faithful to each other for all this time, I will grant you each a wish."

"Oh, I want to travel around the world with my darling husband" said the wife. The fairy waved her magic wand and - poof! - two tickets for the Queen Mary II luxury liner appeared in her hands. Then it was the husband's turn. He thought for a moment and said: "Well, this is all very romantic, but an opportunity like this will never come again. I'm sorry my love, but my wish is to have a wife 30 years younger than me. " The wife, and the fairy, were deeply disappointed, but a wish is a wish... So the fairy waved her magic wand and - poof! - the husband became 92 years old.

The moral of the story: Men should remember fairies are female.