TWO SHORT STORIES

On here today are two stories that i feel should be shared to my lovely readers.

NO 1
   There was once a king who was so cruel and unjust that his subjects yearned for his death or dethronement. However, one day he surprised them all by announcing that he had decided to turn over a new leaf.

“No more cruelty, no more injustice,” he promised, and he was as good as his word. He became known as the ‘Gentle Monarch’. Months after his transformation one of his ministers plucked up enough courage to ask him what had brought about his change of heart.

And the king answered, “As I was galloping through my forests I caught sight of a fox being chased by a hound. The fox escaped into his hole but not before the hound had bitten into its leg and lamed it for life. Later I rode into a village and saw the same hound there. It was barking at a man. Even as I watched, the man picked up a huge stone and flung it at the dog, breaking its leg. The man had not gone far when he was kicked by a horse. His knee was shattered and he fell to the ground, disabled for life. The horse began to run but it fell into a hole and broke its leg. Reflecting on all that had happened, I thought: ‘Evil begets evil. If I continue in my evil ways, I will surely be overtaken by evil’. So I decided to change”.

The minister went away convinced that the time was ripe to overthrow the king and seize the throne. Immersed in thought, he did not see the steps in front of him and fell, breaking his neck.

NO 2

The Professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see & asked the students “How much do you think this glass weighs?”

’50gms!’….. ’100gms!’ …..’125 gms’ …the students answered.

“I really don’t know unless I weigh it,” said the professor, “but, my question is:

What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?”…. .

‘Nothing’ …..the students said.

‘Ok what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?’ the professor asked.

‘Your arm would begin to ache’ said one of the student

“You’re right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?”

“Your arm could go numb; you might have severe muscle stress & paralysis & have to go to hospital for sure!”

….. Ventured another student & all the students laughed

“Very good.

But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?” Asked the professor.

‘No’…. Was the answer.

“Then what caused the arm ache & the muscle stress?”

The students were puzzled.

“What should I do now to come out of pain?” asked professor again.

“Put the glass down!” said one of the students

“Exactly!” said the professor.

Life’s problems are something like this.

Hold it for a few minutes in your head & they seem OK.

Think of them for a long time & they begin to ache.

Hold it even longer & they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything.

It’s important to think of the challenges or problems in your life, But EVEN MORE IMPORTANT is to ‘PUT THEM DOWN’ at the end of every day before you go to sleep…

That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh & strong & can handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way.

Question: Did you learn any lesson?

If yes, remember to always apply them in your everyday life.

If No, re-read.

Blogger's MESSAGE

The best solution to our problem is to discuss it with the Redeemer, Lord of Lords, Saviour through Jesus Christ and as we do, i pray we receive instant answers, Amen!!!

Irrespective of your religion, there is no one on earth that can show lights to our paths than the creator of heaven & earth because the Lord God of Israel, Almighty God, Father to the fatherless, lily of the valley, Rose of Sharon created the earth, we should do away with all things that do not reference him, therefore serve him in truth and in spirit.

THE VIRTUOUS WOMAN

INTRODUCTION.

   Susanna Wesley, a woman of strong conviction, knelt down, her bible in her hand & a large apron over her head, her children never interrupted her when she prayed for it was her daily routine, she knew exactly how she wanted to raise her children. The mother of nineteen(only nine survived to adulthood). Susanna's personal life wasn't exactly a bed of roses; she experienced many hardships throughout her life, but she was determined to be a great mother, she spent at least one hour every day praying for each child and also set aside an hour during the week for each of them to discuss spiritual matters.

   Her household was a disciplined one, run like a finely tuned check. She understood that self-will is the root of all sin and misery, so whosoever cherishes this in children ensures their after-wretchedness and that whatever checks and mortifies it, promotes their future happiness and piety. She was the primary source of her children's education.
   Born to a minister father(a puritan), Samuel Annesley, Susanna devoted her life to God early in Life, God made her an uncommon and a successful mother, who mothered two great church fathers, John and Charles Wesley. She steered her children down the path of righteousness. Susanna saw every child as a talent committed to her by God under a trust and ensured she conquered her children's will from the early period of their development. The world needs mothers like Susanna Wesley.

Stakeholders in child's training and development.

    A stakeholder is any person or group that has a vested interest in a matter. There are various stakeholders responsible for the upbringing & training of the child. The school, the church, the parent, the society and the government. Though all these agencies of child development are expected to shape different aspect of the child's life so that he will grow up to become the person he is meant to be, their responsibilities are inter-twined.
   The school trains the child mentally to make him educated, The church shapes the child's spiritual and moral life(Psalm 144: 12), the church is the pillar & ground of truth(1 Tim. 3:15). In summary, parenting a child and preparing him for a great future is a role and responsibility shared by the aforementioned agencies, & they are all expected to pull resources together to help the child grow up in the way and knowledge of God.

Major Stakeholders: Mothers

   Mothers are major stakeholders in youth development because of their natural affinity with their children.
They are traditionally the ultimate caregivers who invest most, if not all, of their time on their children, though today stay-at-home mums are less common, and many men and women engage in shared Earning/Shared Parenting Marriage where they do not follow archetypal or stereotyped "motherhood" and "fatherhood" roles and instead both earn money and both do the unpaid work of parenting and childcare. Mothers are commonly the nurturers of the children and support their emotional growth and stability. As a mother, it is very important to support your youths and provide them happiness. Its not enough to bring forth children, what matters most to God is what you make out of them. Therefore, the lifestyle of your child is, to a greater extent, the result of your training and examples. The kind of upbringing you give to them go a long way to either shape their lives for the better or shattered them for life and eternity.
   You mustn't leave their training to the school, church, society or grannies because of your pursuit of mundane things; but rather complement the effort of these agencies in their development. Recognize that the primary responsibility of youth development lies on you because God has entrusted them to your specific care and you are expected to promote and support their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
 However, the best training you can give to your youths is to instill godly and Christian values in them. Make God the center of your own life, as well as theirs. Be determined to make a success of your parenting job by modeling the Christian life, and raise your children in the way of the Lord. Somebody said, "The key to becoming a more effective parent is to become an increasingly godly person." Give whatever it takes to see that your children grow up in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and be optimistic and forward looking in your parenting.

Tips to help develop your children;

- Know your youths, be interested in them, and prepare them for their generation. Never be unconcerned about your children.
- Live by your precepts. Your Influence is more powerful & paramount, never be with a negative influence.
- Love your youths and communicate with them no matter their personality and character. This helps to foster relationship.
- Acquire proven knowledge and tact from successful parents like Susanna Wesley for raising youths, by reading Christian literatures or consulting successful mothers you know, comparing notes and sharing experiences
- Be your child's friend and let him trust and believe in you.
- Pray and partner with God for a successful upbringing of your children.
                                                                                                - with reference to Christian Women Mirror

May the Almighty God shower His grace & mercy on us that we may know the right way to teach our youth, Amen.

LEARNING: Empower A Woman, Empower A Generation

INTRODUCTION

   And it came to pass that a Holy Man roamed the earth, He came to a small town, and the men came to him and said "Man of God, tell us of Woman's place in God's world." He sat down, raised His eyes to heaven, then to the eyes of the men before Him.
" A woman is a special creation of God - the tree of humanity - providing peace, love and sustenance - to all who rest under her shadow - and in her boughs..." The small part of this poem by Rich Reith titled Woman has truly defined a Woman.

   Over the years women have proven to be a great influence in the success or failure of a society. Brigham Young stated 'you educate a man, you educate a man; you educate a woman, you educate a generation'. I am happy that we all have heard or read the story of the first human creations, Adam & Eve in the garden of Eden, then we know the role of Eve in the sending out of the first creation which has led the human race to its current phase.

CONTRIBUTION

   The basic unit of the society is a woman. As woman make up a family, family to a home, homes constitutes a society. We all have the understanding that without education, development is either unattainable or would be 10 times difficult than it already is. Also, we know that the child's first institution is the mother's lap, From the teaching of behavior to a child's health, i would say that a mother gives the policy for a child to guide his/her strategy in the pursuit of goals/objectives(Policy are guides to action or statement of understanding that guides the thinking & action in decision making). A good mother teaches her child how to behave, how to deal with different classes of people, how to speak, these are the basic element of a healthy society and women are the strongest actor in the making & maintaining of a strong and healthy society. An important role of mothers are to teach the children how to behave knowing how & what to do.

   A good example is a story i read while surfing the web describing how a 3 years old boy saved his mother who was lying helplessly due to a total body arrest that could have killed the mother, fortunately for the mother, the story said that the mother had explained to the kid what to do if there was any emergency and thank God for blessing the kid with a retentive memory, he called 911 and the mother got rescued from the total body arrest that could have killed her. If the mother was irresponsible, i am sure she wouldn't have cared to teach the 3 years old boy.

HINDRANCES

   The first hindrance to Empowering a woman, Empowering a generation/society is the failure to recognize or ignore her responsibilities to the society as evidenced in a poem by Maya Angelou titled WOMEN WORK and it goes thus;
I've got the children to tend - the clothes to mend - the floor to mop - the food to shop - then the chicken to fry - the baby to dry - i got company to feed - the garden to weed - I've got shirts to press - the tots to dress - the can to be cut - i gotta clean up this hut - then see about the sick - and the cotton to pick.

   The second hindrance is the failure of the society & administrators to recognize the responsibilities and effect of women in the society. However, the second hindrance does not stop a responsible woman from making sure her family learns how to do the right things as this will in no time solve the second hindrance, thus we can say that the responsibility of creating a healthy society rests on the shoulders of every woman, thus they should be empowered through Learning as it is already done in most parts of the world.
   In conclusion, in order for a society to be pure and healthy, both men and women should think, dress & behave in ways that allow pure thoughts and actions to dominate the way of life and there-by creating an environment conducive to the achievement of a real good life. A good and solid society is a good harbinger of development and women play a key role.
I PRAY THAT THE ALMIGHTY GOD SHOULD STRENGTHEN THE HEART AND MIND OF OUR WOMEN TO IMPACT INTO HUMANITY GOOD & RIGHT THINGS, AMEN!!!