Paul & Friends   Peace, joy, and unity among friends!

What a wonderful way to look at the cost of raising a child. The Price of Children

I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is
the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It’s very sweet!

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and
came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That
doesn’t even touch college tuition. But $160,140 isn’t so bad if you break it down.

It translates into: $8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a month or $171.08 a week. That’s a
mere $24.24 a day, and just over a dollar an hour!

Still, you might think the best financial advice is to not have children if you
want to be “rich”. Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140?
* Naming rights. First, middle and last!
* Glimpses of God every day
* Giggles under the covers every night
* More love than your heart can hold
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs * Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, &
warm cookies
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sand castles, and skipping
down the sidewalk in the pouring rain
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your
stocks performed that day

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* Finger-paint
* Carve pumpkins
* Play hide-and-seek
* Catch lightning bugs
* Never stop believing in Santa Claus

You have an excuse to:
* Keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh
* Watch Saturday morning cartoons
* Go to Disney movies
* Wish on stars

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and
collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, handprints set in clay for
Mother’s Day, and cards with backward letters for Father’s Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck.
You get to be a hero just for:
* Retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof
* Taking the training wheels off a bike
* Removing a splinter
* Filling a wading pool
* Coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs
* Coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream
regardless

You get a front row seat to history to witness the:
* First step
* First word
* First bra
* First date
* First time behind the wheel!

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if
you’re lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great
grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice,
communications, and human sexuality that no college can match. In the eyes of a
child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo,
scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber
party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will ,
like you, love without counting the cost.

That is quite a deal for the price!

God has given you a wonderful gift!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren!

We Picked You!

Just a little hello ..and a BIG smile!!

THE POSITIVE SIDE OF LIFE:

Living on Earth is expensive,
but it does include a free trip
around the sun every year.

How long a minute is,
depends on what side of the
bathroom door you’re on.

Birthdays are good for you;
the more you have,
the longer you live.

Happiness comes through doors you
didn’t even know you left open.

Ever notice that the people who are late
are often much jollier
than the people who have to wait for them?

Most of us go to our grave
with our music still inside of us.

If shops are lowering prices every day,
how come nothing is free yet?

You may be only one person in the world,
but you may also be the world to one person.

We could learn a lot from crayons:
Some are sharp, some are pretty;
Some are dull, some have weird names;
and all are different colours….
But, they all exist very nicely in the same box.

A truly happy person is one who
can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Have an awesome day, and
know that someone who thinks
you’re great, has thought about you today!..

Rit Ku wuo pioth cok ku roth ril yuku jak nyiei ku rioc a pen wuo wei {Dit 65)

“ who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ” (2 Timothy 1:9)

Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs….

The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower.

A big 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 heard 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 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 who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top!

THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed
to do it?

A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach
the goal?

It turned out….

That the winner was DEAF!!!!

The wisdom of this story is:

Never listen to other people’s tendencies to be

negative or pessimistic…. because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes
away from you — the ones you have in your heart!

Always think of the power words have.

Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions!

Therefore:

ALWAYS be….

POSITIVE!

And above all:

Be DEAF when people tell YOU that you cannot fulfill your dreams!

Pass this message on to 5 “tiny frogs” you care about.

Give them some motivation!!!

Most people walk in and out of your life……but FRIENDS leave footprints in your
heart
In two days tomorrow will be yesterday. Today is no special day and I have no
particular reason for writing to you… I have no news to tell you…. nor any
problems to discuss with you…. or gossip to tell you… It’s only one of those
happy moments… when I thought of you… and I would like to share these thoughts
with you…
MANY SMILES BEGIN BECAUSE OF ANOTHER SMILE…

To The World You Might Be One Person; But To One Person You Might Be the World.

You have been Tagged by the Froggy, which means you are a great friend!!

Are you willing to help Paul and friends in 2006 Tent Making?
If yes call 615 579 4794

1. There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don’t like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. You are special and unique.
8. Someone that you don’ t even know exists loves you.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you take another look.
11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.

Hi friend,
I would like you to go to the scripture tree and click on it, on the link below and click on the flower of your Choice and it will give you a verse. remember“ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. ” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) may the Almighty father bless you.
Thanks
Yours in Him
Paul and Friends.

Lee Flat and I met Manut Bol to day at MTSU. Several hunderds of Sudanese living instead and Canada came to meet with his H.E. Southern Sudan foriegn Minister Nhial Deng Nhial. The meeting when ell Manut Bol spoke for 10 minutes and Nhial Deng Nhial answered some questions which where directed to the government of Southern Sudan.
Several American friends also came from different part of state and attended the Sudan rally. Meeting was concluded with prayers by Rev. John Awan