TUYO, TINAPA AND GALUNGGON

Let me tell you a story. Three construction workers were on top of their
half-finished skyscraper. Rrrrring!" the lunch bell sounded, and the three
men sat on a steel beam jutting out of the 56th flo or with their lunch
boxes in hand.

The first guy opens his and groans in exasperation, "Tuyo!" There is not a
day that I don't get tuyo for lunch!" He turns to his buddies and
announces, "Mark my words. If I still get tuyo tomorrow, I'm going to throw
myself from this building."

The second guy opens his lunch box and moans, "Tinapa". Everyday, I get
tinapa!" He looks at his friends and declares, "Believe me when I say this.
If I get tinapa tomorrow, I'm going to jump and kil! l myself."

The third guy opens his lunch box and it was his turn to despair.
"Galunggong" . All I get is galunggong!" I'm telling you, if I still get
galunggong tomorrow, I'm going to jump from this building and die."

The next day, the lunch bell rings and all three men are again seated on
the 56th floor. The first guy opens his lunch box and starts crying,
"Tuyoooooo!" And so he jumps and crashes on the ground.

The second guy opens his lunch box and wails loudly, "Tinapaaaa!" And he
also hurls himself off the building and dies.

The third guy opens his lunch box and screams, "Galunggonggggg! " And so he
too jumps off the building and splatters on the ground.

Days later, during the funeral of the three men, their three wives embrace
and weep together. The first wife cries out, "I didn't know my husband
didn't like tuyo anymore! Why didn't he tell me? If only he told me, I
would have prepared something else."

The second wife echoes her statement, "Yes! If only I knew, I would have
cooked something else, not tinapa!"

The third wife, between sobs, speaks up, "I don't know why my husband
killed himself." The two wives look at her curiously.
"Why?"
She went on, "Because ... my husband prepares his own lunch everyday..."

I love this crazy story because it presents a very important truth: all of
us prepare our own lunch. If we don't like our jobs, if we don't like the
state of our relationships, if! we don't like what's happening to our
spiritual lives - we have no one to blame but ourselves. Because God has
given us free will. He has given us the power to prepare our own lunch.

If you want to earn more and be free from debt, if you're sick and tired of
your bad habits, if we want to put more joy in our marriages, if we want to
grow in our relationship with God - then go back to your kitchen and
prepare yourself another dish. Because you design your own future. You
create your own destiny. Ask yourself what kind of future do you want to
have? What kind of life? What kind of eternity? You decide.

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I Love Rubber Bands

Let me tell you a crazy story I heard recently.There' s this husband who
out of sheer love for his wife decided to prove it to her. So he swam the
widest oceans, crossed the deepest rivers, and climbed the highest
mountains to show his deep devotion to her. But in the end, she divorced
him.

Why? Because he was never home.(Get it?)

Let me tell you an experience I had as a kid. One day, I asked Mom, "Why do
my shoes keep eating my socks?" As a young boy, that was always a mystery
for me. All my other classmates never had that problem. Their socks
remained tight and high up their legs the entire day.

Mom didn't answer my question but simply gave me two rubber bands which I
dutifully placed around the top of my socks. To this day, fifteen years
later, I still have permanent circle marks around my legs. But aside from
giving me this slight defect, the two bands worked like magic.

It never occurred to me that Dad and Mom didn't have the money to buy a new
pair of socks for me. So I wore five-year-old socks, all soggy, grayish,
and garter less. And yet amazingly, I never complained. I believe it was
because Dad was always home when I needed him. Every night, after coming
from work, we'd jog together, sit around, and talk about Tarzan, Farrah
Fawcett Majors,God, and what I wanted to be when I grew up (a stockholder)
. On Saturdays, we'd walk to Cubao, eat a hotdog-on-a- stick,and buy new
rubber bands before going home.

I've learned that in truth, we don't want our loved ones to show their love
for us in big ways. Swimming the widest oceans,crossing the deepest rivers,
and climbing the highest mountains seem spectacular - but that's not what
we really want. Deep in our hearts, we just want them home. With us.

Sometimes, God will operate that way. Suddenly, He decides not to answer
our prayers, or fill our need, or heal our sickness, or give us the miracle
we're asking for. (He's got reasons why He won't, and believe me - they're
pretty good ones.) So He'll just be there beside you, holding you in a hug.
Sharing your pain. Weeping as you weep. Oh, He might give you some rubber
bands. And that small comfort from Him will be more than enough to sustain
you. Because the most essential truth you already know.

..home.


> ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~

THE GIFT
A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he
had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his
father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted. As
Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had
purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father
called him into his private study.

His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him
how much he loved him.

He handed his son a beautifully wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat
disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely,
leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angrily,
he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money you give
me a Bible? and stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had
a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very
old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since
that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a
telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his
possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of
things.

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his
heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the
still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened
the Bible and began to turn the pages. His father had carefully underlined
a verse: Matt 7:11, "And if ye, being evil know how to give good gifts to
your children, how much more shall your Heavenly father which is in heaven,
give to those who ask Him?" As he read those words, a car key dropped from
the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer
who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his
graduation, and the words... PAID IN FULL. >

How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packaged as
we expected? I trust you enjoyed this.

Pass it on to others. Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have
not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only
hoped for...

IF YOUR GIFT IS NOT PACKED THE WAY YOU WANT IT, IT'S BECAUSE IT IS BETTER
PACKED THAT WAY! ALWAYS APPRECIATE LITTLE THINGS; THEY USUALLY LEAD YOU TO
ATTACHMENTS!