�Who Says You Can�t Teach an Old Dog a New Trick or Two�

Today at the gym one of my sons mentioned a friend of his had 3 weeks left to live, he has terminal cancer. I said, “maybe you need to tell your friend that his time left in human form is not solely dependent upon a doctor’s guestimation, but more so, on his choice, whether to let go of his human form or to stay, summon his inner strength to overcome his ailment and then seek to find out what greater task he has been spared for?”

It can be a hard thing for people believe that they have some choice as to when their life will come to an end, but it’s my experience that we do. I have witnessed numerous people overcome medical predictions of certain death and gone on to live for years — but I have also witnessed many follow their doctor’s predictions to a “T” and bid adieu.

I guess believing you have a choice is like having faith – if you have it you have a chance – if you don’t – YOU DON’T. I don’t know about you but I like the thought of having a choice!

Below is a story from my book – sometimes we just have to reprogram the computer.

The following text has been taken from the book “Your Second Fifty” www.ysfshopping.com

I’ve been blessed with a number of truly amazing experiences in my life; however, none more impressive or enlightening than the one that happened about twelve years ago in Nashville, Tennessee.

Five years after my sons’ eventful summer of singing on the Victoria causeway, they found themselves signing a major label recording contract with Polydor Records in Nashville. While living in Nashville we would take the opportunity to, once a month, sing at the children’s hospital.

During one of those visits after the boys had performed, I asked the hospital’s PR representative if there were any shut-ins and could we possibly go to their room and sing them a song or two.  After checking she said that there were indeed a couple of kids we could visit. After singing to the two children we were walking down the hall on our way out of the hospital, and I noticed a little girl about three or four years old lying in a bed.

I asked the nurse if we could sing for her and she said she didn’t think it was a good idea because the little girl only had a couple of weeks left to live. I have said before I didn’t always have my emotions in check, so I proceeded to say with a somewhat challenging tone, “Well, ask the mom?” The nurse refused, and my voice began to rise as I said, “If she only has two weeks left why do you want to prevent her from experiencing something so positive and uplifting?” Just then the doctor walked by and asked what the problem was?  I explained that I thought that the nurse should ask the mother if the boys could sing for her daughter.  The doctor responded by saying, “Let me ask.” Thankfully, the mother invited us in. The boys introduced themselves to this frail little girl and proceeded to sing a song on their album that Garth Brooks had written: “When God Made You.” Everyone broke into tears. Then the boys sang a little ditty that Clint (one of the triplets) and I had written called: “With a Little Smile.” Then everyone was back to smiling. As we were leaving the room, I realized I had one of the boy’s CD’s with me, so I went back and asked her if she would like it. She nodded and I gave it to her. I then told her that we were going out on the road to sing but if she was there when we got back in four weeks, I would give her the boy’s other CD.

When we got back off of the road, I had the record label book us another show at the hospital. After the show we walked down to her ward to see if she was still there, CD in hand.  We had just opened the doors to the ward and the head nurse came over to us and said, “She’s been asking for that CD every day since you guys left.”

She had made it past the two weeks, so I came up with another idea. I told her that in two months the boys would be doing a show with Toby Keith in downtown Nashville and that if she could get strong enough to leave the hospital, I would get her front row tickets to the concert. Two months later she was sitting front row. After that show we headed out to Las Vegas and didn’t get back until November. When we returned to Nashville, we had the record label again schedule a show at the hospital, and after the show we went straight to her ward. When we got there the nurse we spoke to said she was gone. Our hearts all dropped, and she then realized what she had said and corrected herself saying, “No, no she’s gone home.”

After that we moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, and then to Branson, Missouri, and then spent five years touring the world.  We never saw that little girl again, but we learned a very valuable lesson – she believed, when others didn’t, and she survived. She is a miracle.

Everyday we are all witnesses to miracles, some small some incredible. Ive learned to accept them for what they are and not try to intellectualize them away.  Now I work at accepting life as it unfolds each day. I’ve taken my turn at playing God in my life, (challenging others to do things my way, because I knew what was best for them) but to be honest I didn’t do a very good job of it. So from here on out, I think I’ll just try and follow my higher power’s queue and respect others to make their own best decisions and choices.

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, “Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty.”

Then the second tree said, “Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.”

Finally the third tree said, “I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.”

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, “This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter” … and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree a woodsman said, “This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard.” The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, “I don’t need anything special from my tree so I’ll take this one”, and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark. The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.

Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time. Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn’t think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said “Peace” and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don’t seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don’t always know what God’s plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

Author Unknown, Source Unknown

Without faith what hope do we have?

Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God

Diana Robinson

There are many types of prayer; from ritualized acts that require a strict sequence of actions, to prayer that has limitations as to when a person may pray, to prayer that strictly forbids a person from praying, to prayer that may be practiced spontaneously by anyone at any moment.

The amazing thing about prayer is it can be blamed for not resolving our problems or not meeting are requests, to the ability to calm, heal and at times create miracles.

Whether you believe in prayer or not here is my story:

One evening just prior to the second show at the Osmond Family Theatre a lady approached me and asked if it would be possible to speak to my sons. At first I was a bit hesitant because we had been having troubles with a guy from St. Louis who appeared to be stocking the boys. So I asked, “Why do you want to speak to them?” She responded that the night before she had had a dream and in that dream she was lead to believe that she needed to ask my boys to pray for her son. I asked, “Why do you need the boys to pray for your son?”  She told me that two years previous her son had been in a car accident and was in a coma. She believed that if the boys said a prayer for her son it would help. So I agreed to ask the boys and called them over. I said, “This lady wants to ask you a question.” She told the boys the story and asked them to pray for her son. As if on cue three little nine year olds and one ten year old looked straight up at me seeking my approval (I think I missed my calling as a drill sergeant). I shook my head and said “Boy’s this one is up to you.” They all looked back at the lady and agreed. She said thank you and we left.  Now on most nights we would head over to a restaurant for a bite to eat but this night we headed straight home ate a small snack and just before 9:00pm went into the bedroom, knelt down around the bed and said a prayer for the young boy in the coma. The next afternoon when we arrived at the theatre she was there. She came running over to us with tears rolling down her cheeks. “Did you pray last night?” she asked. “Yes we did, about nine o’clock” I replied. She said “Last night my son came out of his coma at 9:00pm.”

Faith is our natural gift of power and when it is pure and selfless it’s magnified tenfold.

Frank Moffatt

I’ve always been puzzled by Christmas – why does this one time of year have such a positive impact on so many people? Why are so many people willing to help their fellow man? Why are so many people willing to be kind and tolerant of the poor and destitute?

Certainly when we give – we get and giving kindness allows to us feel kind and that’s a wonderful feeling. But for me Christmas also brings with it the feeling of hope. Hope that one day all mankind will overcome their differences and live together in peace – but even more importantly Christmas congers up hope in the minds of young children and those children are our future.

There is a Christian saying “Ask and you shall receive” and it’s in these words that faith begins and it’s in that faith that all things become possible and it’s in those possibilities that hope is born.

So this year my gift to each and every one of you is a free pass to live Christmas 24/7 each and every day of 2010. As well, for each opportunity you get to spend with a child – you have my permission to return to the possibilities of youth and to dream, hope and believe that  everything and anything is possible.

Merry Christmas to you all and may your days be filled with peace, love and kindness.

Frank

Faith is the confident belief or trust in the truth or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
The word “faith” can refer to a religion itself or to religion in general.
As with “trust”, faith involves a concept of future events or outcomes, and
is used conversely for a belief “not resting on logical proof or material evidence.”
Wikipedia

“In the truth or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing” – so does that imply that faith is positive or can faith simply be the act of believing something will unfold the way we believe or want it to unfold?

For me faith has never been a challenge when it came to spirituality or a higher power, but faith in my fellow man has been just about the complete opposite – in fact you could almost say I had faith that they would fail me or at least fail in my expectations of them – especially my ex wives, my siblings, girlfriends, parents, my children, my ex-employers and pretty much anyone else who has ever crossed my path.

Now I would imagine that you likely know someone that fits this bill as well and they would tell you had they been able to eliminate all those people from their lives – well then their lives would have been perfect also – NOT!

Over the past few years I have come to realize that my lack of faith in others or should I say my faith that others would fail to meet my expectations hasn’t been so much a result of their actions but more so how I intentionally twisted or influenced situations to prove myself right. There is a saying in the bible “Ask and you shall receive.” Well I’m here to tell you it works – both positively and negatively. What we focus our attention on what we want we will manifest into reality. We can call it setting goals, holding grudges, visualization, vengeful thinking, dedication, ill will, focus, spite, commitment, resentment, perseverance, loathing or simply whatever suits our need to fit the occasion – but the bottom line is, when we set your mind upon something our faith, belief and conviction make it happen.

So like the old saying goes “Be careful for what you wish for, because in the end it just might come true.”