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Hours of Operation
The
Child Care Center
is designed for children between the ages of
2 to 5.
We are
open
Monday - Friday from
7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
For more information about our facility,
please call us at
(941) 484-4415.
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A young man who had been raised as an
atheist was training to be an Olympic
diver.
The only religious influence in his life came from his outspoken
Christian
friend. The
young diver never really paid much attention to his friend’s
sermons,
but he heard them
often.
One night the diver went to the indoor pool at the college he
attended. The lights
were
all off, but as the pool had big skylights and the moon was
bright, there was
plenty of light
to practice by. The young man climbed up to the highest diving
board
and as he turned
his back to the pool on the edge of the board and extended his
arms out, he saw his
shadow on the wall. The shadow of his body was in the shape
of a
cross.
Instead of diving, he knelt down and finally asked God to come
into his life. As the
young
man stood, a maintenance man walked in and turned the lights on.
The pool
had been
drained for repairs.
~ Author Unknown ~
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The Painting of the Last
Supper
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The Last Supper was painted by Leonardo
Da Vinci. It took seven years to
complete.
The figures representing the twelve Apostles and Christ himself
were
painted from
living persons. The life-model for the painting of the figure of
Jesus
was chosen first.
When it was decided that Da Vinci would paint this great
picture,
hundreds and
hundreds of young men were carefully viewed, in an endeavor to
find
a face and
personality exhibiting innocence and beauty, free from the scars
and
signs of
dissipation caused by sin.
Finally, after weeks of laborious searching, a young man
nineteen years of age, was
selected as a model for the portrayal of Christ. For six months,
Da Vinci worked on
the reproduction of this leading character in his famous
painting.
During the next six years, Da Vinci continued his labors on this
sublime work of art.
One by one, fitting persons were chosen to represent each of the
eleven Apostles;
space being left for the painting of the figure representing
Judas Iscariot, as the final
task of this masterpiece. This was the Apostle, you remember,
who betrayed his
Lord
for thirty pieces of silver, worth $16.96 in our present
day currency.
For weeks, Da Vinci searched for a man with a hard callous face,
with a countenance
marked by scars of avarice, deceit, hypocrisy, and crime; a face
that would delineate
a character, who would betray his best friend. After many
discouraging experiences,
in searching for the type of person required to represent Judas,
word came to Da
Vinci that a man, whose appearance fully met his requirements,
had been found in
a dungeon in Rome, sentenced to die for a life of crime and
murder.
Da Vinci made the trip to Rome at once, and this man was brought
out from his
imprisonment in the dungeon and led out into the light of the
sun. There Da Vinci
saw before him a dark, swarthy man; his long, shaggy and unkempt
hair sprawled
over his face, which betrayed a character of viciousness and
complete ruin. At last,
he famous painter had found the person he wanted to represent
the character of
Judas in his painting.
By special permission from the king, this prisoner was carried
to Milan where the
picture was being painted. For months he sat before Da Vinci at
appointed hours
each day, as the gifted artist diligently continued his task of
transmitting to his
painting this base character in the picture representing the
traitor and betrayer
of our Savior.
As he finished his last stroke, he turned to the guards and
said, “I have finished.
You may take the prisoner away.” As the guards were leading
their prisoner away,
he suddenly broke loose from their control and rushed up to Da
Vinci, crying as he
did so, “Oh, Da Vinci, look at me! Do you not know who I am?” Da
Vinci, with the
trained eyes of a great character student, he carefully
scrutinized the man, upon
whose face he had constantly gazed for six months and replied,
“No, I had never
seen you in my life, until you were brought before me out of the
dungeon in Rome.”
Then, lifting his eyes toward heaven, the prisoner said, “Oh,
God, have I fallen so
low?” Then turning toward the painter he cried, “Leonardo
DaVinci! Look at me
again, for I am the same man you painted just seven years
ago as the figure of
Christ.”
Many
lessons can be learned from this true story of the painting
of
The Last Supper. This is a story of how we often perceive
others
-- how
easily we overlook the Christ within the people we
meet, and
judge by outward appearances. This also strongly
teaches the
lesson of the
effects of right or wrong thinking, on
the life of an
individual. Here
was a young man whose character
was so pure and unspoiled by the
sins of the world that he presented
a countenance of innocence
and
beauty fit to be used for the
painting of a representation of
Christ.
But within seven years,
following the thoughts of sin and
a life of
crime, he was changed
into a perfect picture of the most
traitorous
character ever known
in the history of the world.
~ Author Unknown ~
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The Paradox of Our Times
The paradox of our time in history is that
we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers;
wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints;
we spend more, but we have less;
we buy more, but enjoy it less;
we have bigger houses and smaller families;
more conveniences, but less time;
we have more degrees, but less sense;
more knowledge, but less judgments;
more experts, but more problems;
more medicine, but less wellness;
we multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values;
we talk to much, love to seldom, and hate too often.
We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life;
we’ve added years to life, not life to years;
we’ve been all the way to the moon and back,
but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor;
we’ve conquered outer space, not inner space;
we’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul;
we’ve split the atom, but not our prejudice;
we have higher incomes, but lower morals;
we’ve become long on quantity, but short of quality;
These are the time of tall men, and short character;
steep profits, and shallow relationships;
These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare;
more leisure, but less fun;
more kinds of food, but less nutrition;
These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce;
of fancier houses, but broken homes;
It is a time when there is much in the show window
and nothing in the stockroom;
A time when technology can bring this letter to you,
and a time when you can choose either to make a difference,
or just hit delete.
~ George Carlin ~
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The cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five.
Waiting with her
mother at
the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white
pearls
in a pink foil box.
“Oh please, Mommy, can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?”
Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and
then looked back
into the
pleading blue eyes of her little girl’s upturned face. “A dollar
ninety-five.
That’s almost
$2.00. If you really want them, I’ll think of some extra chores
for
you and in no time you
can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your
birthday’s
only a week away
and you might get another crisp dollar bill from
Grandma.”
As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and
counted out
seventeen pennies.
After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and
she went
to the neighbor and
asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions
for ten cents.
On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill
and at last she
had enough
money to buy the necklace. Jenny loved her pearls. They made her
feel dressed up and
grown up. She wore them everywhere -- Sunday school,
kindergarten, even to bed. The
only time she took them off was when she went
swimming or had a
bubble bath. Mother
said if they got wet, they might turn
her neck green.
Jenny had a very loving Daddy and every night when she was ready
for bed, he
would
stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a
story. One
night when he
finished the story, he asked Jenny, “Do you love me?”
“Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you.”
“Then give me your pearls.”
“Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess -- the
white horse from my
collection, the one with the pink tail. Remember, Daddy? The one
you gave me.
She’s my favorite.”
“That’s okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good night.”
And he brushed her cheek with a kiss. About a week later, after
the story time,
Jenny’s Daddy asked again, “Do you love me?”
“Daddy, you know I love you.”
“Then give me your pearls.”
“Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The
brand new one
I got
for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow
blanket that
matches
her sleeper.”
“That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves
you.” And as
always,
he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.
A few nights later when her Daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on
her bed with her
legs
crossed Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was
trembling
and one
silent tear rolled down her cheek. “What is it, Jenny? What’s
the matter?”
Jenny didn’t say anything but lifted her little hand up to her
daddy. And when she
opened
it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver,
she finally said,
“Here, Daddy.
It’s for you.”
With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny’s kind Daddy reached
out with one
hand to
take the dime-store necklace, and with the other hand he reached
into his
pocket and
pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls
and gave
them to Jenny.
He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up
the
dime-store stuff so
he could give her genuine treasure.
Jenny’s father is like our heavenly Father. He also is waiting
for us to give up our
dime
store stuff and seek Him first -- so He can fling open the
windows of Heaven
and pour
us out such a blessing that we will not have room enough to hold
it.
What are you hanging on to?
~ Author Unknown ~ |
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When a grain of sand gets
under the
shell of an oyster and causes pain
the result is the creation of a pearl.
Often the pain and suffering in human
life result in a pearl of Christlike
character. Christ helps us to transform
that which causes irritation and pain
into pearls.
Author Unknown |
Wishing to encourage her young son’s
progress on the piano, a mother took the
small
boy to a concert featuring a renowned pianist. After they were
seated, the
mother spotted
a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her.
Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert
hall, the little boy
rose and eventually explored his way
through a door marked “NO ADMITTANCE.”
When the house
lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother
returned to her seat and discovered that her son was missing.
The curtains
parted and spotlights focused on the impressive
grand piano on stage.
In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the
keyboard, innocently picking
out
“Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” At that moment, the great piano
master made his
entrance,
quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in the boy’s ear,
“Don’t quit.
Keep playing.”
Then, leaning over, the great pianist reached down with his left
hand and began filling
in a bass part. |
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Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child
and he added a
running obbligato. Together, the old master and
the young novice transformed a
frightening
situation into a wonderfully creative experience. The audience
was
mesmerized.
That’s the way it is with God. What we can accomplish on our own
is hardly
noteworthy.
We try our best, but the results aren’t exactly graceful flowing
music.
But with the hand
of the Master, our life’s work truly can be beautiful. Next time
you set out to accomplish
great feats, listen carefully. You can hear the voice of
the
Master whispering in your ear,
“Don’t quit. Keep playing.”
Feel His loving arms around you. Know that His strong hands are
playing the
concerto
of your life. Remember God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips
the
called. He’ll always
be there to love and guide you on to great things. Keep the
faith, and keep playing.
Together, you and the Master will make beautiful music.
~ Author Unknown ~
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