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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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Life Just Is!
Life isn’t about keeping score.
It’s not about how many friends you have
or how accepted you are.
Not about if you have plans this
weekend or if you’re alone.
It isn’t about whom you’re dating,
whom you used to date, and how
many people you’ve dated,
or if you haven’t been with anyone at all.
It isn’t about who your family is
or how much money they have,
or what kind of car you drive,
or where you are sent to school.
It’s not about how beautiful or ugly you are.
Or what clothes you wear, what shoes you have on,
or what kind of music you listen to.
It’s not about if your hair is blonde, red, black, or brown,
or if your skin is too light or too dark.
Not about what grades you get, how smart you are,
how smart everybody else thinks you are,
or how smart standardized tests say you are.
It’s not about what clubs you’re in
or how good you are at “your sport.”
It’s not about representing your whole
being on a piece of paper and seeing
who will “accept the written you.”
LIFE JUST ISN’T!
Rather, life is about whom you love
and whom you hurt.
It’s about whom you make
happy or unhappy purposefully.
It’s about keeping or betraying trust.
Its about friendship used as sanctity or a weapon.
It’s about what you say and mean,
maybe hurtful, maybe supportive.
It’s about starting rumors and
contributing to petty gossip.
It’s about what judgments you pass and why
and who your judgments are spread to.
It’s about whom you’ve ignored with
full control and intention.
It’s about jealousy, fear, ignorance, and revenge.
It’s about carrying inner hate and love,
letting it grow, and spreading it.
But most of all, it’s about using your life to touch
or poison other people’s hearts in such a way
that could have never occurred alone.
Only you choose the way those hearts are affected,
and those choices are what life’s all about.
LIFE JUST IS!
~ Author Unknown ~
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“Praise the Lord” Horse
A new minister had just moved into his beautiful ancient
ministry, and found that
he now
had a lot of land, fields and woodland. He decided to buy a
magnificent
mare so that he
could ride around his new parish to see all his parishioners.
When the animal arrived, he was told, “his horse has only just
been broken in so
you will
have to teach it the commands that you want it to obey.” This
was a bit of
a challenge to
the minister, so he thought, “I know I will teach it some church
words.
” First, instead of the command to gallop, he taught it
the words, “Praise the Lord”
and as soon as the horse
heard this command it raced forward. The next command
was to
make it stop, so instead
of Whoa, he taught it “Amen,” and the horse would
skid to a
halt.
Everything went fine for a few years, and then the time came for
the minister to move
to
a new parish. He advertised his beloved animal for sale, and a
local man bought
it, but
before the minister would part with the animal he decided to
tell the new owner
about the language that the horse had been
taught. “Now young man, don’t forget,
when you want
the horse to go at a gallop you say “Praise the Lord,” and when
you
want it to stop, you
say “Amen.”
Later the man decided to try the horse. “Praise the Lord,” he
said, and off they went
at
full gallop. The man suddenly remembered there is a cliff ahead
with a five hundred
foot
drop to the sea. “Whoa, Whoa,” he shouted, but the horse raced
on towards the
long
drop. “Whoa, Whoa,” he shouted but to no avail. Just before they
reached the
cliff, he remembered to say “Amen.” The horse
skidded to a halt inches away from
the drop.
The rider looked over the edge sighed and muttered, “Praise the
Lord.”
~ Author Unknown ~ |
P.U.S.H.
A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room
filled with light,
and the
Savior appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to
do, and
showed him a
large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the
man
was to push against the
rock with all his might.
The man did this, day after day. For many years he toiled from
sun up to sun down,
his shoulders set squarely against the cold,
massive surface of the unmoving rock,
pushing
with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin
sore, and worn
out, feeling that
his whole day had been spent in vain. Since the man was showing
signs of discouragement,
the Adversary decided to enter the picture by placing
thoughts
into the man’s weary mind:
“You have been pushing against that rock for
a long time, and it
hasn’t budged. Why kill
yourself over this? You are never going
to move it.”
Thus, giving the man the impression that the task was impossible
and that he was
a
failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man.
“Why kill myself
over
this?” he thought. “I’ll just put in my time, giving just the
minimum effort; and
that will be
good enough.”
And that is what he planned to do, until one day he decided to
make it a matter of
prayer
and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. “Lord,” he said, “I
have labored
long and hard
in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you
have
asked. Yet, after all this
time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter.
What is wrong? Why am I
failing?”
The Lord responded compassionately, “My child, when I asked you
to serve me
and
you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the
rock with all
your strength,
which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I
expected
you to move it.
Your task was to push. And now you come to me with your strength
spent, thinking that
you have failed. But is that really so? Look at yourself. Your
arms
are strong and muscled,
your back is sinewy and brown, your hands are callused
from
constant pressure, and your
legs have become massive and hard. Through
opposition you have
grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you
used
to have.
Yet you haven’t moved the rock. But your calling was to be
obedient and to push
and to
exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. This you have done.
Now I, my
child, will now
move the rock.” |
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When everything seems to go
wrong just
P. U. S. H.!
When the job gets you down just
P. U. S. H.!
When people don’t react the way you think they should just
P. U. S. H.!
When your money looks “gone” and the bills are due just
P. U. S. H.!
When people just don’t understand you just
P.U.S.H.!
P.U.S.H
Pray
Until
Something
Happens!
~ Author Unknown ~ |
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At times,
when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own
intellect
to decipher what He wants, when actually what God
wants is just
simple obedience and faith in Him. By all means,
exercise the
faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still
God who
moves the mountains.
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Reflections of a Parent
I gave you life,
but cannot live it for you.
I can teach you things,
but I cannot make you learn.
I can give you directions,
but I cannot be there to lead you.
I can allow you freedom,
but I cannot account for it.
I can take you to church,
but I cannot make you believe.
I can teach you right from wrong,
but I cannot always decide for you.
I can buy you beautiful clothes,
but I cannot make you beautiful inside.
I can offer you advice,
but I cannot accept it for you.
I can give you love,
but I cannot force it upon you.
I can teach you to share,
but I cannot make you unselfish.
I can teach you respect,
but I cannot force you to show honor.
I can advise you about friends,
but cannot choose them for you.
I can advise you about sex,
but I cannot keep you pure.
I can tell you the facts of life,
but I can’t build your reputation.
I can tell you about drink,
but I can’t say “no” for you.
I can warn you about drugs,
but I can’t prevent you from using them.
I can tell you about lofty goals,
but I can’t achieve them for you.
I can teach you about kindness,
but I can’t force you to be gracious.
I can warn you about sins,
but I cannot make you moral.
I can pray for you,
but I cannot make you walk with God.
I can tell you how to live,
but I cannot give you eternal life.
I can love you with unconditional love
all of my life and I will.
~ Author Unknown ~
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Starfish Thrower
Once upon a time there was a wise man that used to go to the
ocean to do his
writing.
He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.
One
day he was
walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a
human figure moving
like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone
who
would dance to the day.
So he began to walk faster to catch up.
As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young
man wasn’t
dancing,
but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up
something
and very gently
throwing it into the ocean.
As he got closer he called out, “Good morning! What are you
doing?”
The young man paused, looked up and replied, “Throwing starfish
in the ocean.”
“I guessed that, but why are you throwing starfish in the
ocean?”
“The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don’t throw
them in they’ll die.”
“But, young man, don’t you realize that there are miles and
miles of beach and
starfish
all along it. You can’t possibly make a difference!”
The young man listened politely. Then bent down and picked up
another starfish.
He
threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, “It
made a difference
for that
one.”
~ Author Unknown ~
There is something very
special in each and every person that
we meet.
We have all been gifted with the ability to make a
difference in
another person’s life. And if we can become aware
of that gift,
we gain through
the strength of our visions the power
to shape the future. We
must each
find our starfish. And if we
throw our stars wisely and well,
the world
will be blessed. |
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