your ramen for the soul

You will always be my greatest adventure. I love you when you are happy, but I love you even more when you are sad. I love you on your joys, but I will love you even more on your struggles because I know life gets difficult for everybody. You still deserve to be loved no matter how ugly the situations are. You deserve all the love in the world, no matter how little you think of yourself. I will always think highly of you, because I know what you can bring into this world. I know what you can do, and I believe that you can do a hundred-fold more. I love you even if and when it hurts, because I know that’s when I’d have to love you more. That’s when I’d have to understand you the most. I will love you during the brightest days, and the darkest nights. I love you when you are whole and full, but I will love you even more when you think you’re broken or half empty. I will love you even more – even when you think you don’t deserve it. You do not need to ask why I’m always around. You do not

Church is hard. Church is hard for the person walking through the doors, afraid of judgment. Church is hard for the pastor’s family, under the microscope of an entire body. Church is hard for the prodigal soul returning home, broken and battered by the world. Church is hard for the girl who looks like she has it all together, but doesn’t. Church is hard for the couple who fought the entire ride to service. Church is hard for the single mom, surrounded by couples holding hands, and seemingly perfect families. Church is hard for the widow and widower with no invitation to lunch after service. Church is hard for the deacon with an estranged child. Church is hard for the person singing worship songs, overwhelmed by the weight of the lyrics. Church is hard for the man insecure in his role as a leader. Church is hard for the wife who longs to be led by a righteous man. Church is hard for the nursery volunteer who desperately longs for a baby to love. Church is hard for the single woman and s

My friend, do you know why most people don't take action in their lives? Because they are afraid of the unknown. After all, nobody likes things they're not familiar with. We hate when things don't go according to plan. When unexpected events make us find new ways to do things. Maybe it's an important decision you have to make without knowing all the details. Maybe you need to get something done without really knowing how to do it. Or maybe it's a worldwide crisis never seen before like last year's. It doesn't matter how well prepared you are for these things... There will always be a moment where these situations will caught you by surprise. It's just inevitable. All those situations make us feel uncertain... They paralyze us and stop us from going after our goals. And what happens to those who let their fear of the unknown take over? Well, they never get to live to their fullest potential. They never get to do anything extraordinary. They miss out on gr

I was walking down life's highway, a long time ago I saw a sign that read "Heaven's Grocery Store"  As I got a little closer, the door came open wide and when I came to myself, I was standing inside. I saw a host of angels, they were standing everywhere One handed me a basket and said, "My child, shop with care, everything a Christian needs is in this store". First I got some PATIENCE, and LOVE was in the same row Further down was UNDERSTANDING, you need that everywhere you go I got a box or two of WISDOM, a bag or two of FAITH, I just couldn't miss the HOLY GHOST, it was all over the place. I stopped to get some STRENGTH and COURAGE to help me run the race By then my basket was getting full, but I remembered I needed GRACE I didn't forget SALVATION, for SALVATION, that was free So I tried to get enough to save both you and me. Then I started up to the counter to pay my grocery bill For I thought I had everything to do my Master's will As I went

  There is a story many years ago of an elementary teacher. Her name was Mrs. Thompson. And as she stood in front of her fifth grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same . But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn't play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. And Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers. At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy Stoddard's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file,

  My alarm went off, it was Sunday again. I was sleepy and tired, m y one day to sleep in. But the guilt I would feel, t he rest of the day Would have been too much s o I'd go and I'd pray. I showered and shaved,  I adjusted my tie. I got there and sat i n a pew just in time. Bowing my head in prayer a s I closed my eyes. I saw the shoe of the man next to me t ouching my own. I sighed. With plenty of room on either side,  I thought, "Why must our soles touch?" It bothered me, his shoe touching mine b ut it didn't bother him much. A prayer began: "Our Father"... I thought, "This man with the shoes  has no pride. They're dusty, worn, and scratched, e ven worse, there are holes on the side!" "Thank You for blessings," the prayer went on. The shoe man said  a quiet "Amen." I tried to focus on the prayer b ut my thoughts were on his shoes again. Aren't we supposed to look our best w hen walking through that door? "We

This is a story of two friends who were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand “Today my best friend slapped me in the face”. They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone “Today my best friend saved my life”. The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?” The other friend replied “When someone hurts us we should write it down in the sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.” Moral of the Story: The reality is

  You call me dysfunctional and that’s just fine. I’m complicated and frustrating that much is true, but don’t you know it’s all because I see you through. I see deep into you. I know your heart is lonely, too. I know you wish, just like me, for a soulmate true— but life is never perfect, and truths are often less than what we think they are— but to you I would give my heart and my honor, too. Just lean back into my arms and fall into my charms and then you’ll see what soulmates we will be.

If you can't be a pine on top of the hill Be a scrub in the valley - but be The best little scrub at the side of the rill. Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a bush be a bit of grass Some highway to happier make. If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass, But the liveliest bass in the lake. We can't all be captains, we've got to have crew, There's something for all of us here. There's big work to do and there's lesser work too And the task we must do is near. If you can't be a highway, then just be a trail. If you can't be the sun be a star. It isn't by size that you win or you fail. Be the best of whatever you are. Poet: Douglas Malloch

  A gentleman was walking through an elephant camp, and he spotted that the elephants weren’t being kept in cages or held by the use of chains. All that was holding them back from escaping the camp, was a small piece of rope tied to one of their legs. As the man gazed upon the elephants, he was completely confused as to why the elephants didn’t just use their strength to break the rope and escape the camp. They could easily have done so, but instead, they didn’t try to at all. Curious and wanting to know the answer, he asked a trainer nearby why the elephants were just standing there and never tried to escape. The trainer replied; “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.” The only reason that the elephants weren’t breaking free and escaping from the camp wa

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid its dead body in the wood pile, only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch the next day Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes." But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen. Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?" So Johnny did the dishes. Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper." Sally just smiled and said," Well that's all rig

Were the whole world good as you – not an atom better – Were it just as pure and true, Just as strong in faith and works; Just as free from crafty quirks; All extortion, all deceit; Schemes its neighbors to defeat; Schemes its neighbors to defraud; Schemes some culprit to applaud – Would this world be better? If the whole world followed you – followed to the letter Would it be a nobler world, All deceit and falsehood hurled From it altogether; Malice, selfishness, and lust, Banished from beneath the crust, Covering human hearts from view Tell me, if it followed you, Would the world be better? Poet: Unknown