your ramen for the soul

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely He will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strik

You were not made for failure but success; Not born for sorrow but for happiness. Keep this in mind through all life's storms and stress. Hold up your head. You were not born a slave but free as air, In all the beauty of the world you share, Now banish fear and brush away dull care. Hold up your head. The heroes of the world are true kin. You, too, have greatness buried deep within. Give it a chance; no fight too hard to win. Hold up your head. Remember this great world has need of you, Has need of all the work that you can do; And of your visions and your ideals too. Hold up your head. Hark to the drums of life! They throb and roll; Inspire with courage the responsive soul. March on, you're bound to reach your goal. Hold up your head. Poet:  Wilhelmina Stitch

  The man was good. He was kind. He was jolly. He's not wealthy, but he's satisfied. Hopeful. Composed. Inspired. He was once glorious and graceful, but those attributes just vanished as if a coin fell in the middle of a river. It was covered with water, clouded with sand, sunken deep. He's not born stained, this world made him one. This world of doubt, hatred, mischief, self-centeredness, greed, envy, violence, and never ending disease. This dark unfair world. This world where the bad rejoices, the good suffers. He used to be happy, but not anymore. He used to be motivated, but he's sluggish now. He used to be smart, but now he's confused. He used to inspire people, now  he don't care at all. He used to believe, to hope, to love. He used to do all these things - but everything has changed. A normal happy life is what he longs for, but it seems that sorrow and pain are the norm of this generation. Tired and all out of faith, cold, broken - these are just underst

  This song was written by Irwin Levine and Larry Brown (credited as L. Russell Brown), who wrote the previous #1 hit for the group, " Knock Three Times ." The song is based on a story called "Going Home" that Levine read in the January 1972 edition of the magazine  Reader's Digest . The story was  originally published  in the  New York Post  on October 14, 1971, appearing in a column called "The Eight Million" written by Pete Hamill. In the story, six kids riding a bus from New York to Fort Lauderdale strike up a conversation with a man named Vingo, who tells them he was just released from prison after four years in jail. He told his wife, Martha, that she could start a new life without him, and for the last three-and-a-half years of his incarceration, he didn't hear from her. In his last letter to her, he gave her instructions. The story reads: We used to live in this town, Brunswick, just before Jacksonville, and there's a big oak tree just

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.