A Good and Profitable Attitude

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: “I am blind, please help.” There were only a
few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, “Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?”

The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.” I wrote: “Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it.”

Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people that they were so blessed that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively. Cultivate an attitude of
gratitude.

When life gives you 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret.

Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling… And even more beautiful, is knowing that you are the reason behind it!!!

Keep smiling and be awesomely blessed!

Cláudia

Presumption

There is a legend of a woman who had a faithful dog. This dog was so faithful that the woman could leave her baby with it and go out to attend other matters. She always returned to find the child soundly asleep with the dog faithfully watching over him.

One day something tragic happened. The woman as usual, left the baby in the “hands” of this faithful dog and went out shopping. When she returned, she discovered rather a nasty scene. There was a total mess. The baby’s cot was dismantled and his nappies and clothes torn to shreds with bloodstains all over the bedroom where she had left the child and the dog.

Shocked, the woman wailed as she began looking for the baby. Presently, she saw the faithful dog emerging from the under the bed. It was covered with blood and licking its mouth as it had just finished a delicious meal.

The woman went berserk and assumed that the dog had devoured her baby.  Without much thought she clubbed the dog to death. But as she continued searching for the “remains” of her child, she beheld another scene. Close to the bed was the baby who, although lying on bare floor, was safe. And under the bed the carcass of a jackal torn to pieces in what must have been a fierce battle between it and the dog which was now dead.

Then the reality hit the woman who now began to understand what took place in her absence. The dog fought to protect the baby from the ravenous jackal. It was too late for her now to make amends because in her impatience and anger, she had killed the faithful dog. A dog deserving praise and adoration that fought to save the life of her dear beloved child received death in return.

How often have we misjudged people and torn them to shreds with harsh words and even with physical assault before we have had time to evaluate the situation? It is called the sin of presumption. Presuming things are one way without taking the trouble to find out exactly what the situation really is. A little patience can drastically reduce major life long errors.

More points to ponder:

1. A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for!

2. Intelligence is like underwear. It is important that you have it, but not necessary that you show it off!

3. If your dreams determine your future, why not go to sleep now?

4. When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail!

5. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

*Shared from an outside source. I take no credit for this posting*

Be awesomely blessed.

Cláudia

We Need Each Other

“Nobody is a whole chain. Each one is a link. But take away one link and the chain is broken.
Nobody is a whole team. Each one is a player. But take away one player and the game is forfeited.
Nobody is a whole orchestra. Each one is a musician. But take away one musician and the symphony is incomplete.

We need each other. You need someone and someone needs you. Isolated islands, we’re not.”

~Charles Swindoll

Be awesomely blessed!

Cláudia

Thoughts…

by Charles R. Swindoll

Thoughts are the thermostat that regulates what we accomplish in life. If I feed my mind upon doubt, disbelief, and discouragement, that is precisely the kind of day my body will experience. If I adjust my thermostat forward to thoughts filled with vision, vitality, and victory, I can count on that kind of day. Thus, you and I become what we think about.

Neither Dale Carnegie nor Norman Vincent Peale originated such a message. God did. “For as [a man] thinks within himself, so he is” (Prov. 23:7). “Therefore, prepare your minds for action” (1 Peter 1:13).

The mind is a “thought factory” producing thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of thoughts each day. Production in your thought factory is under the charge of two foremen. One we shall call Mr. Triumph, the other Mr. Defeat.

Mr. Triumph specializes in producing reasons why you can face life victoriously, why you can handle what comes your way, why you’re more than able to conquer. Mr. Defeat is an expert in the opposite. He develops reasons why you cannot succeed, why you’re inadequate, why you should give up and give in to worry, failure, discouragement, and inferiority.

Give a positive signal, and Mr. Triumph will see to it that one encouraging, edifying thought after another floods your mind. But Mr. Defeat is always standing by, awaiting a negative signal (which he would rather you call “reality” or “common sense!”), and when he gets it, he cranks out discouraging, destructive, demoralizing thoughts that will soon have you convinced you can’t or won’t or shouldn’t.

Thoughts, positive or negative, grow stronger when fertilized with constant repetition. That may explain why so many who are gloomy and gray stay in that mood . . . and why those who are cheery and enthusiastic continue to be so.

What kind of performance would your car deliver if every morning before you left for work you scooped up a handful of dirt and put it in your crankcase? The engine would soon be coughing and sputtering. Ultimately it would refuse to start. The same is true of your life. Thoughts that are narrow, self-destructive, and abrasive produce needless wear and tear on your mental motor. They send you off the road while others drive past.

You need only one foreman in your mental factory: Mr. Triumph is his name. He is eager to assist you and available to all the members of God’s family.

His real name is the Holy Spirit, the Helper.

If Mr. Defeat is busily engaged as the foreman of your factory, fire yours and hire ours! You will be amazed at how smoothly the plant will run under His leadership.

Be awesomely blessed!

Cláudia

Cheese Cake

Yesterday, I baked my 1st “German” Cheese Cake. Reason I say “German” is because Curd or Quark in German, is used instead of Cottage Cheese as used in most South African recipes. Also one of the ingredients is Vanillezucker (Vanilla sugar), which was not available in South Africa, when I left, maybe it is now, I am not sure. I assume substituting a teaspoon of Vanilla Essence for the Vanilla sugar, should do the trick.

I also made a change in the base of the recipe.  The recipe has a dough base but I made it with a butter biscuit base. Gave it a nice “crunchiness” to it and it also made this a guilt-free pleasure as it has less sugar.  🙂

I will give you both recipes for the base, and you can choose which you prefer.

My version of a "German" Cheese Cake. Yes, it cracked on the top but believe me it tasted awesome.

Ingredients and Method for a Dough base:

300g Flour

175g Margarine (softened)

100g Sugar

2 Egg Yolks

Mix all the ingredients into a short crust pastry.

Cover the base of a 26cm Spring-form pan and set aside to cool while you prepare the filling.

Ingredients and Method for a Biscuit base:

500g Butter biscuits crushed finely (I made it with 250g Butter biscuits and 250g Wholewheat biscuits)

250g Butter, melted

Mix the crushed biscuit and butter together and set on the base of a 26cm Spring-form pan.  Use a glass to spread and press the biscuit mixture over the base.

Put the base into the fridge for 20 minutes to harden while you prepare the filling.

Ingredients and Method for Filling:

750g Fat- free Curd

200g Sugar

1 packet Vanilla Sugar Powder / 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

1 Lemon zest and juice (remove pips from juice)

250ml Sour Cream

5 large Eggs (whites)

60g Flour

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celcius (375 Fahrenheits)

In a medium bowl beat Egg whites with 100g Sugar until stiff.

In a large bowl, mix the Curd, 100g sugar, vanilla sugar or Essence, lemon zest, lemon juice and flour.

Take the stiff egg whites and fold into the Curd mix.

In another bowl, beat the sour cream until it’s creamy and add to the Curd mix, gently mixing it in.

Pour the filling into the Spring-form pan with cooled base.

Bake for 60 minutes.

Take the cake out the oven and allow to cool in the Spring-form for 15 minutes before removing it.

Enjoy and be awesomely blessed!

Cláudia