HEAVENLY MANNA

    The following article was in the news a few years ago:      HANOI, Vietnam - After nearly two decades of ridicule, a father has agreed to change his son's name from "Fined Six Thousand and Five Hundred" -- the amount he was forced to pay in local currency for ignoring Vietnam's two-child policy.      Angry he was being fined for having a fifth child, Mai Xuan Can named his son Mai Phat Sau Nghin Ruoi after the amount he was forced to pay -- 6,500 dong (50 cents).  In 1999, local government officials tried to persuade Can to change the name because the boy was constantly being teased by classmates at school. But Can, a former People's Committee official, refused to back down, Thuong said. They appealed to him again recently, and this time it worked.      "I told him that as his son is growing up, he should have another name -- not that weird name -- and he finally agreed," Thuong said. ...

How did God make mothers? 1.  He used dirt, just like for the rest of us. 2.  Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring 3.  God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts. What ingredients are mothers made of? 1.  God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean. 2.  They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think. What kind of little girl was your mom? 1.  My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff. 2.  I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy. What would it take to make your mom perfect? 1.  On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery. 2.  Diet. You know her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue. If you could change one thing about your Mom, what would it be? 1.  She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd ge...

      A man was going up to bed, when his wife told him he'd left the light on in the garden shed - she could see it from the bedroom window.  But he said that he hadn't been in the shed that day.  He looked, and there were men in the shed, stealing things.  He rang the police, but they told him that no one was in his area, so no one was available to catch the thieves.      He said OK, hung up, counted to 30 and rang the police again. "Hello. I just rang you a few seconds ago because there were people in my shed?  Well, you don't have to worry about them now, I've just shot them all."      Within five minutes there were half a dozen police cars in the area, an Armed Response unit, the works.  Of course, they caught the burglars red-handed. One of the policeman said to this man: "I thought you said you'd shot them!"      He replied, "I thought you said there was no one available!"...

The census taker knocked on the lady's door.  She answered all his questions except one.  She refused to tell him her age.      "But everyone tells their age to the census taker," he said.      "Did Miss Maisy Hill, and Miss Daisy Hill tell you their ages?" she asked.      "Certainly," he replied.      "Well, I'm the same age as they are," she snapped.      The census taker simply wrote on the form, "As old as the Hills."      You may have heard that our nation's oldest person, a 113-year-old woman, died recently just weeks before her 114th birthday.  The world's oldest person in the world, according to the Gerontology Research Group, is a Japanese man, who will turn 116 next week. The oldest person ever on record was a Frenchwoman who was 122 when she died in 1997.  All of these could easily be described with the phrase, "As old as the hills."     ...

The following story came to me by way of "Chicken Soul For the Soul".  Its source is listed as "Gentle Spaces News".      A wise old gentleman retired and purchased a modest home near a junior high school. He spent the first few weeks of his retirement in peace and contentment . . . then a new school year began. The very next afternoon three young boys, full of youthful, after-school enthusiasm, came down his street, beating merrily on every trash can they encountered. The crashing percussion continued day after day, until finally the wise old man decided it was time to take some action.      The next afternoon, he walked out to meet the young percussionists as they banged their way down the street. Stopping them, he said, "You kids are a lot of fun. I like to see you express your exuberance like that. Used to do the same thing when I was your age. Will you do me a favor? I'll give you each a dollar if you'll promise to come around ever...

                 Following God is easier when we are led by His Spirit rather than by our   emotions.   It is God's greatest desire that, as believers, you and I progressively   learn how to be led by His Spirit. However, there is a powerful enemy that   stands in the way: our emotions. Satan is the most powerful enemy we face   externally, but internally, it's our emotions that give us some of the   biggest problems.   Emotions are strong, complex internal responses that result in bodily   changes. They are sometimes helpful and at other times hurtful. They come   in positives and negatives. They are not evil, but they also are not holy.   Emotions can make you laugh one hour and cry the next. Not wanting them   doesn't stop them from coming, and wanting them doesn't make them come.   They are apt to quit on us when we need them most and flare up when we   wis...