A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....12-29-05....The Pear Tree: Lessons in Life

DollyCali | December 29, 2005 | DollyCali

[DollyCali]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

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We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Dutchess, DollyCali, Mama_Bear, GodBlessUSA ~

The Pear Tree

Day’s End, Year’s End, Life’s End
Lessons in Life

There was a man who had four sons. They were all different and he wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. It looked dead. The harsh winter showed the bare bones existence of a difficult time, where little was nice & all around was cold & painful,

The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The warmth of sunshine & new life was unfolding but the ground around was muddy & dirty. Some of the surrounding trees did not survive the harsh winter.

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen, it was surrounded with beauty and there was a rich carpet of soft emeralds underneath the boughs. The dead trees around had been removed & just beauty was there.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment. There were people around enjoy the bounty.. So much bounty that some was rotting on the ground below giving off fermenting odors. The tree was giving to all who wanted but some of the leaves were already falling & brown. It seemed perhaps the tree was dying.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season/one event/one time, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.

resulting lessons:

Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don’t let the pain of one event cloud the present joys available. Therefore don't judge life by one difficult season.

Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or later. Don’t judge a person by some things that are out of your comfort zone.

Look at the whole picture of the person. See the spring, summer, fall and winter of this person to see them as God does. Respond to them as God does. Love them as God does.

Understand that the “tickling of your comfort zone” is God’s way of helping you grow as a person

In the year ahead look to yourself to have more patience, more compassion, more forgiveness, more joy, more godliness. Let your life be the tree of beauty, promise & bounty. The tree that will produce fruit.

The end of a day, the end of a year, the end of a life are all milestones & all can be measured. Try to see them each through the eyes of your creator and live them in a worthy manner.

Ecclesiastes 3 -- A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

12-28-05 ~ Hall of Fame #14

Click on the photo to view the album. To submit your photo, please contact dansangel or .45Man at danbh59@yahoo.com and include Freeper Photo Album in subject line.

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' Every Thursday at the Finest The guy's good, folks!

[DollyCali]

[bmwcyle]

Happy New Year

[DollyCali]

[DollyCali]

Hi there FRiend! Happy New Year to you also. One thing or another prevented me from attending the code Pink FReeps at Walter Reed this past year.. hoping that Toby & I will be there in 2006. It will be his first FReep.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Neil Morrison, explosive ordnance disposal technician with the 710th Ordnance Company, packs a 1,000-pound bomb with plastic explosives, Dec. 16, 2005. Nearly 20,000 tons of munitions were destroyed in Area Echo, north of Baghdad, Iraq. The ammunition dump housed tons of ordnance stockpiled by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's military. U.S Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin Bromley

Racks of 1,000-pound bombs were housed in the Taji Ammunition Dump, known as Area Echo, north of Baghdad, Iraq. Nearly 20,000 tons of munitions were destroyed in Area Echo. U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal technicians assigned to the 710th Ordnance Company detonated the last seven 1,000 pound bombs, Dec. 16, 2005. U.S Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin Bromley

Nearly 20,000 tons of munitions were destroyed in the Taji Ammunition Dump, known as Area Echo, north of Baghdad, Iraq. The ammunition dump housed tons of ordnance stockpiled by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's military. U.S Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin Bromley

A fireball and shockwave cone shoot into the sky in Taji, Iraq, north of Baghdad. U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal technicians detonated the last seven 1,000-pound bombs, Dec. 16, 2005. Nearly 20,000 tons of munitions were destroyed in the ammunition dump, known as Area Echo. The ammunition dump housed tons of ordnance stockpiled by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's military. U.S Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin Bromley

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Dolly.

[purpleland]

A beautifully profound message for the New Year.
Thank you.

Blessing for the New Year.

[The Mayor]

Thank you StLouie for the new upgraded mug!

December 29, 2005

Three Needs

Read:
1 John 4:7-21

We have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love. —1 John 4:16

Bible In One Year: Revelation 13-15

I've heard it said that there are three things a person needs to be happy:

1. Something to do—meaningful work or helping others.

2. Someone to love—someone to whom we can give of ourselves, such as a spouse, a child, or a friend.

3. Something to look forward to—a vacation, a visit from a loved one, improved health, the realization of a dream.

Those things may bring some temporary happiness. But for lasting fulfillment, they can all be found in a relationship with Jesus, God's Son.

Something to do. As believers, we have been given gifts from the Holy Spirit to serve our Savior by serving others in God's family (Romans 12:1-16). We are also called to spread the gospel around the world (Matthew 28:19-20).

Someone to love. We love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). And we love others, "for love is of God" (v.7).

Something to look forward to. One day we'll be welcomed into God's presence forever, where we will enjoy a perfect place prepared especially for us (John 14:2-3; Revelation 21:3-4). We'll see Jesus and be like Him (1 John 3:2).

For lasting fulfillment, Jesus Christ truly is everything we need. —Anne Cetas

Please help me, Lord, in everything I do
That all my work may show my love for You;
And as I talk with others on the way,
I'll tell them that You may come back today. —Hess

Where there's hope, there's happiness.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
The Promise Of The Spirit

[DollyCali]

Thank you so much. I appreciate your stopping by and your kind comments. May you have a wonderful New Years holiday weekend & great 2006 ahead.

I don't recall you visiting us here before - so welcome! come visit again.

[DollyCali]

Top of the morning to you aeronaut! good to see you flying by and appreciate you posting. Big plans for the weekend?

[DollyCali]

wonder if they will be stockpiling "just a little" to have a Dec 31, midnight Firework display ? thanks for the faithful posting you do of these remarkable photographs.

[Billie]

This is really beautiful, Dolly! I love all the seasons of the pear tree! Winter sure looks cold, but it may be the prettiest!

[Billie]

Love the pledge graphic! Is that the woods behind your house?

[DollyCali]

Good Morning Rus and all the Finest FRiends.

Thank you so much for reposting the "cuppa" again this morning at the Finest Rus, the message goes along in such a complimentary way with the thread. sorry I was late. Got a late start in starting ANY work on thread (like 6AM) and then had color/format problems. sigh.

Dreary, rainy day here. I need to install a new spy sweeper program. With new computer I have just had the freebie programs that remove spyware. I purchased SpySweeper last night at Best Buy & will install it.

Was at Lake Erie w/Toby yesterday. He had fun running along the shore, smelling dead fish/birds & doing his doggie things. It was pretty warm & we played there awhile between rain drops. Finally saw movie Zanthura.. (sorta follow up to Jumjami from a few years back).. had a nice meal out w/friend but think the weather change precipitated the headache that knocked me for a loop last night.

[DollyCali]

No, I had wanted to take some winter flag shots but have not yet. Found the pix on internet. The fall season is showing the water full of duckweed. Not sure if you know what that it. Many people think it is "scum" or algae, but it is a plant like a tree.. angiosperm.. that grows in the water. Ducks LOVE it, thus the name. you can see paths of beaver & other animals thru it. It has shallow roots & is reallyl beautiful. (more than you need/want to know compliments of the resident botanist here)

Thank you billie. Murphy was a big help this morning.

[Billie]

Yoo Hoo - Col! Mayor's brought fresh, steaming coffee! I'll bring the donuts. :)

[GodBlessUSA]

Incredibly beautiful, Dolly!
I was looking for a different version of this song, I just loved. It was by Mary Hopkins. I guess it's so old that it's not available. It was on the flip side of, Those Were the Days My Friends, of the 45 record, I had growing up. :)

The Byrds ~ Turn, Turn, Turn ~ There is a Season

[dutchess]

Hi Geebee. I still have the "Those Were the Days" 45 as well as the Byrds album. Does that date me????

[dutchess]

Dolly. Absolutely lovely AND very meaningful. I had never heard of the pear tree story. And how cool that you featured the same tree for all four seasons.

I could just envision you and Toby walking the shores of Lake Erie yesterday. It sure felt like springtime here until the rains let lose! ((((dolly)))))

[dutchess]

Yum....donuts to go with Rus's coffee. Going to grab one and a cup to go. Need to finish up year end stuff at the office. ((((billie))))) (((((rus))))))