Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient: Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.111). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Have you found that true yet? Ray shares, “The story is told of a high school student who wasn’t feeling well. After a few doctor visits, the doctor delivered devastating news. “ ‘ I’m sorry, son, but you have cancer. That’s the bad news. The good news is, it is operable. Your long-term prognosis is excellent, but you’ll need surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. That process will make you lose all your hair.’ “The young man checked out of school, went through surgery, and completed six weeks of chemotherapy. All of his hair was gone the day he went to the doctor and got a clean bill of health. The doctor cleared him to start back to school the very next day. “The whole way home, the teen was quiet. His mom said, ‘Honey, you ought to be excite

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient: Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.102). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I have been retired now for over 5 years and I have found this to be very true.   I found early on that if I was going to survive in retirement I needed challenges to keep me moving forward physically, relationally, mentally and spiritually.   Ray shares, “In 1982, two Soviet cosmonauts broke a record by spending 211 days in space. Television cameras prepared for the two guys to return. A band waited to wave flags and lead the triumphant parade celebrating the accomplishment of communism. “The door opened. The band played. The people cheered. The television cameras zoomed in. And nothing happened. Weak from months of inactivity, the cosmonauts were unable to stand up. Zero-gravity living had deteriorated their muscles to the point where they had to be

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient: Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.97). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Did you know that about you?   Or do you feel you are worthless?   Ray tells this story, “Back in 1915, Ira Yates owned a dry-goods store in Rankin, Texas, that did about five thousand dollars’ worth of business each month. A Pecos County rancher named Thomas Hickox noted the store’s modest success and proposed that Yates trade the store for his 16,640-acre River Ranch, way out in northern Pecos County. “A friend who once owned the property warned Yates against the trade. He said, ‘Even buffalo know better than to cross the Pecos. A crow would not fly over it, and it is not worth the taxes.’ “Yates made the trade anyway. Years later, Yates’s granddaughter explained that while her grandpa ‘didn’t know beans about groceries,’ he did know ranching, an