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Showing posts from October, 2011

Toys

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“Yesterday’s popular toy is today’s collectors’ item.” ( Yahoo! Games ) Remember the old toys that you sold in a garage sale? Or the ones you had since you were a kid and kept in mint condition for a long time but when you turned it over to your kids, it lost an arm or a leg? Well, Yahoo! recently featured “The Most Valuable Action Figures”. “Some of the action figures you loved as a child are now sought-after rarities with enormous price tags … You probably threw them away when you grew up, but you’re about to wish you hadn’t… All toys are not created equal—and these pricy pieces of plastic prove it ” (Ibid) Image source: Yahoo! Games For example, a 1978 Darth Vader action figure with a telescoping lightsaber accessory could fetch up to US$7,000! The most expensive is the 1963 G.I. Joe prototype sold for $200,000 in a 2009 auction. Image Source: Yahoo! Games One ruefully commented, “I guess playing with my Return of the Jedi action figures in the bathtub and melting them

"I wanted my kids to know me."

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This was the reason the late Steve Jobs gave to Walter Isaacson when he asked why Jobs allowed him to write his life story. Jobs zealously guarded his private life from the prying eyes of the public. He left behind four children from two relationships. In his final interview with the Apple co-founder (they had more than 40 tell-all, no-holds-barred interviews conducted over two years), the Pul itzer Prize nominee asked why Jobs was more than willing to open up so much. Jobs replied, “ I wasn’t always there for [my kids],and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did. ” When I read those words, I paused to reflect, “What would I want my kids to know about me?” I’m afraid some of us would be too quick to point an accusing finger to Jobs for this humble admission. That despitehis success in business, it appears Jobs failed in his home. But the proverbial three fingers are pointing back to us. What Jobs said brought to mind what my wife Ellen asked me one time, “What memories

Prayer Without Works Is Dead

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Source: http://inquirer.net/ After Pedring, now it’s Quiel. As one newspaper puts it, “There will be no rest for the flood-weary.” While Pedring was howling, I could not believe my eyes as I watch a construction crane spinning out of control on top of a building. Pedring’s total toll already climbed to 43 deaths (17 were children), 44 injured and 30 still missing. And we are still counting! Rescue efforts in flooded (read: submerged) areas are still ongoing. “Palay losses in Central Luzon, the country’s ‘rice granary,’ has exceeded P4 billion even as the full extent of damage wrought by Pedring is still unfolding.” (http://inquirer.net/) Now, the weather bureau warns that Quiel is stronger, “threatening the northern and central regions, the very same regions barely recovering from Typhoon ‘Pedring,’ with more rains and floods and disrupting reconstruction efforts.” (Ibid) It is my prayer that God would embrace those who are most affected with His comforting love. “God is our refuge a