You cannot love someone that you do not know, and you cannot know someone that you don’t spend quality time with.

To know Jesus is to love Him. To love Him is to trust Him. To trust Him is to obey Him. To obey Him is to be blessed. It begins with a daily, quality communication with the Lord.

Miami coach Randy Shannon brings real life experience to Hurricanes

By Dave Hyde > INSIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL

He might be the most amazing story in sports. At 3, his father was murdered. He'd sit by the front door weeks after the funeral, waiting for the man who never would return to his life. His only memory is of their eating Lay's potato chips together.

One dark night in the small town of Garfield , NJ, a fire started inside the local sausage factory. In a blink the building was engulfed in flames. The alarm went out to all the fire departments for miles around.

When the first volunteer fire fighters appeared on the scene, the sausage company president rushed to the fire chief and said, 'All of our secret sausage recipes are in the vault in the center of the plant. They have to be saved, so I will donate $50,000 to the fire company that brings them out and delivers them to me.'

-- by Linda Ellis

My poem, The Dash, is based on that little line on a tombstone, between the dates of birth and death. Ultimately, that dash is a symbol which represents every day we've spent alive on earth. Therefore, how you spend your "dash" is all that really matters. Following is an amazing story about someone whose dash truly made a difference.

Excerpt from: "You Can't Send a Duck to Eagle School" ÔÇ¿-- by Mac Anderson

In 1982, Jan Carlson had just been named the CEO of Scandinavian Airlines. His company was in trouble. They had just been ranked by a consumer poll as the worst airline in the world. Last in service, last in dependability, and last in profits as a percentage of sales. Yet one year later, in the same poll, they were ranked number one in all three categories. What happened?

A DEA officer stops at a ranch in Texas, and talks with an old rancher. He tells the rancher, "I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs." The rancher says, "Okay, but don’t go in that field over there," as he points out the location. ÔÇ¿ÔÇ¿

-- By Tom Reilly

The nest of young eagles hung on every word as the Master Eagle described his exploits. This was an important day for the eaglets. They were preparing for their first solo flight from the nest. It was the confidence builder many of them needed to fulfill their destiny.

"How far can I travel?" asked one of the eaglets.ÔÇ¿

"How far can you see?" responded the Master Eagle.

ÔÇ¿"How high can I fly?" quizzed the young eaglet.

ÔÇ¿"How far can you stretch your wings?" asked the old eagle.

ÔÇ¿"How long can I fly?" the eaglet persisted.

ÔÇ¿"How far is the horizon?" the mentor rebounded.ÔÇ¿

"How much should I dream?" asked the eaglet.ÔÇ¿

By Mary Schmich - Chicago Tribune
June 1, 1997

Inside every adult lurks a graduation speaker dying to get out, some world-weary pundit eager to pontificate on life to young people who'd rather be Rollerblading. Most of us, alas, will never be invited to sow our words of wisdom among an audience of caps and gowns, but there's no reason we can't entertain ourselves by composing a Guide to Life for Graduates.

I encourage anyone over 26 to try this and thank you for indulging my attempt...

-- By Bobby DoddÔÇ¿

Football is one of our great American games. It is the duty and responsibility of each of us to see that it is kept in its proper perspective, and that it is protected. We should see that it is used to attain the objectives that mean so much to our way of life.

We feel that the spectator can be most influential and instrumental in helping to achieve these objectives, if he will develop the right attitudes. May we suggest a few?

-- Author Unknown

This is in honor of all of the mothers in the world, for what they do and mean to us, and the courage it takes to be a mother. May every day be your Mother's Day.

-------------