Refining the Silver

Once a women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.     

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. 

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.  

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it" 

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

If I Can Do It, Anyone Can!

I am often asked, "Glenn, you are a Motivational Speaker with two college degrees, and a multi-million dollar sales company, but you were once a high school dropout. What made you go back to school and do all you have done?"

Since this is so often asked, I thought I would put it here for all to read. Please allow me to break it down for you as simply as possible. (An abridged version.)

I was kicked out of HS when I was 16-Y-O. Being ignorant back then, I thought it was cool. It allowed more time for a venture that made me money -- though it was not legal.

Someone told me of the GED, which I took -- twice -- in order to pass. Oh well, at least I passed.

When I was 19-Y-O, I was seeing a college chick who said, "If you could not even get a high school diploma, then you are stupid!" It bothered me that she said I was stupid.

I said to myself that I would show her! I went to an adult education school, which was a branch of the Poway Unified School District in California, and told them I wanted to receive my HS diploma.

Based on how well I did on my GED, they said I had enough units to graduate, but in order for them to issue me a diploma, I would have to take one class at their school. I did, and 16-weeks later I had a HS Diploma. Well the girl was long gone, but hey! I now had both a GED and HS Diploma. But in reality, I learned two valuable lessons that has served me well in life.

Lesson 1: If I want something BADLY enough, then I WILL achieve it!

Lesson 2: The girl was gone...I really did it for myself!

For the next several years (until I was nearly 23-Y-O) I continued my life of illegal activity. It was then that a business associate of mine was gunned down to death during a raid at his home, and it was only 15 minutes after I left.

It was then I realized that I had been doing so many wrong things and could have been in prison or dead! Hey, some of you, I could have been your cellmate. LOL.

I sat alone for the next couple of days trying to decide what I should do. All I knew was that I needed a new life. Come Monday morning I flushed all my illegal substances down the toilet, went to see a Navy recruiter, and enlisted for five-years.

Since I had 45 days until I had to report to boot camp, I moved to my father's and worked out daily so I was in shape for the physical activities I would endure.

Long story short...toward the end of my enlistment while working directly for the unit commander, he one day called me into his office and said, "As your commanding officer and direct supervisor, it is my job to encourage you to reenlist for another five-years. However, to do that to you would not be doing you a service. Based on what I know of you over the past two-years, I think you'd be better off getting out, going to college and one day run a corporation."

He saw "something" in me and it was "something" I had not seen and what he saw was enormous business potential. So, I left the Navy at the age of 28 and began my first college class.

I was on a mission! I completed a four-year degree in 36 months all while going through a marriage, a divorce, my father's death, and working full time.

I now own a million dollar sales corporation (www.TheBurkeAdvantage.com), have two college degrees (BA Communication & MA Education), am an adjunct instructor at a college teaching Oral Communications/Public Speaking, an advice columnist with The Student Operated Press (www.TheSOP.org), and a Motivational Speaker.

In all honesty, I am no different than anyone else. Just an average person who set his sights on the bigger picture and went after it with all I had! And if I can accomplish what I have...ANYONE CAN! ESPECIALLY YOU!

You just need to do the following:

1. Prioritize

2. Manage time effectively

3. Focus on the task(s) at hand

4. NEVER forget why you're doing what you're doing

5. Be willing to forgo some things to accomplish what you truly desire

6. KNOW that at times it will be hard, and you may lose sight of the goal, but if you stay with it, I promise...IT WILL BE WORTH IT!

7. Bottom line, it's simple...it comes down to CHOICES! The RIGHT CHOICES can take you to the right places, and the wrong ones...well, you know where they lead.

Success is not always about dollars and cents. It is about what makes you happy! But hey, we do live in a monetary world, make it work for you!


SUCCESS is a CHOICE!

Presence of Mind

Many years ago in a small Indian village,

A farmer had the misfortune Of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender.

The Moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer's beautiful Daughter. So he proposed a bargain.

He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry his Daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the Proposal.

So the cunning money-lender suggested that they let Providence decide the matter.

He told them that he would put a black Pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would Have to pick one pebble from the bag.

1) If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father's debt would be forgiven.

2) If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven.

3) But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into Jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer's field. As They talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he Picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two Black pebbles and put  them into the bag.

He then asked the girl to pick A pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have Done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you Have told her?

Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.

2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag And expose the money-lender as a cheat.

3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order To save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

Take a moment to ponder over the story. The above story is used with The hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral And logical thinking.

The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with Traditional logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chooses

The above logical answers.

What would you recommend to the Girl to do?

Well, here is what she did ....

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without Looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path Where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

"Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the Bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I Picked."

Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had Picked the white one. And since the money-lender dared not admit his Dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into An extremely advantageous one.

MORAL OF THE STORY:

Most complex problems do have a solution. It is only that we don't Attempt to think.

NIT Rourkela Invites Applications for M.Tech (Research) Programs

National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela invites applications for admission to Master of Technology (M.Tech) by Research programs offered in Ceramic Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, Mining Engineering and Physics for the academic year 2013-14.

Eligibility     

For the complete detail about the program, eligibility criteria and application procedure follow this link.  

Website-http://application.nitrkl.ac.in.

 

Important Dates-

• Last date for application to be scrutinized submitted online: Monday, May 20, 2013.
• Completion of scrutiny of applications by all departments: Friday, May 24, 2013.

 

Indian Maritime University Invites Applications for Ph.D in Naval Architecture Program

Indian Maritime University, Uthandi invites applications for admission to Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) program in Naval Architecture offered at School of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering (SNA), Vishakhapatnam campus for the commencing session 2013.

Eligibility     

For the complete detail about the program, eligibility criteria and application procedure follow this link.  

Website-http://imutn.org/cet/Student/home

 

Important Dates-

• Last date for receiving filled-in application forms:Friday, May 10, 2013.
• Date of IMU-CET (all India):Saturday, June 01, 2013.

 

IIIT Delhi Invites Applications for M.Tech Program

Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIT), Delhi invites applications for admission to full time Master of Technology (M.Tech) program offered in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) and Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) for the commencing session 2013.

Eligibility     

For the complete detail about the program, eligibility criteria and application procedure follow this link.  

Website-http://www.iiitd.ac.in/admission/mtech/2013

 

Important Dates-

• Last date for receipt of application form: Wednesday, May 22, 2013.
• Date of entrance test (At IIIT-Delhi Campus, Okhla): Saturday, June 22, 2013.

 

Delhi School of Communication Invites Applications for PGDPC Program

Delhi School of Communication (DSC), New Delhi invites applications for admission to XIXth two-year Post Graduate Program in Communication (PGDPC) for the commencing session 2013. This is a dual qualification program awarding both the PGDPC (Post Graduate Diploma Program in Communication along with the MMC (Masters in Mass Communication) from Guru Jambheshwar University (UGC and AICTE approved).

Eligibility     

For the complete detail about the program, eligibility criteria and application procedure follow this link.  

Website-www.dsc.edu.in .