The Shoe Box

     A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoebox in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.

     For all these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover.

     In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoebox and took it to his wife's bedside. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totalling $95,000.

     He asked her about the contents. "When we were to be married', she said 'my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll'.

     The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving.  He almost burst with happiness.

 

  'Honey', he said, 'that explains the doll, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?'

'Oh', she said, 'that's the money I made from selling the dolls'.


A Prayer
Dear Lord,
I pray for Wisdom to understand my man;
Love to forgive him;
and Patience for his moods;
because Lord, If I pray for Strength, 
I'll beat him to death because I don't have the freaking time to crochet.

Broken Dreams

As little children bring their broken toys
with tears for us to mend.

I brought my broken dreams to God
Because He is my friend.
But instead of leaving Him
in peace to work alone.
I tried ways which were my own
At last, I snatched them back and cried:
"How could you be so slow?"
"My child", he said. "You never did let go".

The Obstacle in our Path

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping 

the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand. Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

The Spider Web

An evil man, about to die, meets an angel at the gates to Hell. The angel says to him: “It is enough for you to have done one good thing in your life, and that will help you.” “Think hard,” the angel said. The man remembers that one time, as he was walking through a forest; he saw a spider in his path and detoured so as not to step on it. The angel smiles and a spider web come down from the sky, allowing the man to ascend to Paradise. Others among the condemned take advantage of the web, and begin to make the climb. But the man turns on them and begins to push them off, fearing that the web will break.

At that moment, it breaks, and the man is once again returned to Hell. “What a pity,” the man hears the angel say. “Your concern with yourself turned the only good thing you ever did into evil”.

Lesson: Your selfishness hurts you in the end.

Narcissus

The Alchemist picked up a book that someone in the caravan had brought. Leafing through the pages, he found a story about Narcissus.

The Alchemist knew the legend of Narcissus, a youth who knelt daily beside a lake to contemplate his own beauty. He was so fascinated by himself that, one morning, he fell into the lake and drowned. At the spot where he fell, a flower was born, which was called the narcissus.

But this was not how the author of the book ended the story.

He said that when Narcissus died, the goddesses of the forest appeared and found the lake, which has been fresh water, transformed into a lake of salty tears.

“Why do you weep?” the goddesses asked.

“I weep for Narcissus”, the lake replied.

“Ah, it is no surprise that you weep for Narcissus”, they said, “for though we always pursued him in the forest, you alone could contemplate his beauty close at hand”.

“But.. was Narcissus beautiful?” the lake asked.

“Who better that you to know that?” the goddesses said in wonder. “After all, it was by your banks that he knelt each day to contemplate himself!”

The lake was silent for some time. Finally, it said:

“I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected.”

Don't Give Up

Don't give up.....

One day I decided to quit...

I quit my job,

my relationship,

my spirituality... I wanted to quit my life.
I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.
'God', I asked, 'Can you give me one good reason not to quit?'
His answer surprised me...
'Look around', He said. 'Do you see the fern and the bamboo?'
'Yes', I replied.
'When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them.
I gave them light.
I gave them water.
The fern quickly grew from the earth.
Its brilliant green covered the floor.
Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.
In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.
And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. He said.
'In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed.
But I would not quit.  
In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would
not quit.' He said.
'Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared
  to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant...But just 6 
months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.

It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. 
I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.'
He asked me. 'Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots'.
'I would not quit on the bamboo.
I will never quit on you.'
'Don't compare yourself to others.'
He said.
'The bamboo had a different Purpose than the fern.
Yet they both make the forest beautiful.'
'Your time will come', God said to me.
'You will rise high'
'How high should I rise?'
I asked.
'How high will the bamboo rise?' He asked in return.
'As high as it can?' I questioned.
'Yes.' He said, 'Give me glory by rising as high as you can.'
I left the forest and brought back this story.
I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you.
Never, Never, Never Give up.
For the Christian Prayer is not an option but an opportunity.
Don't tell the Lord how big the problem is,
tell the problem how Great the Lord is!

 

Heavens door open this morning, God asked me...

'My CHILD, what can I do for you?'
And I said, 'Daddy, please protect and bless the one reading this message.'
God smiled and answered, 'Request granted.'

When Life gets too Hard to Stand; Kneel!!!!!

Heavenly Appeal Short Animated Film

A very cute, comic but inspiring short film!