A Box Full of Kisses
The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, “This is for you, Daddy.”
Truth of Life One day, during an evening class for adults, the psychology Teacher entered the class and told the students, “Let’s all play a game.” The Teacher asked one… Truth of Life One day, during an evening class for adults, the psychology Teacher entered the class and told the students, “Let’s all play a game.” The Teacher asked one of the students to volunteer. A lady, Aliza, came forward. The Teacher asked her to write 30 names of the most important people in her life on the board. Aliza wrote the names of her family members, relatives, friends, colleagues and her neighbors. The Teacher told her to erase three names that she considered most unimportant. Aliza erased the names of her colleagues. The Teacher again told her to delete five more names. Aliza erased her neighbors’ names. This went on until there were just four names left on the board. These were the names of her mother, father, husband and only son. The entire class became silent, realizing that this wasn’t a game anymore for Aliza alone. Now, the Teacher told her to delete two more names. It was a very difficult choice for Aliza as she unwillingly deleted her parents’ names. “Please delete one more,” the Teacher said. Aliza became very nervous and with trembling hands and tears
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The 3 “F’s” to Life’s Greatest Riches In one week’s time, which was just two and a half weeks ago, my family experienced two losses. While facing my losses, I… The 3 “F’s” to Life’s Greatest Riches In one week’s time, which was just two and a half weeks ago, my family experienced two losses. While facing my losses, I was forced to face my riches. The first loss was the tragic and unexpected death of one of my good friends, De, who was thirty-six years old as well as four and a half months pregnant with her third child. The second loss was the death of my eighty-seven-year-old great-uncle, Jack, the last “grandparent” figure in our small family. During my Uncle Jack’s funeral, the pastor said something which caused me to put down my tear-soaked tissue for a moment and think. Yes, there will be a void in my heart for both De and Uncle Jack. But, we celebrate their lives and how we are richly blessed by knowing them. And, we will get to see them one day in heaven because both had accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Richly blessed, rich? We don’t seem to hear that word a lot today. The pastor went on to say that there are three “F’s” to the greatest
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When Dad was Coming Home One of my earliest childhood memories was that of waiting outside our house for my Dad to come home from work in the evening. We… When Dad was Coming Home One of my earliest childhood memories was that of waiting outside our house for my Dad to come home from work in the evening. We had a long gravel driveway leading to the side of our house and on that same side yard stood a big tree. The tree had some low limbs that we could climb even when we were young – 4 or 5 years old. My brother, Bob, and I would wait for our Dad by climbing up and sitting in a branch of that tree until we could see Dad’s car start to pull into our driveway and hear the sound of the gravel beneath the wheels. When that time came, we would jump down from our tree branch as fast as we could and run over to Dad’s car. We couldn’t wait for him to get out of his car! I still remember the excitement I felt each night anticipating Dad pulling into our driveway, then getting out of the car and giving us, first, his big signature grin and then, quickly after, scooping us up in his arms for
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Essence Of Family I ran into a stranger as he passed by. “Oh, excuse me please” was my reply. He said, “Please excuse me too; wasn’t even watching for you.”… Essence Of Family I ran into a stranger as he passed by. “Oh, excuse me please” was my reply. He said, “Please excuse me too; wasn’t even watching for you.” We were very polite, this stranger and I. We went on our way and we said good-bye. But at home a different story is told, how we treat our loved ones, young and old. Later that day, cooking the evening meal, my daughter stood beside me very still. When I turned, I nearly knocked her down. “Move out of the way,” I said with a frown. She walked away, her little heart broken. I didn’t realize how harshly I’d spoken. While I lay awake in bed, God’s still small voice came to me and said “While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use, but the children you love, you seem to abuse. Look on the kitchen floor, you’ll find some flowers there by the door. Those are the flowers she brought for you. She picked them herself, pink, yellow and blue. She stood quietly not to spoil the surprise, And you never saw the tears in her eyes.” By
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No Regrets At the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, the sport of canoe racing was added to the list of international competitions. The favorite team in the four-man canoe race… No Regrets At the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, the sport of canoe racing was added to the list of international competitions. The favorite team in the four-man canoe race was the United States team. One member of that team was a young man by the name of Bill Havens. As the time for the Olympics neared, it became clear that Bill’s wife would give birth to their first child about the time that the U.S. team would be competing in the Paris games. In 1924 there were no jet airliners from Paris to the United States, only slow ocean-going ships. And so Bill found himself in a dilemma. Should he go to Paris and risk not being at his wife’s side when their baby was born? Or should he withdraw from the team and remain with his family? Bill’s wife insisted that he go to Paris. After all, competing in the Olympics was the culmination of a life long dream. But Bill felt conflicted and, after much soul searching, decided to withdraw from the competition and remain home, where he could support his wife when the child arrived. He
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