One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.  Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.  It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.  On Monday she gave each student his or her list.  Before long, the entire class was smiling.

"Really?" she heard whispered. "I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others liked me so much."

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again.  She never knew if they discussed them after class with their parents, but it didn't matter.  The exercise had accomplished its purpose.  The students were happy with themselves and one another.  That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student.  She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before.  He looked so handsome, so mature.  The church was packed with his friends.  One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin.

The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.  As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her.

"Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked.

She nodded, "yes."

Then he said, "Mark talked about you a lot."

After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon.  Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.

"We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket.  "They found this on Mark when he was killed.  We thought you might recognize it."

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times.

The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.

"Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said.  "As you can see, Mark treasured it."

All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around.  Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list.  It's in the top drawer of my desk at home."

Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album."

"I have mine too," Marilyn said.  "It's in my diary."

Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her purse and showed her frazzled list to the group.  "I carry this with me at all times, " Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued, "I think we all saved our lists."

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried.  She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.

The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day.  And we don't know when that one day will be.  So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important.  Tell them, before it is too late.

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family.  The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room.  Instead the angels were given a small space in the cold basement.  As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it.  When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, "Things aren't always what they seem."

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife.  After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest.   When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears.   Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.  The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel. "How could you have let this happen?  The first man had everything, yet you helped him." she accused.  "The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die."

"Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel replied.   "When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall.  Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find the gold.  Then last night as we slept in the farmer's bed, the angel of death came for his wife.  I gave him the cow instead.  Things aren't always what they seem."

Sometimes that is exactly what happens when things don't turn out the way they should.  If you have faith, you just need to trust that every out come is always to your advantage.  You just might not know it until some time later...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

One day a small opening appeared on a cocoon.  A man sat watching and waiting for the butterfly to appear - and once it did, he remained there for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole.  Then it seemed to stop making any progress - it appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could go.

So the man decided to help the butterfly.  He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of cocoon.  The butterfly then emerged easily through the enlarged hole - but it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which he thought would contract in time.  Neither happened.  In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.  It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand is that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening are nature's way of forcing fluid from its body and into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives.  If we went through our days without any obstacles, it would cripple us - we would not be as strong as what we could have been.  And, we could never fly.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Number One:  The Most Important Question

During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz.  I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one:  "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

Surely this was some kind of joke.  I had seen the cleaning woman several times.  She was tall, dark-haired, and in her 50s, but how would I know her name?  I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank.  Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.

"Absolutely," said the professor.  "In your careers you will meet many people.  All are significant.  They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'hello.'"  I've never forgotten that lesson.  I also learned her name was Dorothy.

Number Two:  Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 PM, an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm.  Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride.  Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.  A young white man stopped to help her -- generally unheard of in those conflict filled 1960s.  The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance, and put her into a taxicab.  She seemed to be in a big hurry!  She wrote down his address, thanked him, and drove away.

Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door.  To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home.  A special note was attached.  It read:  "Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night.  The rain had drenched not only my clothes, but my spirits.  Then you came along.  Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away.  God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.  Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole."

Number Three:  Always Remember Those Who Serve

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table.  A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.  "How much is an ice cream sundae?"  "Fifty cents," replied the waitress.  The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it.  "How much is a dish of plain ice cream?" he inquired.  Some people were now waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient.  "Thirty-five cents," she said brusquely.  The little boy again counted the coins.  "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.  The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table, and walked away.  The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier, and departed.  When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed hard at what she saw.  There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies -- her tip.

Number Four:  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 big stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables.  On 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.

As 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 others never understand.  Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's condition.

Number Five:  Giving Blood

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at Stanford Hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease.  Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease, and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness.  The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister.  I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save Liz."  As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks.  Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.  He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?"

Being young, the boy had misunderstood the doctor;  he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood.  Attitude, after all, is everything.

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."

He was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found the box was empty.  He yelled at her, "Don't you know when you give someone a present, there's supposed to be something inside it?"

The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said, "Oh, Daddy, it's not empty, I blew kisses into the box.  All for you, Daddy."

The father was crushed.  He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.

An accident took the life of the child only a short time later and it is told that the man kept that gold box by his bed for many years and whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each of us as humans, have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, friends, family and God.

There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.