"Family" Thursday
Posted by: bigguyhereagain <bigguyhereagain@...>
I ran into a stranger as he passed by, "Oh excuse me please" was my reply.
He said, "Please excuse me too; I wasn't 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 son stood beside me very still.
When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
Move out of the way," I said with a frown.
He walked away, his 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.
Go and look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door.
Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.
He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."
By this time, I felt very small,
And now my tears began to fall.
I quietly went and knelt by his bed;
"Wake up, little one, wake up," I said.
"Are these the flowers you picked for me?"
He smiled, "I found 'em, out by the tree.
I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue."
I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today; I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."
He said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay. I love you anyway."
I said, "Son, I love you too, and I do like the flowers, especially the blue."
"Family"
Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don't you think? So what is behind the story?
Do you know what the word FAMILY means?
FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU
~*~Anonymous~*~
When my hair is thin and silvered,
and my time of toil is through;
when I've many years behind me,
and ahead of me a few;
I shall want to sit, I reckon,
sort of dreaming in the sun;
and recall the roads I've traveled
and the many things I've done.
I hope there'll be no picture
that I'll hate to look upon;
when the time to paint it better
or to wipe it out, is gone.
I hope there'll be no vision
of a hasty word I've said
that has left a trail of sorrow,
like a whip welt, sore and red.
And I hope my old age dreaming
will bring back no bitter scene
of a time when I was selfish,
or a time when I was mean.
When I'm getting old and feeble,
and I'm far along life's way,
I don't want to sit regretting
any bygone yesterday.
I am painting now the picture
that I'll want someday to see;
I am filling in a canvas
that will soon come back to me.
Though nothing great is on it,
and though nothing there is fine,
I shall want to look it over
when I'm old, and call it mine.
So I do not dare to leave it
while the paint is warm and wet,
with a single thing upon it
that I later will regret.
I do not mail idea-central unsolicited. If you are receiving this newsletter from me it's because you have subscribed to this mailing list. If you receive this newsletter and are not a subscriber then someone, other than me, has forwarded it to you.
| Normal Subscribe: | idea-central-subscribe@welovegod.org |
| Normal Unsubscribe: | idea-central-unsubscribe@welovegod.org |
| Web Subscribe: | idea-central-allow-subscribe@welovegod.org |
| Web Unsubscribe: | idea-central-allow-unsubscribe@welovegod.org |
| Email Group Owner: | idea-central-owner@associate.com |
-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: idea-central-unsubscribe@welovegod.org