Quote from Forum Archives on November 26, 2006, 10:13 am

Posted by: bigguyhereagain <bigguyhereagain@...>

"Mouse Story"

 

 

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his
wife open a package. "What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered
he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

 

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. "There
is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

 

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr.
Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you but it is of no
consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

 

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the
house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized, but
said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do
about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

 

The mouse turned to the cow and said, "There is a mousetrap in the
house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said, "Wow, Mr.
Mouse.  I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose." So, the mouse
returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap--
alone.

 

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the
sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see
what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous
snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The
farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.

 

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer
took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

 

But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit
with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

 

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for
her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat
for all of them.

 

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great
sadness.

 

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it
doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are
all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep
an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one
another.
Thanks Dee for sending this to us.

 

 

"Sharing Love With Others"

 

He was driving home one evening, on a two-lane country road. Work, in this small mid-western community, was almost as slow as his beat-up Pontiac. But he never quit looking. Ever since the Levis factory closed, he'd been unemployed, and with winter raging on, the chill had finally hit home.

 

It was a lonely road. Not very many people had a reason to be on it, unless they were leaving. Most of his friends had already left. They had families to feed and dreams to fulfill. But he stayed on. After all, this was where he buried his mother and father. He was born here and knew the country. He could go down this road blind, and tell you what was on either side, and with his headlights not working, that came in handy. It was starting to get dark and light snow flurries were coming down. He'd better get a move on.

 

You know, he almost didn't see the old lady, stranded on the side of the road. But even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe, he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill that only fear can put in you. He said, "I'm here to help you m'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm. By the way, my name is Joe."

 

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Joe crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt. As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down her window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid. Joe just smiled as he closed her trunk.

 

She asked him how much she owed him. Any amount would have been alright with her. She had already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Joe never thought twice about the money. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

 

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance that they needed, and Joe added "........and think of me".

 

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight. A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her.

 

The cash register was like the telephone of an out of work actor, it didn't ring much. Her waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase. The lady noticed that the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Joe.

 

After the lady finished her meal, and the waitress went to get her change from a hundred dollar bill, the lady slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. She wondered where the lady could be, then she noticed something written on a napkin. There were tears in her eyes, when she read what the lady wrote. It said, "You don't owe me a thing, I've been there too. Someone once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here's what you do. Don't let the chain of love end with you." Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could she have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard.

 

She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, "Everything's gonna be alright, I love you Joe."

 

 

Have a Blessed Day

Dave and Barbara

 

 

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