A soldier was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam.
He called his parents from San Francisco. "Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favor to ask. I'd like to bring a friend home with me."
"Sure" They replied. "We'd love to meet him."
"There is something you should know", the son continued. "He was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mine and lost an arm and leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us."
"I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live."
"No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us."
"Son," Said the father,"You don't know what you are asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden to us. We have our own life to live and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."
At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him.
A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building. They were told the police believed it was suicide.
The grief stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and leg.
He himself was the man he wanted to bring home to his Mom and Dad.
- author unknown
We are so much like the parents in this story. We find it easy to love those who are good looking or fun to have around, but we don't like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable, We would rather stay away from people who aren't healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are.
We don't want the inconvience that true love brings into our lives.
We are to reach out to others.
- Questions? Ask Darlene at Integrity Ministries.