Touching the Heart..
A store owner was tacking a sign above his door
that read "Puppies For
Sale." Signs like that have a way of attracting small
children, and sure enough, a
little boy appeared under the store owner's sign. "How much
are you going
to sell the puppies for?" he asked.
The store owner replied, "Anywhere from $30 to $50."
The little boy reached in his pocket and pulled out some change.
"I have
$2.37," he said. "Can I please look at them?"
The store owner smiled and whistled and out of the kennel came
Lady, who ran
down the aisle of his store followed by five teeny, tiny balls of
fur. One
puppy was lagging considerably behind. Immediately the little boy
singled
out the lagging, limping puppy and said, "What's wrong with
that little dog?"
The store owner explained that the veterinarian had examined the
little
puppy and discovered it didn't have a hip socket. I would always
limp. It would
always be lame. The little boy became excited. "That is the
little puppy that I want to buy."
The store owner said, "No, you don't want to buy that little
dog. If you really want him, I'll just give him to you."
The little boy got quite upset. He looked straight into the store
owner's
eyes, pointed his finger, and said, "I don't want you to
give him to me.
That little dog is worth every bit as much as all the other dogs
and I'll pay the
full price. In fact, I'll give you $2.37 now, and 50 cents a
month until I have him paid for."
The store owner countered, "You really don't want to buy
this little dog.
He is never going to be able to run and jump and play with you
like the other puppies."
To this, the little boy reached down and rolled up his pant leg
to reveal a
badly twisted, crippled left leg support by a big metal brace. He
looked
up at the store owner and softly replied, "Well, I don't run
so well myself, and
the little puppy will need someone who understands!"
JUDGMENT DAY
I was standing at the seat of judgment, waiting for my turn
Thinking of the houses and the treasures I would earn
Thinking of how I'd lived my life just as a Christian should
Thinking of how I'd always done what was right and what was good
I knew that when my turn would come with the Father and the Son
They would look at me and my life and say to me "Well
Done"
I knew that I was sinless, and my life beyond reproach
I got more excited as my time began to approach
But just then I looked around and who should I see,
But the lady that I worked with, just down the hall from me
We always passed each other with a wave and a smile
And when the time would allow we would chat for a little while
We would talk about our jobs, our kids, and various little things
Our conversations always pleasant and laughter it would bring
Just then she looked up, and her teary eyes locked with mine
And my smile faded when I realized she was in the other line
She began to speak the words that broke my heart in two
It pains me now to remember as I share these words with you
She said "Why didn't you tell me about the God that you do
know,
You went to church each week but never invited me to go?
You never told me of his saving mercy, that he died on the cross
And now it is to late for me and my soul's eternally loss
I see you saved yourself and that you are among the chosen few,
But tell me, couldn't you have made an effort, to try and save me
too?"
Just then I sat straight up in bed, my heart pounding in my chest
Thank God it was just a dream, but my spirit still couldn't rest
I realized that I couldn't keep my God a secret among friends
But that I must learn to always share the hope that the gospel
lends
So I encourage you not to wait until it is too late
Go and tell everyone you meet that your God is so, so great!
Yellow Paper Clips
by Carey Smith
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Georgia, a friend of my wife, was recently divorced
and trying to raise her two sons when the Gulf War broke out. She
heard
about soldiers in the service who had no family and needed pen
pals.
Letters addressed to "Any Soldier" were distributed by
commanding
officers who noticed any soldiers getting little or no mail.
Georgia
wrote to 25 such soldiers almost daily, most of them men.
Keeping up with 25 pen pals on a daily basis almost
consumed Georgia's time and talents. She sent poems, little
stories, and
words of hope and encouragement. When there were time
constraints, she
would write one letter and copy it for everyone. Greetings were
sent
whenever she knew about a special event, like a birthday.
One day, Georgia received a letter from a soldier that
was depressed and discouraged. She pondered as to how she could
help
lift his spirits. It was then that she noticed that at work there
were
paperclips of various colors. Georgia took one of the yellow
paper clips
and photo copied it in the palm of her hand. She sent this
picture with
the paper clip with the following message: "This yellow
paperclip that
you see in my hand represents a hug that I am sending to you. You
can
carry this paperclip in a pocket or anywhere, and whenever you
feel
down, you can just touch and hold it and know that somebody cares
about
you, and would give you a hug if she were there." Georgia
sent a copy of
this picture along with a paperclip and the message to each of
her other
correspondents. After the war ended, Georgia received
one of the pictures of her hand holding the yellow paperclip, and
on the
back were over 150 signatures of people that had been given her
"hug".
During the years, Georgia named other paperclips. Pink
came to mean a kiss, green was for good luck, and so on.
Years later, Georgia was giving a class as part of a
seminar for positive thinking. She shared with the members of the
class
her paperclip symbolism, and made a bracelet of multi-colored
paperclips
for each of them. One of the women exclaimed "So you're the
one!"
The class member told Georgia that she was visiting
her brother and needed something to hold papers together. She had
noticed a yellow paperclip on the refrigerator held there with a
magnet.
She borrowed the paperclip for her papers. When the brother saw
it, he
grabbed it and scolded her, and told her never to touch the
yellow
paperclip again. Now she knew why. No one will never
know how far her message has spread, nor how many lives have been
touched by a simple yellow paperclip.
Does God still speak to people?
A young man had been to Wednesday night Bible Study. The
pastor had
shared about listening to God and obeying the Lord's voice.
The young
man couldn't help but wonder "Does God still speak to
people?"
After service he went out with some friends for coffee and pie
and they
discussed the message. Several different ones talked about
how God had
led them in different ways. It was about ten o'clock when the
young man
started driving home.
Sitting in his car, he just began to pray, "God , If you
still speak to
people speak to me. I will listen. I will do my best to
obey." As he
drove down the main street of his town,
he had the strangest thought: stop and buy a gallon of milk. He
shook
his head and said out loud, "God, is that you?"
He didn't get a reply and started on home. But again the thought,
"buy
a gallon of milk. The young man thought about Samuel and
how he didn't
recognize the voice, and how little Samuel ran to Eli. "Okay
God, in
case that is you, I will buy the milk." It didn't seem
like too hard a test of obedience. He could always
use the milk. He
stopped and purchased the gallon of milk and started off toward
home.
As he passed seventh street, he again felt an urge "Turn
down that
street." This is crazy, he thought and drove on past
the intersection.
Again, he felt that he should turn down Seventh Street. At the
next
intersection, he turned back and headed down Seventh. Half
jokingly, he
said out loud, "Okay God, I will." He drove
several blocks, when
suddenly, he felt like he should stop. He pulled over and
looked
around. He was in a semi-commercial area of town. It
wasn't the best
but it wasn't the worst either. The businesses were
closed and most of
the houses look dark like the people were already in bed.
Again, he sensed something, "Go and give the milk to the
people in the
house across the street." The young man looked at the
house. It was
dark and it looked like the people were either gone or they were
already
asleep. He started to open the door and then sat back
in the car seat.
"Lord, this is insane. Those people are asleep
and if I wake them up, they are going to be mad and I will look
stupid."
Again, he felt he should go and give the milk.
Finally, he opened the door, "Okay, God, if this is you, I
will go to
the door and I
will give them the milk. If you want me to look like a
crazy person,
okay.
I want to be obedient. I guess that will count for something, but
if
they don't answer right away, I am out of here." He walked
across the
street and rang the bell. He could hear some noise inside. A
man's voice
yelled out, "Who is it? What do you want?" Then the
door opened before
the young man could get away. The man was standing there in
his jeans
and T-shirt. He looked like he had just got out of bed. He
had a
strange look on
his face and he didn't seem too happy to have a stranger standing
on
his doorstep.
"What is it?" The young man thrust out the gallon of
milk, "Here, I
brought this to you". The man took the milk and rushed down
a hallway
speaking loudly in Spanish. Then from down the hall came a
woman
carrying the milk toward the kitchen. The man was following her
holding
a baby. The baby was crying. The man had tears streaming
down his face.
The man began speaking and half crying, We were just
praying. We had
some big bills this month and we ran out of money. We
didn't have any
milk for our baby. I was just praying and asking God to
show me how to
get some milk." His wife in the kitchen yelled out, "I
asked Him to send
an Angel with some. Are you an Angel?" The young man
reached into his
wallet and pulled out all the money he had on him and put it in
the
man's hand.
He turned and walked back toward his car and the tears were
streaming
down his face.
He knew that God still answers prayers and that God still speaks
to His people!