JUDGE ME BY THE FOOTPRINTS I LEAVE
BEHIND
A story is told about a soldier
who 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 got a favor
to ask. I have a friend I'd like to
bring with me."
"Sure," they replied, "we'd love
to meet him."
There's something you should know
the son continued, "he was hurt pretty
badly in the fighting. He stepped
on a land mined and lost an arm and a
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're
asking. Someone with such a handicap
would be a terrible burden on us.
We have our own lives 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 one leg.
The parents in this story are like
many of us. 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 as healthy,beautiful,or smart as
we are.
Thankfully, there's someone who
won't treat us that way. Someone who
loves us with an unconditional
love that welcomes us into the forever
family,regardless of how messed
up we are. Tonight, before you tuck
yourself in for the night, say
a little prayer that God will give you
the strength you need to accept
people as they are, and to help us all
be more understanding of those
who are different from us!!!
There's a miracle called -Friendship-
that dwells in the heart. You
don't
know
how it happens or when it gets
started. But you know the special lift It
always brings and you realize that
Friendship Is God's most precious
gift! Friends are a very rare jewel,
indeed. They make you smile and
encourage you to succeed. They
lend an ear, they share a word of praise,
and they always want to open their
hearts to us.
Author unknown
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