ACRES OF DIAMONDS

THIS IS A STORY ABOUT THE POWER ONE PERSON CAN HAVE ON THE LIVES OF MANY. ITS ALSO A STORY ABOUT MAKING THE ABSOLUTE MOST OF WHERE YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU HAVE BEFORE CHANGING! IN THE LATE 1800’S A MAN BY THE NAME OF DR. RUSSELL CONWELL HAD A PROFOUND EFFECT ON MILLIONS OF PEOPLE. HE HAD BEEN A LAWYER, NEWSPAPER EDITOR AND FINALLY A CLERGYMAN. DURING HIS CHURCH CAREER SOMETHING HAPPENED THAT PROFOUNDLY CHANGED HIS LIFE!! ONE DAY AFTER A CHURCH MEETING A GROUP OF YOUNG STUDENTS ASKED HIM IF HE’D INSTRUCT THEM ON COLLEGE COURSES. THEY WANTED BADLY TO GO TO COLLEGE BUT COULDN’T AFFORD IT. SO, DR. CONWELL ASKED THEM TO GIVE HIM A FEW DAYS TO THINK ABOUT IT AND HE’D LET THEM KNOW IF HE WOULD HELP. WELL, AFTER A WEEK OR SO DR. CONWELL CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF STARTING HIS OWN COLLEGE SPECIFICALLY FOR HARDWORKING LESS FORTUNATE AND POOR DESERVING PEOPLE! HE BECAME CONSUMED WITH THE IDEA AND MADE A 100% COMMITMENT TO MAKE IT HAPPEN!! ALMOST SINGEL HANDEDLY DR. CONWELL RAISED SEVERAL MILLION DOLLARS OVER A 10 YEAR PERIOD BY GIVING OVER SIX THOUSAND SPEECHES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY TO RAISE THE MONEY TO BUILD THIS COLLEGE UNIVERSITY! I’LL TELL YOU THE NAME OF THE UNIVERSITY AT THE END OF THE STORY. HE TOLD THE SAME STORY OVER SIX THOUSAND TIMES. IT’S A TRUE STORY CALLED “ACRES OF DIAMONDS!” IT AFFECTED SO MANY PEOPLE THAT THE MONEY JUST FLOWED IN AND THE COLLEGE WAS BUILT. IT’S ABOUT AN AFRICAN FARMER WHO HEARD ABOUT OTHER FARMERS WHO MADE MILLIONS BY DISCOVERING DIAMOND MINES. SO HE DECIDED TO DO WHAT EVERYONE WAS DOING AND SOLD HIS VERY SUCCESSFUL FARM, LEFT HIS FAMILY, AND TRAVELED THE ENTIRE AFRICAN CONTINENT LOOKING FOR DIAMONDS!! WELL, AFTER TWO YEARS OF NO DIAMONDS, HE FOUND HIMSELF IN BANKRUPTCY, LOST HIS FAMILY AND LITERALLY THREW HIMSELF INTO A RIVER AND DROWNED. MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH, OR FARM IN THIS CASE,.. THE MAN WHO BOUGHT THE FARM FROM THE FARMER 2 YEARS AGO WAS HAVING A PARTY ONE EVENING IN HIS FARM HOUSE…WHEN A GUEST WAS ADMIRING SOME COLORED ROCKS THE HE HAD PLACED ON HIS MANTLE ABOVE HIS FIREPLACE….HE ASKED THE FARMER WHERE HE GOT THEM. HE TOLD HIM THAT OUT ON HIS FARM THERE’S A LITTLE CREEK AND THE BOTTOM OF IT IS FULL OF THESE COLORED ROCKS. HE SAID HE FIGURED THEY WERE SOME KIND OF CRYSTAL. WELL, A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER THE VISITOR CAME BACK TO THE FARM WITH AN EXPERT AND TOOK A LOOK AT THE SO CALLED CRYSTALS IN THE CREEK. HE COULD HARDLY BELIEVE WHAT HE FOUND. THE CREEK AND THE ENTIRE FARM WAS LOADED WITH DIAMONDS. HE WQAS LITERALLY SITTING ON ACRES OF DIAMONDS. NEEDLESS TO SAY, THE FARM THAT THE FIRST FARMER SOLD SO HE COULD LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR DIAMONDS TURNED OUT TO BE THE MOST PRODUCTIVE DIAMOND MINE ON THE ENTIRE AFRICAN CONTINENT. THE FIRST FARMER HAD OWNED THIS FARM FREE AND CLEAR AND FULL OF ACRES OF DIAMONDS SOLD IT FOR PRACTICALLY NOTHING TO LOOK ELSEWHERE!! THE MORAL IS THIS FOLKS: HAD THE FIRST FARMER TAKEN TIME TO STUDY WHAT DIAMONDS LOOK LIKE IN THEIR ROUGH STATE AND THROUGHLY EXPLORE HIS PROPERTY FIRST……BEFORE LOOKING ELSEWHERE, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL BEYOND HIS WILDEST DREAM. GETTING BACK TO DR. CONWELL,…THE THING THAT MOVED DR. CONWELL AND MILLIONS OF OTHERS IS THE IDEA THAT AT THIS VERY MOMENT EACH OF US IS STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS OR HER VERY OWN ACRES OF DIAMONDS!! IF WE CAN ONLY HAVE THE WISDOM AND PATIENCE TO EXPLORE THE OPPORTUNITIES WE HAVE AROUND US FIRST, BEFORE MOVING ON ,.. WE MAY FIND THE RICHES WE DESIRE ARE RIGHT WHERE WE ALREADY ARE!!!