THE LITTLE TOY CAR

 

THE LITTLE TOY CAR
(author unknown)

My friend handed me a very old metal match box car today. Then he said I found this yesterday and it reminded me of a major life lesson. I held it in my hand and looked at it while he talked.

He said, "when I was in elementary school, we did a Secret Santa in my class room at school. All the kids drew a name and then we exchanged presents the last day before Christmas break". He said, "my parents went out and bought me a nice new toy to give to the child I had drawn. My mom wrapped it up and the kid loved the present that received it." He then said, "I went and found my present from a boy in my class that I didn't really know. It looked like it had been wrapped with news paper." He said, "I opened it and it was that little car you are holding in your hand." He said, "... but when he gave it to me it was dirty and looked well played with." He said "I was mad I had given such a nice gift and he had put so little effort into his".

I felt cheated. He said, but later I learned the kid lived in a very run down shack. His mom was sick and his daddy had left them years before. He said they barely had enough money to have heat and food. He said "when I realized he had given me one of his only few toys, I felt ashamed for the way I treated him when I got the gift". He said I only learned how poor he was after he quit coming to school and it we were told his mom had died and he had been sent to foster care. I never saw him again. He said I kept this little car all these years because I know it was the best present I have ever gotten.

I thought about this story and looked at that little car sitting in my hand and I cried. How many times in my life have I been given something from someone and not appreciated it's TRUE value. This kid had given with his heart when he had so little and it made me realize I need to always remember to never judge anything on the surface and always look deeper.

I just wanted to put this story out there to you all in this season of giving.

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THE WOODCUTTER
(author unknown)

Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job at a timber merchant and he got it. The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.

His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he supposed to work.

The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.

“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!”

Very motivated by the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.

“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.

“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees…”

Reflect on this...

Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen the “axe”. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy than ever.

Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay “sharp”? There’s nothing wrong with activity and hard work.

But we should not get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like our personal life, taking time to fulfil our hobbies, giving more time for our family, taking time to read, enhancing our skills, upgrading our knowledge, being aware of our strengths and weaknesses, spending time for our self-development and health etc.

We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don’t take the time to sharpen the “axe”, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness.

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THE OLD LADY IN THE TAXI

THE OLD LADY IN THE TAXI
(author unknown)

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked.. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940's movie.

By her side was a small suitcase. The house looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.

She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her.. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.'

'Oh, you're such a good boy,’ she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, 'Could you drive through the city centre.”

'It's not the shortest way to the destination I have booked by the cab office.’

'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice.’

I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued in a soft voice. The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.

We drove through the neighbourhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring out, saying nothing. We drove for hours.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired. Let's go now'. We drove in silence to the address I had been given. It was a single story building with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two members of staff came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the boot and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

'How much do I owe you?' She asked, reaching into her purse.

'Nothing,' I said

'You have to make a living,' she answered.

'There are other passengers,' I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She hugged me tightly back.

'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said. 'Thank you.'

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light back to my taxi. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life..

I drove home and sat in my armchair thinking about the old lady. What if she had got an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.

But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

As Maya Angelou said, people may not remember exactly what you did or what you said, but they will always remember exactly how you made them feel.

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THE PRANK

 

THE PRANK
(author unknown)

During a prank, a student stuck a paper on his classmate's back that said "I'm Stupid", and asked the rest of the class not to tell the boy.

Thus the students began laughing on and off...

Came afternoon math class started and their teacher wrote a difficult question on the board.

No one was able to answer it except the boy with the sticker.

Amid the unexplained giggles, he walked toward the board and solved the problem.

The teacher asked the class to clap for him and remove the paper on his back.

She told him: "It seems that you don’t know about the paper your classmate has pasted on your back."

Then the teacher looked at the rest of the class and said:

"Before I give you a punishment, let me tell you 2 things:

First, throughout your Life, people will put labels on you with many nasty words to stop your progress.

Had your classmate known about the paper, he wouldn't have gotten up to answer the question.

All you have to do in Life is ignore the labels people give you and seize every opportunity you have to learn, grow and improve yourself."

"Second, it’s clear that he doesn't have any loyal friend among you all to tell him about the sticker.

It doesn't matter how many friends you have - it is the loyalty you share with your friends that matters.

If you don't have friends who can defend you behind your back, who can watch over you, protect you and who genuinely care about you, you are better off alone....!"

Always have each others back

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A TRIP TO DISNEYWORLD

 

A TRIP TO DISNEYWORLD

author Amy Beth Gardner

Being at Walt Disney World this week has caused me to think back to the first time my husband and I brought the girls to the resort. We had only been their foster parents for a few months when I had a conversation with the oldest child that sent a chill down my spine. Only nine years old, she looked into my eyes and, with sadness breaking through her voice, said “I don’t think I will ever feel joy.” She told me that living with us for the past few months had allowed her to feel safety, security and love but that she couldn’t imagine that she would ever know what it would feel like to experience joy. In that moment, watching a child I loved assume that joy was too far gone for her to grasp, I knew exactly what to do.

I booked a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort.

I made hotel and ticket reservations as fast as I could. I combed through the lists of rides in each of the theme parks and made a coordinating list of Disney films to have the girls “randomly” watch so that they would recognize characters that, at that time, were foreign to them. I stalked dining reservations until I finally secured breakfast with the princesses and booked two spots at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. Finally, one October evening with our video camera rolling, my husband and I handed them bags containing personalized t-shirts and Minnie Mouse ears and told them to put their shoes on because we had to catch the first flight of their young lives – to Walt Disney World.

The Magic Kingdom had the desired effect on my youngest daughter from the time we walked through the front gates. She looked like any other five year old girl experiencing Walt Disney World for the first time as she ran from ride to ride and gathered princess autographs. But my heart felt a little heavy as I watched our oldest daughter quietly walk down Main Street. I felt disappointed and silently chastised myself for believing that a theme park could be what brought this child the feeling of joy. She expressed gratefulness that we had brought her but she wasn’t overly animated or expressive as she watched the magic unfold around her.

What I didn’t know was that the magic wasn’t unfolding around her – it was unfolding inside of her.

I didn’t know it then, but joy was waiting for her when our log went flying down Splash Mountain. Joy was hiding behind the curtain that the princesses came out from; joy was in Elsa’s arms as she hugged her while cameras flashed. Joy was floating all around us when I leaned over to her during It’s A Small World and whispered that the ride looked the same as when I rode it as a little girl. Joy looked an awful lot like her first Mickey Mouse ice cream bar as it dripped down her hands. Joy chased her through Space Mountain and helped her score points with Buzz Lightyear’s help. Late that night, joy lit up the night sky much brighter than any fireworks ever could. As I watched her face in the glow of those fireworks I knew that, even if she didn’t know what word to assign to the emotion she was experiencing for the first time, I did.

After the fireworks ended, we made our way to the parking lot and took our place in line waiting for a bus back to our resort. We had been in line for a few minutes when I felt a tug at my shirt and turned to see her quietly crying next to me. I quickly bent down to her level and asked her what was wrong as I brushed the tears off her face only to hear her say words that made my heart soar:

“I think this is what joy must feel like.”

Critics might say that a parking lot is the unlikeliest of places for Disney magic to happen but they don’t know what you and I know – that the real magic of Disney isn’t found on Main Street or in a gift shop or even on any ride in the parks. The true magic of Disney is what happens inside of you when wonder and hope begin to take root and you start to believe that anything can happen with a little bit of magic.

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SOMETHING FISHY

 

SOMETHING FISHY
(author unknown)

After 37 years of marriage, Jake dumped his wife for his young secretary.

His new girlfriend demanded that they live in Jake and Edith’s multi-million dollar home. Since the man's lawyers were better, he prevailed.

He gave Edith, now his ex-wife, just three days to move out. She spent the first day packing her belongings into boxes, crates, and suitcases.

On the second day, she hired movers to come and collect her things.

On the third day, she sat down for the last time at their beautiful dining room table by candlelight, put on some soft background music, and feasted on a pound of shrimp, a jar of caviar, and a bottle of Chardonnay.

When she had finished eating, she went into each and every room and stuffed half-eaten shrimp shells dipped in caviar into the hollow of all of the curtain rods. She then cleaned up the kitchen and left.

When Jake returned with his new girlfriend, all was bliss for the first few days.

Then, slowly the house began to smell. They tried their best to clean, mop, and air the place out. Vents were checked for dead rodents and carpets were cleaned. Air fresheners were hung everywhere. Exterminators were brought in to set off gas canisters. During this time the couple had to move out for a few days.

In the end, they even had to replace the expensive wool carpeting. Nothing worked.

Their friends stopped coming over to visit. Repairmen refused to work in the house. Even the maid quit.

Finally, they could not take the stench any longer and decided to move.

A month later, they still couldn’t find a buyer for their house, which now reeked heavily.

Word about the house got out, and eventually even the local realtors refused to return their calls. Finally, they had to borrow a huge sum of money from the bank to purchase a new place.

The ex-wife called the man and asked how things were going. He told her of the rotting state the house was in. She listened politely and said that she missed her old home terribly.

She then said that she would be willing to reduce her divorce settlement if the house was returned to her.

Knowing his ex-wife had no idea how bad the smell was, he agreed on a price that was about 10 percent of what the house had been worth, but only if she were to sign the papers that very day.

She agreed, and within the hour his lawyers delivered the paperwork.

A week later, the man and his girlfriend stood smiling as they watched the moving company pack everything to take to their new home.

They even took the curtain rods. Hahahaha!

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THE LITTLE HAMMER

 

THE LITTLE HAMMER
(author unknown)

A giant ship's engine broke down and no one could repair it, so they hired a Mechanical Engineer with over 30 years of experience.

He inspected the engine very carefully, from top to bottom. After seeing everything, the engineer unloaded his bag and pulled out a small hammer.

He knocked something gently. Soon, the engine came to life again. The engine has been fixed!

A week later the engineer mentioned to the ship owner that the total cost of repairing the giant ship was $20,000.

"What?!" said the owner.

"You did almost nothing. Give us a detailed bill."

The answer is simple:

Tap with a hammer: $2

Know where to knock and how much to knock: $19,998

The importance of appreciating one's expertise and experience...because those are the results of struggles, experiments and even tears.

If I do a job in 30 minutes it's because I spent 20 years learning how to do that in 30 minutes. You owe me for the years, not the minutes.

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Because of Love

 

Because of Love... (author unknown)

A brother and sister had made their usual hurried, obligatory pre-Christmas visit to the little farm where dwelt their elderly parents with their small herd of horses. The farm was where they had grown up and had been named Lone Pine Farm because of the huge pine, which topped the hill behind the farm. Through the years the tree had become a talisman to the old man and his wife, and a landmark in the countryside. The young siblings had fond memories of their childhood here, but the city hustle and bustle added more excitement to their lives, and called them away to a different life.

The old folks no longer showed their horses, for the years had taken their toll, and getting out to the barn on those frosty mornings was getting harder, but it gave them a reason to get up in the mornings and a reason to live. They sold a few foals each year, and the horses were their reason for joy in the morning and contentment at day's end.

Angry, as they prepared to leave, the young couple confronted the old folks "Why do you not at least dispose of The Old One? She is no longer of use to you. It's been years since you've had foals from her. You should cut corners and save so you can have more for yourselves. How can this old worn out horse bring you anything but expense and work? Why do you keep her anyway?"

The old man looked down at his worn boots, holes in the toes, scuffed at the barn floor and replied, "Yes, I could use a pair of new boots. His arm slid defensively about the Old One's neck as he drew her near with gentle caressing he rubbed her softly behind her ears. He replied softly, "We keep her because of love. Nothing else, just love."

Baffled and irritated, the young folks wished the old man and his wife a Merry Christmas and headed back toward the city as darkness stole through the valley. The old couple shook their heads in sorrow that it had not been a happy visit. A tear fell upon their cheeks. How is it that these young folks do not understand the peace of the love that filled their hearts?

So it was, that because of the unhappy leave-taking, no one noticed the insulation smouldering on the frayed wires in the old barn. None saw the first spark fall. None but the "Old One".

In a matter of minutes, the whole barn was ablaze and the hungry flames were licking at the loft full of hay. With a cry of horror and despair, the old man shouted to his wife to call for help as he raced to the barn to save their beloved horses.. But the flames were roaring now, and the blazing heat drove him back. He sank sobbing to the ground, helpless before the fire's fury. His wife back from calling for help cradled him in her arms, clinging to each other, they wept at their loss.

By the time the fire department arrived, only smoking, glowing ruins were left, and the old man and his wife, exhausted from their grief, huddled together before the barn. They were speechless as they rose from the cold snow covered ground. They nodded thanks to the firemen as there was nothing anyone could do now.

The old man turned to his wife, resting her white head upon his shoulders as his shaking old hands clumsily dried her tears with a frayed red Bandana. Brokenly he whispered, "We have lost much, but God has spared our home on this eve of Christmas. Let us gather strength and climb the hill to the old pine where we have sought comfort in times of despair. We will look down upon our home and give thanks to God that it has been spared and pray for our beloved most precious gifts that have been taken from us.

And so, he took her by the hand and slowly helped her up the snowy hill as he brushed aside his own tears with the back of his old and withered hand.

The journey up the hill was hard for their old bodies in the steep snow. As they stepped over the little knoll at the crest of the hill, they paused to rest, looking up to the top of the hill the old couple gasped and fell to their knees in amazement at the incredible beauty before them.

Seemingly, every glorious, brilliant star in the heavens was caught up in the glittering, snow-frosted branches of their beloved pine, and it was aglow with heavenly candles. And poised on its top most bough, a crystal crescent moon glistened like spun glass. Never had a mere mortal created a Christmas tree such as this. They were breathless as the old man held his wife tighter in his arms.

Suddenly, the old man gave a cry of wonder and incredible joy. Amazed and mystified, he took his wife by the hand and pulled her forward. There, beneath the tree, in resplendent glory, a mist hovering over and glowing in the darkness was their Christmas gift. Shadows glistening in the night light.

Bedded down about the "Old One" close to the trunk of the tree, was the entire herd, safe.

At the first hint of smoke, she had pushed the door ajar with her muzzle and had led the horses through it. Slowly and with great dignity, never looking back, she had led them up the hill, stepping cautiously through the snow. The foals were frightened and dashed about. The skittish yearlings looked back at the crackling, hungry flames, and tucked their tails under them as they licked their lips and hopped like rabbits. The mares that were in foal with a new years crop of babies, pressed uneasily against the "Old One" as she moved calmly up the hill and to safety beneath the pine. And now, she lay among them and gazed at the faces of the old man and his wife.

Those she loved she had not disappointed. Her body was brittle with years, tired from the climb, but the golden eyes were filled with devotion as she offered her gift---

Because of love. Only Because of love.

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