E-Mail from Grandma

Sometimes we have to be reminded more than once
about things we should know.
 
F A M I L Y
 
I ran into a stranger as he passed by,

‘Oh excuse me please’ was my reply.

He said, ‘Please excuse me too;

I wasn’t watching for you.’

 
We were very polite, this stranger and I.

We went on our way and we said goodbye.

 
But at home a different story is told,

How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

 
Later that day, cooking the evening meal,

My son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.

‘Move out of the way,’ I said with a frown.

 
He walked away, his little heart broken.

I didn’t realize how harshly I’d spoken.

 
While I lay awake in bed,

God’s still small voice came to me and said,

 
‘While dealing with a stranger,

common courtesy you use,

but the family you love, you seem to abuse.

 
Go and look on the kitchen floor,

You’ll find some flowers there by the door.

 
Those are the flowers he brought for you.

He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.

 
He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,

you never saw the tears that filled his little
eyes.’

 
By this time, I felt very small,

And now my tears began to fall.

 I quietly went and knelt by his bed;

‘Wake up, little one, wake up,’ I said.

 
‘Are these the flowers you picked for me?’

He smiled, ‘I found ‘em, out by the tree.
 
I picked ‘em because they’re pretty like you.

I knew you’d like ‘em, especially the blue.’
 
I said, ‘Son, I’m very sorry for the way I acted
today;

I shouldn’t have yelled at you that way.’

He said, ‘Oh, Mom, that’s okay.

I love you anyway.’
 
I said, ‘Son, I love you too,

and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.’

 
FAMILY

Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company

that we are working for could easily replace us in

a matter of days.

But the family we left behind will feel the loss

for the rest of their lives.

 
And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more

into work than into our own family,

an unwise investment indeed,

don’t you think?

So what is behind the story?

 
Do you know what the word FAMILY means?

FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

Pass this message to 7 people except you and me ..
 
You will receive a miracle tomorrow.

Don’t ignore and God will bless you
     
 

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One day, when I was a freshman in high school,
I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.
His name was Kyle.It looked like he was carrying all of his books.
I thought to myself,"Why would anyone bring home all of his books
on a Friday?
HE must be a nerd.’ I had quite a weekend planned
(parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon),

so I shrug my shoulders and went on.
As I was walking,I saw a bunch of kids running towards him.
They ran at him, knocking all of his books out of his arms and
tripping him so he landed in the dirt.

His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him.

He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes.

My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him as he crawled
around looking for his glasses, and
I saw a tear in his eye.

As I handed him his glasses, I said, ‘Those guys are jerks.’They
really should get lives. ‘He looked at me and said,’ Hey thanks!’

There was a big smile on his face.
IT was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.

As it turned out, he lived near me,so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to a private school before now.

I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.
We talked all the way home,and I carried some of his books.

He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends. He said  yes.
We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.

Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with a huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, ‘Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!

‘He just laughed and handed me half of the books.
Over the next four years, Kyle and I became  best friends.

When we were seniors we began to think about college.
Kyle decided to go on Georgetown and I was going to Duke.
I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem.

He was going to be a doctor and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class.
I teased him all the time about being a nerd.
He had to prepare a speech for graduation.

I was glad it wasn’t me having to get up there and speak.
Graduation day, I saw Kyle.
He looked great.
He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.

He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.
He had more dates then I had and all the girls loved him.

Boy, sometimes I was jealous!
Today was one of those day.I could see that he was nervous about his speech.
So, I smacked him on his back and said , Hey big guy, you"ll be great!’

He looked at me with one of those looks(the really grateful one) and smiled.    ‘Thanks’ he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began

‘Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years..
Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe your coach…but mostly your friends…

I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.
I am going to tell you a story.’

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day met.

He had planned to kill himself over the weekend….
He talked about how he cleaned out his
locker so his Mom wouldn’t have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home.
He looked hard at me and gave me  a little smile.
‘Thankfully, I was saved.

My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.’

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome,popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.

I saw his Mom and Dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.
Not until that moment did I realized it’s depth.

Never underestimate the power of you actions.

With one small gesture you can change a person’s life.

For better or for worse.

God puts us all in each others lives to impact one another in some way.

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what goes around comes around 

 

One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.

Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look safe; he looked poor and hungry.

He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was those chills which only fear can put in you.

He said, "I’m here to help you, ma’am. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson."

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.

As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her aid.

Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan   added, "And think of me."

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn’t erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan .

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin.

There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: "You don’t owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you."

Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard….

She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, "Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson."

There is an old saying "What goes around comes around." Today, I sent you this story and I’m asking you to pass it on… Let this light shine.

Don’t delete it, don’t return it. Simply, pass this on to a friend.

Good friends are like stars….You don’t always see them, but you know they are always there.

          "Remember with Jesus anything is possible"

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