Nails in the Fence

                                             

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a
bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer
a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into
the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the
number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it
was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his
father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for
each day that he was able to hold his temper. The day passed and the young
boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took
his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, “You have done well, my
son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When
you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife
in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the
wound is still there.” A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

~ Author Unknown ~

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given
a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods but he
could never hit the target. And getting a little discouraged he headed back
to dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma’s pet duck. Just out of
impulse, he let a rock fly from his slingshot, hit the duck square in the head,
and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck
in the woodpile, only to see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she
said nothing.

After lunch that day grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally
said, “Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today,
didn’t you Johnny?” And then she whispered to him, “Remember, the duck?”
So Johnny did the dishes. Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to
go fishing, and Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I need Sally to help make
supper.” But Sally smiled and said, “Well, that’s all right because Johnny
told me he wanted to help.” and she whispered again, “Remember, the
duck?” So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed.

After several days of Johnny doing both his and Sally’s chores, he finally
couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he
killed the duck. She knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, “Sweetheart, I
know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing.
But because I love you, I forgave you. But I was just wondering how long
would you let Sally make a slave of you.”

I don’t know what’s in your past. I don’t know what one sin the enemy
keeps throwing up in your face. But whatever it is, I want you to know
something. Jesus Christ was standing at the window. And He saw the
whole thing. But because He loves you, He has forgiven you. Perhaps
He’s wondering how long you’ll let the enemy make a slave out of you.
The great thing about God is that He not only forgives, but He forgets.

~ Author Unknown ~

                                              Psalms 103:11 - 12
                      For as the heavens are high above the earth,
                   so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
                                 as far as the east is from the west,
                    so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
 

                                              • To See
                                              • To Hear
                                              • To Touch
                                              • To Taste
                                              • To Feel
                                              • To Laugh
                                              • To Love.”

The room was totally quiet. The things we overlook as simple and ordinary
and that we take for granted are truly wondrous. The most precious things
in life cannot be built by hand or bought by man.

                           Each day comes bearing a special gift.
                                             Untie the ribbons!
 

A woman was waiting at an airport one night,
She hunted for a book in the airport shops,
bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

She was engrossed in her book but happened to see,
that the man sitting beside her, as bold as could be,
grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between,
which she tried to ignore, to avoid a scene.

She read, munched cookies and watched the clock,
as the gutsy “cookie thief ” diminished her stock.
She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,
thinking, “If I wasn’t so nice, I’d blacken his eye!”

With each cookie she took, he took one too,
when only one was left, she wondered what he’d do.
With a smile on his face, and a nervous laugh,
he took the last cookie and broke it in half.

He offered her half, as he ate the other.
She snatched it from him and thought, “Oh, brother,
this guy has some nerve, and he’s also rude,
why, he didn’t even show any gratitude!”

She had never known when she had been so galled,
and sighed with relief when her flight was called.
She gathered her belongings and headed to the gate,
refusing to look back at the “thieving ingrate.”

She boarded the plane and sank in her seat,
then she sought her book, which was almost complete.
As she reached in her baggage,
she gasped with surprise,
there was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes!

“If mine are here,” she moaned in despair,
“then the others were his, and he tried to share!”
Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,
that she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief!

~ Valerie Cox ~

How many times in our lives, have we absolutely known that
something was a certain way, only to discover,
often too late, we were wrong.