Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house...

In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore....

His mother, in the house, was looking out the window and saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, she ran toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother.

It was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him...from the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs...that began an incredible tug-of-war between the two....

The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go....

A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator. Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived....

His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal...and, on his arms, were deep scratches where his mother’s fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved...

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs; and then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, “but look at my arms...i have great scars on my arms, too...i have them because my mom wouldn’t let go....”

You and i can identify with that little boy...we have scars, too...

No, not from an alligator, or anything quite so dramatic...but, the scars of a painful past...some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret...but, some wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to let go....

In the midst of your struggle, he’s been there holding on to you...

This teaches us that God loves us...but sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations... the swimming hole of life is filled with peril -and we forget that the enemy is waiting to attack... that’s when the tug-o-war begins - and if you have the scars of His love on your arms, be very, very grateful...he did not - and will not - let you go...

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace... many artists tried...the king looked at all the pictures...but there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them...

One picture was of a calm lake...the lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it...overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds...all who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace...the other picture had mountains, too...but these were rugged and bare...above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played... down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall...this did not look peaceful at all....

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock...in the bush a mother bird had built her nest...there, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest - in perfect peace...

Which picture do you think won the prize? the king chose the second picture...do you know why?

“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace...” ^_^

Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived : happiness, sadness, knowledge, and all of the others, including love...one day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left...except for love...

Love was the only one who stayed...love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment...

When the island had almost sunk, love decided to ask for help...

Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat...love said,
“richness, can you take me with you?” ..

Richness answered, “no, i can’t. ..there is a lot of gold and silver in my boat...there is no place here for you...”

Love decided to ask vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel...“vanity, please help me!”...

“I can’t help you, love. ..you are all wet and might damage my boat,” vanity answered...

Sadness was close by so sove asked, “sadness, let me go with you.”...
“Oh . . . love, I am so sad that i need to be by myself!”....

Happiness passed by love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when love called her...

Suddenly, there was a voice, “come, love, i will take you.”... it was an elder...so blessed and overjoyed, love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going...when they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way...realizing how much was owed the elder,

Love asked knowledge, another elder, “who helped me?”...

“It was time,” knowledge answered....

“Time?” asked love... “But why did time help me?”

Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered, “because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is.”...

o_O

The boy and the apple tree….

A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree…a little boy loved to come and play around it everyday. He climbed to the treetop, ate the apples, took a nap under the shadow…he loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him…time went by and the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree every day.

One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad. “come and play with me the tree asked the boy. “i am no longer a kid, i do not play around trees any more the boy replied…

I want toys…i need money to buy them…sorry, but i do not have money, but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money..the boy was so excited…he grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily…the boy never came back after he picked the apples..the tree was sad… =(

One day, the boy who now turned into a man returned and the tree was excited…come and play with me the tree said. ..ido not have time to play…i have to work for my family…we need a house for shelter. can you help me ?? sorry, but i do not have any house.but you can chop off my branches to build your house…so the man cut all the branches of the tree and left happily…the tree was glad to see him happy but the man never came back since then..the tree was again lonely and sad… =(

One hot summer day, the man returned and the tree was delighted. “come and play with me !! the tree said. I am getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself…can you give me a boat ?? said the man. “use my trunk to build your boat….you can sail far away and be happy…so the man cut the tree trunk to make a boat…he went sailing and never showed up for a long time…

Finally, the man returned after many years… “sorry, my boy…but i do not have anything for you anymore…no more apples for you, the tree said. “no problem, i do not have any teeth to bite” the man replied. “no more trunk for you to climb on i am too old for that now the man said. “i really cannot give you anything… the only thing left is my dying roots the tree said with tears. “i do not need much now, just a place to rest…i am tired after all these years the man replied. “good! old tree roots are the best place to lean on and rest, come, come sit down with me and rest…the man sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears…

[ Quote ]

This is a story of everyone...
The tree is like our parents...
When we were young, we loved to play with our Mum and Dad…
When we grow up, we leave themconly come to them when we need something or when we are in trouble...

No matter what,
parents will always be there and...
give everything they could...
just to make you happy...

You may think the boy is cruel to the tree, but that is how all of us treat our parents...we take them for granted we don’t appreciate all they do for us, UNTIL it’s too late...