I'm thankful for Marriage! especially for the special women God put in my life! (God's letter to A Women)
Clay Balls
A man was exploring caves by the seashore.. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake.
They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw
the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.
He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!
Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him.
He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of
thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!
It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it.
We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.
There is a treasure in each one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.
May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God sees them.
I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with each of you. Thank you for looking beyond my clay vessel.
THORNS
Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes when she pulled open the
florist shop door, against a November gust of wind. Her life had been as
sweet as a spring breeze and then, in the fourth month of her second
pregnancy, a "minor" automobile accident stole her joy . This was
Thanksgiving week and the time she should have delivered their infant
son. She grieved over their loss.
Troubles had multiplied.
Her husband's company "threatened" to transfer his job to a new
location. Her sister had called to say that she could not come for her
long awaited holiday visit. What's worse, Sandra 's friend suggested
that Sandra 's grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow
her to empathize with others who suffer. "She has no idea what I'm
feeling," thought Sandra with a shudder "Thanksgiving? Thankful for
what?" she wondered.. "For a careless driver whose truck was hardly
scratched when he rear-ended me? For an airbag that saved my life, but
took my child's?"
"Good afternoon, can I help you?"
Sandra was startled by the approach of the shop clerk. "I . . . I need
an arrangement," stammered Sandra .
"For Thanksgiving? I'm convinced that flowers tell stories, " she
continued.. "Are you looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this
Thanksgiving?"
"Not exactly !" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything
that could go wrong has gone wrong."
Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the clerk said, "I
have the perfect arrangement for you."
Then the bell on the door rang, and the clerk greeted the new
customer....
"Hi, Barbara, let me get your order." She excused herself and walked
back to a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an
arrangement of greenery, bows, and what appeared to be long-stemmed
thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped:
there were no flowers.
"Do you want these in a box?" asked the clerk. Sandra watched - was this
a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers! She waited for
laughter, but neither woman laughed..
"Yes, please," Barbara replied with an appreciative smile. "You'd think
after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by it's
significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again," she said,
as she gently tapped her chest.
Sandra stammered, "Ah, that lady just left with . . . uh . . . she left
with no flowers!"
"That's right," said the clerk. "I cut off the flowers. That's the
'Special'. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet. Barbara came into
the shop three years ago, feeling much as you do today," explained the
clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had
just lost her father; the family business was failing; her son had
gotten into drugs; and she was facing major surgery. That same year I
had lost my husband," continued the clerk. "For the first time in my
life, I had to spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband,
no family nearby, and too much debt to allow any travel."
"So what did you do?" asked Sandra .
"I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly. "I've
always thanked God for the good things in my life and I never questioned
Him why those good things happened to me, but when the bad stuff hit, I
cried out, 'Why? Why me?!' It took time for me to learn that the dark
times are important to our faith ! I have always enjoyed the 'flowers'
of my life, but it took the thorns to show me the beauty of God's
comfort! You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're
afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others."
Sandra sucked in her breath, as she thought about what her friend had
tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't want comfort. I've lost
a baby and I'm angry with God."
Just then someone else walked in the shop.
"Hey, Phil !" the clerk greeted the balding, rotund man.
"My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement . . twelve
thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a
tissue wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.
"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind
telling me why she wants a bouquet that looks like that?"
"Four years ago, my wife and I nearly divorced," Phil replied. "After
forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and
guidance, we trudged through problem after problem, the Lord rescued our
marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems
to remind her of what she had learned from "thorny" times. That was good
enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to
label each one for a specific "problem" and give thanks for what that
problem taught us."
As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra , "I highly recommend the
Special !"
"I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life" Sandra
said to the clerk. "It's all too ..... fresh."
"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that
the thorns make the roses more precious. We treasure God's providential
care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember that it was a
crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love....Don't
resent the thorns."
Tears rolled down Sandra 's cheeks. For the first time since the
accident, she loosened her grip on her resentment. "I'll take those
twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out.
"I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in a
minute."
"Thank you. What do I owe you?"
"Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart...The
first year's arrangement is always on me."
The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra . "I'll attach this card to
your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first."
It read: "My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked
You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach
me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show
me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. Show me
that, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more
brilliant."
Praise Him for the roses; thank Him for the thorns.
God Bless you. Be thankful for all that the Lord does for you.
"Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, and leave the
rest to God."
God’s Letter to A Women
When I created the heavens and the earth, I spoke them into being.
When I created man, I found him and breathed life into his nostrils.
But you, woman, I fashioned after I breathed the breath of life into man because your nostrils are too delicate. I allowed a deep sleep to come over him so I could patiently and perfectly fashion you.
Man was put to sleep so that he could not interfere with the creativity.
From one bone, I fashioned you. I chose the bone that protects man's life.
I chose the rib, which protects his heart and lungs and supports him, as you are meant to do. Around this one bone, I shaped you...
I modeled you. I created you perfectly and beautifully. Your characteristics are as the rib, strong yet delicate and fragile.
You provide protection for the most delicate organ in man, his heart. His heart is the center of his being; his lungs hold the breath of life. The ribcage will allow itself to be broken before it will allow damage to the heart.
Support man as the rib cage supports the body.
You were not taken from his feet, to be under him, nor were you taken from his head, to be above him. You were taken from his side, to stand beside him and be held close to his side.
You are my perfect angel.. You are my beautiful little girl.
You have grown to be a splendid woman of excellence, and my eyes fill when I see the virtues in your heart.
Your eyes... don't change them.
Your lips, how lovely when they part in prayer.
Your nose, so perfect in form. Your hands so gentle to touch.
I've caressed your face in your deepest sleep.
I've held your heart close to mine.
Of all that lives and breathes, you are most like me.
Adam walks with me in the cool of the day, yet he was lonely. He could not see me or touch me. He could only feel me.
So everything I wanted Adam to share and experience with me, I fashioned in you; my holiness, my strength, my purity, my love, my protection and support.
You are special because you are an extension of me.
Man represents my image, woman my emotions.
Together, you represent the totality of God.
So man... treat woman well.
Love her, respect her, for she is fragile. In hurting her, you hurt me. What you do to her, you do to me. In crushing her, you only damage your own heart, the heart of your Father, and the heart of her Father.
Woman, support man.
In humility, show him the power of emotion I have given you. In gentle quietness, show your strength. In love, show him that you are the rib that protects his inner self.
Send this to the wonderful women you know and bless their day!
Send this to the men you know too. It's a good reminder for them!
1 comment:
Hey that was really encouraging to read Matt...thanks for posting those neat stories to help us with our attitudes and to be gratful. Thanks that was reall neat Matt!
Marilyn Chalmers
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