The Golden Gift
Some time ago, a friend of mine punished his 3-year-old daughter for
wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight, and he
became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under
the tree.
Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the
next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy." He was embarrassed
by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he
found that the box was empty. He yelled at her, "Don't you know that
when you give someone a present, there's supposed to be something
inside of it?"
The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said,
"Oh, Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into the box. All for
you, Daddy."
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and
he begged her forgiveness. My friend told me that he kept that gold
box by his bed for years. Whenever he was discouraged, he would take
out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had
put it there. In a very real sense, each of us as parents has been
given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses from
our children. There is no more precious possession anyone could
hold.
The Most Caring Child
Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he
was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most
caring child.
The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an
elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the
man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed
onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he
had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,
"Nothing ... I just helped him cry."
Two Nickels and Five Pennies
When an ice cream sundae cost much less, a boy entered a coffee shop
and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.
"How much is an ice cream sundae?"
"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of
coins in it.
"How much is a dish of plain ice cream?" he inquired.
Some people were now waiting for a table, and the waitress was impatient.
"Thirty-five cents," she said angrily.
The little boy again counted the coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream."
The waitress brought the ice cream and walked away. The boy
finished, paid the cashier, and departed. When the waitress came
back, she swallowed hard at what she saw.
There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five
pennies -- her tip.
What It Means to Be Adopted
Teacher Debbie Moon's first graders were discussing a picture of
a family. One little boy in the picture had a different color hair
than the other family members.
One child suggested that he was adopted and a little girl
named Jocelynn Jay said, "I know all about adoptions because I was
adopted."
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"What does it mean to be adopted?" asked another child.
"It means," said Jocelynn, "that you grew in your mommy's heart
instead of her tummy."
Discouraged?
As I was driving home from work one day, I stopped to watch a local
Little League baseball game that was being played in a park near my
home.
As I sat down behind the bench on the first-baseline, I asked one of
the boys what the score was.
"We're behind 14 to nothing," he answered with a smile.
"Really," I said. "I have to say you don't look very discouraged."
"Discouraged?" the boy asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"Why should we be discouraged? We haven't been up to bat yet."
Roles And How We Play Them
Whenever I'm disappointed with my spot in my life, I stop and think
about little Jamie Scott. Jamie was trying out for a part in a
school play.
His mother told me that he'd set his heart on being in it, though she
feared he would not be chosen. On the day the parts were awarded, I
went with her to collect him after school. Jamie rushed up to her,
eyes shining with pride and excitement. "Guess what Mum," he
shouted, and then said those words that will remain a lesson to me:
"I've been chosen to clap and cheer!"
