Story Time

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 even watching for you."
We were very polite, this stranger and I. We went on our way and we said good-bye.
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 daughter stood beside me very still.
When I turned, I nearly knocked her down. "Move out of the way," I said with a frown.
My daughter walked away, her little heart broken. I didn't realize how harshly I would spoken.
While I lay awake in bed, God's still small voice came to me and said,
"While dealing with a stranger (society), common courtesy you use, but the children you love, you seem to abuse. Look on the kitchen floor, you will find some flowers there by the door. Those are the flowers your daughter brought for you. She picked them herself, pink, yellow and blue. Your daughter stood quietly not to spoil the surprise, and you never saw the tears in her eyes."
By this time, I felt very small, and now my tears began to fall.
I quietly went and knelt by her bed; "Wake up, little girl, wake up," I said.
"Are these the flowers you picked for me?" My daughter smiled, "I found them, out by the tree. I picked them because they are pretty like you. I knew you would like them, especially the blue."
I said, "Daughter, I am sorry for the way I acted today; I should not have yelled at you that way." My daughter said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay. I love you anyway."
I said, "Daughter, I love you too, and I do like the flowers, especially the blue."

A father came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.
Son: "Father, may I ask you a question?"
Father replied: "Yeah sure, what it is?"
Son: "Father, how much do you make an hour?"
Father said angrily: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"
Son: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
Father: "If you must know, I make $20 an hour."
"Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down. Looking up, he said, "Father, may I please borrow $10?"
The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such childish behavior."
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. Father sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After about an hour or so, the father had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10 and he really didn't ask for money very often.
The father went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.
"Are you asleep, son?" Father asked.
"No Father, I am awake," replied the little boy.
"I have been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier," said the father. "It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $10 you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you Father!" He yelled.
Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.
The father, seeing that the little boy already had money, started to get angry again.
The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.
"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled.
"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.
"Father, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."
Moral of the Story: Share this story with someone you like... But even better, share $20 worth of time with someone you love. It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life.
We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.
If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.
But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family. An unwise investment indeed!
So what is the moral of the story?
Don't work too hard...and you know what the full word of FAMILY is?
FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER,(I)(L)OVE (Y)OU!