Just when you're thinking life has some pretty rough edges
on it, we are touched by the gentler side of what God has give
us.
"Barney"
A four year old was at the pediatrician for a check up. As the
doctor looked down her ears with an otoscope, he asked, "Do
you think I'll find Big Bird in here?" The little girl stayed
silent. Next, the doctor took a tongue depressor and looked
down her throat. He asked, "Do you think I'll find the Cookie
Monster down there?" Again, the little girl was silent. Then
the doctor put a stethoscope to her chest. As he listened to
her heart beat, he asked, "Do you think I'll hear Barney in
there?" "Oh, no!" the little girl replied.
"Jesus is in my heart. Barney's on my underpants."
"Butterfly Kisses"
We often learn the most from our children. 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.
"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." "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 Mom," he shouted, and then said
those words that will remain a lesson to me: "I've been chosen
to clap and cheer."
"A Lesson In Heart"
A lesson in "heart" is my little, 10 year old daughter, Sarah,
who was born with a muscle missing in her foot and wears a brace
all the time. She came home one beautiful spring day to tell
me she had competed in "field day"- that's where they have lots
of races and other competitive events. Because of her leg support,
my mind raced as I tried to think of encouragement for my Sarah,
things I could say to her about not letting this get her down-but
before I could get a word out, she said, "Daddy, I won two of
the races!" I couldn't believe it! And then Sarah said, "I had
an advantage." Ahh. I knew it. I thought she must have been
given a head start... some kind of physical advantage. But again,
before I could say anything, she said, "Daddy, I didn't get
a head start... My advantage was I had to try harder!"
- Dr. Stanley Frager
www.frager.com
