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The Pencil
The story is told of a Pencil Maker who took a pencil aside,
before putting him into the box. “There are five things you
need to know,” he told the pencil. “Before I send you out into
the world, I want you to know that your time is short. Never
forget these five things, and you will become the best pencil
you can be.
(1) You will be able to do many great things, but only if
you allow yourself to be held in someone’s hand.
(2) You will experience painful sufferings – sharpening
from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better
pencil.
(3) You will be able to correct any mistakes you might
make, don’t worry about it, we all make mistakes.
(4) The most important part of you is what’s inside, not
what others see on the outside.
(5) On every surface you must leave your mark; No matter
what the condition you must continue to write.
The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went
into the box with purpose in his heart. He made mistakes, but
he always rose above them and tried his best to repair them.
He did not take his short life for granted.
The Cracked Pot
A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on the end
of a pole which he carried
across his neck. One of the pots was perfectly made and never
leaked. The other pot had a
crack in it and by the time the water bearer reached his
master's house it had leaked much of
its water and was only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer
delivering only one and a half pots full
of water to his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was
proud of its accomplishments.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection,
and miserable that it was able
to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it
spoke to the water bearer one day
by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize
to you." "Why?" asked the
bearer. "What are you ashamed of?" "I have been able, for these
past two years, to deliver
only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to
leak out all the way back to
your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of
this work, and you don't get
full value from your efforts," the pot said.
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his
compassion he said, "As we
return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful
flowers along the path."
Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took
notice of the sun warming the beautiful
wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it a bit.
But at the end of the trail, it
still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so
again the pot apologized to the
bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were
flowers only on your side of your
path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have
always known about your flaw,
and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side
of the path, and every day
while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For two
years I have been able to
pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table.
Without you being just the way
you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house."
Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But
if we will allow it,
God will use our flaws to grace his table. In God's great
economy, nothing goes to waste.
Don't be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and you too can
be the cause of beauty.
Know that in our weakness we find our strength.
The Power of Words
A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of
them fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around
the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the two
frogs that they were as good as dead.
The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out
of the pit with all of their might. The other frogs kept telling
them to stop, that they were as good as dead.
Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs
were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.
The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once
again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and
just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out.
When he got out, the other frogs said, "Did you not hear us?"
The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they
were encouraging him the entire time.
This story teaches two lessons:
1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An
encouraging
word to someone who is down can lift them up and help
them make it through the day.
2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it
takes to kill them. Be careful of what you say. Speak life to
those who cross your path.
The power of words....it is sometimes hard to understand that
an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can
speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue
in
difficult times.
Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage
another.
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