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GOD CREATES FATHERSWhen the good Lord was creating Fathers, he started with a tall frame. A female angel nearby said, "What kind of a Father is that? If you're going to make children so close to the ground, why have you put the Father up so high?
He won't be able to shoot marbles without kneeling, tuck a child in bed without bending, or even kiss a child without stooping" God smiled and said, "Yes, but if I make him child size, who would children have to look up to?"
And when God made a Father's hands, they were large. The angel shook her head and said,"Large hands can't manage diaper pins, small buttons, rubber bands on pony tails, or even remove splinters caused from baseball bats."
Again God smiled and said, "I know, but they're large enough to hold everything a small boy empties from his pockets, yet small enough to cup a child's face in them."
Then God molded long slim legs and broad shoulders, "Do you realize you just made a Father without a lap?" The angel chuckled. God said, "A Mother needs a lap. A Father needs strong shoulders to pull a sled,
to balance a boy on a bicycle, or to hold a sleepy head on the way home from the circus."
When God was in the middle of creating the biggest feet any one had ever seen, the angel could not contain herself any longer. "That's not fair. Do you honestly think those feet are going to get out of bed early in the morning when the baby cries, or walk through a birthday party without crushing one or two of the guests?" God again smiled and said, "They will work. You will see. They will support a small child who wants to ride to Branbury Cross or scare mice away from a summer cabin, or display shoes that will be a challenge to fill."
God worked throughout the night, giving the Father few words, but a firm authoritative voice;
eyes that see everything, but remain calm and tolerant. Finally, almost as an after thought, He added tears. Then he turned to the angel and said,
"Now are you satisfied he can love as much as a Mother can?" The angel said nothing more.
-- Erma Bombeck
FRIENDS ARE ANGELS WHO LIFT US OFF OUR FEET WHEN OUR WINGS HAVE TROUBLE REMEMBERING HOW TO FLY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE TEACUPAuthor Unknown A couple vacationing in Europe went strolling down a little street
and saw a quaint little gift shop with a beautiful teacup in the window. The
lady collected teacups and she wanted this one for her collection, so she
went inside to buy the teacup, and as the story goes the teacup spoke and said
----- "I want you to know that I have not always looked like this. It took
the process of pain to bring me to this point. You see, there was a time
when I was just clay and the Master came and he pounded me and he squeezed
me and he kneaded me and I screamed: "STOP THAT!!". But he just smiled
and said, "Not yet".
Then he took me and put me on the shelf and I went round and round and
round and round...and while I was spinning and getting dizzier and
dizzier I screamed again and I said, "Please get me off this thing...please get
me off!!!" And the Master was looking at me and he was smiling, as
he said, "Not yet".
Then he took me and walked toward the oven and shut the door and turned
up the heat and I could see him through the window of the oven and it
was getting hotter and hotter and I thought, "He's going to burn me to death!!".And I started pounding on the inside of the oven and I said, "Master, let me out, let me out, let me out!!", and I could see that
he was smiling as he said
"Not yet".
Then he opened the door and I was fresh and free and he took me out
of the oven and he put me on the table and then he got some paint and a
paintbrush.
He started dabbing me and making swirls all over me and I started to
gag and I said: "Master, stop it.. stop it.. stop it please...you're making
me gag".He just smiled as he said
"Not yet".
Then very gently he picked me up again and he started walking toward
the oven and I said, "Master, NO!! Not again, pleeeease!!". He opened
the oven
door and he slipped me inside and he shut the door and this time he
turned the heat up twice as hot as before and I thought, "He's going to kill
me!!",
I looked through the window of the oven and I started to pound on it, saying, "Master... Master, please let me out... please let me out...
let me out!!".I could see that he was smiling but I also noticed a tear trickle down his
cheek as I watched him mouth the words,
"Not yet!!"
Just as I thought I was about to die, the door opened and he reached
in ever so gently and took me out, fresh and free and he went and placed me
on a high shelf and he said: "There, I have created what I intended. Would
you
like to see your yourself?" I said, "Yes". He handed me a mirror and
I looked and I looked again and I said, "That's not me, I'm just a lump
of clay".
He said, "Yes, that IS you, but it took the process of pain to bring
you to this place. You see, had I not worked you when you were clay, then
you would have dried up.
If I had not subjected you to the stress of the wheel you would have crumbled.
If I had not put you into the heat of the oven you would have cracked. If I had not painted you there would be no colour in your life. But, it was the second oven that gave you the strength to endure. Now you are everything I intended you to be - from the beginning." And I, the teacup, heard myself saying something I never thought I
would never hear myself saying, "Master, forgive me, I did not trust you. I thought you were going to harm me, I did not know you had a glorious future and a hope for me. I was too shortsighted, but I want to thank
you........... I want to thank you for the suffering. I want to thank you for the process of pain. Here I am! I give you myself - fill me; pour from me, use me as you see fit. I really want to be a vessel that brings you glory within
my life."
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