| A frail
old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year
old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred,
and
his step faltered. The family ate together at the table. But the
elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating
difficult.
Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass,
milk
spilled on the tablecloth. The son and daughter-in-law became
irritated
with the mess. "We must do something about Grandfather," said the
son. "I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food
on the floor." So the husband and wife set a small table in the
corner.
There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed
dinner.
Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a
wooden
bowl. When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he
had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple
had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled
food.
The four-year-old watched it all in silence.
One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?" Just as sweetly, the boy responded, "Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work. The words so struck the parents that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family, and for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled. Children are remarkably perceptive. Their eyes ever observe, their ears ever listen, and their minds ever process the messages they absorb. If they see us patiently provide a happy home atmosphere for family members, they will imitate that attitude for the rest of their lives. The wise parent realizes that every day the building blocks are being laid for the child's future. Let's be wise builders and role models. "Lord, we
ask not that you move the mountains, but that You give us
the
You know your living in 2002 when... 1. You just tried to enter your password on the microwave. 2.
You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family
of
3.
You call your son's beeper to let him know it's time
to eat.
4. Your daughter sells Girl Scout Cookies via her web site. 5.
You email several times a day with a stranger from South
Africa,
6.
You check the ingredients on a can of chicken noodle
soup
7.
Your grandmother asks you to send her a JPEG file of
your
8.
You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone
to
9.
Every commercial on television has a web-site address
at the
10. You buy a computer and 6 months later it is out of
date and now
11. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you
didn't have
12. Using real money, instead of credit or debit, to make
a purchase
13. Cleaning up the dining room means getting the fast
food bags out
14. Your reason for not staying in touch with family is
that they do
15. You consider second-day air delivery painfully slow. 16. Your dining room table is now your flat filing cabinet. 17. Your idea of being organized is multiple-colored Post-it notes. 18. You hear most of your jokes via e-mail instead of in person.
19. You get an extra phone line (or a ADSL/cable modem)so
you can get
20. You disconnect from the Internet and get this awful
feeling, as
21. You get up in morning and go online before getting your coffee.
22. You wake up at 2 am to go to the bathroom and check
your E-mail
23. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. 24. You are reading this. 25. Even worse, you're going to forward it to someone else by e-mail! (Author
unknown)
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