LOVE COMES IN DIFFERENT FORMS
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 for no apparent
reason. 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 over reaction, 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. In a very real
sense, each of us as parents has been given a gold container filled
with unconditional love and kisses from our children. There is no more
precious possession anyone could hold. So when someone offers you a
gift, that you do not understand, remember this story, and think about
what the gift meant to the person who gave it...
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