Sand and Stone

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE."

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one, who had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After the friend recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE."

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?"

The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND, AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE

Endless and Overflowing Grace

It amazes me how quickly time flies! Becoming a mom somehow made time kick into warp speed! It's crazy that this pic was taken almost a year ago. She's grown up so much and changed so much in just one little year. I ran across this pic today. It is one of my very favorites. I can't put into words why. It just is. I could just stare at her for hours. What a precious angel! The innocence is overwhelming. The purity takes my breath away. New life, what an amazing thing. We both gave each other the gift of brand new life. Me to her, and her to me, and God---the creator and orchestrator of it all. I remain awestruck to this day about how He gave her to me. Nothing short of a miracle. She and I both started new lives together. Thank you God for my miraculous little angel and for your amazing grace. I desperately needed it and you graciously flooded my life with it. She's my living, breathing proof! I pray the tears of joy and gratitude rolling down my cheeks never dry up. Year after precious year, I will thank you for my angel and for your love and grace. Thank you Father for loving me when I was unlovable and forgiving me when I was unforgivable, and for blessing me when I needed it most. It saved my life. She saved my life. YOU saved my life. All I have and all that I am is yours.