A little wisdom first:…………………

“The enemy surrounds us. Don’t let one escape.” — Vance Havner

“One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests.” — John Stuart Mill

“By starving emotions we become humorless, rigid and stereotyped; by repressing them we become literal, reformatory and holier-than-thou; encouraged, they perfume life; discouraged, they poison it.” — Joseph Collins

Don’t be a slave to your past ………

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with, out in the woods. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit the target. Getting discouraged, he headed back to dinner.

As he was walking back, he saw Grandma’s pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let fly, hit the duck square in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved.

In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch that day Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today, didn’t you, Johnny?”

And then she whispered to him, “Remember the duck?”

So Johnny did the dishes.

Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing, and Grandma said, “I’m sorry, but I need Sally to help me make supper.”

But Sally smiled and said, “Well, that’s all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help.”

And she whispered again, “Remember the duck?”

Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, he finally couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he killed the duck.

She knelt down, gave him a hug, and said “Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. But because I love you, I forgave you. But, I was just wondering how long would you let Sally make a slave of you.”

Are you lettting yourself be made a slave of your mistakes? Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get moving!

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