The Ant & the Contact Lens

Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she was scared to death, she
went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took hold on the
rope and started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she
was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens.

Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet Below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course,
she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there. Here she was,
far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to
help her to find it.

When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact
lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it
up the face of the cliff.

She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the
Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You
know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting
up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?" Well, that
would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face
of the rock, carrying it.

Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer,
and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I don't know
why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me do, I'll carry it
for You." I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, "God, I don't know why you want me to carry
this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if you want Me to carry it, I will." God doesn't call the
qualified, He qualifies the called.

The Dart Board

A young lady named Sally, relates an experience she had in a seminary class, given by her teacher, whom
we'll call Brother Smith. She says Brother Smith was known for his elaborate object lessons. One
particular day, Sally walked into seminary and knew they were in for another fun day.

On the wall was a big target and on a nearby table were many darts. Brother Smith told the students to draw
a picture of someone that they disliked or someone who had made them angry, and he would allow them to
throw darts at the person's picture. Sally's girlfriend (on her right), drew a picture of a girl who had stolen her
boyfriend. Another friend (on her left), drew a picture of his little brother. Sally drew a picture of Brother Smith,
putting a great deal of detail into her drawing, even drawing pimples on his face. Sally was pleased at the
overall effect she had achieved.

The class lined up and began throwing darts, with much laughter and hilarity. Some of the students threw
their darts with such force that their targets were ripping apart. Sally looked forward to her turn, and was filled
with disappointment when Brother Smith, because of time limits, asked the students to return to their seats.
As Sally sat thinking about how angry she was because she didn't have a chance to throw any darts at her
target, Brother Smith began removing the target from the wall. Underneath the target was a picture of
Jesus ...

A complete hush fell over the room as each student viewed the mangled picture of Jesus; holes and jagged
marks covered His face and His eyes were pierced out. Brother Smith said only these words, "In as much as
ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me." No other words were
necessary; the tear-filled eyes of each student focused only on the picture of Christ. The students remained
in their seats . . . even after the bell rang . . . then slowly left the classroom, tears streaming down their faces.
Enough Said!!! "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to
one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'" Matthew 25:40

The Bridge

There was once a big turntable bridge, which spanned a large river. During most of the day, the bridge sat
with the length running up and down the river parallel with the banks allowing ships to pass freely on both
sides of the bridge. But, at certain times of the day, a certain train would come along and the bridge would be
turned sideways across the river allowing the train to cross. A switchman sat in a small shack on one side of
the river, where he operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place when the train crossed.

One evening, when the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the
distance, through the dimming twilight, and caught sight of the train's light. He stepped to the controls and
waited until the train was at a prescribed distance when he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into
position, but to his horror, he found that the locking control didn't work. If the bridge was not locked securely
into position, it would wobble back and forth at the ends when the train came to it, causing the train to jump
the track and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with many people aboard. He left the
shack with the bridge turned across the river, and hurried to the other side of the river, where there was a
lever, which he could use to operate the lock manually. He could hear the rumble of the train now, and leaned
backwards to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. Many lives depended upon this man's strength.

Then, coming across the bridge from the other direction, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold.
"Daddy, where are you?" His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first instinct was to
cry out to the child, "Run! Run!" But the train was too close. The tiny feet would never make it across the
bridge in time. The man almost left the lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety, but he
realized he could not get back to the lever in time. Either the people on the train, or his son, must die. He took
just a moment to make his decision.

The train sped swiftly and safely on its way, and no one on board was even aware of the tiny, broken body
thrown mercilessly into the river by the rushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of a sobbing
man, still clinging tightly to the locking lever long after the train had passed. They didn't see him walking
home more slowly than he had ever walked to tell his wife how he had sacrificed their son.

Now, if you can comprehend the emotions, which went through this man's heart, you can begin to understand
the feelings of our Heavenly Father, when He sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between us, and eternal
life. Can there be any wonder that he caused the earth to tremble and the skies to darken when His Son
died? And how does it feel when we speed along life without giving a thought to what was done for us
through Jesus Christ? When was the last time you thanked Him for the sacrifice of His Son? - Author
Unknown

Our Heavenly Father's Gifts

I asked God to take away my pride, And God said "No." He said it was not for him to take away, but for me to
give up. I asked God to make my handicapped child whole. And God said "No." He
said her spirit is whole, her body is only temporary.
I asked God to grant me patience. And God said "No." He said patience is a by-product of tribulations. It isn't
granted, it is earned.I asked God to give me happiness. And God said "No." He said he gives me blessings,
happiness is up to me. I asked God to spare me pain. And God said "No." He said suffering draws you apart
from worldly cares and brings you closer to Me.
I asked God to make my spirit grow. And God said "No." He said I must grow on my own. But he would prune
me to make me fruitful.
I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life. And God said "No." He said I will give you life, that you may
enjoy all things.
I asked God to help me LOVE others, as much as he loves me. And God said, Ah, finally you have the idea.
Amen!!!

A Letter To You From Satan

I saw you yesterday as you began your daily chores. You awoke without kneeling to pray. As a matter of
fact, you didn't even bless your meals, or pray before going to bed last night. You are so unthankful, I like
that about you. I cannot tell you how glad I am that you have not changed your way of living, fool, you are
mine.

Remember you and I have been going steady for years, and I still don't love you yet. As a matter of fact, I
hate you, because I hate God. I am only using you to get even with God. He kicked me out of heaven, and
I'm going to use you as long as possible to pay him back.

You see, FOOL, GOD LOVES YOU and HE has great plans in store for you. But you have yield your life to
me, and I'm going to make your life a living hell. That way, we'll be together twice. This will really hurt God.
Thanks to you, I'm really showing Him who's boss in your life with all of the good times we had. We have
been watching dirty movies, cursing people out, stealing, lying, being hypocritical, fornicating, overeating,
telling dirty jokes, gossiping, being judgmental, back stabbing people, disrespecting adults, and those in
leadership positions, no respect for the Church, bad attitudes. Surely you don't want to give all this up. Come
on, Fool, let's burn together forever. I've got some hot plans for us.

This is just a letter of appreciation from me to you. I'd like to say "THANKS" for letting me use you for most of
your foolish life. You are so gullible, I laugh at you. When you are tempted to sin, you give in HA HA HA, you
make me sick. sin is beginning to take it's toll on your life. You look 20 years older, and now, I need new
blood. So go ahead and teach some children how to sin. All you have to do is smoke, get drunk or drink while
under-aged, cheat, gamble, gossip, fornicate, and live being as selfish as possible. Do all of this in the
presence of children and they will do it too. Kids are like that.

Well Fool, I have to let you go for now. I'll be back in a couple of seconds to tempt you again. If you were
smart, you would run somewhere, confess your sins, and live for God with what little bit of life that you have
left. It's not my nature to warn anyone, but to be your age and still sinning, it's becoming a bit ridiculous. Don't
get me wrong, I still hate you. IT'S JUST THAT YOU'D MAKE A BETTER FOOL FOR CHRIST.