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The List that was Treasured!

One day Maths teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.

Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling.

'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and,

'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another.

That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in 'Kargil' war and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never attended Funeral of a serviceman before. He looked so handsome, so mature.

The place was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk. The teacher was the last one to bless.

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her.

'Were you Sanjay's math teacher?' he asked.

She nodded: 'yes.'

Then he said: 'Sanjay talked about you a lot..'

After the funeral, most of Sanjay's former classmates were there. Sanjay's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher..

'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. 'They found this on Sanjay when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.'

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Sanjay's classmates had said about him.

'Thank you so much for doing that,' Sanjay's mother said..

'As you can see, Sanjay treasured it.'

All of Sanjay's former classmates started to gather around.

Arjun smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list.. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.'

Prithwiraj's wife said, 'Prithwiraj asked me to put his in our wedding album.'

'I have mine too,' Rashmi said. 'It's in my diary'.

Then Deepali, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group.

'I carry this with me at all times,' Deepali said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'.

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Sanjay and for all his friends who would never see him again.

The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day.

And we don't know when that one day will be. So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.

If you're 'too busy' to take those few minutes right now to forward this message on, would this be the VERY first time you didn't do that little thing that would make a difference in your relationships?

The more people that you send this to, the better you'll be at reaching out to those you care about. Remember, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.

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'The Obedient Wife'

There was a man, who had worked all his life, had saved all of his money,  

And was a real miser when it came to his money. 
 
Just before he died, he said to his wife...'When I die, I want you to take all my money and put it in the casket with me.  
 
I want to take my money to the afterlife with me.' 
 
And so he got his wife to promise him, with all of her heart, that when he died, she would put all of the money into the casket with him. 
 
Well, he died.
 
He was stretched out in the casket, his wife was sitting there - dressed in black, and her friend was sitting next to her. When they finished the ceremony, and just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said, 
 
'Wait just a moment!' 

 
She had a small metal box with her; she came over with the box and put it in the casket. Then the undertakers locked the casket down and they rolled it away. 
 
So her friend said, 
'Girl, I know you were not foolish 
enough to put all that money in there with your husband.' 
 
The loyal wife replied, 
'Listen, I'm a Christian; 
 
I cannot go back on my word. I promised him that I was going to put that money into the casket with him.' 
You mean to tell me you put that money in the casket with him!?!?!?'  

'I sure did,' said the wife. 

'I got it all together, put it into my account, and wrote him a cheque....  

If he can cash it, then he can spend it.' 

Better to try and Fail

The Tea Cup

There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup.They said, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful."

As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke. "You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup.

There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, "let me alone", but he only smiled, "Not yet."

"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said, "and suddenly I was spun around and around and around.Stop it! I'm getting dizzy! I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.'

Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as He shook his head, 'Not yet.'

Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'There, that's better,' I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'

Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head saying, 'Not yet.'

Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and said, 'Look at yourself.And I did. I said, 'That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.'

'I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you'd have dried up. know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked.

I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any color in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven,you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.


MORAL:

God knows what He's doing (for all of us). He is the Potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us, so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not tempt you beyond what you can bear; but with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.