The 3 Trees

Here’s a special story I’d like to share with all of you on this Sunday Christmas morning. This is shared via FB by Malinesky, a dear friend from Victoria, Australia. Original author unknown.

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Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, “Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty.”

Then the second tree said, “Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.”

Finally the third tree said, “I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the Hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.”

redwoodhikes.com

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, “This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter,” and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree the woodsman said, “This looks like a strong tree. I should be able to sell it to the shipyard.” The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the Woodsmen said, “I don’t need anything special from my Tree, I’ll take this one,” and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces, and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams. Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn’t think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and He stood and said “Peace” and the Storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don’t seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, God will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don’t always know what God’s plans are for us.

We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

Abandoned Babies?!

It is quite alarming. Within the last week only, five babies were reported in the news to have been abandoned in different places in Manila. Only one was found alive and the rest were found dead. What’s happening?

A couple of days ago, one newly-born baby was found in an airplane comfort room. Luckily he was still alive and was immediately brought to the hospital. The possible mother was recently traced and denied of doing the abandonment of the baby. Another baby was found in a ship, also in the rest room, but was already dead. The mother was also traced and admitted the crime. She said she got scared when she accidentally delivered the baby while urinating. Quite an excuse.

Yesterday, two fetuses were found in two different churches in Manila. One was found along the one of the seats in Manila Cathedral. One was found along the entrance of Quiapo Church. This morning, another fetus was found along the streets of Catmon, Malabon.

As a nurse, I am pro-life and so it is disheartening to know that there are some people who can just decide to take away innocent lives. I tend to think that there must be serious problems with the coming of that baby. I know that there are some therapeutic reasons for terminating pregnancies, but other than those reasons, I feel that taking away the baby’s right to live cannot be justified by whatever problems there can be, be it poverty or  marital issues. If only the baby could talk to defend his life!

There are other means to solve unwanted pregnancy problems. Institutions like Norfil Foundation can help mothers who are in this situation. They take care of the pregnant mother until the baby is delivered. And if it has been decided that the mother can not take care of the baby, the agency looks for a foster parent for the baby.

Life is sometimes a joke. I know lots of couple who were wishing to have even one baby. Yet there are others who does not want them and decide to take away their baby’s life.

I wish that people who decide to abandon their babies realize that it is a very big mistake to refuse this special gift from Above. I believe that all babies are unique and special. Although it may not be obvious when the unwanted baby is born, but his value as a gift will unfold when he is also regarded as unique, special and very much wanted.

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picture credits: mobshare.in, news.pinkpaper.com

Chicken Ala Carte

I Buy My Time

I attended a workshop on time management a few months back and one point that was emphasized in the lecture was that “we can’t buy time.” Once time is gone, you can never get it back. Spending time on non-sense stuff can never be returned back to be used again.

However, I still feel that in one way or another we CAN buy time. When I say “buying” means the use of money. How I do it?

1.  There are several ways to go to work -by public bus, which passes by every 30 minutes, or by taxi which you can take anytime. The bus is a much cheaper way but it would take me a longer time to reach my workplace, because it stops every now and then at many bus stops. But most of the time, I take the taxi to get to work, because I arrive early at work and the extra minutes I get is used to prepare my self for work. And since it only takes a short time to get to work with the taxi, I didn’t have to wake up early. That means I can sleep that few minutes in the morning and get up without rushing. That means I can stay up a bit late the previous night to be with my family. I feel that I “bought” time by taking the cab instead of the much cheaper bus.

2.  Coming home from work would be the same. Instead of waiting for the public bus, I take the cab again to reach home early. That means I will be spending the extra minutes at home resting and enjoying with my family, than spending it outside the streets waiting for the bus to come and then standing inside a full-packed bus. I get to eat dinner early too.

If you have the budget to spend on “time” why not buy it for some quality life? Indeed, once time passes, it can never be bought back.

An Hour of Your Time

A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his 5 year old son waiting for him at the door.

“Daddy, may I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man.

“Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?

“That’s none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily.

“I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy.

“If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.”

“Oh,” the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?”

The father was furious. “If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you’re being so selfish. I work long, hard hours everyday and don’t have time for such childish games.”

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy’s questioning. How dare him ask such questions only to get some money.

After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00, and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door. “Are you asleep son?” he asked.

“No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy.

“I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man. “It’s been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here’s that $10.00 you asked for.”

The little boy sat straight up, beaming. “Oh, thank you daddy!” he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man.

“Why did you want more money if you already had some?” the father grumbled.

“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied.

“Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?”

(repost/author unknown)