" THE PERFECT HEART " (A touching story...) One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart. Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, "Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine." The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn't fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing. [align=center][img]http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/9504/02bg9.gif[/img][/align] The people stared - how can he say his heart is more beautiful, they thought? The young man looked at the old man's heart and saw its state and laughed. "You must be joking" he said. "Compare your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears." "Yes," said the old man, "Yours is perfect looking but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love - I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren't exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared. Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges -- giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?" [align=center][img]http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/9553/45098030ns3.png[/img][/align] The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man's heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side by side. How sad it must be to go through life with a whole untouched heart ! " WARM HEARTS " (Something to think about...) The cold weather of Winter returned to the mountains of my home recently. Several inches of fresh snow fell again covering the landscape in white. Steam rose from my breath as I walked my dogs outside. A quiet peace filled the woods around me as I smiled and breathed in deep the chill of the air. I didn’t mind that my nose was numb and my fingers felt like ice. I didn’t mind that my feet were cold and my lips were chapped. I didn’t even mind that my middle-aged bones were aching a bit. I didn’t mind any of it, because my heart was warm. My heart was warm with the beauty of the evening sunset over the far mountains. My heart was warm with the delight of watching my dogs jumping joyfully in the snow. My heart was warm with the peace and love of God that I felt within me and all around me while I walked over this sparkling field of white. I was thinking too that if God can keep our hearts warm in the middle of a cold Winter’s day then God can keep our hearts warm in the middle of a sometimes cold world. Yes, this world is often full of heart freezing hate, bone chilling apathy, and bitterly cold meanness. Sometimes we worry about even going out in it for fear that it will turn our own souls to ice. God’s love, however, is always there waiting to keep us warm and waiting to help us warm the world around us as well. God loves us so much. He gives us so much peace, love, joy, beauty, and delight to warm our hearts, souls, and minds. He gives us so many opportunities to choose and share this glorious warmth everyday of our lives. He gives us all the chance to be one with Him and to help Him bring this warmth to the world. It is up to us, however. We can wrap ourselves and others in the warm coat of God’s love and joy or we can continue to shiver out in the cold. (Source: Unknown) We may run, walk, stumble, drive, or fly, but let us never lose sight of the reason for the journey, or miss a chance to see a rainbow on the way. " " A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance." (Ecclesiastes 3:4 KJV) " He heals the brokenhearted, and binds their wounds." (Psalm 147:3 NASB "The bottom line of my life is living and walking by Faith, not by fear." " God is greater than my failure and success." " Thank you, God, for the mountains in my life that You and I are turning into miracles."