Judge me by the footprints i leave behid

A story is told about a soldier who has finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Fransisco.

“Mom and Dad, I’m coming home, but I’ve got a favor to ask. I have a friend I’d like to bring with me”.
“Sure,” they replied,” we’d love to meet him.”
“There’s something you should know the son continued,” he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mined and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us.”
“I’m sorry to hear that son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live.”
“No, Mom and Dad, I want to live with us.”
“Son,” said the father, “you don’t know what you‘re asking. Someone with such handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can’t let something like this interferes with our lives. I think you should just come and forget about this guy. He’ll find a way to live on his own.”

At the point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however they received a call from the San Fransisco police. Their son had died after failing from a building, they were told. The Police believed it was suicide. The griefs stricken parents flew to San Fransisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn’t know, their son had only one arm and one leg.

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good looking or fun to have around, but we don’t like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren’t as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are. Thankfully, there’s someone who won’t treat us that way. Someone who loves us with unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we is.

Tonight, before you tuck yourself in for the night, say a little prayer that God will gives you the strength you need to accept people as they are, and to help us all be more understanding of those who are different from us!

There’s a miracle called - Friendship - that dwells in the heart. You don’t know how it happens or when it gets started. But you know the special lift It always brings and you realize that Friendship is God’s most precious gift!