“Total Acceptance”

He had finally decided to ask his employer for a raise. Before leaving for work he told his wife what he was about to do. All day long she felt apprehensive. Finally, late in the afternoon, he summonsed the courage to approach his boss. To his delight he was given his raise.

Elated, he arrived home to a beautiful table set with their best china & lit candles. Smelling the aroma of a specially prepared meal, he figured that somebody from the office had called his wife & tipped her off.

Finding her in the kitchen he shared the good news. They embraced and danced around together before sitting down to a wonderful meal. Next to his plate he found an artistically lettered note that read, “Congratulations, dear! I knew you would get the raise in salary. The dinner is to show you how much I love you.”

Later, on his way to the kitchen to assist his wife serve dessert, he noticed a second card that had fallen from her pocket. Picking it up off the floor he read, “Don’t worry about not getting the raise! You deserve it anyway. This dinner is to show you I love how much I love you.”

Total acceptance! Total love! She stood behind him, no matter what – softening the blows, healing the wounds, believing in him. We can be rejected by many – as long as we are loved by one!

The poet wrote, “Love in your heart is not put there to stay. Love is not love, till you give it away.”

Today, find a way to show your love!

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Ten year old Maria lived in a village in Central Chile. When her mother died she became ‘mother of the house’, caring for her father who worked the niteshift at a local mine. One evening as she was packing his lunch box, she slipped a Gospel booklet inside that she had received from a missionary worker, hoping he would find comfort after the loss of his wife.

Suddenly @ 1.00am an emergency whistle sounded, calling the townspeople to come with shovels & help dig for miners caught in a cave-in. Emergency crew worked through the night & finally broke through to a small cavern where they found the miners. Sadly, they were too late. All eight men had suffocated. The rescuers were devastated.

As they surveyed the scene, they noticed that the men had died seated in a circle. Looking closer they discovered that Maria’s father was sitting with a small booklet in his lap, open to the last page where the plan of salvation was clearly explained. On that page Maria’s father had written her a special message:

“My dear Maria, by the time you read this , I will be with your mother. I read your little book, then I read it several times to the others while we waited to be rescued. Our hope is fading for this life – but not for the next. We did as the book told us & prayed, asking Jesus into our hearts. I love you very much, & one day soon we will all be together in heaven.”

Are you going to heaven too?