Saturday, January 28, 2006

just in case your hut is on fire....

"Sarah," our granddaughter pictured above, sent this litte story to us...it has a good message... and I would like to pass it on. It goes as follows:

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island.
He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.

One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little
hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky he felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, "God!
How could you do this to me?"

Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship
approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary
man of his rescuers.
"We saw your smoke signal," they replied.

The Moral of This Story: It's easy to get discouraged when things are
going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground.
It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.

5 comments:

Motherkitty said...

My hut's been on fire about 20 times this year. It's still here, but there's a little scarring around the edges in some places.

Very nice message, although I don't know whether it's been a higher power or my own conscience getting me out of some jams.

Motherkitty said...

When we were visiting Gilbert and Jenny, Gilbert brought out a lot of photos. But, none of them were of your mother. We asked and asked, and he said he would continue to look, but he has never answered. And, we still don't have any pictures.

An Ode to a Lost Mother

An image of beauty lies hidden,
and we do know not where.
We beg them to search and reveal,
but what do they care.
Oh, where is that sweet image,
that lies deep in our mind?
And, where is the person we cherish,
so sacrificing and kind?
Not here in our broken heart,
nor here in our improvished soul,
But, we'll never stop searching, for
to find her is our everlasting goal.

(I posted this on Tomas' site, but it wasn't seen.)

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

Did you write 'An ode to a lost mother?'

I don't think that Gilbert would have any pictures of our mother, simply because, I think that Margie would have sent them to me when we were writing to each other.

Margie was a very caring person and if she would have had the pictures in her possession....she would not have hesitated to give them to me.

Motherkitty said...

Yes, I wrote it late last night.

Jellyhead said...

This is a good story to ponder. It does seem as though things often happen for a reason, although sometimes I don't know what that reason might be...like when a small child must go through a painful illness and death.

I think I actually beleive in a non-interventionalist God - a God that cannot change the course of events which we humans bring to pass. Otherwise, it's too awful...to think that God would let terrible things occur, to innocents, that could have been prevented.

OK maybe I got a little too serious here. I do like the story! It reminds us that what may seem bad news can sometimes actually be a blessing!