stories that inspire - Trees That Wood

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."

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 a 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 so 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, He 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.

A Box Full of Kisses

The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of
gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a
box to put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the
next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy."

The man was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found
out the box was empty. He yelled at her, stating, "Don't you know, when you give someone a
present, there is supposed to be something inside? The little girl looked up at him with tears in
her eyes and cried, "Oh, Daddy, it's not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They're all for you,
Daddy."

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.

Only a short time later, an accident took the life of the child. It is also told that her father kept that
gold box by his bed for many years and, whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an
imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

PUPPIES FOR SALE

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups
and set about Nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last
nail into the post, he Felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the Eyes of a
little boy.
Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies."
"Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "these
puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."
The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he
pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents.
Is that enough to take a look?"
"Sure," said the farmer.
And with that he let out a whistle,"Here,Dolly!" he called.
Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of
fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with
delight.

As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring
inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this One noticeably smaller.
 Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began
hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up....
"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt.
The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He
will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."
With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling
up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both
sides of his leg attaching itself To a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the
farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need Someone
who understands."

The world is full of people who need someone who understands

 Building Your House

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-
building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss
the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house as a
personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work.
He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a
dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-
door key to the carpenter and said, "This is your house... my gift to you."

The carpenter was shocked!

What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so
differently.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then,
with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it
much differently.

But, you cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or
erect a wall. Someone once said, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Your attitude, and the choices you
make today, help build the "house" you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, Build wisely!
 Mothers day - inspiring story about mother
( an inspiring motivational story )

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two
hundred miles away.
As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.
He asked her what was wrong and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother.
But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars."
The man smiled and said, "Come on in with me. I'll buy you a rose."
He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother's flowers.
As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home.
She said, "Yes, please! You can take me to my mother."
She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.
The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the
two hundred miles to his mother's house.

 Alexander Fleming
 

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to eke out a
living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and
ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and
struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow
and terrifying death.
The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly
dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming
had saved.
"I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life."
"No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer. At
that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.
"Is that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes," the farmer replied proudly.
"I'll make you a deal. Let me take him and give him a good education.
If the lad is anything like his father, he'll grow to a man you can be proud of."
And that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming's son graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical
School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir
Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.
Years afterward, the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia.
What saved him? Penicillin.
The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill.
His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.
 Sand and Stone
A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey
they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped
was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE."

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one, who
had been slapped, got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After the
friend recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SAVED MY LIFE."

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in
the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?"

The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds
of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must
engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND, AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN
STONE

Inspirational love stories -  Love and Time

Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness,
Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings
that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.

Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment.

When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.

Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said,

"Richness, can you take me with you?"
Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no
place here for you."

Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. "Vanity, please
help me!"
"I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.

Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, let me go with you."

"Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!"

Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love
called her.
Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder. So blessed and
overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at
dry land, the elder went her own way. Realizing how much was owed the elder,

Love asked Knowledge, another elder, "Who Helped me?"

"It was Time," Knowledge answered.
"Time?" asked Love. "But why did Time help me?"
Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered, "Because only Time is capable of
understanding how valuable Love is."

inspiring love story - The Rose Within

 

A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully and before it blossomed, he
examined it.

He saw the bud that would soon blossom, but noticed thorns upon the stem and he thought,
"How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns?
Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose, and just before it was ready to
bloom... it died.

So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose. The God-like qualities planted
in us at birth, grow amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only
the thorns, the defects.

We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the
good within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them. One
of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past the thorns of another,
and find the rose within them.