Post by Rhonda on Dec 7, 2007 4:03:21 GMT -5
A BEAUTIFUL HEART
One grandfather quipped about his grandchildren: "My grandkids are
four and six. The Pulitzer Prize winner is four and the brain surgeon
is six."
Parents and grandparents are understandably proud of the quick minds
and impressive talents of their little ones. But let me tell you about
another quality, perhaps even more important, found in a little girl
named Skylar.
I received a letter from a grandmother who told me about her four-
year-old granddaughter Skylar. Ever since Skylar learned of Disneyland
from TV, she saved her nickels and dimes in a piggy bank in hopes of
visiting there someday. Her parents surprised her with a trip
when she was four, however, and didn't even require her to use her own
money!
When Skylar returned it was Christmastime. She decided to buy presents
with her savings. But she also learned from announcements on TV about
a local homeless shelter called "The Road House." She repeatedly asked
her mother what "homeless" meant and why those children needed coats
and warm clothes. She couldn't seem to get the homeless off her mind.
Her mother took her to the store to buy presents. Instead of buying
for herself or her family, however, she decided to purchase a warmcoat,
socks, gloves and crayons for a little girl in the shelter. She
also wanted to buy a doll (a "baby," as she called it), but when she
discovered she didn't have enough money, she left the doll behind.
When Skylar got home, she lined up her own much-loved "babies" and
chose one she thought another child could also love. The baby went
into a box with the other items she bought that day.
She could hardly wait for Christmas! Skylar was not thinking about
Santa Claus or the presents she would be getting. She was thinking
about going to the shelter and giving her carefully selected
gifts to a homeless child.
On Christmas Eve she and her family drove to the shelter where Skylar
presented her Christmas box to a grateful little girl. She was so
filled with joy at truly helping someone else, that her family has
decided to make the journey to the homeless shelter an annual
tradition.
"Perhaps it's good to have a beautiful mind, but an even greater gift
is to have a beautiful heart," says Nobel Laureate John Nash ("A
Beautiful Mind"). Young Skylar has a beautiful heart. It is that
one quality, above all else, that makes beautiful people.
-- Steve Goodier
__________
__._,_.___
One grandfather quipped about his grandchildren: "My grandkids are
four and six. The Pulitzer Prize winner is four and the brain surgeon
is six."
Parents and grandparents are understandably proud of the quick minds
and impressive talents of their little ones. But let me tell you about
another quality, perhaps even more important, found in a little girl
named Skylar.
I received a letter from a grandmother who told me about her four-
year-old granddaughter Skylar. Ever since Skylar learned of Disneyland
from TV, she saved her nickels and dimes in a piggy bank in hopes of
visiting there someday. Her parents surprised her with a trip
when she was four, however, and didn't even require her to use her own
money!
When Skylar returned it was Christmastime. She decided to buy presents
with her savings. But she also learned from announcements on TV about
a local homeless shelter called "The Road House." She repeatedly asked
her mother what "homeless" meant and why those children needed coats
and warm clothes. She couldn't seem to get the homeless off her mind.
Her mother took her to the store to buy presents. Instead of buying
for herself or her family, however, she decided to purchase a warmcoat,
socks, gloves and crayons for a little girl in the shelter. She
also wanted to buy a doll (a "baby," as she called it), but when she
discovered she didn't have enough money, she left the doll behind.
When Skylar got home, she lined up her own much-loved "babies" and
chose one she thought another child could also love. The baby went
into a box with the other items she bought that day.
She could hardly wait for Christmas! Skylar was not thinking about
Santa Claus or the presents she would be getting. She was thinking
about going to the shelter and giving her carefully selected
gifts to a homeless child.
On Christmas Eve she and her family drove to the shelter where Skylar
presented her Christmas box to a grateful little girl. She was so
filled with joy at truly helping someone else, that her family has
decided to make the journey to the homeless shelter an annual
tradition.
"Perhaps it's good to have a beautiful mind, but an even greater gift
is to have a beautiful heart," says Nobel Laureate John Nash ("A
Beautiful Mind"). Young Skylar has a beautiful heart. It is that
one quality, above all else, that makes beautiful people.
-- Steve Goodier
__________
__._,_.___