To All You Clay Balls.................

[chrischris]

A man was exploring caves by the Seashore. In one of the caves he found a
canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had
rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look
like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave
with him.

As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time
out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought little about it, until he
dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock .. Inside was a
beautiful, precious stone!

Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each
contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels
in the 20 or so clay balls he had left.

Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown
maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean
waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken
home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!

It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and
we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the
outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it. We see
that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well
known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure
hidden inside that person.

There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get
to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He
sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to
shine forth.

May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown
away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay.
May we see the people in our world as God sees them.

I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with you. Thank you for
looking beyond my clay vessel.

'Do not ask the Lord to Guide your Footsteps if you are not willing to MOVE
your Feet

[hurt at work]

chrischris.
your so rite i have clay balls LOL.LOL. good post. you know i love my wife and my daughter more then anything and thank for reminding me to keep up hope.i needed this .there are time i feel like a loser because i cant do what i use to.i made alot of money in my old job,BUT,BUT nothing comes close to the love of family.to me ur all my family and i love my family and I THINK OF YOU ALL AS FAMILY. this is such a good place.sorry its been one of those days.i would tell you all that i love you,well i can and i will.thnx i love all of you,you all have really helped alot.please be well. remember there allways some here to help.thank god for that not all people are that way love you all.

[vickinat]

Chris,
That was a beautifull story and is so true. Like the old saying that beauty is not only skin deep, it's whats inside that counts. Thank you for this insprirational story.
Love
Vickie

[RNvic]

CC, what a beautiful and true story.

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light, and
Where there is sadness, joy.


Grant that I may not so much
Seek to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

[jayne]

oh chris and BB how beautiful...

[red1030]

CC and BB they are both beautiful both with such meaning. How I wish that our world would function on those principals. Thanks for sharing. Love Red

[Alec-Eldifrawi]

Good story, sometimes is hard to see the valuable inside of people.