For the last 20 years I have presented the Gospel to each new youth at the highly secure prison for the kids ages 13 to 19 at Gainesville, Texas. It is the first time that most any of them have stopped “running on the streets” and had the time to think about their life. Most every one made a decision to make God part of their life. After our hour+ together I would write each one a letter. As a result I corresponded more with many of them. And in each letter I would enclose a group of short stories or poems. They really liked them, especially those with an emotional message. You probably would not believe how many locked-up prison boys have loved theses little stories, and read them over and over.
In my soon to be published book I enclosed a long list of those short stories in the Appendix. Since the prison boys liked them so much, I thought you may like to see some of them. So, here is a 27th group of them for you. And you are welcome to share them with others.
Ron
WRONG E-MAIL ADDRESS
A couple from Minneapolis decided to go to Florida to thaw out during one particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the very same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.
Because of hectic activities, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.
The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an e-mail to his wife.
However, he accidentally left out one letter in her e-mail address, and without realizing his error, he sent the e-mail.
Meanwhile…..somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral. He was a minister of many years who was called home to glory following a sudden heart attack The widow decided to check her e-mail, expecting messages from relatives and friends.
After reading the first message, she fainted. The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:
To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I’ve Arrived
Date: Jan 8, 2015
I know you’re surprised to hear from me.
They have computers here now and you are allowed to send e-mails to your loved ones.
I’ve just arrived and have been checked in.
I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow.
Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
P.S. Sure is hot down here!
You Are Beautiful
You are beautiful. . .
It’s a phrase that my mother used a lot.
I used to wonder, “How in the world can Mother call them beautiful?”
I am a logical, statistical man. I call things as I see them. I didn’t always see beauty.
My mother would tell people this with an enthusiasm they could feel. She was genuine. She wasn’t telling them they were beautiful to get something from them. Most of the time, they were trying to get something from her.
I wondered for years what was wrong with Mother’s perception and vision. Couldn’t she see that all of the people she called beautiful, weren’t beautiful?
You were beautiful only if you had a certain figure and face that was classed as beautiful by the laws of the world and glamour. Yet when my mother spoke, people smiled as though Glamour magazine had listed them as one of the beautiful people of the year.
It took me years to finally understand my mother’s vision and the phrase, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” My mother had a spirit that could see the beauty in every person.
Most only look on the outside and then compare what they see with the standards the world has given them. That was what I was doing.
Today when you leave your house, carefully look at the first person whom you see and notice how beautiful they are.
They may be balding, fat, wrinkled, pimply, or any of the other things the world frowns upon as beauty.
Look at them closely and look for the beauty. If you really look, you’ll see it.
I didn’t believe that at first until I tried it. Sure enough, as I stared and opened another set of eyes, I was able to see the beauty in every person. No matter how rough or worn a person looked, each pain etched line held a glimpse of beauty.
You just had to look for the beauty. It’s there.
When you get a chance today, look hard at each person. You will start to see the beauty of every human who you didn’t know existed. Trust me and try this. If you sincerely look, you will see it.
When you get home after seeing the beauty in faces you see, look in the mirror.
You are beautiful.
Thank you mama for all of the beauty that you have not only seen, but added.
You’re Fired!
“You’re fired.” Some people let the phrase get to them. Others use it as a launching pad to superstardom. In his book, “We’re Fired…and It’s the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Us,” Harvey Mackay brings us some inspirational stories of rejects turned-celebrities. Turns out the road to fame isn’t so smooth.
Elvis Presley The King got fired from a music studio in 1954. He was told, “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, son. Go back and drive a truck.” Tell that to the thousands of Elvis impersonators who sing his tunes decades after his death.
Walt Disney Disney was fired from a newspaper for lack of ideas. The Walt Disney Company, with its animated movies, theme parks, television stations and more, is now a multibillion-dollar empire.
Joanne Kathleen (a.k.a. J.K.) Rowling The author of the mega-popular Harry Potter books was canned from a secretarial job after she got caught using the company computer to write creative stories. She used her severance pay to write Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, using grant money to finish it after she ran out of cash. The Harry Potter series became a global craze and Rowling became a billionaire.
Larry King Before he ruled CNN, Larry King wrote a column for the Miami Herald. The Herald’s editor fired him for being too chummy with his subjects. His way with people paid off, though; few politicians or celebrities ever bypass “Larry King Live.”
Burt Reynolds “You can’t act,” Burt Reynolds was told when he was fired from one of his acting jobs. He later became the No. 1 box office draw for five consecutive years.
Steve Jobs He co-founded Apple Computer in his garage, and then got fired from his own company. Jobs picked up the pieces and bought a majority share in Pixar in 1986. Nine years later, he won an Oscar for Toy Story. In 1996, he was back at Apple.
Abraham Lincoln Abe Lincoln failed in business in 1831 and again in 1833. In the meantime, he ran for state legislator and lost. His sweetheart died in 1835, and he had a nervous breakdown the next year. He lost the nomination to Congress in 1843, was defeated again for Congress in 1848 and 1855 and lost the vice presidency of the United States in 1856. Then he ran for Senator in 1858 and lost.
In 1860 Abe Lincoln was elected president of the United States. The rest is history.
Time
“There was a small gold box that his dad kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he’d ever tell me was ‘the thing I value most,’ Jack said.
It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.
“Now I’ll never know what was so valuable to him,” Jack said. “I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom.”
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. “Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days,” the note read.
Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small package was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago.. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. “Mr. Harold Belser” it read. Jack took it out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack’s hands shook as he read the note inside.
Upon my death, please forward this package and its contents to Jack Belser. It’s the thing I valued most in my life.” A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch.
Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved:
“Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser.” The thing he valued most was…..my time.
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. “Why?” Janet, his assistant asked.
“I need some time to spend with my son,” he said.
“Oh, by the way, Janet, thanks for your time!”
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True Texan Tales 