A place in the family

A  soldier was finally coming home after having  fought in Vietnam.

...he lost an arm and a leg

He called his parents from San Francisco. ”Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favour to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring home with me." "Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him." "There's something you should know”, the son continued, " he was hurt pretty badly - he stepped on a land mind and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to live with us." "I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help

I want him to live with us

him find somewhere to  live." "No, Dad, I want him to live with us." "Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us, and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I  think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a  way to live on his own."

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him.

The police believed it was suicide.

A few days later, however, they received a call from the San  Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide.

The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognised him, but to their horror they also  discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and one leg.

we don't like people who...make us feel uncomfort- able

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don't like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are.

Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way

Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love, and that welcomes us with open arms, forever into His family, regardless of how messed up we are.

Oh, and tonight, before you tuck yourself in, why not ask God to give you the strength to accept people as they are, after all, He does!