Family

I ran into a stranger as he passed by, 'Oh excuse me please' was my reply.
He said, 'Please excuse me too; I wasn't watching for you.'

We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said goodbye.

But at home a different story is told.
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
my son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
'Move out of the way,' I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.
I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.

While I lay awake in bed, God's still small voice came to me and said,
'While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use,but the family you love, you seem to abuse.
Go and look on the kitchen floor, You'll find some flowers there by the door.
Those are the flowers he brought for you. He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.
He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise, you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.'

By this time, I felt very small,
and now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed;
'Wake up, little one, wake up,' I said...

'Are these the flowers you picked for me?'
He smiled, 'I found 'em, out by the tree.

I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue.'

I said, 'Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way.'

He said, 'Oh, Mom, that's okay.
I love you anyway.'

I said, 'Son, I love you too,
and I do like the flowers, especially the blue....'

Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us ina matter of days.
But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don't you think?
So what is behind the story?

Do you know what the word FAMILY means?
FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU


Marco's comment:

One of my friend, who feel it is an obligation to stay late at the office. With or without outstanding task, he normally stay until 9:00 to 10:00pm during every work days.

He is in the midst of getting a nanny to take care of his less than one-year-old daughter. I heard that he informed the prospected nanny that he and his wife need to work very late every day and expecting the nanny to take care of his daughter until night time everyday. I really doubt if he can get a right nanny that can give good care of his daughter and at the same time accepting the ridiculous request which is to take care of the baby from 7:00am to at least 9:00pm everyday.

The upbringing process of baby is extremely important. It is the parents duty to take care of the babies, not the grandparents nor the nanny and Indonesian maid. What is the point of having children while you are not taking care of them but your job? It is kind of selfish and irresponsible for giving an excuse that you have a day time job that need to work very late and push away the parenting responsibilities to the maid and nanny.

If you can't give your children and family the priority, it is better to stay bachelor. Agree?