Sometimes I’m a little slow at getting messages from God. It seems He has to tell me many times, in many ways until I finally get it. Lately it’s been about not looking at my outside, but looking at the treasure within. After a couple messages to remind me of this within 24 hours, I received the following story in an email from my friend, Roger Cooper. A friend shared it with him over breakfast last Saturday.

“A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups – porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: “Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you’re drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups… And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate.”

Hugs to you for sharing Roger!

And a couple quick smile notes:

Driving with my friend, Cassie (8) to a local park, she said she was waiting for spring to come because the flowers look like they’re laughing!

During the Great Backyard Bird Count (if you missed it this year, it’ll be President’s Day weekend again next year), one lady commented on taking photos of blue sky (no tree limbs, no clouds, just sky). A friend had told her not all blue skies are same and he can tell where they’re from. Well, he looked at her photo album of blue skies and they all looked the same! Got me to wondering if there was something I could begin collecting photos of from all over. Hmm….