meaningful stOries

A GLASS OF MILK

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry.

He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk.

He drank it slowly, and then asked, "How much do I owe you?"."You don't owe me anything," she replied."Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness." He said..... "Then I thank you from my heart." As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.

Years later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.
Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes.

Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor's gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special
attention to the case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill
was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill.
She read these words..... "Paid in full with one glass of milk"

(Signed)
Dr. Howard Kelly.

Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed: "Thank You, God, that Your love has spread abroad through human hearts and hands."

A Sandpiper To Bring You Joy

She was six years old when I first met her on the beach near where I live. I drive to this beach, a distance of three or four miles, whenever the world begins to close in on me. She was building a sand castle or something and looked up, her eyes as blue as the sea. "Hello," she said. I answered with a nod, not really in the mood to bother with a small child.
"I'm building," she said.
"I see that. What is it?" I asked, not caring.
"Oh, I don't know, I just like the feel of sand." That sounds good, I thought, and slipped off my shoes. A sandpiper glided by.
"That's a joy," the child said.
"It's a what?"
"It's a joy. My mama says sandpipers come to bring us joy." The bird went gliding down the beach.
"Good-bye joy," I muttered to myself, "hello pain," and turned to walk on. I was depressed; my life seemed completely out of balance.
"What's your name?" She wouldn't give up.
"Ruth," I answered. "I'm Ruth Peterson."
"Mine's Wendy... I'm six."
"Hi, Wendy." She giggled.
"You're funny," she said. In spite of my gloom I laughed too and walked on. Her musical giggle followed me. "Come again, Mrs. P," she called. "We'll have another happy day."
The days and weeks that followed belong to others: a group of unruly Boy Scouts, PTA meetings, and ailing mother. The sun was shining one morning as I took my hands out of the dishwater. "I need a sandpiper," I said to myself, gathering up my coat. The ever-changing balm of the seashore awaited me. The breeze was chilly, but I strode along, trying to recapture the serenity I needed. I had forgotten the child and was startled when she appeared.
"Hello, Mrs. P," she said. "Do you want to play?"
"What did you have in mind?" I asked, with a twinge of annoyance.
"I don't know, you say."
"How about charades?" I asked sarcastically. The tinkling laughter burst forth again.
"I don't know what that is."
"Then let's just walk." Looking at her, I noticed the delicate fairness of her face. "Where do you live?" I asked.
"Over there." She pointed toward a row of summer cottages. Strange, I thought, in winter.
"Where do you go to school?"
"I don't go to school. Mommy says we're on vacation." She chattered little girl talk as we strolled up the beach, but my mind was on other things. When I left for home, Wendy said it had been a happy day. Feeling surprisingly better, I smiled at her and agreed.
Three weeks later, I rushed to my beach in a state of near panic. I was in no mood to even greet Wendy. I thought I saw her mother on the porch and felt like demanding she keep her child at home. "Look, if you don't mind," I said crossly when Wendy caught up with me, "I'd rather be alone today." She seems unusually pale and out of breath.
"Why?" she asked.
I turned to her and shouted, "Because my mother died!" and thought, my, why was I saying this to a little child?
"Oh," she said quietly, "then this is a bad day."
"Yes," I said, "and yesterday and the day before and-oh, go away!"
"Did it hurt? " she inquired.
"Did what hurt?" I was exasperated with her, with myself.
"When she died?"
"Of course it hurt!!!!" I snapped, misunderstanding, wrapped up in myself. I strode off.
A month or so after that, when I next went to the beach, she wasn't there. Feeling guilty, ashamed and admitting to myself I missed her, I went up to the cottage after my walk and knocked at the door. A drawn looking young woman with honey-colored hair opened the door. "Hello," I said. "I'm Ruth Peterson. I missed your little girl today and wondered where she was."
"Oh yes, Mrs. Peterson, please come in. Wendy spoke of you so much. I'm afraid I allowed her to bother you. If she was a nuisance, please, accept my apologies."
"Not at all-she's a delightful child," I said, suddenly realizing that I meant it. "Where is she?"
"Wendy died last week, Mrs. Peterson. She had leukemia. Maybe she didn't tell you." Struck dumb, I groped for a chair. My breath caught. "She loved this beach; so when she asked to come, we couldn't say no. She seemed so much better here and had a lot of what she called happy days. But the last few weeks, she declined rapidly..." her voice faltered. "She left something for you ... if only I can find it. Could you wait a moment while I look?" I nodded stupidly, my mind racing for something, anything, to say to this lovely young woman. She handed me a smeared envelope, with MRS. P printed in bold, childish letters.
Inside was a drawing in bright crayon hues-a yellow beach, a blue sea, and a brown bird. Underneath was carefully printed: A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY. Tears welled up in my eyes, and a heart that had almost forgotten to love opened wide. I took Wendy's mother in my arms. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I muttered over and over, and we wept together. The precious little picture is framed now and hangs in my study. Six words -one for each year of her life - that speak to me of harmony, courage, undemanding love. A gift from a child with sea-blue eyes and hair the color of sand --who taught me the gift of love.

Two meaningfully educative stories that I think can be recommended to teachers to use as a skill for intensive/EXTENSIVE READING ACTIVITY inside the class.

YOU ARE VERY GENEROUS TO SUGGEST THIS ACTIVITY INSIDE THIS SITE FROM WHICH TEACHERS CAN ASK FOR RESOURSES AS HELPFUL AS THAT GLASS OF MILK.

YOUR KINDNESS IS/CAN NEVER BE PAID IN RETURN.

meaningful stOries 28010710

saidani miloudi
flower

A useful link to share and discover:

http://www.khayma.com/culture-space/englishversion-shortstory-text2.htm
السعيداني الميلودي flower

saidani miloudi

The second story is too long and written in small characters.

saidani miloudi
flower

I think it's the better now!

Mr Driss Boudhan
saidani m.
flower

The king

and
the flowers
flower

A king had a wonderful talent for growing flowers and was looking for someone to succeed him. He decided he would let the flowers decide so he gave everyone a little seed. The one who would produce the most beautiful flower from the seed would be the next king.

A girl called Serena was overwhelmed by the beauty and determined to grow the most beautiful flower. She planted it in a nice pot, took great care for it, but nothing would grow.

The next year she saw everyone gathering at the palace with pots full of beautiful flowers. She was disappointed but also went to the meeting with her empty pot. The king inspected all the flower pots and then stopped at hers.
'Why is your pot empty?, he asked.
'Your highness, I did everything to make it grow, but I have failed', she answered.
'No, you didn't fail', he replied.' You see, the seeds I've given out were all roasted, so nothing could come out of them. I have no idea where all these flowers come from. But you have been honest and by being so, have deserved to be my heir. You will be our queen'.

short but revealing a lot...i think it's the main problem in our relationships...we are expecting people to hold our hands rather than holding theirs...

A little girl and her father were crossing a bridge.

The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter:

Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river. The
little girl said:

No, Dad. You hold my hand.

What's the difference? Asked the puzzled father.

There's a big difference, replied the little girl.

If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let
your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what
happens, you will never let my hand go.

thanks dear hAsnAe for this short but very beautiful & deeply meaningful

The real flower

This is an Arab story

When the queen of Sheba was visited by the famous prophet & king Solomon, who she really wanted to surpass in wisdom, she gave him a kind of riddle. She took him to an area in her palace where extraordinary artists had laid out an amazing artificial field with artificial flowers. The sea of colourful flowers rippled softly in a breeze that had also been created artificially.
Colours, scents and wind could not be distinguished from the real thing.
The queen spoke: ‘One out of all these flowers is real, king Solomon. Could you point it out to me?’
Solomon looked around closely. He used all his senses and concentrated very hard, but could not pick out the real flower. He started to perspire heavily and said to the queen of Sheba:’It is very warm here. Would you please ask your servant to open a window?’
The queen gave orders for a window to be opened.
‘That is the real flower,’ said king Solomon a little while later.
He pointed. There was no mistake. A bee had flown in through the window and had landed on the only real flower.

i think it's an indian story

The parrot

There once was a man who loved to listen to a holy teacher, but never made the effort to put his lessons into practice.

Once his parrot, who could speak well, asked where he went every day.
The man replied that he would like to find out more about God and liberation and that was why he went to listen to a holy man. The parrot wanted the man to ask the holy man the following question on his behalf: “How can I be liberated?”

The man put the question before the holy man, who immediately sank down to the ground, as if he suddenly passed out. The onlookers were very cross with the man, as he had asked such a crude question and they asked him to leave straight away. When the man came home, he told the parrot the whole story. The next morning he found the parrot lying still in his cage. The man assumed that he was dead and opened the cage to take him out.

The parrot flew immediately to the branch of a tree, however, and said: “I understood the holy man’s message and now I’m free. It would be good for you if you too would follow the holy man’s instructions.”

Meaningful stories indeed.I LIKE THEM MUCH.I read them feeling inside a green flourishing gardn of multicolored tulips and violet roses.

Thnx Med.

saidani miloudi

A wealthy factory owner saw to his horror a fisherman lying around lazily next to his boat smoking a pipe.
‘Why aren’t you fishing?’ asked the factory owner. ..
‘Because I have caught enough fish for today,’ said the fisherman. ‘Why don’t you catch a few more?’
‘What would I do with them?’
‘You could earn money,’ was the answer. ‘With which you could have an engine fixed to your boat to go further at sea and catch more fish.’ ‘Then you would earn enough to buy nylon nets. These would bring in more fish and more money. Soon you would have enough money to have two boats….maybe even an entire fleet.
Then you would be a rich man like me.’
‘What would I do then?’
‘You could really enjoy life then.’
‘And what do you think I’m doing now?’, replied the fisherman.

Impossible to Please

A group of girlfriends is on vacation when they see a 5-story hotel with a sign that reads: "For Women Only." Since they are without their boyfriends and husbands, they decide to go in.

The bouncer, a very attractive guy, explains to them how it works. "We have 5 floors. Go up floor by floor, and once you find what you are looking for, you can stay there. It's easy to decide since each floor has a sign telling you what's inside."

So they start going up and on the first floor the sign reads: "All the men on this floor are short and plain." The friends laugh and without hesitation move on to the next floor.

The sign on the second floor reads: "All the men here are short and handsome." Still, this isn't good enough, so the friends continue on up.

They reach the third floor and the sign reads: "All the men here are tall and plain."

They still want to do better, and so, knowing there are still two floors left, they continued on up.

On the fourth floor, the sign is perfect: "All the men here are tall and handsome." The women get all excited and are going in when they realize that there is still one floor left. Wondering what they are missing, they head on up to the fifth floor.

There they find a sign that reads: "There are no men here. This floor was built only to prove that there is no way to please a woman."

What a pity!!!

yes friend, come rain, come sun; women are never happy !

One fine day, a bus driver went to the bus garage, started his bus, and drove off along the route. No problems for the first few stops - a few people got on, a few got off, and things went generally well.

At the next stop, however, a big hulk of a guy got on. Six feet eight,built like a wrestler, arms hanging down to the ground. He glared at the driver and said, “Big John doesn't pay!" and sat down at the back.

Did I mention that the driver was five feet three, thin, and basically meek? Well, he was. Naturally, he didn't argue with Big John, but he wasn't happy about it. The next day the same thing happened - Big John got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat down. And the next day, and the next.

This grated on the bus driver, who started losing sleep over the way Big John was taking advantage of him. Finally he could stand it no longer. He signed up for body building courses, karate, judo, and all that good stuff.

By the end of the summer, he had become quite strong; what's more, he felt really good about himself. So on the next Monday, when Big John once again got on the bus and said, " Big John doesn't pay!"

The driver stood up, glared back at the passenger, and screamed, “And why not?"

With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied, " Big John has a bus pass."

A little boy went into a drug store, reached for a soda carton and pulled it
over to the telephone. He climbed onto the carton so that he could reach the buttons on the phone and proceeded to punch in seven digits.

The store-owner observed and listened to the conversation:

The boy asked, "Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?
The woman replied, "I already have someone to cut my lawn."
"Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price of the person who cuts your lawn now." replied boy.

The woman responded that she was very satisfied with the person who was presently cutting her lawn.
The little boy found more perseverance and offered, "Lady, I'll even sweep your curb and your sidewalk, so on S! Sunday you will have the prettiest lawn in all of North Palm beach, Florida."

Again the woman answered in the negative.

With a smile on his face, the little boy replaced the receiver.
The store-owner, who was listening to all this, walked over to the boy and
said, "Son... I like your attitude; I like that positive spirit and would like
to offer you a job."

The little boy replied, "No thanks, I was just checking my performance and the job I already have.I am the one who is working for that lady"

Crashing Cans

A wise old gentleman retired and purchased a modest home near a junior high school. He spent the first few weeks of his retirement in peace and contentment. Then a new school year began.

The very next afternoon three young boys, full of youthful, after-school enthusiasm, came down his street, beating merrily on every trash can they encountered. The crashing percussion continued day after day, until finally the wise old man decided it was time to take some action.

The following afternoon, he walked out to meet the young percussionists as they banged their way down the street. Stopping them, he said, "You kids are a lot of fun. I like to see you express your exuberance like that. Used to do the same thing when I was your age. Will you do me a favor? I'll give you each a dollar if you'll promise to come around every day and do your thing."

The kids were elated and continued to do a bang-up job on the trash cans.

After a few days, the old-timer greeted the kids again, but this time he had a sad smile on his face. "This recession is really putting a big dent in my income," he told them. "From now on, I'll only be able to pay you 50 cents to beat on the cans."

The noisemakers were obviously displeased, but they did accept his offer and continued their afternoon ruckus.

A few days later, the wily retiree approached them again as they drummed their way down the street. "Look," he said, "I haven't received my Social Security check yet, so I'm not going to be able to give you more than 25 cents. Will that be okay?"

"A lousy quarter?" the drum leader exclaimed. "If you think we're going to waste our time, beating these cans around for a quarter, you're nuts! No way, mister. We quit!" And the old man enjoyed peace and serenity for the rest of his days.

The Butterfly

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly
One day a small opening appeared
He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours
It struggled to force its body through that little hole
Then it seemed to stop making any progress
It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could
And it could go no farther.

So the man decided to help the butterfly
He took a pair of scissors and snipped off
The remaining bit of the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily, BUT,
It had a swollen body and small, shrivelled wings
He continued to watch the butterfly
He expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge
And the body would contract
Neither happened!
In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling
Around with a swollen body and shrivelled wings.
It was never able to fly.

The man acted with well-intentioned kindness
But he didn't understand the consequences.
The restricting cocoon and the struggle required to get
Through the tiny opening, were nature's way of forcing fluid
From the body of the butterfly once it achieved it's freedom
From the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life.
If nature allowed us to go through life without any
Obstacles, it would cripple us.
We would not be as strong as we could have been
And we could never fly
Have a great day, great life, and struggle a little.
Then fly!

really great & deeply inspirational story dear hala. thanks a lot for your beautiful choice.

meaningful stOries FE_DA_080225nature_kids

And A Meadow Lark Sang

"The child whispered, 'God, speak to me' And a meadow lark sang. The child did not hear.

So the child yelled, 'God, speak to me!' And the thunder rolled across the sky but the child did not listen.

The child looked around and said, 'God let me see you' and a star shone brightly but the child did not notice.

And the child shouted, 'God show me a miracle!' And a life was born but the child did not know.

So the child cried out in despair, 'Touch me God, and let me know you are here!' Whereupon God reached down and touched the child.

But the child brushed the butterfly away and walked away unknowingly."

the story of the pencil

paulo coelho

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter , at one point he asked:

'Are you writing a story about what we've done or is it a story about me?'

His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:
'I am writing about you actually, but more important than the words is the pencil am using. I hope you'll be like this pencil when you grow up'.
Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil . It did not seem very special.
'But its just like any other pencil that I've ever seen!'

That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which , if you manage to hang on to them , will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.

'First quality: You are capable of great things,but you must never forget that there's a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand 'GOD' and he always guides us according to his will.

Second Quality: Now and then, i've to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little but afterwards , he's much sharper. So you too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they'll make you a better person.

Third Quality: The pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did, is not necessarily a bad thing; It helps to keep us on the road to justice.

Fourth quality: What really matters for the pencil is not its wooden exterior but its graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.

Finally, the pencils fifth quality: It always leave a mark. In just the same way, you should know that every thing you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action.

How to kill your mother in law

A long time ago in China , a girl named Li-Li got married & went to live with her husband and mother-in-law. In a very short time, Li-Li found that she couldn't get along with her mother-in-law at all.

Their personalities were very different, and Li-Li was angered by many of her mother-in-law' s habits. In addition, she criticized Li-Li constantly.
Days passed, and weeks passed. Li-Li and her mother-in-law never stopped arguing and fighting.
But what made the situation even worse was that, according to ancient Chinese tradition, Li-Li had to bow to her mother-in-law and obey her every wish. All the anger and unhappiness in the house was causing Li-Li's poor husband D great distress.
Finally, Li-Li could not stand her mother-in-! law's bad temper and dictatorship any longer, and she decided to do something about it! Li-Li went to see her father's good friend, Mr. Huang, who sold herbs.
She told him the situation and asked if he would give her some poison so that she could solve the problem once and for all.
Mr. Huang thought for awhile, and finally said, "Li-Li, I will help you solve your problem, but you must listen to me and obey what I tell you."
Li-Li said, "Yes, Mr. Huang, I will do whatever you tell me to do."Mr. Huang went into the back room, and returned in a few minutes with a package of herbs. He told Li-Li, "You can't use a quick-acting poison to get rid of your mother-in-law, because that would cause people to become suspicious Therefore, I have given you a number of herbs that will slowly build up poison in her body. Every other day prepare some delicious meal and put a little of these herbs in her serving.

Now, in order to make sure that nobody suspect you, when she dies, you must be very careful to act very friendly towards her. "Don't argue with her, obey her every wish, and treat her like a queen." Li-Li was so happy.
She thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start her plot of murdering her mother-in-law.
Weeks went by, and months went by, and every other day, Li-Li served the specially treated food to her mother-in-law. She remembered what Mr. Huang had said about avoiding suspicion, so she controlled her temper!r, obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own mother.
After six months had passed, the whole household had changed. Li-Li had practiced controlling her temper so much that she found that she almost never got mad or upset. She hadn't had an argument with her mother-in-law in six months because she now seemed much kinder and easier to get along with.
The mother-in-law' s attitude toward Li-Li changed, and she began to love Li-Li like her own daughter. She kept telling friends and relatives that Li-Li was the best daughter-in- law one could ever find. Li-Li and her mother-in-law were now treating each other like a real mother and daughter.
Li-Li's husband was very happy to see what was happening. One day, Li-Li came to see Mr. Huang and asked for his help again She said, "Dear Mr. Huang, please help me to keep the poison from killing my mother-in-law. She's changed into such a nice woman, and I love her like my own mother. I do not want her to die because of the poison I gave her."
Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head. "Li-Li, there's nothing to worry about. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were vitamins to improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and your attitude toward her, but that has been all washed away by the love which you gave to her."
HAVE YOU REALIZED that how you treat others is exactly how they will treat you? There is a wise Chinese saying: "The person who loves others will also be loved in return." God might be trying to work in another person's life through you. Send this to your friends and spread the POWER OF LOVE.

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