In life we so often take for granted the people in our life, family and friends. We say hurtful things, just to wish they were by our side later down the road. I think this is a very hard lesson to learn in life, so next time you feel the need to say something in anger....STOP, DROP, and PRAY!! AND BREATHE!!! :)
B
NAILS IN THE FENCE
Make sure you read all the way down to the last sentence.
(Most importantly the last sentence)
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the nextfew weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all.
He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.
The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, 'You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. But It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound will still be there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.Remember that friends are very rare jewels indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed; They lend an ear, they share words of praise and they always want to open their hearts to us.
Let me start by saying, I try my hardest to tell my kids about the facts of life no matter what the circumstances.
My parents got my boys hermit crabs for Christmas, they each had their own painted shell. Quentin's was spiderman and Ty has spongebob. These are neat little guys...They do require maintenance...keeping them moist, making sure you fix the food dish that they dump on top of themselves each night and they need calcium.
Recently, Quentin's crab decided he was going to go ahead and molt...when I say molt I mean this crab looked like it gave birth to another. My lovely husband carried this with such grace down the stairs to show me. We do have a picture somewhere....I may have to dig that picture up. After molting...the instructions say the crab is in a vulnerable state, keep him moist. My husband sprayed the crab every night. The crab was out of his shell and we just thought since he is vulnerable we should isolate him. We made him his own little fort. Well, Wednesday I noticed a fowl smell coming from my boy's room. (It wasn't the normal stinky boy smell) It was a stinky sour smell. So, I checked on the crab, lifted the lid and BAMMM. Yup, I believe his little soul went on up to heaven! So, I let my husband know and we decided we would tell Quentin the truth and not be sneaky and replace it with another one without him knowing! I sat Quentin down and said " Buddy, your crab passed away...his little body is still here but his soul is now in heaven, so say a prayer that God will take care of him." I feel Quentin understood.
Later that evening, my husband John and oldest son Quentin went out in the front yard and buried his little crab. He has his own little grave right next to my rose bush. Quentin made sure that his grave had a cross, pop bottle lid ( just in case we lose the cross that has R.I.P Quenin's crab written on it) and it is surrounded with bricks so noone walks on it! Quentin came in and you could tell his heart was broken. He loved this crab so much, it is the first pet he really had to say goodbye to. He was so entirely upset that he cried so hard in my arms and then cried himself to sleep. As a mom, my heart broke for him and there are some things that mommy's just can't fix! We need extra large band-aids for this kind of pain!
Quentin,
May your heart mend buddy! We love you so much and felt you needed cheering up. So, I hope you have fun at that Justin Bieber concert tonight with your daddy!!
All My love,
Mommy 
