The Farmer and His Lazy Sons

In Madhanpur lived a very hardworking farmer named Gopal. He has

three sons Ram, Laxman and Hanuman.

All three were strong and healthy. But they were all lazy.

Gopal was sad thinking about his sons and the future of his farmland.

One day, Gopal got a flash of an idea. He called all his sons and said,
"Ram! Laxman! and Hanuman! I have hidden a treasure in our
farmland. You search and share the treasure among you."

The three sons were overjoyed. They went to the fields and started
searching Ram started from one end.

Laxman searched from the other end. And Hanuman did so from the
centre.

They dug each and every inch of the field. But they could not find
anything.

Gopal said to his sons, “Dear boys! Now you have tooled and
conditioned the field, why not we sow a crop!" Off went the sons to
sow the crops.

Days passed. Soon, the crops grew lushly green. The sons were
delighted.

The father said, "Sons, this is the real treasure I wanted you to share".

Moral of the Story : Fruits of hard work are always sweet.

 God and Smoke

A man who was the lone survivor of a terrible shipwreck was washed
ashore on a tiny uninhabited island. Marooned and alone, the man
cried out to God to rescue him from his terrible fate. Unfamiliar with
survival tactics, the man struggled to endure.

Eventually, he was able to construct a hut to protect him and his few
possessions. Every day the man faithfully scanned the horizon for the
answer to his prayer. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived
home and found his little hut burning to the ground. There was
nothing left but ashes and smoke. “God, how could you do this to
me!!" He cried. Broken and despaired he sobbed himself to sleep.

The next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship. It had come to
rescue him. He asked the sailor, “How did you know I was here?" "As
we were heading East, we saw your smoke signal," the sailor replied.

Lesson : God is working in our lives, even in the midst of our pains
and sufferings. We easily get discouraged when things are going bad.
But take heart and remember…next time your little hut is burning to
the ground. It’s just a smoke signal that attracts God’s blessings.