Good Day!  Sometimes during the Holiday season we become discouraged that some things just didn't turn out like we planned, or what we thought things were going to happened didn't, or what we thought was going to go our way didn't, and most of all when we didn't get what we thought we were going to get. I am sure you have heard many times things happen for a reason, and they do. Most of the time we just wish the bad stuff would happen to someone else.  I would like to encourage you to put away "discouragement'" in your world during this holiday season. Strive to find the upside to every situation that you come across. Just keep singing in your mind, "Don't Worry Be Happy" because things aren't always what they seem.  Here is a little story that reflects on that thought and will help  you remember to " Love thy neighbor."
                                                               
                                                              Two Traveling Angels

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room. Instead the angels were given a small space in the cold basement.

As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, "Things aren't always what they seem."

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest.

When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field. The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel how could you have let this happen?

"The first man had everything, yet you helped him," she accused. "The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and yet you let the cow die."

"Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel replied.

"When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it."

"Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead. Things aren't always what they seem."