Success in your hands
Don’t wait too long to catch the chance
不要等太久而错过机会
Each spring brings a new blossom of wildflowers in the ditches along the highway I travel daily to work.
There is one particular blue flower that has always caught my eyes. I"ve noticed that it blooms only in the morning hours， the afternoon sun is too warm for it. Every day for approximately two weeks， I see those beautiful flowers.
This spring， I started a wildflower garden in our yard. I can look out of the kitchen window while doing the dishes and see the flowers. I"ve often thought that those lovely blue flowers from the ditch would look great in that bed alongside other wildflowers. Everyday I drove past the flowers thinking， "I"ll stop on my way home and dig them." "Gee， I don"t want to get my good clothes dirty..." Whatever the reason， I never stopped to dig them. My husband even gave me a folding shovel one year for my trunk to be used for that expressed purpose.
One day on my way home from work， I was saddened to see that the highway department had mowed the ditches and the pretty blue flowers were gone. I thought to myself， "Way to go， you waited too long. You should have done it when you first saw them blooming this spring."
A week ago we were shocked and saddened to learn that my oldest sister-in-law has a terminal brain tumor. She is 20 years older than my husband and unfortunately， because of age and distance， we haven"t been as close as we all would have liked. I couldn"t help but see the connection between the pretty blue flowers and the relationship between my husband"s sister and us. I do believe that God has given us some time left to plant some wonderful memories that will bloom every year for us.
And yes， if I see the blue flowers again， you can bet I"ll stop and transplant them to my wildflower garden.
每年春天都会有一些野花在我每日上班的高速路旁的沟渠中盛开。
有一种独特的蓝色小花总能吸引我的目光。我注意到它只在早上的时间开放，下午的日光对它来说太温暖了。大概有两周的时间，我每天都能看到那些美丽的花儿。
今年春天，我在自家院子里开辟了一片野花花园。我可以在做菜的时候通过厨房的窗户看到花儿。我常想，沟渠中那些可爱的蓝色小花要是能在那块花床上和其他野花在一起该有多好看。每天，当我开车经过那些花儿的时候我就会想，“回家的时候，我要停下来挖走一些”，“算了，我不想把我得体的衣服弄脏”……不管是什么原因，我从未停下来挖一些。有一年，我丈夫甚至在我汽车的后备箱里放了一把可折叠的铲子，好用来完成我那已表明的目的。
有一天下班回家，我发现高速公路部门已经刈过沟渠上的草了，那些可爱的蓝色花儿已无踪影，我很伤心。我对自己说：“看你做的好事，你等了太长时间。你应该在今年春天第一次看到它们盛开的时候就挖一些的。”
一周前，得知我丈夫的大姐患晚期脑瘤，我们很震惊也很伤心。她比我丈夫大20岁，不幸的是，因为年龄和距离的关系，我们没有像我们所希望的那样亲密。我禁不住把那些可爱的蓝色小花和我们同我丈夫的姐姐之间的关系联系起来。我确信上帝已经给我们留下了一段时间来培育一些美妙的回忆，好让它们每年都为我们开放。
是的，如果我再次看到那些蓝色的花儿，你可以相信，我会停下来把它们移植到我的野花花园里。
We Never Told Him He Couldn"t Do It
从不说他做不到
My son Joey was born with club feet. The doctors assured us that with treatment he would be able to walk normally - but would never run very well. The first three years of his life were spent in surgery， casts and braces. By the time he was eight， you wouldn"t know he had a problem when you saw him walk .
The children in our neighborhood ran around as most children do during play， and Joey would jump right in and run and play， too. We never told him that he probably wouldn"t be able to run as well as the other children. So he didn"t know.
In seventh grade he decided to go out for the cross-country team. Every day he trained with the team. He worked harder and ran more than any of the others - perhaps he sensed that the abilities that seemed to come naturally to so many others did not come naturally to him. Although the entire team runs， only the top seven runners have the potential to score points for the school. We didn"t tell him he probably would never make the team， so he didn"t know.
He continued to run four to five miles a day， every day - even the day he had a 103-degree fever. I was worried， so I went to look for him after school. I found him running all alone. I asked him how he felt. "Okay，" he said. He had two more miles to go. The sweat ran down his face and his eyes were glassy from his fever. Yet he looked straight ahead and kept running. We never told him he couldn"t run four miles with a 103-degree fever. So he didn"t know.
Two weeks later， the names of the team runners were called. Joey was number six on the list. Joey had made the team. He was in seventh grade - the other six team members were all eighth-graders. We never told him he shouldn"t expect to make the team. We never told him he couldn"t do it. We never told him he couldn"t do it...so he didn"t know. He just did it.
我的儿子琼尼降生时，他的双脚向上弯弯着，医生向我们保证说：经过治疗，小琼尼可以像常人一样走路，但像常人一样跑步的可能性则微乎其微。琼尼3岁之前一直在接受治疗，和支架、石膏模子打交道。七八岁的时候，他走路的样子已让人看不出他的腿有过毛病。
邻居的小孩子们做游戏的时候总是跑过来跑过去。毫无疑问小琼尼看到他们玩就会马上加进去跑啊闹的。我们从不告诉他不能像别的孩子那样跑，我们从不说他和别的孩子不一样。因为我们不对他说，所以他不知道。
七年级的时候，琼尼决定参加跑步横穿全美的比赛。每天他和大伙一块训练。也许是意识到自己先天不如别人，他训练得比任何人都刻苦。训练队的前7名选手可以参加最后比赛，为学校拿分。我们没有告诉琼尼：也许会落空，所以他不知道。
他坚持每天跑4—5英里。我永远不会忘记有一次，他发着高烧，但仍坚持训练。我为他担心，于是去学校看他，发现他正在一个人沿着长长的林荫道跑步呢。我问他感觉怎么样，“很好。”他说。还剩下最后两英里。他满脸是汗，眼睛因为发烧失去了光彩。然而他目不斜视，坚持着跑下来。我们从没有告诉他不能发着高烧去跑4英里的路，我们从没有这样对他说，所以他不知道。
两个星期后，在决赛前的3天，长跑队的名次被确定下来。琼尼是第六名，他成功了。他才是个七年级生，而其余的人都是八年级生。我们从没有告诉他不要去期望入选，我们从没有对他说他不会成功。是的，从没说起过……所以他不知道，但他却做到了！
He just wanted to encourage you
他只是想鼓励你
Two men， both seriously ill， occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families， their homes， their jobs， their involvement in the military and a whole lot of things. Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up， he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.
The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.
The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.
As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail， the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.
