Terry,
This may not bring comfort to you today but it is one of my favorite encouraging stories and it might help down the road. A quote that Changing posted made me think of it:
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as 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 had and it could go no further.
Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so 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, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.
Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly. - Author Unknown
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My continued prayers are with you, your son and Shane's family during this difficult time.
Take good care,
Sandra
[B]My Milage:[/B]
[B]My Quit Date: [/B]8/5/2004
[B]Smoke-Free Days:[/B] 1282
[B]Cigarettes Not Smoked:[/B] 25,640
[B]Amount Saved:[/B] $5,769.00
[B]Life Gained:[/B]
[B]Days:[/B] 99 [B]Hrs:[/B] 22 [B]Mins:[/B] 33 [B]Seconds:[/B] 2
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Quit Meter
$39,260.00
Amount Saved
-
Quit Meter
Days: 686
Hours: 0
Minutes: 32
Seconds: 1
Life Gained
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Quit Meter
6040
Smoke Free Days
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Quit Meter
78,520
Cigarettes Not Smoked