OT..but pertinent :-)

[JIMRPT@AOL.COM]

The Trouble Tree

I hired a Piano tuner to help me restore an old player, and after he had just 
finished a rough first day on the job, a flat tire made him lose an hour of 
work , his electric drill quit and his ancient one ton truck refused to 
start. 
As I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. 

On arriving he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the 
front door, 
he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with 
both hands. 
Upon opening the door he had undergone an amazing transformation. His tanned 
face 
was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife 
a kiss. 

Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got 
the better of me. 
I asked him about what I had seen him do at the little tree. 

"Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having 
troubles on the job, 
but one thing's for sure, those troubles don't belong in the house with my 
wife and the children. 
So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home and ask God 
to take care of them. 
Then in the morning I pick them up again." Funny thing is," he smiled, "when 
I come out in the 
morning to pick them up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up 
the night before." 
Jim Bryant (FL)