One day a father and son went to a kite flying festival. The young son was excited when he saw the sky filled with colorful kites. He asked his father if he could have a kite and some thread on a roller so he could fly a kite, too. The father found a shop in the park where the festival was being held. He purchased a colorful kite and a roll of kite-string for his son.

His son was very excited, and even more so when he his kite reached high up in the sky. After a while, the son said, “Father, It seems that the thread is preventing  the kite from flying higher. If we cut the string, the kite will be free, and it will rise  even more.” When the father cut the thread from the roller, the kite started to rise higher in the sky…that made the little boy very happy!

But then, slowly, the kite started to come down. Soon it fell down on the terrace on a nearby building. The young son was surprised and disappointed to see this. He had cut the kite loose of its thread so it could fly higher; but instead, it fell down. He asked his father, “Father, I thought that after cutting off the thread, the kite would be free to fly higher and higher. Why did it fall down?”

The Father explained, “Son, even when someone is at the height of success in the life they are living, they often view other people, their families, their responsibilities and obligations as things that prevent them from going further or being more successful. The thread for the kite was not preventing it from going higher; but, it was helping it stay higher when the wind slowed down. When the wind picked up again, you helped the kite go up higher in a proper direction through the thread it was attached to. When we cut the thread, it fell down because it lost the support you had been providing to the kite by holding onto it.”

The son realized his mistake.

Moral:  Sometimes we feel that we can progress quickly and reach new heights in our life, if only we were not held back with obligations to our family, our home, our job, belief in the Lord, etc. But, we fail to realize how much the Lord, along with our family and our loved ones help us survive the tough times in our lives. That sustenance encourages us to “fly right”; it helps us to reach and maintain meaningful goals. That support and reliance never holds us back…it helps us soar and grow.

- Author unknown

Never let go of what is the most important to you in life.

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And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 1 John 4:16 NIV

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you. 1 Peter 5:6-7

A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.  Proverbs 17:17 NLT

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

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In some ways this story about the kite is similar to the story Jesus told about the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. The prodigal son, thinking he could do better on his own, wanted to be cut loose from his family obligations; so, the father obliged and “cut the thread”. For a time the son’s “kite” did rise, but then it drifted and crashed. Without the moorings of the thread and the steadying anchor of the family, his life became meaningless. Moral lesson: stay anchored. - Kenneth R. Kersey

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If you have a story or testimony that you think might bless others,
I invite you to send it by email to me (Kenneth Kersey) at godsotherways@me.com.

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