A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam.

He called his parents from San Francisco.

"Mom and Dad, I'm coming home,
but I've got a favor to ask.
I have a friend I'd like to bring
with me."

"Sure," they replied,
"We'd love to meet him."

"There's something you should
know," the son continued.
"He was hurt pretty badly
in the fighting. He stepped
on a land mine and lost an
arm and a leg. He has nowhere
else to go, and I want him to
come live with us."

"I'm sorry to hear that, son.
Maybe we can help him
find somewhere to live."

"No, Mom and Dad, I want
him to live with us."

"Son," said the Father,
"You don't know what you are
asking. Someone with such
a handicap would be a terrible
burden on us. We have our
own lives to live, and we
can't let something like this
interfere with our lives.
I think you should just come
home and forget about this
guy. He'll find a way to live on
his own."
At that point, the son
hung up the phone.

The parents heard nothing more
from him. A few days later
however, they received a call
from the San Francisco police.
Their son had died after falling
from a building, they were told.
The police believed it was suicide.
The grief-stricken parents flew to
San Francisco and were taken
to the city morgue to identify
the body of their son.

They recognized him, but to their
horror they also discovered
something they didn't know,
their son had only one arm and
one leg.

The parents in this story are
like many of us. We find it
easy to love those who are
good-looking or fun to have
around, but we don't like people
who inconvenience us or make us
feel uncomfortable.

We would rather stay away from
people who aren't as healthy,
beautiful, or smart as we are.

Thankfully, there's someone who
won't treat us that way.
Someone who loves us with an
unconditional love that welcomes
us into the forever family,
regardless of how messed up we are.