One morning when I was seven years old, I woke up to find my mother was gone. I was terrified, running to_______her.

That morning, my father was coming to pick me up to spend a week with him and my stepmother. When he arrived, he_______an envelope on my mother's bed. It read, “Jeff, I’ve carried the_______for the last seven years. Now it’s your_______. I need a life of my own.”

After reading the letter, my father said, “Mom’s very_______and she’s gone on a vacation, so you’ll be_______with me and Melanie for a while, OK?”

I nodded, but I knew the_______——my mother had abandoned me. I was_______all the way to my dad’s house and entered my room without a word. I thought Melanie might be unhappy because of my_______. But I was________. Over the following months, Melanie tried her best to make me feel________and loved. ________I discovered that I loved Melanie a lot.

When I turned 18, my dad and Melanie gave me a car and wanted to throw me a party, but I just wasn’t in the mood(心情) for________. We were in the garage________my birthday present when a postman handed me an envelope. Inside it was a letter from my mother! It read, “My dearest Steve, you turn 18 and become a man today. I know you must be very________with me, but please________me. Six weeks before I left, I was diagnosed(诊断) with cancer. I’d suffered the________ of my mother at 10, and I knew how painful it was. I________that if I left you with your father and you believed I'd started a new life, it’d________you less. I’m writing this and leaving it with my lawyer, and it’ll be posted to you on your eighteenth birthday.”

Tears streamed down my cheeks. It was then that I realized her________was not abandonment but love.

Once there was a little girl who had many misfortunes in life and was struggling with problems. One day she felt so upset that she couldn’t help ________ to her father why her life was so ________.

Sensing her ________, her father, a chef, took her to their ________. He asked her to just ________ till he finished everything. He filled three small pots with water and placed each on a burner. Once the water began to ________, he placed a potato, an egg, and some ground coffee beans in each pot. Curious, though, she kept ________ as her father instructed her to do so.

About twenty minutes later, he turned off the ________. The chef turned towards his daughter and said, “See, the potato went in strong and hard but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was ________, but now the egg became hard. ________, the ground coffee beans were unique. After being ________ the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.”

Seeing the little girl was still confused, he then ________, “The potato, the egg and coffee beans had each faced the same ________-the boiling water. However, each reacted ________. When hardships come your way, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?” Hearing these words, the girl made her choice inside-she would be the ________, which could not only change the whole situation but also change in its own way. After all, life is 10% what happens to you and 90%how you react to it.

Miracles（奇迹）come in moments.

The scene of this minor miracle ______ in the living room of my house under an old, broken ceiling fan（吊扇）with a little glass angel hanging from its pull string（挂绳）.

My youngest son has a severe form of autism（自闭症）. ______ he is in his twenties now he still has the mind of a small ______. He speaks only a few words. He is always ______ in his own world. Most of the time he is happy but there are also times when he can be terribly ______. He will cry for no ______ that I can see. He will even hit himself. It always hurts me to see him suffer this way ______ when there is little I can do to help.

This morning was particularly trying for him. He ______ on and off for an hour. Finally he ______. I was still feeling stressed, however, and wearily sat down at my computer to see if I could get a little work done.

As I was turning it ______, though, I heard my son ______ for the first time all day. I turned my head and saw him ______ directly under the glass angel hanging from our ceiling fan. The light from our house lamps seemed to shine and sparkle all around him like a halo（光环）. His eyes sparkled too as the little ______ swung gently above his head. He laughed again and ______ at me.

At that moment my heart opened. I could see that the miracle was ______ me that my son was more than his autism. I saw the ______ and light of his spirit and knew he was here for a(n) ______. My eyes watered and I feel ______ for this minor miracle and gentle reminder of his love for all of us.

Miracles are all around us, but we ______ always see them with our eyes. We often have to see them with our ______. Keep your heart open to them then. And let yourself be the miracle you are meant to be!