Once upon a time, there was an old man living in a small town by himself. He was blind, so he couldn't see anything. However, he always carried a lighted lamp（亮着的灯）with him when he went out at night.   

One night when he was coming home after having dinner outside, he met a group of young men. They saw that he was blind, but carrying a lighted lamp. They thought it was so funny and started to make fun of him. One of them asked him, “Hey Man! You are blind and can't see anything! Why do you carry the lamp then?”

The blind man said, “Yes, it's true that I can't see anything and don't need the lamp. However, it's for people like you who can see. When I'm carrying the lamp at night, people can see me so that they won't push me accidentally（意外地）. That is why I carry the lighted lamp.”

The young men felt ashamed（感到羞耻的）to judge（判断）the old man without thinking and apologized to the old man.

It was a cold afternoon in winter. My oldest son, Stephen, was at school, and Reed, my husband, at work. My three little ones were sitting around the kitchen table. Tom was making a paper plane, while Sam was working on an oil painting.

But Laura, our only daughter, sat quietly and was lost in her project. Every once in a while, she would ask how to spell the name of someone in our family, and then carefully write the letters one by one. Next, she would add flowers with small items. She finished off each with a sun in the upper right—hand corner. Holding them at eye level, she let out a long sigh of satisfaction.

“What are you doing, Honey?” I asked. She looked quickly at her brother before looking back at me. “It’s a surprise.” she said, covering up her work with her hands.

Next, she put her work into a box. When she had finished, she disappeared up the stairs. Later that evening, I noticed a “mailbox” on the doors to each of our bedrooms. There were little notes saying that she loved all of us. She hadn’t forgotten Sam or baby Paul. There were pages of colored scenes including flowers with happy faces. “He can’t read yet,” she whispered (低声说), “But he can look at the pictures.” Each time I received one of my little girl’s gifts, it brightened my heart. I was touched at how carefully she paid attention to what wrong happened to us. When Stephen lost a baseball game, there was a letter telling him she thought he was the best ballplayer in the whole world. After I had a hard day, there was a message thanking me for my efforts.

This same little girl is grown now, but some things about her have never changed. Yesterday I found a love note next to my bedside. “Thanks for always being there for me, Mom,” it read, “I’m glad that we’re the best friends.”

There are angels among us. I know I live with one.

A young man went to a farm and asked for a job. When the old farmer asked what the young man could do to help the farm, he just said, “I can sleep when the wind blows.”

This short answer puzzled（迷惑）the farmer. But he liked the young man and said OK anyway.

Everything went well until one night when there was a heavy storm. The old farmer and his wife quickly woke up and started checking to see if everything was safe.

The farmer and his wife checked their things. They found that the farm tools had been put away safely in the house. The truck was parked in the garage. They found that the doors of the farmhouse were closed. The barn（谷仓）was properly locked. Even the animals were calm. All was well.

After checking everything, they went to the young man’s room and found that he was sleeping. The farmer and his wife then understood the meaning of the young man’s words— “I can sleep when the wind blows.”

Because the young man finished all of his work while the skies were clear, he was prepared for the storm before it came.

So when the wind blew, he was not afraid. He could sleep in peace.