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It was an hour of terrible discouragement for

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the prophet Isaiah. And remember, he too was

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human. Sometimes I think that we forget that

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Abraham was human, just as any man today. Moses

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was human. Elijah. Oh, we think. of Elijah, that

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great spiritual giant, as he stood there challenging

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the prophets of Baal. Remember, he was as human

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with human weaknesses and failures and moments

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of discouragement just like any human being today.

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And this was it. terrible hour of discouragement

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for the prophet Jeremiah. And he was all down

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in the faith. I know, we never think of these

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men of God as being weak enough to be down in

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the faith. But they were. The people all around

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Jeremiah had their lives marred by mistakes and

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faults and failures and sins. And because of

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it, The prophet's heart was cut to shreds. Then

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something happened. Oh, God is so merciful. God

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is so understanding. I still contend that God

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is altogether different than you and I think

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of him as being. I really do. I think of that

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a thousand times a week. And I have to believe

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it because... I stand and watch him work in human

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lives. I see his tenderness. I see his great

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compassion. I even contend that he has a sense

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of humor. He must have. To put up with some of

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us. And watching him work, I understand his personality.

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Well, indeed. that moment of discouragement,

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instead of rebuking Jeremiah for being down in

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the face and for being discouraged, God did something.

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And turn with me, if you will, please, to the

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18th chapter of Jeremiah. Then the word which

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came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise,

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get up. Get up, get going. You've got your eyes

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on circumstances. You've got your eyes on human

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beings. Arise and go down to the potter's house

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and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

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Then I went down to the potter's house and behold,

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he wrought a work on the wheels. and the vessel

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that he made of clay was marred in the hand of

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the potter. So he made it again, another vessel,

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as seemed good to the potter to make it. Oh,

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that's thrilling. To me, that's one of the most

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precious, one of the most sacred portions of

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God's word. and the vessel that he made of clay

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was marred in the hand of the potter, and so

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he made it again another vessel, as seemed good

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to the potter to make it. Though men sin and

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mar God's plan yet to remember, he is merciful,

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he is gracious, he is patient, he is loving.

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that marred vessel. He doesn't take that whipped

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vessel and throw it aside and say, I'm through

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with it. I'm disgusted with it. Get out. I am

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God. I am God Almighty. What have I to do with

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thee? A weakling. A struggling. Get out. No,

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beloved. He's merciful. He's patient. He's gracious.

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He knows we're human. And he understands you

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and he understands me better than we understand

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ourselves. Look at David. That young stripling

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of a lad. rotting goliath oh how god helped him

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what god did through that young lad's body literally

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challenging goliath and then later hear that

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pitiful cry from david I shall one day perish

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at the hand of Saul. One day, a spiritual giant.

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The next day, a weakling, weak in the flesh.

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Look at Elijah, that great spiritual giant. one

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day literally challenging the prophets of Baal,

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routing hundreds and hundreds of false prophets

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on Mount Carna. And the very next day, not a

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week, not six months later, not a year later,

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the very next day after that great victory, I

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want you to see that spiritual giant. After having

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seen the manifestation of God's power, after

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knowing the power and the glory of God, one would

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have thought in the natural that Elijah never

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again would have doubted God. One would have

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thought that never again in Elijah's life would

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there ever be a weak moment. He would never again

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show any weakness to flesh. But the very next

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day, He's fleeing at the threats of wicked Jezebel

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and wanting to die. Think of the weakness of

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the flesh, wanting to die. Look at John the Baptist,

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bravely looking in Herod's face. Oh, look at

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the courage when he looked him in the face. pointed

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a finger at him and said, It is not lawful for

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thee to have her. And then in his hour of discouragement,

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he sent two men to ask Jesus. He didn't go himself.

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He sent two men to ask Jesus the simple question,

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Art thou he that should come? Or do we look?

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For another. Remember something. And if just

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in the simplicity of what I am saying, you'll

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remember these few words. Jesus knows the weakness

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of the flesh. The Heavenly Father knows the weakness

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of the flesh. He knows how weak you are. He knows

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how weak I am. Awful common say. I would give

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anything in the world, Miss Gorman, if I could

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turn all the pages of my life back and start

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all over again. There are many things that I

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would like to erase. There are parts of my life

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I would like to live all over again. I would

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live that part so differently. There have been

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those with tears streaming down their cheeks,

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have confessed their sins, have admitted their

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weaknesses, and have said, do you think you fold?

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Do you really think he can forgive me? My sins

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were so awful. The things that I did were so

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awful. So unforgivable. Catherine Pullman, do

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you think he'll forgive me? I have his word.

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his precious word i take you to the potter's

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house and there i will cause thee to hear my

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words and the vessel that he made of clay was

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marred in the hand of the potter so that he made

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it again another vessel has seemed good to the

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potter to make it. Who is there this very hour

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who has not been able to say, mold me again,

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oh gracious savior, oh divine potter, master

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potter, take the clay, mold it again into a new

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vessel. The man, 83 years of age, who came into

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the service, I shall never forget, as he stood

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there, big and strong and ruddy and rugged and

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built, and yet weeping as a child and said, my

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life is spent. I've never served God. Do you

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think there's hope? Catherine Cooman, do you?

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Think, after having wasted my entire life, do

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you think, knowing that I'm living in the sunset

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hours of my life, that he'll forgive me, that

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he'll receive me, that if I confess my sins,

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he'll come into my heart? Of course he will.

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Of course he will, I promise. I promise you that

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he will. God has a perfect plan for every life.

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A perfect plan. Before you took your first cry.

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Before you ever saw the light of day. I believe

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that God held a perfect blueprint. A perfect

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plan for your life, for my life. As surely as

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he had a plan for the world before he ever spoke

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it into existence. As surely as he had a plan

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for man's redemption. God is perfect in everything

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that he does. He had a perfect plan for Abraham.

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He had a perfect plan for Moses. He had a perfect

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plan for Paul. A perfect plan for you. For we

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were created with free moral agency. It is up

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to man to live his life according to God's perfect

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blueprint, or you may live your life according

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to your own will. Remember, Jesus himself had

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a will separate and apart from God the Father.

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Jesus himself, when he was here on earth, as

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much man as though he were not God, could have

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taken himself out of God's plan for man's redemption.

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One of the last things that Jesus had to do was

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to yield his will to the perfect will of the

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Father, and the two wills became as one, the

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Father's will. And he followed God's plan. plan

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for man's redemption. Are you living according

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to God's perfect blueprint? If you are, then

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all things will work together for your good and

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for the glory of God. Only those who are living

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according to God's perfect blueprint and God's

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perfect will can claim that wonderful promise.

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Remember, we are still human. We all had the

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witnesses of the flesh. If you take yourself

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out of God's perfect plan, all things do not

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add up. All things will not work out. You cannot...

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those old fates. Have you sinned? Have you gone

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astray? Have you left the fold? Remember, he

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has not cast you aside. I promise you that. He's

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still there waiting. He's still there loving

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you. he's gracious and merciful tenderly dealing

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with you in those midnight hours you roll and

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you toss do you really want to come back do you

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really want to feel his strong arms folding you

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close to himself He's there waiting for you.

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I'll never forget a story I heard when I was

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very young of a young lad, a teenager, who disgraced

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the family. Left home. Oh, sure, the world...

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Called him the black sheep of the family. But

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no mother has a black sheep in her family. No

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one had heard from him for years. Oh, here and

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there, they had heard that he was a failure.

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Just an ordinary bum. One day the mother received

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a postal card. And on the card was the handwriting

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of her own son. And he said, Mom, tonight at

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midnight, when the old freight train comes through

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town, I'll be riding it if you still love me.

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hang out a bed sheet on the clothesline. I'll

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be looking and watching. And that night, at midnight

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hour, when the old freight train came rumbling

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through the little town, I'd clackety -clack

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and a -clickety -click and a -clackety -clack.

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and an old bum looked out as he passed the back

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yard of the family home and what did he see he

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saw every bed sheet that his mother owned hanging

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on the old -fashioned clothes line He came to

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my desk with trembling lip. The lesson was done.

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Dear teacher, I want a new leaf, he said. I spoiled

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this one. Please, emplace the leaf so stained

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and blotted. I gave him a new one, all unspotted,

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and into his eyes I smiled and said, Do better

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now, my child. I went to the throne with a...

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quivering soul. My old life is almost done, dear

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father. Hast thou a new leaf for me? I've spoiled

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this one. And he took the old leaf, all stained

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and blotted, and he gave me a new one, all unspotted.

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And into my sad heart smiled and said, do better

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now with this one, my child.