An old missionary couple had been working in Africa for years and
were returning to New York to retire. They had no pension; their
health was broken; they were defeated, discouraged, and afraid. They
discovered they were booked on the same ship as President Teddy
Roosevelt, who was returning from one of his big-game hunting
expeditions.

No one paid any attention to them. They watched the fanfare that
accompanied the President's entourage, with passengers trying to catch
a glimpse of the great man. As the ship moved across the ocean, the
old missionary said to his wife, "Something is wrong."
"Why should we have given our lives in faithful service for God
in Africa all these many years and have no one care a thing about us?
Here this man comes back from a hunting trip and everybody makes much
over him, but nobody gives two hoots about us."

"Dear, you shouldn't feel that way", his wife said. He replied
"I can't help it; it doesn't seem right."

When the ship docked in New York, a band was waiting to greet the
President. The mayor and other dignitaries were there. The papers were
full of the President's arrival. No one noticed this missionary
couple. They slipped off the ship and found a cheap flat on the East
Side, hoping the next day to see what they could do to make a living
in the city.

That night the man's spirit broke. He said to his wife, "I can't
take this; God is not treating us fairly". His wife replied, "Why
don't you go in the bedroom and tell that to the Lord?"

A short time later he came out from the bedroom, but now his face
was completely different. His wife asked, "Dear, what happened?"
"The Lord settled it with me", he said. "I told him how bitter I
was that the President should receive this tremendous home-coming,
when no one met us as we returned home. And when I finished, it seemed
as though the Lord put his hand on my shoulder and simply said, 

"But you're not home yet."


Author Unknown