It was a beautiful gesture of love that caught me by complete surprise and impacted my life forever. That unforgetable memory of a six-year-old child’s selfless and loving heart lingers tenderly in my mind as I see him walking toward me with his prize held out in front of him. “Here,” he said as he handed me his trophy, “I think your drawing is better than mine.”
We were in first grade at that time and we’d just competed in an art contest. He won the trophy for best artist in our class and I received the prize for second place. It wasn’t until third grade that I won first place in another art competition, but winning didn’t matter any more and it had ceased to matter since that extraordinary day when Gordon handed me his trophy.
Believing Gordon’s work to be more worthy of the prize, I declined the trophy he had graciously offered. His caring recognition of my artistic ability, however, blessed me with a gift far more precious and timeless. In that incredible selfless moment, I learned that we are not enough all by ourselves. We need the encouragement of others if we’re to gather our gifts and talents and trust our ability for improvement and greatness.
During the years between grade one and grade twelve, Gordon continued to encourage and praise all my artistic endeavors. He touched the depth of my creative spirit and inspired me to grow. As an adult I developed an art ministry and used my gift to serve the church: designing bulletin and photo directory covers, constructing and painting stage props for children's plays, supervising and teaching high schoolers in the design and painting of a mural, and much more. That ministry took me across the sea to the city of Bethlehem in peace-time Palestine where my call to full time service in the mission field began to unfold. What took me there was another art project. I'd been selected as one of three artists from the U.S. to paint the Millennial Mural for the Bethlehem 2000 Project in the city of Bethlehem.
Gordon was instrumental in helping to shape the course of my life for God’s purpose; and I suspect he touched the depths of many hearts with his incredible gift of encouragement. He became a highly talented visual arts teacher and contributed many years of educational services and counseling to high school students. Gordon entered the Church Triumphant a few short years ago. While in a silent momentary celebration of his life, I saw Gordon in my minds vision: He was embracing an Eternal prize.
3 comments:
Hi Marie,
I enjoyed your blog. I am glad that you are writing it.
I am interested to hear more about the mural for Bethlehem. Will you be writing about it?
Tamara
Thanks for your comment Tamara. Yes, I will include my story about the mural in another writing. God's miracle led me there and I want to share how this happened. Thank you for asking. Marie
You are indeed keeping to your expressed purpose - encouraging those who read your blog. The story about Gordon certainly encourages us all to think about how we encourage others through what may seem like a small thing at the moment, but have big impacts on lives. How hard is it really to give away a compliment, a word of encouragement, or just a smile? Gordon understood humility at a young age and it sounds like he remained humble throughout his life. People always will respond well to humility and encouragement from one who is humble is like a double portion of encouragement.
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