Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Courage

On Saturday evening our family attended the opening of an art show. Several friends of mine had pieces in the show and we were there to support them and enjoy the art together.

As part of the evening they had tables set up in the cafe area where children could create their own art and hang it up. The theme was "Courage".

My youngest son, David drew a great picture of a homeless man begging for food and someone placing money into his hands. It was a picture of courage because the poor man had to have courage to humble himself and beg, and the person giving the money needed courage to step out and do the right thing, and to trust God to provide even though he was giving away some of his money.

My oldest son, Dylan (who turns 13 on Friday) took a long time to finish his drawing. He wouldn't allow anyone to look until he was done so we gave him his space and allowed him to take his time and finish.

When he was done I watched him hand it to the woman behind the table who looked at it, asked him about the drawing and then gave him tape to hang it on the wall. When I walked over and looked at the drawing he had done it was a man with a beard and glasses wearing a red t-shirt and a green jacket. At first I wasn't sure how this exemplified "courage" but then I realized that this person in the drawing was me.

Dylan came over and explained that he drew me because of the times when our family was financially struggling because I was out of work and I did temporary jobs to support the family. That was what he thought of when they asked him to draw a picture of "courage".

I can't tell you how proud I am of my sons.

-kg

4 comments:

Like a Mustard Seed said...

That is absolutely beautiful...

Anonymous said...

You are a blest man - and so are your sons.

- Brent

Like a Mustard Seed said...

Dude, totally tearing up here! I'd say that's an example of raising your child up unto the Lord, we keep coming to this discussion w/random people about what it means to Teach your children, especially about God and His word. I know in my heart that the only true way to teach your children about God, is for them to see God working in your life, to see us as parents going to God and for them to see God working in our hearts. I was trying to come up w/the right words to articulat this to Daniel last night...how much more impactful would our "teaching" be if it wasn't just words that came out of our mouth, but more a life that reflected the fact that God is real and isn't just a belief system or values, or things you do and don't do.

Anyway, thank you for sharing this Keith, and Dylan it blessed me today.

Heather

Lisa (the girls' moma) said...

That's wonderful. What a testament to your influence on those boys. They are truly blessed to have a father like you.