Yes.

Wonderful! Because that’s where I need you to be looking. What’s ahead is all that matters. What’s behind you is gone. What’s around you can get you into trouble. You look ahead. You look where you’re going. I’ll take care of the rest. Understand?

Yes.

“Do you see, Daddy?” he asked.

“I do see,” I answered him. “More than you know.””

That brought tears to my eyes.

I needed to hear what God was saying through this.

Thank you.

(And this is the first time I’m posting here, too… Love Tam’s Pimp My Post!)

what a great post. and so well written too! i was there throughout the whole story.

i know that quivering lip. ive been caught throwing projects away more times than i care to admit.

i put this verse on my blog this week…

“Keep your eyes focused on what is right, and look straight ahead to what is good.” – Proverbs 4:25″

with the same thought in mind that you shared.

thank you for your words and willingness to share them.

And now the box will live on in your blog.

Nicely done.

But her reply to you stated that YOUR post was the same for her.

So I looked here as a new visitor, to see what she saw.
Twofinches is correct.
It takes a loving father to meet their child where they are at any stage of life.

When I read of the art work throw away, and a plea to fess up folks, you do this too…..my mind drifted to my own daughter, Karli, and all of her art work over the years. I am apparently more of a collector of these items than most parents, for I have boxes and boxes of all my children’s “home mades” over many years.

Indeed, I have all mine going back to when I was their age eons ago.
Pack rats can be parents too.

But when Karli was around first or second grade, we moved into a downsized location. I could no longer be as extravagant at keeping every item the children crafted.

But my heart could not part with any either.

The kitchen was covered everywhere. There was no fridge space; all was covered (even the side).

I had placed a giant corkboard in the dining room. It nearly covered the wall. This was reserved for pictures of our times together (photos). When the board was full and thumbtacked in every space, new pictures were added of what we did whenever, by having the kids decide what to take off, for room to put new pics up. All of my pics have thumbtack marks on them from their appearance days on the wall.

I told Karli to do the same with her art work on the fridge. It was full.
She was to choose what came down and where the new art would be placed as a result. Soon, we collected a massive pile of Rembrants by Karli.

I told her these were just too good to part with, so I needed her help.
We gathered a pile of her artwork that had spent its time on the fridge and drove to a geriatric center.

I explained to her that many old people do not see their children, since they moved far away. I asked her to be “their child” for a while and share these masterpieces with the old people.

They were in wheelchairs everywhere. It was no special holiday; just a child visiting and meeting the elderly, who rarely see any visitors.

Amazingly, her height was perfect for looking into the eyes of a person in a wheelchair, at rest.

She walked up to many chairs and looked at the person, picked out one of her works, and handed it to the person for keeps.

Soon, she was attracting attention from quite a crowd. One tiny shrunken woman was in the back and could not move her chair by herself. Karli saw her and had only a few art pages left. She walked to this little lady, who was peering directly at my daughter’s eyes all along.

Karli handed an item of art to the woman, who lifted her arms slowly, and placed both of her hands upon Karli’s hands, which held the picture.
Neither moved for an extended time.

Finally, Karli said to the woman:
“I made this for you!”
The woman, still holding Karli’s little hands and picture, looked down at the art. She stared.

If Vincent Van Gogh had come in just then, and handed the same woman his “Irises” picture and proclaimed: “they wanted to pay him $60 million, but he wanted her to have it instead, so here”….
it would be close to how this woman received Karli’s art work.

She finally let go of Karli (who was totally happy to be held by the woman’s hands), and she lowered the picture to her lap, and cried.

She managed a very slow
“Thank you, child”, and went back to staring at the art.

When all were handed to the audience in wheelchairs, we waved goodbye to folks who rarely see children, except in their memories.

In the car, I asked Karli if she realized what had happened in that Old Folks Home?
“They all liked my pictures!” she replied with a grin.

“Karli”, I continued, “because you went as a little child and shared your gifts with old people who have no visitors, and no one thinks about them, God wrote it down what you did.
Someday, you will be old too. You may even end up in an Old Folks Home like this one. But when you do, God is going to send directly to your wheelchair, a little girl about your age, and she will present you with her art work…just like you did today for others.

When that girl gives you her art, I want you to remember how precious it is, as that woman in the chair who held your hands thought. You won’t be lonely when you are old, because you made old people forget being lonely now. Remember that for me, Okay?

“I will dad”.

Don’t throw them away folks. The love that was built into the crafts and art for you, is still in it for others. Find an Old Folks Home, or a City Mission, or a homeless person by day, and share these valuable pieces of your child’s heart anew.

The quote was a timely reminder for me right now as well. Some days I want to throw up my hands in frustration and walk away.)

Beautiful photo at the top of your blog.