Friday, February 14, 2014

A Valentine for Christmas



About two weeks before Christmas I got a valentine from an admirera thirteen-year-old girl. I was delighted. You might even say I was tickled pink about it. Now as you may have guessed, since it was delivered before Christmas this was not planned as a valentine. It was actually a language arts assignment about her favourite poem done for her grade eight teacher. But in her assignment, Esther (not her real name) expressed her love for me. I think her words say it best:

Last year when I was in grade seven my homeroom teacher was Mr. Kitz. I loved him as a teacher; he was funny, smart and loved to tell us stories like none of my other teachers did. He was one of the only teachers who could actually keep our class quiet and entertained us while teaching. He also is a Christian like me. He said he went to my church a long time ago; I felt so happy to be in his class.

This sixty-one-year-old retired teacher was thrilled to be shown a little love. I was quite amazed that I left such a positive impression on Esther, especially since she was only in my class for six weeks. To be completely truthful I had forgotten her name. But she remembered me.

Isn't that what we all want? We all want to be remembered; we want to be shown a little love. We want to be surprised by a little love.

Of course love comes most often to those who show love. In the rush of life and our hunger to receive love, we can forget to give it–to show it to others, whether we consider them deserving or not.

Last Friday, I paid a surprise visit to Esther's class. I told the class a story or two and then I thanked Esther for her kind words. She was unaware that her assignment had been forwarded to me by her homeroom teacher. Needless to say, she was tickled pink. I could see that by her smile and her dancing eyes. I remembered her. I surprised her with a little love.

May the love of God be shed abroad in your heart today.

Your Turn: Who can you surprise with a little love today, tomorrow or six weeks from now?
      

3 comments:

Kimberley Payne said...

How beautiful. We may never know who we impact in such a positive manner until we get to heaven. Thanks for sharing, David!

Bobbi Junior said...

I'm sure Esther had no idea how her words could impact both her teacher, and you as the one she wrote about.

Perhaps that's something we can be teaching our children - that they have the ability to bless the adults in their lives, just as adults do. Great story!

Peter Black said...

A lovely story, David -- an encouragement to you, and a witness to the present homeroom teacher, and a reflection of your positive input into Esther's heart! Expressions of the holy and pure love on all counts. These are what children need to witness and experience. ~~+~~

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