“Now this I say, he
who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and he who sows bountifully will
reap bountifully. Each one must do just
as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God
loves a cheerful giver” (II Cor. 9:6-7).
Hey gang: And now, as
Paul Harvey would say, And now, the rest of the story!” The Scripture of the
morning, when tie-bared with Luke’s words, “Give,
and it shall be given to you. They will
pour into your lap a good measure – pressed down, shaken together, and running
over. For by your standard of measure it
will be measures to you in return” (Luke 6:38) is the base line of Jesus
words, in Mathew 25:40: “Truly I say to
you, to the extent you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least
of them, you did it to Me”.
On the day Teddy gave Mrs. Thompson the gift of a broken
bracelet and a half bottle of perfume that smelled like lilac blooms, she quit
teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic and began to teach children. Teddy became very special to her mind but
more so to her heart. As she worked with
him, his mind came alive. The more she
encouraged him the faster he grew. By
the end of the school year he was among the top students in her class in attitude
and academics.
A year later she received a note under her door from Teddy,
“You are still the best teacher I have ever had in my life.” Six years later she received another note
telling her he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still
the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Four years after that she received another letter saying
that although it had been a rough four years, he would soon graduate from
college with highest honors and she was still the best teacher he had ever had!
Then four years later another letter came telling her he had
gone even further in his education and she was still the best teacher in the
world and it was signed, Dr. Theodore Stoddard. MD.
The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter in the spring. Teddy said he has met this girl and was going
to be married. He explained that his
father had died and he wondered if Mrs. Thompson might agree to come and sit at
the wedding in the placed that was usually reserved for the Mother of the
groom.
Eagerly, she said, “Yes”.
She made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his
mother wearing on their last Christmas together.
They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs.
Thompson’s ear, “Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me! Thank you so much for making me feel
important and showing me that I could make a difference.”
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, “Teddy,
you have it all wrong. You were the one
who taught me that I could make a difference.
I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”
Eagle Village will soon celebrate fifty years, since two
very young and inexperienced people received the first five boys into our
camping program; these boys fit the description of Teddy. At the time we did not know how very
fortunate we were to not have much in the physical areas to work with. Our dependence was totally on being spoon-fed
from the Throne Room of Heaven.
As I have written this story, there has been a steady parade
of faces that have passed through my memory.
I wish I could say they all turned out like Dr. Stoddard, but such is
not the case. We have also learned that
some had to go through some tough times before their hearts were opened to the
seeds planted in our Chapel Services and the love that was poured into them
through our staff.
We will celebrate our fiftieth anniversary with a Founder’s
Day on June 23,2018. Please set that
date aside and plan on coming to join Eagle Village in celebrating 50 years of
helping youth and families. For information
please contact Barb at 231 832 7249 or bfrahm@eaglevillage.org.
Blessings,
Gramps
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