Appreciation
I have just retired after 36 years of teaching apprentices the trade of automotive refinishing. I have learned many things during that time with young people, but one of the most powerful is that of the art of appreciation. I realised early in my career that many of the boys who came my way were never given recognition for their good work. I heard time and time again from employers the same statement: "If I tell them they've done a good job, they'll just get a big head." I decided to give credit where credit was due, telling them when they'd done well. How much of an effect that had on them, I probably will never know. However, as I've visited workshops through the years, past students have come to say hello and talk positively about their time at college. In Philippians 1:3 it says, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you." I was reading the Bible in a Year devotion and on Thursday, August 26 (I have no idea what year), I recorded the following related to appreciation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did at the time.
Helen Mrosla, a teaching nun, tells of the day her kids were fighting in class. So she made them each take a piece of paper, list the names of all the other students - and write something they liked about each of them. Then she wrote the name of each student at the top of a fresh sheet of paper, listed all the nice things the other students had said about them, and gave it to them. As they read them in amazement, they each said, "I never knew they felt that way!"
Helen moved away, but years later when she came home on vacation, her dad said to her, "The Ecklands called last night to say their son Mark was killed in Vietnam, and they'd like you to come to the funeral." After the service, Mark's former classmates gathered in the family home, including Helen, their old teacher. Suddenly Mark's dad said to her, "I'd like to show you something. I found it in my son's wallet." Opening a billfold, he removed a familiar sheet of paper that was now yellow and worn - listing all the good things each of his classmates had said about him. Then one by one smiling sheepishly, all the others opened their purses and billfolds too, and produced theirs. Helen said, "All I could do was just sit down and cry."
What would make a boy carry a fifteen-year-old piece of paper everywhere he went; even to his death in a rice paddy halfway around the world? The answer is, appreciation! There are people all around you today who are hungy and hurting for it. Make sure you give it to them.
Welcome to my Watering Hole
Years ago, I heard a man say, “You will be the same in five years’ time as you are today, except for two things—the people you meet and the books you read.” When I look back over the past 32 years of following Jesus, I would have to say that I agree. If not for the people who have come into my life and the books I have read over the years, my life would have changed very little.
The first book that I read was the Bible. I picked it up, after making a decision to follow Jesus, and to this day I have been unable to put it down. The second book I read was called Where Is God When It Hurts? by Philip Yancey. I think we all struggle to find ways to understand what God is trying to tell us. For me, one of the most effective ways is through what I read. Over time I have kept a journal of quotations that have had an impact on me. Often I reflect on something I recorded years ago and see that in some areas of my life I have grown and in others there is still much work to do. Sometimes I have been motivated, encouraged and inspired by what I read, sometimes frightened and overwhelmed, but never, never discouraged or without hope.
In my conversations with men, more often than not, other than the odd newspaper or magazine, many read very little if at all. My suggestions is, before you read on, take time out to pray, ask yourself and God what are the challenges at this time in your life and then read, expecting the Holy Spirit to bring alive what is relevant to you. Don’t read for reading’s sake. See it as a watering hole where your thirst for life’s answers can be quenched. As time goes by, I will add to the site. I want it to be living.
In conclusion, I have to say that there are many things I don’t know. One thing I do know is that God would want me to share with you what He has shared with me. I pray that He will bring alive these writings and burn them in your heart. I wish you well. Life is very demanding for many, and at times it seems that society is demanding more than we’re able to give. But don’t give up. To borrow the title of Wayne Bennett’s autobiography, Don’t Die with the Music in You. That would be a tragedy.
In His name,
Grahame
The first book that I read was the Bible. I picked it up, after making a decision to follow Jesus, and to this day I have been unable to put it down. The second book I read was called Where Is God When It Hurts? by Philip Yancey. I think we all struggle to find ways to understand what God is trying to tell us. For me, one of the most effective ways is through what I read. Over time I have kept a journal of quotations that have had an impact on me. Often I reflect on something I recorded years ago and see that in some areas of my life I have grown and in others there is still much work to do. Sometimes I have been motivated, encouraged and inspired by what I read, sometimes frightened and overwhelmed, but never, never discouraged or without hope.
In my conversations with men, more often than not, other than the odd newspaper or magazine, many read very little if at all. My suggestions is, before you read on, take time out to pray, ask yourself and God what are the challenges at this time in your life and then read, expecting the Holy Spirit to bring alive what is relevant to you. Don’t read for reading’s sake. See it as a watering hole where your thirst for life’s answers can be quenched. As time goes by, I will add to the site. I want it to be living.
In conclusion, I have to say that there are many things I don’t know. One thing I do know is that God would want me to share with you what He has shared with me. I pray that He will bring alive these writings and burn them in your heart. I wish you well. Life is very demanding for many, and at times it seems that society is demanding more than we’re able to give. But don’t give up. To borrow the title of Wayne Bennett’s autobiography, Don’t Die with the Music in You. That would be a tragedy.
In His name,
Grahame
