CHUBBY FINGERS
December 21, 2021
Prayer: Father, help me to reach out to those who others discard. They are in need of a helping hand, an advocate to show them the way. May I not be too busy to see and bless them. Amen
Scripture: I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye. Psalm 32:8 NKJV
There he sat in the office again. When he was in kindergarten, he sat in the office more than in the classroom. How could one little blonde haired, blue eyed young un’ cause so much havoc at so young an age? Week after week, there he was.
I let a year go by, then, I couldn’t stand it any more. Yes, he was in the office again. I went in and sat beside him. He had a stack of papers gripped in his chubby little hands. “What’s in your hands?” I asked. “Bad papers,” he replied. “May I see them?”
As I looked through his papers I noticed huge, red sad faces on all of them. His handwriting was all over the lines. Staring at the papers, I turned and observed those chubby little hands and right along with them were chubby little fingers as well. The office was so busy, and he had been in there so often, I took a chance that he wouldn’t be missed and walked him back to his classroom. His teacher was surprised to see me. She was even more surprised when I asked if I could work with my little friend a few minutes every day. She seemed glad that he would be out of the room.
Come to find out, he was a lefty: a lefty with chubby fingers. As I watched him try to make his letters and numbers, he couldn’t even see over his chubby hand the way it was turned. No wonder he couldn’t write between the lines. He couldn’t even see where the lines were or where the pencil was going. I thought about the hundreds of red sad faces he must have accumulated in only a year and a half simply because he couldn’t see around his hand to focus on the lines.
He needed encouragement and time. I was determined to give him both. How many of us have been in spots where we could not see the lines to guide our actions? God is always there to show us the way, chubby fingers and all. He is the Encourager. He sees the way when our view is obstructed. Oh, and my new friend? He is doing better, but in more ways than one. By showing him the way, his class behavior improved and the big bold red sad faces began to disappear. The last time I saw him, he was grinning from ear to ear.
Copyright Sharon Sewell. To connect with the author, email [email protected]
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