Do not neglect the gift that is in you. 1 Timothy 4:14

Many years ago, in a one-room school where the country teacher taught all grades, a girl showed great promise as an artist.

'Your daughter must take special Art lessons,' the teacher told the girl's parents. But the family was poor and the girl had to do farm chores.<br><br>'Hire somebody,' the teacher suggested.

'We don't have money to pay anybody,' the girl's father told him. 'I have to pay a neighbor boy 25 cents a week.'

'I will pay. In return, your daughter will stay after school for three hours each day. I will give her free lessons. Every two weeks, she will complete one picture - and I'll buy it. First, I'll teach her to paint a simple sky with clouds. I'll pay fifty cents for that picture. And every two weeks I'll teach her new skills and she'll paint another picture. I'll double the price each time and buy all of her pictures.'

The parents agreed. After four months, the teacher had paid $127.50 for eight pictures (which was about the same as the farmer gained all year on the farm.) The girl became such a good artist that her parents allowed her to go to an Art college.

It wasn't easy for the teacher to pay all that money, because he didn't have a lot of money. But he knew that the girl had a special gift from God.

When the girl became a world-famous artist, her teacher could have sold the eight early pictures for thousands of dollars. He didn't. Long after he retired, these pictures reminded him of how God allowed him to help somebody else perfect the gift God gave her.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help me to help others to be everything you want them to be. Amen.