A Special Visitor

Tonight I received a special visitor.

I sat and listened to him talk and marveled at the goodness of our God. I marveled in thankfulness at the notion of being able to know someone for so long and see what God has done through the years and to be a small part of that journey.

An 8th grade boy walked into my classroom many years ago. He had a sketchbook with wonderful, fun cartoons. He proclaimed he wanted to be a cartoonist, an animator. I nodded. At Christmas he brought me white chocolate covered pretzels. By the end of that year I knew if anyone could be an animator, he could.

A few years later when I moved upwards to teach at the high school, an 11th grader walked into my class. He had a new sketchbook with even better drawings and cartoons. His dream was still to be an animator. Christmas time brought more yummy pretzels. He graduated in the top 10 of a large senior class, proving himself as a scholastic brain along with his portfolio full of awesome art.

Four years later, he graduated from Ringling School of Art and Design. Sony ImageWorks hired him. He is an animator.

And today, he came by to bring me a Christmas gift. He brought white chocolate covered pretzels and memories of Christmases gone by when I was his teacher and he was the student bearing gifts. And he also brought me a copy of his first movie project: Monster House. I'm proud of this guy! Take a peek at Jarred Love and his work from his college years.

At times like this my heart sings. God is good!