The 5th anniversary of my oldest son’s incarceration arrives next week. Over these past five years, we have sent gifts to our son in ways of money on his books for commissary, E-Comm Direct purchases, and books mailed directly from Amazon.
However, our son cannot send us gifts except his letters and hand made cards. Those have been very precious to us over these past five years.
Yesterday my husband and I received a package in the mail from our son. Inside this oversized envelope was a 15″ X 20″ painting of a photo we sent him in 2013.
The photo was taken on our first vacation two years after the tragedy that led to his imprisonment. It was a difficult trip to take and enjoy. We felt guilty for enjoying life while our son sat in prison. But we felt prompted by the Lord to go and went anyway.
One evening while traveling down Route 66 in Arizona, our youngest son captured this “whispering sweet nothings” moment between Eldon and I with his cell phone. I sent the photo along with other photos of our vacation to Stephen.
Now three years after sending the photo, my son sent this painting to us with no note or explanation. When I saw it, I cried and cried.
First I cried because the detail of the art work is so amazing. I don’t know who painted it, but the work is really good. I remembered the photo and found it for comparison.
Second, I cried because for the first time in five years I’ve received a gift from my son. A gift that he had to think about and organize, whether someone else did it or whether he did it. I realized that more often than not, in the free world, we take gifts for granted.
And lastly, I cried because now I have a painting reminding me of that summer the Lord impressed on me to “let go of the old, grab hold of the new and enjoy the ride.” Those were the words I felt the Lord spoke to me to encourage me to move on and enjoy the life HE has given to me to live. HE is in control and loves my son even more than I do and I can trust the Lord with my son’s life.
I am free to enjoy the life the Lord has for me through Christ, my Lord. That’s the most precious gift I have and to remind me, I have the painting from my incarcerated son.
God loves each of us and our children. No matter what circumstances we face, the Lord keeps us encouraged.
Here are the pictures–the original picture and a picture of the painting.
