The Big Disappointment

Laura picked up the typed adventure stories that Omah had given her and read the first title: “The Raccoon Raider.” It would be so fun to draw pictures to illustrate it! Ever since she was little Laura had been “the artist” of the family. Now that she was fourteen, God had been teaching her the importance of using her talents for Him. So when Omah had asked her about illustrating the stories that she was writing, Laura planned to do her very best.

After reading about the mysterious animal that stole corn from Grandpa’s swan feeder, Laura smiled. She remembered many adventures on Grandpa’s farm, and she could already imagine the perfect picture for the story. First she went to the bookshelf to find a book on raccoons. One of the pages showed just the right pose—a big raccoon sitting by a stream.

When Mom came into the room a few minutes later, Laura was seated at the table sketching. “How’s it going?” Mom asked.

“Good,” Laura replied. “What do you think?”

“It looks like a raccoon by one of Grandpa’s feeders,” Mom said, with an encouraging smile. “Are you planning to color it?”

“Oh, yes,” Laura said. “I’m going to use the Prismacolor set you gave me.”

“You’ll do a great job,” Mom agreed.

Laura felt quite professional as she laid out the artist-quality pencils beside her paper. Beginning with the black, she began coloring in the mask and nose on the raccoon’s face. The fur was a mix of brown and gray, with black stripes on the tail.

“It looks almost real,” breathed her younger sister, Kara, as she came by to watch.

“Thanks,” Laura replied. “Do you think I should make the feeder blue or red?”

“I like red,” Kara said, pleased to be included.

Yellow corn, gray stones, and green tufts of grass finished the picture.

“Are you going to do another one?” Kara asked, hopefully.

“Not now,” Laura said, putting her pencils carefully away. “I have chores to do. Maybe tomorrow I’ll work on the next picture.”

During the following weeks of that spring and summer, Laura often worked on Omah’s pictures. She would pull out her paper and pencils and an hour or two would disappear as she carefully illustrated the stories. There was a dog barking at an owl wrapped in a coat. Another page showed a newborn fawn. The spotty fur took extra time, but Laura was careful to do her best. She remembered the day she had discovered a fawn in Grandpa’s pasture, hidden in the tall grass. Now she could create beautiful pictures to show others how amazing and interesting these animals were! Each finished picture was slid into a manilla envelope for safe keeping.

The next time Laura went to visit at Omah and Grandpa’s home, she took along the manilla envelope. Omah seemed very pleased with how the pictures were turning out. “You’ve done them even better than I was expecting!” she said.

“Thank you. I looked at photos so I could make them look realistic,” Laura explained. Then she remembered that Omah and Grandpa’s cats were included in one of the stories. Laura studied the two pets sitting on the couch—one was fluffy and lazy, the other sleek and alert. “Do you have any pictures of them?” she asked.

Omah hunted through her photo drawer. “Here are a couple,” she said, handing them to Laura.

It was fall when at last all the illustrations were finished. With a sense of satisfaction, Laura gave Omah the manilla envelope the next time they visited. “Wonderful,” Omah said. “Now I will take them to a publisher and make them into story books for children!” Laura could already see the beautiful books with amazing animal stories and colorful pictures. She was glad she had done her best.

Winter came and soon it was Christmas time. “Grandpa and Omah have arrived!” Kara called from the front window. Laura was helping set out food for the meal, but she joined the rest of her family as they greeted the grandparents at the door. Uncles, aunts, and cousins soon filled the house with laughter and noise.

After the meal and a few games, Omah called Laura and the other children over to the couch. “I have a surprise for all of you,” she said, handing Laura a package. Inside was a green plastic binder with the words “Animal Adventure Stories” written on front. It didn’t look like the storybook Laura had imagined. Slowly she flipped it open. A black-and-white raccoon picture stared back at her. It wasn’t in color at all! Laura didn’t say anything, but her face flushed pink with disappointment.

“It didn’t work to publish the books after all, so I decided to get them photocopied instead,” Omah was explaining, but Laura didn’t understand. Why did Omah have to do cheap black-and-white copies of her beautiful pictures? They looked horrible! She felt like she had been slapped in the face. Anger and frustration twisted around inside of her. She handed the binder to Kara and left the room.

It was evening when Laura could tell God all about her disappointment. “It doesn’t seem fair,” she prayed. “I gave Omah my best work, and she just ruined it all! Can’t I ask her for my pictures back? I mean, maybe she doesn’t care—but I do!” As her pent-up feelings spilled out, Laura felt a quietness coming over her. Then a verse came to mind. Something about giving…. Laura opened her Bible and searched for the spot. Here it was, in Luke 6. The words she read spoke to her heart. “And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek….”* (Luke 6:29) That was certainly how it had felt to receive the cheap black-and-white pictures. What had Jesus said to do? “Offer also the other.” What did that mean? Laura read on, humbling her heart to understand what her beloved Master wanted her to do. There it was in verse 30—just exactly the answer she needed. “Give… and ask them not again.”* (Luke 6:30)

Laura stared at the words and then shut her eyes. “Lord Jesus, please help me. I wanted to give my best, and it really hurts to see it all wasted. But if You don’t want me to ask her for the pictures back, I won’t. I want to please You.” A calm sweetness filled Laura’s heart as she laid down her Bible. Jesus knew all about giving to those who didn’t appreciate it. He understood. And He was glad that she had given her best. That was what really mattered. It wasn’t wasted after all.