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David was a very naughty boy. He used to go to school with ragged clothes. The teacher was not able to control the class because of him. She tried by all means but in vain. He was a failure in his studies. The teacher wrote in the first year report, “David promised to be better. His family circumstances are hard.”
The next year she wrote, “David is better because his family circumstances got better.” The third year she wrote, “David is an excellent pupil. However, his mother’s death affected his personality.” Then, the fourth year, she wrote, “David is improving slowly for, his father does not care for him.”
David noticed that in spite of his bad behavior the teacher was trying to encourage him justifying his behavior without hurting him. She was not merely a teacher but a mother feeling his pains.
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On Christmas, all the pupils brought gifts to the teacher. All of them tried to wrap the present elegantly. As for David, he presented his gift wrapped in cheap paper undecorated. After opening the gifts and thanking each pupil for his gift. She took David’s present and opened it smilingly. She found a cheap necklace and a cheap bottle of perfume. Before any pupil commented, she put on the necklace and said, “Thank you David for this beautiful gift.”
The academic year was over and David joined the secondary school where he could not meet the teacher. He wrote her a letter to that effect,
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Thank you for caring for me. In spite of my bad behavior, you were always supporting me with encouragement. I did not find your care in my father or my mother who was sick for a long time and was always quarreling with my father. Allow me to regard you my mother. I gave you all what I had: my mother’s necklace and her perfume. Your encouragement supports me amid the hard circumstances. |
Tears filled the teacher’s eye as she remembered what St. Paul the apostle said,
“Comfort the fainthearted, Uphold the weak, be patient with all”
(1 Thess. 5.14).
Years later, David sent her a letter to that effect,
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Thank you for your encouraging words helped me succeed. I Passed the final exam of the secondary school. I’m the second top student. |
Years later, he sent her a letter telling her that he was graduated from the faculty of medicine and that he was the first top student. After four years, she received a wedding invitation with a letter to that effect,
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I’ve been deprived of my mother at a young age but your encouraging words supported me. Do you accept to attend my wedding ceremony as my mother? I will be very glad and I won’t ever forget that you are the secret behind my success and peace. |
She knelt down to thank God who used her for the edification of many people. Very joyfully, she attended his wedding not as a guest but as a mother.
→ English translation of the story here at St-Takla.org: الشاب الشقي وكلمات التشجيع.
Lord, teach me how to support others wisely.
Teach me to be kind to the weak.
Let me uphold others not destroy them.
You are my Supporter, Let me support my brethren.
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