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Friends United Meeting |
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July-August 2005
Commitments
By Retha McCutchen, FUM General Secretary
My sister, Jean. Jean is pretty, creative, talented and energetic. The room comes alive when Jean walks in. Jean can sew clothes and make dolls, is the best cook around, refinishes antiques, papers walls like a professional, plays the trumpet, loves children and is a breast cancer survivor. At least she has fine, straight, hard-to-manage hair, compared with my thick locks!
When I was a kid and Jean was in high school, I remember standing by her side as she practiced trumpet. Discipline to practice brought success.
Jean was in her 60s when she started painting lessons. I didn’t even know she could draw. Today Jean is certified by the Oregon Watercolor Society, displays at art shows, wins awards and has her paintings travel around the State of Oregon with the best of the best. She even makes money!
I’ve learned many lessons from Jean throughout my life. She has work tirelessly alongside her husband, Ray, for most of their married life that began when she was 18. Together, they raised three kids, managed restaurants, gas stations, sold antiques, built and sold houses, restored rental property, built a yacht and sailed off into the Mexican sunset. From them I learned that there are more important things in life than making money.
The highlight of lessons learned from Jean, however, is that it is never too late to learn something new. The enjoyment and self-confidence Jean has received from these years of art work cannot be weighed. What if she had said, “I’m too old to learn a new art; I’m not talented or I would have known earlier?” The world would not be enjoying the pleasure of these paintings.
God has promised to be the potter and mold the clay of our lives.