march 2012
CityLight.org 13
to failing. Everything I had tried before
didn't work, so I just began to encourage
him over the least little thing. One day he
came in from cutting the grass, I ran over
to him and said, "Isaiah, you did a good
job on the grass, boy!" He said, "thanks
Dad!" Just as he walked away I called him
back. "Isaiah." "Yes sir?" I looked deep
into his eyes and said, "You're a good son,
and I love you. And if a "D" is the best
that you can do, then we are going to cel-
ebrate over that `D'." Shortly after that his
"D's" changed to "B's".
Is there an "Isaiah" in your life? Is there
a friend, neighbor, or a co-worker who
could use a simple word of encourage-
ment... a word of hope? I encourage you
to find someone like that, on a regular ba-
sis. Because the next person you encour-
age, you never know, it just might be...
their first time.
For more info on the author:
www.henryflowerswebsite.com
Henry
FLoWers
literally feel the red, white, and blue! And
then, it was my time to sing the National
Anthem. I thought to myself, "what was I
thinking?. I can't believe I volunteered to
sing in front of all of these people!" Then
I remembered what I was thinking. I did
it to impress a girl, her name was Priscilla.
She said if I volunteered to sing the an-
them, she MIGHT give me her phone
number (Ladies, we men never learn...do
we?). So I got ready to sing, and just be-
fore I did I heard a voice inside my head
say, "Hey! Casanova! Do you even know
the words?" But it was a little late for that,
so I began to sing. Oh say can you see
how glad I was when that was over!? I was
scared and couldn't help but think how
awful I must have sounded. I walked back
to my room feeling, once again, unwanted
and worthless.
Later that afternoon I was called down to
the lobby by a high ranking officer. He
said, "young man, I have a message from
the Commanding Officer. He says that
your rendition of the National Anthem
was the best that he has ever heard.
He respectfully requests that you
sing every Friday until you gradu-
ate." I regretfully replied, "Thank
you sir." My friend, that was Au-
gust 18, 1991, and that was my first
time. It was my first time feeling
valued...appreciated...encouraged.
For eighteen years I was made to
feel like an alien and an outcast,
but that message changed my life.
I still had some issues with my self
image, but I was well on my way to
feeling good about myself.
Not long ago my son Isaiah spent
a good bit of time feeling discour-
aged and downcast because he
couldn't do any better in his class
than a "D", and he was on his way