Page 10 - July 2014 Catalyst

WHAT MY FIRSTBORN TAUGHT ME
By Gladys Grimaud | Continued from pg 9
into his heart, and as far as I know, growing up never strayed from that decision. His love for Jesus was immediate and shortly after that, he became the littlest evangelist I have ever known. Joe was stationed in Misawa, Japan...the rst overseas move for our family. We employed a Japanese housekeeper named Toya. I will never for- get the day that David came home from Chapel Services with a Christian tract written in Japanese that had been given to him in Sunday School. He placed it on his bedside stand. When Toya came to work the next day, he tugged on her apron strings until he got her attention and handed her the tract. She chuckled and stuck it into her pocket. Once again, David tugged on her apron strings coaxing her, “ Read it now!” Reaching into her pocket and smil- ing at David, she said, “Ok, Ok, boysan. I read.” Mission accomplished. David went out to play. When Joe volunteered to serve on suicide missions during the Viet Nam War, it was David that taught me about faith. He was so con dent that his Daddy was coming home and when I asked how he was so sure about that, (because quite frankly, I was not sure that Joe would come home), he gave me a childlike an- swer, “Because I prayed and asked Jesus to bring him home safe and He will.” Many prayers were prayed for my Joe during that time, but I will always believe that it was David’s prayer that brought him home. Isaiah 11: 6 tells of a future event when the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat; the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.” But, wait. Isn’t that just what happened and is happening through children every day?
As David grew up, his compassion for the underdog became more and more evident. He gravitated toward others that his con-
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temporaries seemed to avoid, and I must say, that during his teen years, he brought home some really...dare I say it...weird friends. His interests seemed to run in that direction too. I became quite alarmed when he decided, at age 10, to become a herpetologist. If you need to know, herpe- tology is the branch of zoology concerned with reptiles and amphibians. I suppose it was a good thing that we lived in Germany when his interest was at a peak. Although he spent a lot of time at the library learn- ing all about snakes, there was not a snake to be found in Germany. As soon as we returned to the States, he bought a glass cage and plopped a king snake in it. He kept it in his room until he graduated from college, and on one occasion left it in a pil- lowcase in a motel room. When he re- turned in the evening, there was a note on the door to retrieve his snake from the of- ce. e maid had been scared out of her wits when she saw the pillow case rise up while she was cleaning his room. ank- fully, Joe taught David to play chess at a young age and he spent many hours at the library learning how to improve his game. Today, he is the President of the South Carolina Chess Club...convinced that playing chess is a game that teaches chil- dren valuable lessons...lessons he learned growing up like diligence and tenacity which allows one to expand his world be- yond the ordinary. David is extraordi- nary, and if he were writing this, I think he would say, “Never, never, never, never give up.” (A favorite quote from Win- ston Churchill - these words comprise the entire speech given to the British Parlia- ment during WWII). I have watched Da- vid tackle many tough jobs and win. He would be the rst to tell you that the jobs he loves most are being a husband to Mau- reen, father to Marilyn and Geo rey, and father-in-law to Kaleb Nimz and Natalie Grimaud. Beyond that, he is a successful businessman, musician, chess player, moti- vational speaker, proli c reader (80 books last year), and an avid skier on the slopes in
july 2014