Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: PRESENT (07/16/20)
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TITLE: Under His Sky | Previous Challenge Entry
By John Custer
07/19/20 -
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A few years prior she was with a youth group from Australia on a rather small boat headed to a distant island in the ocean. It started out as a lot of fun, then it got dark, and the captain showed intense anxiety. He was getting low on fuel. She sensed that he was fearful.
The ocean was so big with no land in sight—not an ideal place to be lost! Miss B wondered if she would ever see her parents again. After a long stressful wait, she bowed her head and asked God to help her with her growing anxiety, for wisdom for the captain, and for a safe arrival.
When she opened her eyes the stars sparkled brightly and the thought crossed her mind, “God, you see me and you see my parents and the same sky covers us both.” She decided to trust God not only for that trip but also for the rest of her life.
Eventually the boat docked safely and Miss B disembarked a different person. She became a missionary and her signature from then on was, “Under His Sky, Miss B”.
After she told me that story, I knew what my gift would be. I had to wait until Sunday to order it. After the Sunday Vespers Services we usually walked over the bridge to the Chiangmai Night Market to buy a dish of Mango and Sticky Rice, a very delicious dessert.
However, on this December Sunday I went to the Night Market with a paper in my hand. I had sketched on the computer a picture of a boat on the ocean with the stars and moon above. It was a very crude drawing and was meant to merely give an artist a general idea of what I wanted him to paint. It had no waves, or details, just the basics. I wanted him to fill in the rest.
There were many artists in the market and I selected one and commissioned him to paint the picture “similar” to the one on the paper that I gave him. I was to pick it up shortly before the party. I could hardly wait! I knew Miss B would love my gift.
The day arrived to pick up the painting. When I looked at it, I could hardly believe what I saw. It was exactly like my computer drawing, only larger; no waves, only the stars that I had on my paper. I was so disappointed. I had already paid for it. With my limited Thai, he simply did not understand my request. I framed it anyway.
At the party I sheepishly gave Miss B my present, a horrible painting, or “dodgy” as they say in Australia. However, when she opened it, she instantly recognized what it represented and started to cry. I wanted to cry too.
She hung the picture in her living room and that is where it stayed.
After the party we felt very lonely because Christmas wasn’t a holiday in Thailand. The stores were all open and the kids went to school like any other day. We knew our family in the States was getting together and we really missed them. Then…we heard a rap on the front door. There was Miss B in her pajamas.
“May I come in and celebrate with you guys?”
“Yes, of course.” My wife had just finished baking some cinnamon buns and we had Christmas together.
Christmases have come and gone since then, but that had to be one of the most memorable.
Four years ago Miss B became ill and died at a young age. I talked to her just before she passed. She was waiting for the boat to arrive and there was no apprehension about the voyage. She knew the Captain and He guaranteed her a safe arrival. She was Under His Sky.
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