the gift of love

My children were invited to a birthday party the other evening for a classmate who happens to be the granddaughter of Jim Jackson, the principal I worked for in my early years of employment, and the man that I wrote about on this blog a few days back.

When I picked up Nathan and Sara, I had the opportunity to visit with Jim's son, James, who told me that his dad was most likely in his last few weeks of life here. He told me that his dad is ready and prepared, and then he shared a beautiful conversation that they had had. James was reading several emails and cards to his dad who kept looking down and shaking his head. There was one particular letter from a past student who wrote about how he had been a little hellion student and how Mr. Jackson had influenced his life. And then the conversation went something like this (not word for word, but close....)

Jim: I've been so lucky.
James: How, Dad?
Jim: I've been so lucky because God has been so generous with me.
James: In what ways?
Jim: He's given me so many opportunities.
James: Opportunities for what, Dad?
Jim: Opportunities to love so many.

And that really paints the truest picture of H. James. He honestly did love each of those kids that God placed in his life. And his staff too. According to James, his dad would often get ribbed by the director of elementary education who would say to him, "Your staff can't really be as good as you say they are, Jim." And Mr. J. would turn to him and say, "No, they're better." His genuine love and encouragement of people was His greatest gift and accomplishment.

" And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13:13