4.

The Surprise

For the next week, Lisa spent almost all of her free time in her room sketching. On Saturday, after breakfast, Mrs. Lewis asked, “Lisa, why don’t you want to show us any of your sketches? We know you’ve been working on them a lot this week.”
Lisa said, “I hope they are as good as they need to be. I want them to be extra special.”

Lisa’s dad said, “You need to remember that God has given you a gift of drawing. No one is going to judge you. When God asks you to give a gift to someone, it will be received with love.”

Lisa said, “Grandpa told us that this coming Thursday is the 10th anniversary of when his wife died. If possible, I would like to give my gift to Grandpa on that day.”

Larry asked, “What is it? We know it’s something that you sketched, but what’s in the picture?”

Lisa said, “I am going to bring it to Grandpa’s house on Thursday. It will be a surprise not only to him, but everybody else.”

That afternoon Lisa called Grandpa, “Can I stop by on Thursday evening. I have something I would like to give you.”

Grandpa said, “I am free on Thursday evening. You can come by after dinner.”

Lisa asked, “How about 8 o’clock?”

Grandpa said, “That is a good time. See you then.”

Lisa was still secretive. She asked, “Could someone take me to the store to get a frame? I don’t want anybody to go into the store to see the sketch.”

Lisa’s dad said, “Sure. I will take you.”

Each day leading up to Thursday, Lisa’s family could tell that she was getting more anxious. After dinner on Thursday evening, Lisa was getting ready to go to Grandpa’s house.

Larry asked, “Can I go with you? I want to see the expression on his face.”

Mr. Lewis said, “Mom and I would like to go, too.”

Lisa responded, “Sure. I would like you all to go with me.”

When Lisa and her family arrived, Grandpa said, “I am so happy to have you all here tonight. I wanted to tell you something, and I’m glad that I can tell you today. I know you never met my wife. I think I remembered mentioning to Lisa and Larry last week that this was the 10th anniversary of when she died. I’m believing that God has something special for me today.”

Lisa started to cry. She wasn’t sure she was going make it through her presentation.

Grandpa said, “Let’s go into the living room.”

Lisa handed a bag to Grandpa and said, “Here are the pictures that I borrowed from you last week. I appreciate you letting me use them.”

Grandpa said, “It was a pleasure. I am glad they were helpful.”

Lisa, still trying to hold back her tears, gave the wrapped gift to Grandpa. She said, “We love you very much, Grandpa, and I hope this gift will bless you on this difficult anniversary.”

Grandpa opened the gift. He held it in his hands and looked at it carefully. Grandpa started to cry. He said, “This is the most amazing sketch I have ever seen in my life. It is so … life-like.”

Grandpa looked at Lisa and said, “How were you able to capture my wife’s beautiful face. I remember you told me that it seemed like she could start talking to you right out of the picture. I would have to say that your sketch captured that look perfectly.”

When Grandpa turned the picture around so that everyone could see it, Lisa‘s family was amazed. The picture was Grandpa, his loving wife, and Happy.

Grandpa said, “Thank you, Lisa. This is an amazing gift, and it’s exactly what I needed today. I will hang it on the wall, and it will remind me of all the wonderful memories that I had with my precious wife, and Happy. You made me the happiest man in the world, today.”