Once Upon A Time........I painted Josie Gray

It was a Thursday that  I will never forget!!!  I tried to calm myself as I stood in the hallway of Tipton Rosemark Academy.  The students, 6th-12th grade, were filing into the gym for chapel service.  I entered also, and sat down next to some of the facility.  I scanned the group and recognized my thirteen year old son and wondered how he would react to today's speaker.  Such a large group of kids.......was I out of my mind......no turning back now. Off to the side, sat Josie Grays family.  I could see the grief in their faces, and hoped and prayed I was doing the right thing.  It had only been a little over a month since the fourteen year old had died from cystic fibrosis.  This chapel service was in honor of her.  In the front of the gym stood an easel with a cover over it, waiting to be unveiled.

And now it was time.  The vice principal was introducing the speaker of the day.  With a deep breath I got up and faced the students of Tipton Rosemark.  Oh the memories that flooded back as I looked out at them....those who were in the IN groups and those who were not.  Sitting in front of me on that first bleacher was the image of the girl I used to be in high school.  So misunderstood......not at all popular......not pretty enough, or smart enough, or well dressed enough, or funny enough.  The only thing I had enough of was awkwardness.  I began to share my journey with these students.  How God had taken a nobody and turned her into a somebody.  He had taken the weak one and made her strong.  He had turned the ugly duckling into the swan.  He had imprinted the verse Matthew 16:24,25 so deeply on my heart that I would never be the same again.  I wanted to give of myself to others.

More than anything, I wanted to encourage the students to follow God's  calling and use their talents to help others.  I wanted them to know that in His eyes they were beautiful and full of potential.  I didn't want them to throw their lives away, or hate themselves, as I had for so many years.  After I had finished speaking, I sat down and the vice principal took the cover off of the easel.  There stood a 16x20 portrait of Josie Gray.  Her parents were invited up and presented the gift that I had wanted them to have.  I could not do it myself......I had already put so much emotion into painting it.  After that, it was a whirlwind.  When I finally returned to my car in the parking lot, I sat in silence.  I had deliberately left one part of the story out.  I had not shared with the students that that afternoon I would begin the process of relocating Chantel's Originals to my home studio.  I was very uncertain of my own future again.   I knew that when I spoke those words about putting all your hopes and dreams into God's hands and trusting Him with them............ that I would actually have to do it....................and that is another story...............