ENCOURAGEMENT, PARENTAL

Evangelist Bill Glass asked a group of a thousand prison inmates, “How many of you had parents who told you that you would end up in prison one day?” Almost every one of the inmates raised his hand.390

When he was a young boy the great painter Benjamin West decided to paint a picture of his sister while his mother was not at home. He got out the bottles of ink and started, but soon had an awful mess. His mother eventually returned and of course saw the mess. Instead of scolding him, she picked up the portrait and declared, “What a beautiful picture of your sister!” Then she kissed him. Later in life he said, “With that kiss I became a painter.”391