It’s no wonder he felt he was being punished by his parents for going to school, though in later years Sam remembers his mother as a peacemaker in the family. No longer students, his brothers worked full-time at their father’s gas station as paid employees while Sam continued his education and worked in the family business part-time after school and on weekends for no pay. Sam believed in education and was determined to finish high school, even when his brothers left school and no longer made the 124-mile round-trip bus ride to the high school. To him, this was Heaven on Earth, made only more miraculous by the fact that in his new home his teachers saw his abilities and encouraged him, playing an important role in his early development. They lived in a remote mountainous community where Sam spent many glorious hours in the mountains drawing and painting. Though this occupation was not supported by his family, especially his father who felt it would lead to poverty, Sam found early encouragement in his talent from his teachers.īy age 10, Sam and his family moved to California where Sam’s dad found a better job. Sam Butcher knew by the time he was in Kindergarten that he was going to be an artist. Sam Butcher Hears His Calling As An Artist He believes he had a happy childhood-and attests that much of that good feeling stems from his ability to fantasize and live in a world of make-believe where he was able to draw all of the friends and heroes he wanted in his life. A sensitive soul who felt the pain and stress of others, Sam retreated into his creative talents to help navigate difficult times-from parental arguments to bullying to the loss of a pet.įrom an outsider’s perspective, it seems this feeling of isolation and of being different than everyone else in his family would surely have squelched Sam’s creativity and left him feeling bitter about his childhood. Sam would spend hours at a time under the dining room table, in his own little world, writing and illustrating stories using rolls of paper he’d found at a factory dump and using automotive paint – his only source for color early on. But despite this isolation, Sam was able to nurture his own interests that brought him happiness. More so, Sam felt excluded most of his formative years. He felt he couldn’t relate to those types of things and in part it made him feel alone and isolated from his family, including his four siblings. Sam’s dad, Leon, was a poor mechanic with an interest in hot rods and motorcycles, which his sons took to as well, all except Sam. It seemed a fortunate and celebratory start-a harbinger of a joyful life. His parents, Evelyn and Leon, were out celebrating the new year when their revelry was cut short by this unexpected early birth of their third son. Samuel John Butcher was eager to enter the world to get the most out of his first year on this Earth he was a New Year’s baby, born Januin Jackson, Michigan, the first recorded birth of the year in Jackson County. While it might have been difficult for him to foresee this while cleaning toilets at a hospital, Sam admits that upon later reflection he knows all he’s accomplished is God’s will he was destined to a ministry of reaching out and touching hearts through Precious Moments. To this day, Sam claims he never dreamt his artistic gift and love of the Lord would lead him to where he is at this point in his life, or that the characters he created would touch hundreds of millions of lives. Through every hand life dealt him, Sam kept coming back to, finding solace in and pursuing his art. It’s tempting to say that his calling to be an artist and share God’s love with the world is something we only see now that he is recognized the world over as the creator of the beloved Precious Moments characters, but one simply needs to hear his story to see just how strong his calling was. For many, we change our minds throughout childhood-and even well into adulthood! But for others, that seed of passion embeds itself into the soul and, while life may bury it under obligation or neglect at different times, it continues to grow. When we’re young we imagine being all sorts of things. The History Of Precious Moments, Part 1: Sam Butcher's Faithful Path To A Dreamĭo you remember how you felt as a kid when you first thought of something you wanted to be when you grew up? How determined you were to be that movie star or astronaut, even when your aunt would challenge you with questions about how you would make a living or dash your dreams with facts about how only 1 in 1,000 actors make it to the big time? Sam Butcher, the Precious Moments founder, was led to his artistic dreams by a faith so strong that no obstacle could deter him.
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