Teachers -- The True Difference-Makers
The summer before my freshman year in high school, my world turned upside down. My parents divorced, and my mom and one of my younger brothers moved away. I ended my eighth grade year with high hopes for cheerleading and student council, but when high school finally rolled around, my heart just wasn't in it. In fact, my heart was pretty much crushed. My dad, my other younger brother, and I banded together and made it through each day, but it was an emotional struggle for each of us.
I felt like I was sinking and just couldn't quite grab onto anything solid. And I cried -- a lot. At inappropriate times. For no apparent reason. But in my darkness, there was someone kind and caring and compassionate and understanding. And he was a teacher. Turns out he was pretty good at sharing his passion for American history. But he was GREAT at teaching me that it was okay to cry. That things WOULD get better -- one day at a time. That my pain was real, but that HOPE was a real thing, too. That I was important in the grand scheme of things just because I WAS. And looking back now and following a conversation I later had with him, I'm pretty sure he was praying for me every day.
So here it is -- fall again -- already! And everyone I know who is involved with the education system -- teachers, administrators, office staff, and everyone whose heart and soul is invested in preparing the next generation for life -- is heading back to the classroom or the office or wherever you serve. I've seen photos posted on Facebook of your summers full of vacations to fun places, interesting places, exotic places. Photos of stay-cations and families at baseball games and zoos. Photos of weddings and new grandbabies and adventures. I'm praying the Lord has refreshed your hearts, inspired your minds, and filled up your souls. Because on the first day of classes, there will be someone like me in the midst of all of those new faces. And that someone will need you.
Yes, education is HUGE! The world is an amazing, beautiful, complex place, and YOU have the gift and the charge to unravel it to so many impressionable minds. May you take that charge seriously, and may you pour your hearts into doing that in creative, challenging ways that teach our young responsibility and accountability and dignity. May you dive ever deeper into your field of expertise and be so impassioned by your love for your field of study that your students can't help but fall in love with it, too. May each day be met with anticipation by teacher and student alike as you move forward together in your quest for knowledge and understanding. I LOVED school because of the contagious passion for learning that so many great teachers shared with me over the years.
But the important things that are shared between a teacher and a student aren't addressed when you sign your contracts in the spring. There's nothing written about the many afternoons you spend counseling a student with a troubled home life. No addendum about additional pay for the innumerable times you silently cheer for a kid to finally make the grade that makes the difference. No comp time for extra hours devoted to bettering your own understanding so that you can share it in the classroom and stir a fire in young hearts. No bonuses for dreams planted, aspirations stirred, possibilities opened wide. No accolades for teaching character and integrity and perseverance and courage and strength of heart. But for the teachers and administrators that I know, you do those things every single day anyway -- and wouldn't dream of NOT doing them.
So, my precious friends who are invested -- heart, mind, and soul -- in education, would you do me a favor this year? Actually, I doubt that I even have to ask you to do this -- that's just the kind of hearts you have. Would you look for ME in that sea of faces? Would you ask God to open your eyes to that ONE kiddo who needs something extra -- encouragement, inspiration, patience, acceptance, hope? And knowing your hearts, I'll bet that if you start asking God for ONE, He'll show you a few more. And He'll equip you to be the difference-maker in THEIR lives that that American history teacher was in mine. Have a blessed year!
I felt like I was sinking and just couldn't quite grab onto anything solid. And I cried -- a lot. At inappropriate times. For no apparent reason. But in my darkness, there was someone kind and caring and compassionate and understanding. And he was a teacher. Turns out he was pretty good at sharing his passion for American history. But he was GREAT at teaching me that it was okay to cry. That things WOULD get better -- one day at a time. That my pain was real, but that HOPE was a real thing, too. That I was important in the grand scheme of things just because I WAS. And looking back now and following a conversation I later had with him, I'm pretty sure he was praying for me every day.
So here it is -- fall again -- already! And everyone I know who is involved with the education system -- teachers, administrators, office staff, and everyone whose heart and soul is invested in preparing the next generation for life -- is heading back to the classroom or the office or wherever you serve. I've seen photos posted on Facebook of your summers full of vacations to fun places, interesting places, exotic places. Photos of stay-cations and families at baseball games and zoos. Photos of weddings and new grandbabies and adventures. I'm praying the Lord has refreshed your hearts, inspired your minds, and filled up your souls. Because on the first day of classes, there will be someone like me in the midst of all of those new faces. And that someone will need you.
Yes, education is HUGE! The world is an amazing, beautiful, complex place, and YOU have the gift and the charge to unravel it to so many impressionable minds. May you take that charge seriously, and may you pour your hearts into doing that in creative, challenging ways that teach our young responsibility and accountability and dignity. May you dive ever deeper into your field of expertise and be so impassioned by your love for your field of study that your students can't help but fall in love with it, too. May each day be met with anticipation by teacher and student alike as you move forward together in your quest for knowledge and understanding. I LOVED school because of the contagious passion for learning that so many great teachers shared with me over the years.
But the important things that are shared between a teacher and a student aren't addressed when you sign your contracts in the spring. There's nothing written about the many afternoons you spend counseling a student with a troubled home life. No addendum about additional pay for the innumerable times you silently cheer for a kid to finally make the grade that makes the difference. No comp time for extra hours devoted to bettering your own understanding so that you can share it in the classroom and stir a fire in young hearts. No bonuses for dreams planted, aspirations stirred, possibilities opened wide. No accolades for teaching character and integrity and perseverance and courage and strength of heart. But for the teachers and administrators that I know, you do those things every single day anyway -- and wouldn't dream of NOT doing them.
So, my precious friends who are invested -- heart, mind, and soul -- in education, would you do me a favor this year? Actually, I doubt that I even have to ask you to do this -- that's just the kind of hearts you have. Would you look for ME in that sea of faces? Would you ask God to open your eyes to that ONE kiddo who needs something extra -- encouragement, inspiration, patience, acceptance, hope? And knowing your hearts, I'll bet that if you start asking God for ONE, He'll show you a few more. And He'll equip you to be the difference-maker in THEIR lives that that American history teacher was in mine. Have a blessed year!
