“Use your God-given gifts purposefully." ~ Peter
4:10-11
For most of her 20 years as an
elementary school teacher, summer vacation was Monica’s time to relax by the
pool. So she questioned the sanity of
standing in the schoolyard of an unfamiliar school, supervising recess, wearing
herself ragged for a summer teaching job?
The extra paychecks were nice, but she clearly lacked the energy
of her younger colleagues. Like Gina,
who in her early twenties, made keeping up with the kids look effortless. And her kindness sparked memories of when
Monica was an eagerly zealous student teacher years ago.
Charging in on the
first day of school, she thought she nailed it.
Traditional teacher outfit, check.
Inspiring, radiantly colored bulletin boards, check. Name on the blackboard in perfect penmanship,
check. Greeting each of them with a sweet
Disney princess voice, check.
“Let’s get all our first day wiggles out,” she
told her class of roughly 25 first graders.
As the students vibrated around the room, Monica joined them, getting out
her own first day jitters.
Two hours in, things
were going smoothly. Nobody spilled too
much juice or milk during snack time and only a few kids shed tears during the
goodbyes with parents.
Monica asked the class
to take out their crayons for the day’s lesson.
All of them obeyed - except Georgina, a girl with two long, dark
braids. Why had she not brought the crayons
from home that were required of all first graders at this school.
“My sister has my
crayons,” she said.
“Honey, you should
each have your own crayons,” Monica explained in a delicate voice.
“There’s 8 kids in my family,” Georgina said quietly,
her big brown eyes never leaving the Monica’s face. “We have to take turns.”
The rookie teacher had
completely misjudged the situation. The
next morning she brought a pack of crayons and left them on Georgina’s
desk. She was elated!
That event had energized
her by teaching a valuable lesson - every child has a unique set of
challenges. It would become Monica’s
lifelong mission to help her students overcome them.
With recess nearly over Gina started chatting with Monica. “How long have you been teaching?” she
asked. Monica explained that she’d started
twenty years ago at Ramona Elementary.
“I went to school there twenty years ago!” Gina said. Monica looked at her again, this time really
seeing her. Those big brown eyes … “Did you used to have two long braids?” Monica
asked.
Gina gasped.
“You! You gave me the crayons!” I
became a teacher to help students like you did. Even doing something that small
… it mattered."
That summer, Monica threw herself into teaching with a
renewed sense of purpose. Gina had
taught her the same lesson once again.
Almighty God, thank you for all our teachers;
for the way they give of themselves each day in the classroom, serving and instructing
our next generation. Fill them with
courage, strength, wisdom, peace and joy.
Amen
