Daily prayer is one of the highlights of my job. It is precious and
humbling to hear my students put their faith and trust in God. Another
highlight of my job is to listen and watch students as they sing in
worship to God. To see a large group of students singing with all of
their hearts sends chills through my body. I am daily reassured that
this is God's place for me.
There have been two specific memories that I will never forget---both of
these events happen to fall on the last day of school. As a teacher, the
last day of school is one full of emotion. I am excited to begin my
summer vacation. I am sad to see my class leave. I am proud to have
witnessed all they have learned. On the last day of school, I make it a
point to give a hug to each student as they leave to wish them well. One
of the hugs that I will never forget came from a student who offered me
numerous challenges throughout the year. This was a student who
continually tried my patience and required more attention than others.
This student didn't seem to absorb new material as easily as others and
never seemed to enjoy school. Yet, on this last day of school, his was
the biggest and longest hug that I have ever received. In that moment,
all of the trials and challenges were erased and I felt honored to be
his teacher.
Another blessing of the last day of school comes from the heartfelt
gifts from parents and students. These gifts are a true sign of
appreciation. On this last day of school, I was flooded with wonderful
gifts and cards - flowers, lotions, candles... Upon reading one of the
cards, my role as a Christian school teacher was certainly assured. In
this card, the family described their debate over sending their children
to Christian school. Their public school background caused them to
question whether the cost and the commitment was worth it. The card
continued to say that when their family met me for the first time and
saw my dedication and attention to their child, they new that every
penny was worth it. This is a card that I will keep because it provides
me with the encouragement to attack another school year and to face the
challenges and joys of a new class.
While I was attending Calvin College my friends and I would often sit
around and discuss where we would like to teach after we graduated. I
shared that it was my desire to teach in a Christian school because I
wanted my faith to be visibly seen by my colleagues and the kids I was
teaching. In fact, I told my friends that I couldn't even imagine not
letting my faith shine through in my lessons. Last year I was so
thankful to hear that my desire to let my faith shine had truly been
noticed by a student.
Every year I challenge my students to begin having personal devotions. I
believe that at the level I teach students are able to read a devotional
on their own and offer a prayer to God. Last year I challenged my
students to have personal devotions and even keep a prayer journal. We
also discussed quite often what it meant to have a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ.
One of my students really took these discussions to heart, went home,
and asked her mom to help her find a devotional book so she could spend
some time alone with God. They actually found a devotional which I also
had at school which made the student so excited. Her mom later shared
with me that she enjoyed reading those devotionals so much she would
leave the book on the counter during the day for her mom to read. She
would also share the discussions we had in class about the devotions
stating, "Well, Mom, this is what my teacher said about it..." It was a
true blessing to know that my students were extending our class
discussions with their families at home. As a Christian educator, I
believe my calling is to help students develop their faith which takes a
joint effort by the home and school.
As we begin another school year, my goal continues to be to reach out to
my students and challenge them to grow in their faith. I want my
students to develop a personal relationship with God and bring concerns
they may have to God in prayer. I also want my students to see God's
power through all the subjects I teach whether we are talking about the
crossing of the Red Sea, the planet Neptune, the country of Mexico, or
the partial products algorithm. God has made a very orderly world and we
have so much to praise Him for! I want to continue to be a witness for
my students so that they are able to see how important my relationship
with Christ is. If I am able to do that, I am truly accomplishing what I
want to do as a Christian educator.
