This morning for my devotional reading in the "Names of God: Exploring God's Character" book, the theme was God as Teacher. He is called a "Teacher" several times in the Old and New Testament. Sometimes when we read the Bible, we read it as a distant observer, but this morning as I contemplated what the word "teacher" means, I thought about the teachers I have had throughout my life. I thought about these teachers that have made the greatest impact on me, why they mattered, why I remember them even years later, and how their positions in my life can compare to God's role in my life today.
The first teacher that came to mind was my fourth grade teacher, Miss Gail. Her name was actually Gail Battaglia, and in my eyes, as tough as she was on me and the other students in my class, she was an amazing teacher. She made my experience at Southeast Academic Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan as a fourth grader something that stayed with me. Even today, if I was able to teach as a career, I would pattern my teaching style after hers. Miss Gail was the type of teacher that desired for her students to be proud of themselves, no matter what environment they came from.
She saw the importance of challenging our young minds, even when we would rather be lazy. One of the main reasons she made an impact on my life is that she encouraged us to read by reading good books to us. My favorite memory of her class was her reading "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" by Mildred Taylor out loud. I would gaze out the window and listen to Cassie's story in this book, knowing that the fictional tale paid homage to the world my grandparents had grown up in down South.
The next teacher that crossed my mind was my fifth grade teacher at Robert Burns Elementary School in Detroit, Michigan. During this season in my life, my family life was in uproar, and in fact, we lived in a foreign environment, as I had never been to Detroit. Yet, we found ourselves living on Hubbell Street in the midst of chaos and confusion. Despite these elements in my life, Mrs. Burns (no relation to the man whose name the school bore) gave me a place of refuge and escape in her classroom. She loved me and saw me as a student with promise - a student very different from some others in her class that would rather play than learn.
(Last weekend, my husband, nephew, and I drove right by the house where I had lived and the same elementary school, and I thought of her - the bright light in my otherwise dismal world. I always wondered what happened to her, always questioned if she wondered what had happened to me. I never forgot how she saw me for who I was and gave me a place to use my voice in her classroom.)
I went to two elementary schools in my fifth grade year. The next teacher after Mrs. Burns was Mr. Vander (although, if my recollection is correct, his full last name was Mr. VanderLee). He worked at Hillcrest Elementary in Grand Rapids. My family had moved back there after a series of unfortunate incidents that were really answered prayer. So, I found myself in his class halfway through the fifth grade year, playing catch-up. Despite the transition, he picked up where Mrs. Burns left off and paid attention to my love of writing and art. He paid for me to attend the Young Authors Festival that takes place at Calvin College the following Spring. He took me to this event with two other students and even then, I realized how much it meant to be chosen because of my love affair with books and art. This was one of the greatest experiences of my life as little girl.
These teachers represented certain aspects of God in my life that I recognize now as I look back in retrospect. Miss Gail represented how God challenges us to learn, to grow, to appreciate the lives we have been blessed with. When she read to us, this was representative of how God has never failed to use words to teach me - His life-giving Word - so I can effectively use it as I encounter more of life. The written word anchors us to a certain time, place, and season. God birthed in man the ability to write so the message of life could be conveyed in a way that transcends time and space. Some things never fail to have an impact - most especially when written down and treasured.
Mrs. Burns exemplified how God never forgets about us; He still sees us in the most dismal of circumstances and that acknowledgment gives us permission to live. That is what she did in the short time that I crossed her path and she crossed mine. She was an amazing teacher, not because of what she taught in the fifth grade curriculum, but because she let me know I mattered to her. That is just what God does when we are at our wits end, and we struggle with being able to see our way out of tough times. He lets us know that we matter more than we realize. He reminds us that He placed us on this earth, at a certain location, in specific circumstances and situations for a reason - to give Him glory.
Mr. Vander was the voice and action of God in my life. He not only sees us, sees our potential, but invested Christ so that we could experience life more abundantly - the fullest extent. This is no small thing. The Blood of Christ was the greatest price paid; when He shed that blood for us, it solidified our worth. The other thing that Mr. Vander showed me by caring about my talents and passions was that I was born to stand out. I was chosen to attend a young writer's program with two other students out of the other 30 children in his class. This is not to say that there weren't others with talent, but he felt that my attendance would benefit me and the path that I was born to follow.
God does this too. He selects us to follow a certain destiny, even when we have a hard time believing in ourselves. I struggle with this even today, but God still places me in positions to flow in the passions He placed within and it is at these points that I see myself as He does. When I am placed in an environment that bears witness with who I was born to be, I shine. When I shine, this brings even greater glory and praise to God.
When I read that God is a Teacher this morning, it meant more when I was able to see the role these influential teachers played in my life. They had characteristics that are reminiscent of the character of God. That is why they made the impact they did in my life. Impact is only made when God's Presence and Character shines through the lives of individuals in the world around us.
No comments:
Post a Comment