The road to great faith had taught me that with God I’m capable of doing far more than I ever thought possible. Though teaching children about Jesus seemed too far out of my comfort zone, the time had come to put what I’d learned into action and see what my faith could do. Lessons leading into Teacherville had prepared me mentally, and the day of practical training I’d been promised was about to begin. Still, it seemed so strange, in a week I’d be announcing to a class of four-year-olds that I was their teacher. I couldn’t help wondering what I was doing there, but my doubts were answered with the reassurance that God had brought me there and was there with me. I would also be given an incredible surprise gift that would turn my insecurities into fun.
Training Day had finally come. I was feeling nervous and excited as I waited with the Leaders and other Children’s Teachers for the Teaching Director to arrive and begin the day. Silently I prayed and asked God to teach me to be a teacher. I told Him I had emptied myself and asked Him to fill me with everything I needed. My prayer was interrupted by sudden silence when a man walked into the room, an unusual sight for this organization of women. He announced that he was the husband of our Teaching Director, and went on to explain that his wife was in Intensive Care with a serious, life-threatening condition. We all bowed our heads in prayer. After the prayer, the man left, and the meeting continued under the leadership of the Assistant Teaching Director from the previous year.
It was like no place I’d been before. As I looked around the room, I thought to myself, “I can learn much from these women.” After an announcement like that, I’d expected the meeting to be dismissed and rescheduled for a later date. That’s what would usually happen in business after such news. But this meeting continued, delayed only by the announcement and a prayer. There was no bickering, no discussion of who should be in charge. And from an organization of volunteers where no one gets paid, I was impressed.
When it came time to introduce myself to the other children’s teachers, I admitted I hadn’t any teaching experience, not even any children of my own. Adding, I didn’t know what I was doing there but was trusting God. Their reaction was not what I had expected. They seemed inspired by my faith and went to work explaining lesson plans and gathering all that I needed for my first day of class. At the end of the day, I was in possession of a fun box of supplies that included crayons, playdough, glue sticks and other stuff I hadn’t played with since I was a kid. Later as I carried it to my car, I was feeling overwhelmed with all the information from the day and felt like running away. Driving out of the church parking lot the song, “I’ll be there” by Michael Jackson, came on the radio just as it had back when I was first deciding whether or not to take the position. I smiled when I heard it, knowing it was God letting me know that He was there with me and was supplying all that I needed. It worked, I felt better.
On the first day of class, I didn’t think the kids caught on that their teacher was more scared than they were. Only a couple kids cried when their mothers left and were fine not long after. They called me Teacher, even though I introduced myself as Miss Louise. It made me feel good, so I let them. Plus, I thought it might also help me grow into the role. The morning moved along fairly well, everything got done and on schedule, even though there were a couple of boys that seemed to have their own agenda. The hardest part for me was the Bible verse. Not only did I need to remember the verse and try to sing it to the song tune, but I also had to remember all the hand motions that illustrated the words. It was a fun way for the kids to learn the verses, but I was really uncomfortable having to sing. The other teachers seemed to have an easier time with them and even enjoyed it. Not me, I struggled with it until something happened on the playground that changed how I viewed it.
While on the playground I was telling one of the ladies that helped in my classroom about the hard time I was having singing the verses. I confessed that as a child I didn’t learn or sing any of the songs that are so familiar to most Christians. That’s when I felt God say to me, “This is your gift, to give you what you missed in your childhood.” It was so powerful, I just stood in awe, almost crying in front of the woman. Mumbling, I tried to tell her what had just happened but I didn’t think she understood. How could she? I didn’t! The thought that I could be given an experience, fifty-three years later, that I missed as a child was just so amazing to me. Who could do such a thing, but God! And, that He had done it for me was almost too much to handle.
Finding out that this teaching position was actually a gift for me changed how I looked at it. I tried to see it from the kid’s point of view. Instead of worrying if I had what it took, I started to have fun with it. I also began to take advantage of the times the Assistant Children’s Director, and other teachers came into my class to sing with the children. At those times I decided to sit with the children, and sing with them as if I were one of them. The kids seemed to like it. They sat close to me; one even climbed into my lap. It made me feel accepted, and I began to relax.
It wasn’t long before I needed to be reminded of what God had said to me earlier. At the next leaders meeting, I got a hug and encouraging words from the Acting Teaching Director. She told me to relax and just have fun. When I replied, “I just want to do a good job for God,” I felt the Lord say to me, “You are still looking at it as a job. I told you it was a gift.” “What do you do with a gift?” He asked. It seemed an easy question to answer, “Enjoy it, of course!” Still, I wasn’t sure how being a kid would help me be a teacher but I decided to trust God to work it all out. And in the meantime, I’d have fun!
When I said I wanted to see what my faith could do, I never expected it would be in a place like Teacherville. It was a foreign land to me. As much faith as it took for me to go there, it seemed to take an even greater faith to stay. I wanted to trust God, accomplish my purpose there, and enjoy the gift I’d been given. Yet, I was still wondering what I had to offer. God had kept His promise to be there, and was supplying my needs in amazing and unusual ways. The only doubts were with my own abilities. The struggle with my insecurities continued until I learned the root cause, and discovered a certain power, in a place I would never have considered.
To be continued . . . see Commitmentville
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