The road leading through Teacherville had gotten rough. With one boy challenging even the most experienced sent to help in my classroom, it was becoming obvious that I was over my head when it came to disciplining children. Each week I went home asking what I was doing there, and not wanting to go back. I’d come to the point where I was ready to cash in the “Escape Clause” I’d been given before I agreed to go there when a sudden detour took me through Commitmentville and showed me a power I’d never known.
A strong sense of obligation to do what I say I’ll do has always made commitment hard for me. I’d been careful to be fairly sure I was able to do something before committing myself, which may be why I didn’t get married until I was forty-one years old. Deciding to go to Teacherville was different. The only thing that qualified me to be a children’s Bible teacher was my faith that God had called me there and had promised to be there with me. In my mind, it was a test of that faith. As much as I wanted to trust God, when it came down to it, my final decision had come after the Teaching Director at the time said, “Why don’t you get started and if you don’t like it, come tell me and we’ll find you something else.” I called it my Escape Clause.
In spite of all the training, support from the other teachers and from God, I would have cashed in the Escape Clause weeks earlier, but I wasn’t sure if the new Teaching Director would honor it. The Children’s Director and other more experienced teachers were using the “time-out” method to discipline the boy with little success. I’d been so caught up seeking great faith that I’d forgotten that much of my journey so far had been learning about love. I decided to apply what I’d learned and see if it would make a difference in my classroom.
First, I announced to my class that I loved them. Then one morning an idea came to me while reciting the pledge of allegiance. The children in this Bible study organization were referred to as “Lambs,” with each age group assigned a different color. My class, the four-year-olds, were “Blue Lambs.” Hoping to unite our class I would often say, “We are all Blue Lambs, and we love each other.” When one kid hit another kid, I would say, “We don’t hit each other, we love each other.” I implemented what I called “Snack Chat.” During the break, while the kids were eating their snacks, I asked if there was anything they wanted to talk about. To my surprise, I started to see the kids as “little people” and really began to love them. I also looked for opportunities to make friends with the boy that seemed to be causing most of the trouble. While on the playground I’d spend a few minutes chatting with him. I complimented him on his apparent natural leadership abilities and invited him to help me in class, hoping he’d work with me instead of distracting the others. He agreed, but after the first couple assignments, he went back to doing his own thing and encouraging others to follow him.
My plan to gain control of my class with love hadn’t worked out, nothing had. Upset, I’d gone home not wanting to go back. As I laid on my couch, I began crying out to God, “I don’t know what I’m doing there! I can’t go there anymore! I’m going to talk to the Teaching Director and see if she will honor the Escape Clause.“ That’s when I heard the preacher on the TV show I’d been watching say something I couldn’t help think was meant just for me. What I heard was: “God wants you to know He hears your cries. Your breakthrough is near, so don’t quit.”
The test of my faith finally came when I realized that it wasn’t the Teaching Director I had made the commitment to. She wasn’t the one who had led me to believe God wanted me to be there. And as much as the Children’s Director wanted me to stay, she wasn’t the one telling me not to quit. So the real question was: “Could I quit on God?” I knew there was no way I could go back to a life without God, so the only thing to do was–to keep going.
Once quitting was no longer an option, there seemed to be a power that came with being fully committed. I decided to give what I had to give and let God supply the rest. And that’s when things began to change. The one boy’s mother dropped out of Bible Study, along with her son. It got easier after that, but at the same time, I felt like I’d failed him. And so I continued to pray for him. I began to focus on the storytelling using my graphic design skills to illustrate the Bible stories. I soon discovered that creating an interesting story for children to understand is not unlike simplifying an advertising message and adding visual effects. I started creating the lessons as I would like to have them taught to me. It was so much fun dressing up as one of the characters in the story and seeing the kids reaction when their teacher looked like someone different each week. My favorite was when I suddenly showed up as an angel and announced that God was coming to earth as a baby!
On the last day of class, the mothers were picking up their children, and the kids were saying goodbye to each other. One boy as he was leaving yelled to another boy, “I love you!” And the boy yelled back, “I love you too!” As his mother and I looked at each other surprised, I felt the Lord say in my heart, “That’s what you’re doing here.”
After seeing how much easier, more fun and successful things went when I was fully committed; I began to notice just how much of the time my mind was divided between doing something and wishing I was doing something else. It was like there was a battle going on in my mind, even over simple everyday tasks. I decided to bring the power of being fully committed to everything in my life. Whenever I found myself doing something and thinking I should be doing something else I started telling myself, “This is what I’m doing right now!” It was amazing how much faster and enjoyable even laundry became, leaving time for something else more fun.
I’d seen God’s enabling power at work in my life to accomplish what I never thought I could do–teach children to love one another. I’d experienced what it’s like to work with God, and I liked it. My faith had been tested, and because of it, I’d come to a greater determination to follow God wherever He leads me–no turning back. What’s next, Lord?
To be continued . . . see Honorville
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