While editing a devotional book I wrote a few years ago, I came
across this piece called Miss Marion's Lessons. Once more, God
reminds me to always build a bridge.
I will instruct you and teach you. Psalm 32:8
One Sunday evening, my seven year old, Bethany, and I
reviewed the day’s happenings as she put on her pajamas for bed.
I had taught her Sunday school class for several years, but
because of my recent breast cancer diagnosis, my friend, Marion, had
volunteered to take over for a time. Miss Marion often told stories from when
her twin boys were little. Once my son, upon leaving class, streaked up to me
and said, “You’ll never believe what those twins have done now.”
“What happened in Sunday School this morning?” I asked Bethany
hoping for another story.
“We played a pretend game and changed our names. Mine was
Sassafras.”
I laughed as we pulled her pajama top over her head. “Great
name. What else did you do?”
“We made presents for the other children that use the class
room during the week.”
Tears sprang to my eyes.
The other children she referred to were from another church
to which we’d opened our facility. The children were left unsupervised at times,
and their imagination led them to do some interesting things with materials
left in the classrooms. When I was teaching, we were careful to store
literature and supplies where they couldn’t be harmed. I never felt good about
this, but there seemed no alternative.
Sometimes, we’d leave paper and crayons for the children to
play with during the week, but not often.
When Bethany said they made presents for these children, I
almost cried, because it hadn’t occurred to me to do that.
Miss Marion was building a bridge instead of a barrier. She
reached out rather than turn her classroom into a fortress. She taught the
children to do the same. She also was instructing me and reminding me that we
need to bless.
As I ponder this, I realize I have a relationship against
which I brace myself. I feel myself building a fortress. I suppose amidst
difficulties, that’s the human thing to do. However, Jesus in me would ask me
to span the distance, to let the drawbridge down. He’d ask me to bless. It’s
hard to reach over that irritating thing someone else is doing. However, in the
power of the Holy Spirit, we may extend the love of Jesus to another and in
doing so, amazing things can happen.
We never know all that happens when we expend our energies
in teaching a child. I do know that while teaching my children, Miss Marion has
also taught me.
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