(submitted by Kerry Patton)
“I run to
you, Lord, for protection. Don’t
disappoint me. 2 You do what is right, so
come to my rescue. Listen to my prayer and keep me safe. 3 Be my mighty rock, the
place where I can always run for protection. Save me by your command! You are
my mighty rock and my fortress.” Psalm 71:1-3
Come on, it’s just teaching!
What is the life of a teacher? How hard could it be, right? I mean, you work only nine months of the
year; you’re off by 3:30, and you get all of the holidays AND your summers
off. Easy-peasy.
Well, it would be nice if that were true…
It’s easy to have a very naïve picture
of what the life of a school teacher entails.
My mother, Carolyn Patton raised four kids, and then went back to
college to become a school teacher.
Ultimately, she was hired by a rural school district and served teaching
pre-K and kindergarten. She found
teaching to be very rewarding and considered it to be ministry in the purest
sense of the word. She loved, prayed
for, and cared deeply for the kids she taught.
It was also at times, extremely taxing emotionally, very frustrating,
and sometimes…dangerous work.
Certainly not all of the kids, but many
of them came from some very impoverished and troubled families. One year, her class included a couple of
boys…twins who were receiving special assistance from the government and state
to help with the expenses of attending school.
Continued participation in this program required getting the parents to
fill out and sign a relatively simple form. But after repeated attempts, there
was no success. Mother had sent notes
home with the children, but had not gotten a signature. The boys were in danger of losing the
assistance.
Determined to get the paper signed
before the deadline passed, Mother decided to make a visit to the family home. Her teaching assistant, or Aid, knew this
family, and knew that the father/husband was a very troubled and dangerous
individual. She suggested that Mother
had no business going out to that part of town as it was very dangerous, but my
mom was not to be deterred. She and the aid
went to the family address, but found the family did not live there any longer. A neighbor indicated that the family had
moved one block over. So, on they went to
the next address.
Upon arriving, Mother stepped up and
knocked on the door…a storm door (the inner door was wide opened). The aid stood close, but behind my mom. She was quite frightened.
Hearing the knock on the storm door, a
small child came up to the door and walked away. Voices could be heard from inside,
questioning loudly who these white people were at the front door. A young woman came cautiously to the door and
inquired what Mother and her aid wanted.
Mother expressed that she was from the school, and that she had to have
this paper signed, adding that it was vital to keeping the woman’s boys in the
assistance program.
The woman turned back toward the interior
of the home and demanded a ball point pen from the interior of the home. Shortly, a child arrived by her side handing
her what she had requested. The woman quickly
signed her name, thanked my mother and the aid, and without further comment or
conversation, immediately closed both of the doors. Mother recalls feeling like the encounter had
gone well, but her aid had seen a profile inside the home. She had seen that the husband was inside…and
knew that he was a very dangerous man.
Upon returning to the school, other
teachers learned of this encounter and encouraged my mother to never return to
that neighborhood again…it was simply too dangerous. A few days after this encounter, the father
was arrested and taken to jail for serious crimes.
My mother is now retired, and marvels at
the reality that those twin boys have grown up and are in their early
twenties. She recalls with lingering
agony the young children who came from such troubled homes; the inattentive or altogether
absent parents that were frequently a part of the picture, and tells tales of
the extended measures she and other teachers would go to periodically to make
certain that children got every chance possible to learn and succeed.
Let me ask you something: Are you praying for teachers? Are you aware that the culture they teach in
today is in so many ways different from the culture and environment that you
and I grew up in? Are you praying for
teachers’ protection…for the safety of the students, and for the presence of
Christ Jesus to be powerfully present in our public and private schools?
We have a ministry at NSBC called “The
Teacher’s Prayer Initiative”. I ask that
you prayerfully consider participation in this ministry as a part of your daily
routine. Teachers, students, and other
faculty need our prayers every day.
Protection, effective learning, health, wisdom, and a hundred other
things…they need us to pray for them…daily.
Pray for our Schools. Won’t
you? I thank you if you will.
Prayer
Almighty God, we pray for the
Ambassadors we know as Teachers. Not
every day is filled with danger, but every day is filled with needs…needs of
the teachers, or students. We ask your
peace to rein over our schools, for wisdom to fill the hearts and minds of
teachers and students alike. We ask for
safety, protect students from each other, from violence within and
without. We pray that the presence and
spirit of Christ Jesus would prevail and permeate our schools to the honor and
glory of your holy name. Amen.
