As a teacher you encounter all kinds of personalities. Often, you find yourself wondering (worrying is more the accurate "w" word.) about some of these "personalities" and asking "Why?". Of course, that is before you stare at yourself in the mirror and realize you are a member of that club. So, slamming down the gavel of judgment becomes a tad bit harder.
Well, this story is about one of my darling personalities that I had the privilege to teach. A very intelligent, creative, humorous, but lonely and hurting child that has seen and heard way too much. Has a mother who cares and wants only the best for her child, but previous choices have put a limit on her resources. And, let's not forget...dad. The role model of manhood seen on weekends.
As you can imagine, this bundle of joy saunters into class every morning ready to learn. Wrong! He may saunter and have a smile on his face, but it's not for learning... However, this little personality touched my heart the moment we met. I had little background knowledge of this angel, but as the school year did its own sauntering, more came to light and the more I prayed. With all honesty, there would be some days I would go home disgusted and pray for God to remove this child from my class, and other days my heart broken praying for guidance.
I knew the only hope for this child was Jesus. As I witnessed poor behavior, bad attitude and low effort towards anything school related, the more I prayed. That old saying, "Prayer changes everything", well it didn't change the child, but it sure did me. I started accepting this child and stopped trying to mold the angel to become this idea of a perfect student. Now, my transformation didn't stop this child from making dirty innuendos, cussing on the playground, bullying, being disrespectful and etc... School attendance and work effort didn't improve either. But, I began to see this child through the eyes of Jesus. None of us are deserving of His love, but he loves us anyway despite our bad choices.
Does this mean consequences for bad choices are now over looked? Absolutely not! However, it does mean more heartbreak and more praying on my part. God promises us that our prayers will produce fruit and one day this child will come to know Jesus our Savior.
