Let My Teaching Fall Like Rain

Let my teaching fall like rain and my word settle like dew,

 like gentle rain on new grass and showers on tender plants.

 Deuteronomy 32:2 CSB

I am 75 years old, and I honestly cannot remember a time when I didn’t think of myself as a teacher. As the oldest of five children, we spent a lot of time “playing school,” and I was the “head teacher” in all those scenarios, presenting report cards to our parents when they would return from a church meeting, during which time I had been “in charge” of the younger siblings. 

“Always the teacher.” That’s what my parents said. 

My first actual public school teaching experience was when I was in the sixth grade. Seriously. That year, at a little school in Jessieville, Arkansas, the fifth grade (my sister’s class) and sixth grade were all in one class. Our (frankly) incompetent teacher would sometimes direct me to teach reading to the fifth grade. I rather enjoyed it.

The phrase “I was a teacher” is really not a part of my vocabulary. 

I AM A TEACHER.

It is part of who God created me to be. It was always my calling. When I was old enough to think/talk about vocations (and calllings), I would always say that my first calling was to be a wife and mother. After that, it was to be a teacher. It went without saying that I would study education when I went to college.

At Southwest Baptist University, I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in social studies and minors in English and secondary education. My teacher certification from the state of Missouri was (and is—my Missouri certifications are lifetime) in 7-12 social studies and English, and K-12 Gifted. A few years after that, I completed the coursework to obtain a lifetime certificate in elementary (K-6) and subsequently earned a Master in Education from Drury University (Missouri).

Recently I read a blog post about living in the “now,” forgetting the past and not thinking about the future. I get it. There are parts of that philosophy that I agree with, and I certainly understand the “Look, I am doing a new thing” passage of Scripture. But, for me, while I am loving the “now,” I find it to be a good thing to reflect upon the past, because it is so full of blessings. I like to think about the future, too, as there is so much to look forward to. 

So, I believe I can appreciate and be blessed by the past and the future and the now.

Along those lines, recently when I was reflecting on the opportunities I have had to “be a teacher” (and the many lives I was blessed to touch—and be touched by), I made a list of some of those teaching experiences that came to mind. In all honesty, I’m not sure I remembered them all. But these made my list:

Piano lessons (off and on for years, starting at age 17)

Sunday School classes (children and adults)

Missions organizations (church)

Children’s Choir (two churches)

Children’s Ministry Leader/Teacher

Life Group Leader (church)

Ladies Bible Study

Color Me Beautiful classes

Substitute Teacher, Elementary (on USMC base)

7th grade English/Social Studies

High School Social Studies

Kindergarten

Grade 5 

Elementary Remedial Language Arts

Gifted students grades 1-7 (13 years)

School District Technology Coordinator

Adult computer classes

Adult Basic Education (those studying for GED)

College (English and Teacher Education) (3 colleges)

I know that I sometimes still slip into “teacher mode” when I am with my children and grandchildren and great grandchildren. But you know, I think I’ll stop apologizing for that. “Teacher mode” is how God made me, and I kind of like what He did there. I like me. In fact, I am one of my favorite people.

Just to prove that I can be “in” the now moment, too, here is my latest very quick, very easy art piece. I’m spending some time these days on Christmas art, but I painted this plum right before I started on the holiday projects (to be shared later).

I do thank God for the opportunities He has given me through the years to follow my calling. And yes, this continues to be my prayer, even now, for any ways that I am able to continue to BE a teacher…

Let my teaching fall like rain and my word settle like dew,

 like gentle rain on new grass and showers on tender plants.

 Deuteronomy 32:2 CSB

#teacher #calling #grateful #letmyteachingfalllikerain