...at our local HEB, no less!
(for the non-Texan crowd, HEB is a major grocery store in these parts)The boys and I were out doing a bit of grocery shopping this morning, and it was Logan's first time to ride in the seat of the cart with his big brother (they have room-for-two in HEB carts). It was too cute - I do have a picture of it on my cell phone, so if I can figure out how to transfer it to the computer, I just may have to post it here. Caleb was really funny trying to show little bro what everything was..."This is
cheese, Lo! This is
bread!"
Don't we all wish we had a personal tour guide through the grocery store? But I digress.
We ran into a former co-worker of mine from my days of teaching 7th grade science at a local junior high. He taught art there until a year ago, when he decided to venture out into the business world. However, he filled me in on some of the goings-on at our former campus of employment, and it broke my heart. One of the teachers that taught on my team, I'll call her K, went through a divorce in the last year (her husband also taught at this same school) and her now-ex-husband promptly got married to the current principal's ex-wife. Supposedly K is now seeing the principal. It's a real-life soap opera, and their kids are all caught in the middle.
After hearing about all of that, I was in such a sad mood, praying for those involved in the apparent spouse-swap. It should be noted that when I taught with K, she was very vocal about her Christian faith, and how she was very involved in her church and helping with the youth group. At the time, her faith seemed quite genuine and quickly became a common ground that she and I shared. I have not spoken with K in a little over a year, so I do not know where she is at right now with God, but my heart is so heavy for her.
Anyhow, after that emotional low, we purchased our groceries and I was wrangling a toddler, his balloon, our grocery cart, and a crying 6-month-old out to the car when I heard a sweet voice say "
Mrs. Griffin?"
And now to the emotional high...yea!
It was a former student of mine from 3, almost 4, years ago named Courtney. (Former students are the ONLY ones who call me Mrs. Griffin!) This sweet girl struggled so hard at the beginning of the year in my Chemistry class, but fought tooth-and-nail to make it work. By the end of the year she was one of my straight-A students! The very next year, at the end of her senior year, her father passed away quite suddenly, postponing her hopes and plans for college indefinitely. Courtney has 5 younger brothers and sisters...
She came running up to me, and waited patiently as I loaded Logan into his car seat before enveloping me in the biggest bear hug. She just held on for a long while, and I was bombarding her with rapid fire questions - "How are you? What are you up to now? Do you see any of your friends from high school? What are they doing now?"
After she let go of me, she said "Wait, I'll answer all of that but I have to tell you this first." Then she started to cry as she told me that she had been hoping to run into me for the last 2+ years since she graduated, just to give me a huge hug (check) and tell me that I was the best teacher she had ever had and the biggest influence on her life (GULP). I had apparently shown her that she
can do 'hard stuff like science' if she just puts her mind to it, even if she has to work at it a bit more than other people. What really got me is when she said I had influenced her to pursue God's call and direction in her life, which right now is either youth ministry or missions, because of how I helped her and "lots of other people" I taught.
Pass me the Kleenex!!
As a teacher, I always prayed (especially before a new school year began) that I would be able to teach my students so much more than the curriculum I was paid to teach. I wanted to teach life - and how to have it to the full (John 10:10). Not easy in a public school system, but certainly possible (remember the saying that actions speak louder than words?). I remember walking around my classroom(s) and praying as I passed each and every desk. Courtney, thank you for being an answer to prayer.
She is starting college in the fall.
