And we know that God causes all things to
work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called
according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
It was late spring of
1990 and all of my 6th graders were pretty anxious and excited
about the coming history fair slated at our school the next day. All of
the kids in our elementary grades had projects due and there was seemingly
no one that was not keyed up.
I was one of five teachers in the sixth grade,
who were working single-mindedly on our History Fair projects. These
assignments had been worked on by our kids for weeks, and were to be graded
the next morning.
But more importantly these projects were to
be the centerpiece at the Open House the next evening. Open House was a
big event at our school; several hundred parents, brothers and sisters,
grandparents, and students from every grade level in the school would be
walking through each room to see the displays. It was quite an event
because other grades were having fairs of their own. The fourth grade
usually wowed everybody with incredible Science Fair projects, swallowing up
the mostly bland history displays.
I must admit, I finally
got caught up in the competition this year. I was tired of being
overshadowed by my fellow lady teachers who seemed to be born with the
ability to create outstanding classrooms at Open House.
“Well, he’s just a man, doing the best job he
can do. What do you expect? Did you see Mrs. Wiley’s room?”
These words wrung in my ears year after year.
So I decided to do something about it.
Instead of artistically doing my best effort as
a teacher in displaying their work on classroom walls, and strategically
exhibiting their history projects throughout the room, I got a brain storm
during our preparation and went another direction.
I had a great class, so they were game for
anything. And to tell you the truth,
doing history projects was not always
exciting. At the time we were studying ancient history, which included
the study of Egypt’s religious belief and that of Christianity.
We decided to compare the afterlife of each
one, along with their eternal promises and rewards.
It was evident the tombs of the Pharaohs were
pretty impressive, but inside laid lifeless, decaying mummies.
There was no resurrection, no real hope, only a
dead king with the wish for a happy eternity.
The Christian tomb on the other hand was very
austere, and quite empty. It was empty because Christ conquered death, and
rose to prove that His eternity was the only eternity.
We decided to split our class up into 4 teams
to build 4 sets of these tombs.
Above Pharaoh’s tomb read, “Pharaoh
is dead; there is no afterlife in him,” and above Christ’s tomb it
read,
“He is risen, waiting in heaven for all those
who believe.”
The project ended up to
be quite something. Parents started helping on weekends (We had many
professional carpenters), and money was raised to buy all the materials.
We covered up our windows as best we could so the rest of the school could
not see what we were doing. The hammering, nailing and constant
construction though,
made some very
irritated. But it was pretty
exciting, and to get students excited with only a couple of months until
summer is a teaching miracle of sorts. Even the Principal grew curious and
made his way down to our room to see what was going on. When he saw it and
heard my explanation, he said. “Great! I will keep your project a secret
also.”
Needless to say that over the weeks, groups
working on their set of tombs learned a lot about Egypt, but more
importantly about their eternal life with Jesus Christ. Now we did work
on other subjects during this time; math, science, and reading were not
forgotten. But every afternoon, each group worked hard and did pretty
well. Along with learning history and spiritual lessons, they also gained
new skills in how to work with each other. But there was one group of
girls who struggled more than the others, and it is this story that I want
to share with you because I believe it reflects how important parents are in
modeling God’s truth to their kids, which is the greatest Teachable Moment
of all.
The girls were all hard workers and had
divided up all the project tasks equally. But Dominique, one of the girls
in this group really had a tough time working through the project. She was
one of my best girls in class, an eleven year old who had great character
and was very conscientious in her studies.
But her family was in turmoil, and had been
for months. She came from a large family, there were many brothers and
sisters, and all really loved the Lord. The parents had obviously set a
great example for their kids; they were all very sincere about their
relationship with Christ. It was not a put-on that sometimes characterizes
many students attending a Christian school. Times got tough though when
the father had a sudden heart attack in the fall. He was a small business
owner and the sole wage earner, so without him there was very little income
for the family. They had little health insurance and definitely not enough
to handle the bills that rolled in.
So the entire family had to band together and
cut back, and help any
way they could. As the months lingered, the dad
seemed to make very little progress. Whatever procedures were done did not
seem to help. At first, Dominique’s faith seemed to be strengthened by the
trial. But as the months went by, I could see the strain on Dominique’s
face each day when she came to class. Even though she struggled, she
never missed an assignment, nor did she turn one in late. I believe it was
her way of helping her dad. In Dominique’s mind being a good student and a
faithful daughter might bring him some relief, and even quicken his
recovery. That is the kind of character these parents taught their
children. They did it by teaching them the Word and by modeling faith,
even in the roughest of times.
As the project began, money was collected
from each student for the school did not have any budget for History Fair
projects. Some of the materials got a little expensive; each student was
supposed to chip in.
But Dominique had no money, and did not know
what to do when the other girls put pressure on her to pay her part.
Through the anonymous donation of one of the school’s parents her school
tuition had been taken care of. Another example of a parent at our school
who modeled the Christian life. When I saw what the girls were doing, I
stepped in to mediate. I waited until Dominique left the room for recess,
and then I told the girls of Dominique’s struggle. I then took out the
money and paid for her end of the project. I asked the girls to be more
compassionate, and to remember the Christian life is not what you say, but
what you do.
The girls responded very well and after that showed
the Christ like compassion of which they were capable.
The girls’ project progressed well. The tombs
were made of chicken wire, paper, glue, wood, and painted to spec. Their
tomb display took one entire corner of the room and was very impressive.
Open house finally arrived and my students
came in early before school to make their finishing touches on the
projects. When school began, we took our self-made coverings off the
windows, so that all could see what we had done.
Of course it was Dominique’s’ hope to have
her dad there that evening, but that did not seem possible. He still was
very weak and had not worked for months.
I remember that Dominique s tried to look
positive that morning; perhaps by some miracle her dad would be able to
come. As the day went along, she was told by her sister in another class
that her dad would not be able to make it. She tried to veil her
disappointment when the 3:00 p.m. bell rang, but her face showed her
defeat.
The open house that evening was a complete
success. Students, parents, grandparents and fellow teachers visited our
room with great compliments in hand. The tombs were the talk of the
school, and my kids were really proud of what they had done. But
Dominique’s family never came for they had a real bond with each other.
Their feelings were, “If dad can’t make it then we will stay home with him.”
I came in early the next morning before
school to start the clean up. There was a lot to do, and the school had a
policy of getting classrooms back together as soon as possible.
As I made my way up the stairs to my
classroom, I saw Dominique and her dad about half way up. He was leaning
on her for support. I quickly helped him the rest of the way, lauding his
daughter as we made our way to the room. In a cheerful, yet guarded voice
Dominique asked if she and her dad could have some time together in the
room. “Of course,” I said, “Take your time; we’ve got all day to clean
things up.” I came back a little later, just in time to catch him
leaving. “I am very proud of my daughter; she has made my recovery so much
easier.”
It was not too many days later I heard
through our student prayer time in class that her dad had made a full
recovery. He was back to work, and the family had survived a difficult
trial. Dominique’s parents taught her through the Word and by their
example a great lesson about faith. The same lesson that James teaches us
in his book. “Count it all joy my brethren when you encounter various
trials and temptations, knowing that the testing of your faith produces
endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result.” Dominique
learned this truth first hand.
Now this is not the end of this story; it
even gets better. There was another lesson Dominique’s parents would teach
her, and that one comes from Paul, who wrote in Romans 8:28 “Now all
things work together for those who love God and are called according to His
purpose.”
In our school, 6th grade
graduation was a big deal. Every year aside from receiving diplomas and
giving special awards, a grand musical was performed by all the sixth
graders. My sister-in-law, Susanne was in charge of this event every year,
and this year was as good as ever. Several of our sixth graders had
instrument solos, some sang in pairs, and others had speaking parts. Over
1,000 parents and family members attended every year.
At the end of the evening, a special award
would be given to the student who demonstrated the best academics and
Christian character. I was a part of the selection of this student. I
think you know by now who was selected, but it was to be a secret. The
award was also very valuable; it gave the student free tuition for a
year.
My sister-in-law who was well aware of the
travail Dominique went through gave her a special part in the performance.
Susanne wanted to reward her for being such a Godly young girl throughout
the year.
The kids practiced the whole last week of
school for graduation. We had one last rehearsal the day of graduation,
but then in the middle of it Dominique got very sick, and could not
continue.
She had to be replaced by another girl. As
everyone during the rehearsal took their place, there was Dominique sitting
out in the middle of the auditorium all alone. But I knew something she
did not, regardless of her having to give up her part; I knew that the whole
evening would be hers in the end, as Paul stated, “All things work together
for those who love God.” As I approached her, wanting to tell her of the
reward ahead, I knew I could not. So I just put my hand on her head and
said, “It’s all going to work out Dominique, it’s all going to work out.”
For the first time, I saw tears roll down her cheek. But I said nothing
more.
Dominique recovered later that day and
arrived at graduation with her whole family. They were sorry she missed
out on her part of graduation, but they were great parents who knew how to
comfort their daughter through God’s Word. Dominique really did not seem
fazed by the set back, as she marched up to receive her diploma. In a way
she seemed to be saying, “It’s okay, I have what I really want, a dad who is
well and a family who loves me.” So many received awards that evening and
maybe in the back of her mind, Dominique thought that she would get an
award, too. But all the awards went to other deserving students, yet
Dominique never flinched because of it. Finally, the evening came to an
end, and I was to give the final award. As I read it, I could hardly
hold back my own joy for her. Then I called her up. It was a wonderful
rewarding conclusion for Dominique who had gone through an extremely tough
year. As God proved to her, and as He will prove to you, all things do and
will work out if you just hang in there with Him.
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though
our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of
glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are
seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen
are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2
Corinthians 4:16-18
