Overflowing Teaching

Recently I have realized that my oldest son is going to be remembering more and more. Jacob is nearing the end of first grade and moving closer to second grade. I remember a good amount from both of these grades myself. I know Jacob’s mind is being impacted every day. As I look at his first grade teacher, I know he is going to have memories of the way she taught and how it overflowed into his life and character.

Mrs. Hatfield was my first grade teacher. She was a kind, old lady. In my eyes she was like 80 years old, but I’m guessing she was probably in her late 50s or early 60s. (I bet she would love that I said that.) She was seasoned with knowledge, and I’m sure she helped mentor many of the new young teachers, as she was one of the oldest there. See, William Bryant School was brand new when I began. How often do you get to start in a brand new school? Seriously, it doesn’t happen for many people.  I got to begin my grade school years in a new building. The desks were new, the rooms were new, and the paint was fresh. When something is new, it creates a passion to bring in the best. As they were looking to hire teachers, I bet there was tons of excitement at the thought of teaching in this new school. The principal had to have had lots of passion to assemble a great team. He got to fill every staff position. So, Mrs. Hatfield was not just some teacher at the end of her career who had been at the same school forever, she was intentionally hired by the principal. Why put the oldest teacher in first grade? I don’t have the answer to that, but I have a guess. She was known for her skills in teaching and the way she handled kids. (I still know poems I memorized in her class.) Mrs. Hatfield knew what she was doing. She knew these first graders were putting together the building blocks of their learning career.

One of my classmates, Carlos, was one of those crazy kids.  You know, the kind who got in trouble every day. He was known for cussing on the playground and hurting other kids. Each day, I watched how this older teacher handled this wild first grader, and she did it with gentleness and love. Whatever was going on at home was affecting Carlos, and she knew her teaching could overflow back into his home. As a first grader watching this, I was learning patience, love, and a bigger vision for life than just first grade.

We can get stuck, time and time again, in the moment—the right now—and the desires we have right then. The constant battle is to pull our minds out of the daily, earthly focus, and onto a bigger understanding of purpose for our lives and the lives of all people. This is what Jesus was teaching us, to go beyond our tunnel vision driven by our earthly focus and earthly desires, to an understanding of the great vision God has for us and what He wants for us. This week’s lesson is one we hear often, but sometimes loose the reflection about teaching others. Jesus was teaching the disciples to cast a bigger vision for those to whom they would minister. He wanted them to help give meaning to life in places where people were focused on selfish daily desires. He was bringing the focus to what He was about to do for us—restore the relationship with our Creator who supplies everything.

Mrs. Hatfield was a unique teacher. She understood giving a greater vision to the lives of kids. Her teaching was overflowing. Not only did it impact the student she was teaching at that moment, but also those of us watching her. I later found out that Mrs. Hatfield was a Christian. Shocking, right? Our Lutheran schools put teachers in the classroom who have a bigger vision for the lives of kids. They teach lessons that overflow into the kids’ lives and give them a greater purpose. This weekend, we take time to celebrate our association with CCLS, we thank God for teachers who give kids a greater vision, and most importantly, we celebrate the greatest teacher who ever lived—Jesus. His overflowing teaching impacts all of us every day with His amazing love that rescues us out of our sinful desires, brings us into restoration, and gives us the gift of eternal life.