My Mission Field

When I decided to teach, my plan was to work in a public school. I wanted to teach English, but more importantly, I wanted to bring Good News to teenagers whose lives were drifting, directionless, neglected, forgotten.

And what about now? I've spent thirteen years in the classroom, not one of them in a public school. Still, I've found work in a Christian school setting to be worthy, purposeful, life-changing. Perhaps I am spoiled, maybe even a little sheltered. But the lives that come in and out of my classroom every day seek truth and direction just like those in every classroom of every school. They have their own battles to fight, their own mountains to surmount. And I become part of these epic lives.

. . . Not just to teach them reading and writing,
BUT
To watch them take God's hand
To hear them profess faith and testify to His goodness
To taste my own joyful tears at the news of their baptisms
To hold their hands in a circle of prayer
. . . Not just to study words with them,
BUT
To pray with them
To sing with them
To cry with them
To serve with them
To worship with them
. . . Not just to grade them
BUT
To support them
To edify them
To bless them
To inspire them
. . . This is my mission in the Christian school classroom.

-lkl