Inspiration

It is late, and I’m sleepy, but in stewardship of the opportunity to learn from God in a unique way, I will use these “spare” (sleep deprived) moments, to write.  

Truly, this experience has been amazing, but in a pretty casual way.  First, a quick run-down of the events:

     May 31: Drive to Texas

     June 2: Teach for America Induction in Edinburg (near Edcouch, TX)

     June 8: Teach for America Training in Houston, TX  (*I am here)

     July 12: Officially move to Edcouch, TX

Not much has excited me, in the material sense, because there is too much going on to really breath in any adventure.  Despite all of the things that Teach for America requires of a person, God is rising above these extremes for me.  I knew He would.  A lot of the people here are Ivy League geniuses; but, like Paul, I boast in my infirmities (my U of M Philosophy degree and limited teaching experience), because I know God is the One pulling me through the moments of drudgery… my 4:45 AM alarm, the University of Houston breakfasts, the bus rides to Sharpstown Middle School, intense curriculum development, impossible classroom management, tedious lesson planning, and boring consequence charts.  (Yes, that is my daily schedule).  The truth: God is my inspiration, my daily bread, and my constant companion.  If He were not, I would be drowning.

Sharpstown Middle School in Houston, TX, is a tough one, so I’ve heard.  I actually begin teaching my four-week 6th Grade summer course on Monday.  However, we’ve been doing planning and prep at the school for the last week.  As the summer classes are already in a preliminary session, the students curiously stare from their classrooms at the mass of middle-class college grads in grown-up clothes, ties and high-heels, walking down the hall.  The good thing is, we’ve peaked their interest.  Yesterday, I was carrying a poster and a box of goodies (including a class-set of Sideways Stories from Wayside School, pencils, candy, and loose-leaf paper), to my official, but temporary, “classroom.”  I was stopped in the hall by two giggling sixth graders.  

“Are you our new teacher?” they said.  

“Well, yes.  Yes, I am.  You can call me Ms. Slauson, or Ms. “S,” if that’s easier.  Can you show me where room A101 is?”  

New teacher!  I guess that’s what I am now.  

This is a daunting, but inspiring task.  Especially because whether or not those giggling 6th graders go onto the 7th grade is up to my ability to lead them to academic achievement in 18 specific reading and writing skill areas.  

Lord, have mercy!

OK.  Back to the point.

Yesterday morning, as we were in our curriculum development seminar, the Sharpstown VP made an announcement that shook me.  A sixth grade girl (let’s call her Maria) from the Middle School died in her home on Wednesday evening from a seizure.  Her eleven year life was gone, in a literal instant.  One minute she was talking to her sister, and next, she was dead.  

Now, I know education is important.  Otherwise, I would not be here.  I am all for leading children to academic gains so as to open up life’s possibilities to them, such as college and careers, that they otherwise would not have.  But why am I really here?  

Like I said before: I am here to do justice (that’s the education part), to love mercy (that’s the being a teacher part), and the walk humbly with my God.  This last part, to me, means giving a piece of God to each child that I encounter, to the best of my ability.  I don’t know HOW I can do this, but I will do it.  God has given me so much love for these people, even for Maria, though I don’t know them yet.  I simply pray that in the (precisely) 83 minutes I have with Maria’s classmates each day, for the next 4 weeks, He will give me the courage, wisdom and grace to love them, and instill in them something that endures longer than their education.  As they mourn the death of a beloved peer, I seek the compassion to love them sincerely and powerfully.  

I will need SO MUCH strength for this, but He has it to give.  

I will take.