Teaching is a Work of the Heart
I put my daughters on the bus in the early hours of the morning.
This independence...this "letting go" starts early in life...
If I'm honest, it starts at day one...
Sure, I'm their protector and provider when they are first placed in my arms, but my role from the start is to prepare them to be confident, independent, compassionate, generous women that impact the world one relationship at a time...
That's a HUGE undertaking if you ask me!
And though I know that their dad and I are their biggest influences, I'm not niave enough to think that we are the ONLY ones that impact their lives dramatically...
They get on those buses as the sun is still coming up...they walk into a massive school building where they are met with peers from countless cultural, religious, moral backgrounds...they are bombarded with choices every moment of their 7 hour school day...
and mom & dad aren't there...
but teachers are there...
Those authority figures that command respect and attention just by being there...
The students watch, not only with their eyes, but with their hearts...wondering if this teacher is FOR them or not...
I pray for the teachers that my daughters will encounter...
I don't expect them all to agree with everything that our family values, but, I hope they see my children as the unique individuals that they are...that they desire to see them challenged and succeed...that they understand their position in the lives of all their students...
This wife & momma is a teacher...
Specifically, she's one of my daughters' teachers...
She is utterly adored by my girl...
And really, for no other reason than my daughter knows that she is FOR her...
Her class is difficult...my daughter has to study & work...shes is challenged and is pushed to live up to the expectations set before her...
but in all that...
she KNOWS that her teacher cares about HER...not just a grade, not just a math problem, not just her academic success...
although those things ARE important...
because she knows that this teacher cares about her...
she knows that this teacher is dependable, honest, inspiring, thoughtful, and looks beyond a paper & pencil...
because of this...my daughter soars...
I am so incredibly thankful for the role this woman has in my daughter's life this year...she gets her one hour of every school day...another hour that I DON'T have her at home...and so this woman's heart, ideas, and thoughts are reflected in her teaching as my girl sits at her desk...
another influence...another way to grow my girl to independence...another role model & example that builds into her heart and mind...
This teacher is madly in love with her husband and their little boy...
and it's those "little" things that make me all the more grateful for her...
She sacrifices daily so that she can be all those things to her students...knowing and fully accepting the responsibility...because she'd expect it out of the teachers for her own son one day as well...
Such integrity...such honor...such love!
Some may think I'm going overboard...
I know that I'm not...
and let's not forget her hubby either...
they were made for each other...their hearts just match...
both of them, in the "business of giving"...
"The giving of love is an education in itself" ~Eleanor Roosevelt
