“In the Bleak Midwinter…”

The fog lay like a blanket over the fields surrounding the school the other morning. The driveway lights cast an eerie glow in the pre-dawn darkness. The slush, slurped beneath my boots as I walked the chilly circuit along the ‘bus drop-off zone.’ For me, this week is Bus Duty Week. Here are some random thoughts…

“What can I give him poor as I am…”

I guess people don’t get into Christian education to get rich. However, … (Oh, don’t get me started. Why ruin a perfectly good blog with a rant about teacher salaries.. Just never mind…)
Anyway, I don’t count myself among the poor by any means. I’m rich in many ways. Much of that comes by way of the students I teach and the people I work with here at school. Here comes another bus…

“If I were a shepherd…”

How many buses roll through here every morning? I don’t know. There are buses from our school and buses from the local public school. All bringing the children for another day of learning. But not just any old learning, but learning in which teachers are leading students to a greater knowledge of and closer relationship with Jesus. Indeed, it’s a special privilege and more so, a great responsibility.

“If I were a Wise Man…”

The other day – I had three boys in tears at different times during the day… a student’s cut thumb, not clotting and needing several Band-Aids throughout the day… two students icing some jammed finger or something and the girl drama. No wait! There was no girl drama that day. (Gift of the day?) If only I were a wise one.

Then, there was a bus driver of one of the public school buses who liked to talk…. What do you do when it’s 7:30 in the morning, 22 degrees, wind out of the north, and you’re shivering, one layer short of being barely comfortable, waiting for that last bus to pull in? Why, of course, talk creation and evolution with one of the public school bus drivers! Doesn’t he have some kid to pick up somewhere? Lord, give me wisdom… patience…. and a warming trend.

“What I can, I give him…”

So there I was this week, waiting to greet, guide and protect my young charges as they made the transition from their at-home world to their world of learning. The little ones turning to the right and the big kids going left, each taking a different path to hopefully the same destination… learning about God, his world and how to make a difference in it. It starts with a heart belonging to Jesus, which makes all the difference in the world, for the world… his world.

“I give him my heart.”

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Coming Next… “The Angel’s Amen!” – a story