The Heavens Rejoice

This year I was blessed with 17 little ones that have brought joy, frustration, laughter, stress and constant surprises into my life. Each one has left an imprint in my heart. With only two months left of instruction bittersweet emotions has begun to surface. It is the price we paid as teachers. We pour so much of ourselves for 9 months that it's hard not to feel a little empty at the end of the year.

Like with any class there are some students that have required more attention and redirection than most. That certainly has been true this year. One boy in particular. I'll call him "Derek." Derek is a typical boy with unending energy who doesn't know when to quit. He also had a problem with anger. At the beginning of the year he would get angry when he didn't get his way, especially on the playground.  His remedy was to hit the offender. He spent much of his time in the principal's office.

I spent time with him talking him through the anger and gave him a portion of a bible verse to repeat. Every time he went out to recess I would recite the verse with him, "love my neighbor as myself."(Matthew 22:39) The word seem to be sinking in and he didn't have as many anger moments. I continued to encourage him and saw that he genuinely was making an effort. When things didn't go too well I reminded him of his verse and encourage him to try again. He has come a long way. I'm very proud of him.

Today after chapel, Derek said to me that "I'm not getting as anger anymore." I agreed with him and asks him if he knew why. He responded, "Because of God." I told him, "That's right! He loves you very much." I felt lead to ask him the next question, "Derek, would you like to ask Jesus into your heart?" He said, "Yes." So I took him aside and prayed with him to ask Jesus into his heart. It was a beautiful moment. When we finished praying, he had the biggest smile on his face.

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to share that moment with him. Nothing is sweeter than to lead someone to Christ. I pray that I will continue to play a role in his life.


"Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:10