Still so sharp in my memory that I
can remember the dress I had on and the smell of the classroom, I was teaching
the second grade! Since I was only in the sixth grade myself the occasion was a
little unusual.
Still so sharp in my memory that I
can remember the dress I had on and the smell of the classroom, I was teaching
the second grade! Since I was only in the sixth grade myself the occasion was a
little unusual.
My art teacher had quickly discovered that I could not draw. But, giving me a gift that has impacted my entire life, she asked me to teach the color wheel to the class. I did, and did it so well that she asked me to teach it to all her art classes! What a boost for a child that not only could not draw or spell and but had a tendency to reverse numbers. (In later years we called it a learning disability. Then I just didn’t feel very good at much of anything. It didn’t help that my sister could draw and carry a tune and had naturally curly hair.) Hence when the second grade teacher had to leave quickly, I was asked to keep her class until the real substitute arrived. I knew then that teaching was what I wanted to do with my life!
The idea of a call as part of finding a vocation had not occurred to me but I knew I wanted my life to count for something and be useful. In our youth group I always liked to do the “devotions”. Looking around in the Bible for verses interested me. Having children interfered with my plan to teach. Pregnant teachers were not allowed in those days. Frustrated one day, I moaned to a friend that I didn’t have any opportunities to share my faith. She replied, “You have five people, your four children and your husband.”
With that remark I experienced a new call! Called to treat my family as my most important guests and to see this work as real, provided just the challenge and inspiration I needed. It was very busy, hard and frustrating at times, but underneath it all there was deep joy in the task.
Years later through “many a hardship and many a doubt” I began to teach school. This time as a religion teacher in an Episcopal school. All my Faith at Work experience was just what I needed to help children work in small groups and to make my classroom a safe place to share our lives. But perhaps my most important work was to establish a resource room for children with learning disabilities. God doesn’t waste anything!
My gratitude as I write these words is overwhelming. I feel such a sense of being led and cared for by the God who continues to call me. God is always more!
Nancy Boyle is a relational Bible teacher and member of the Elder Council of Faith at Work.