It’s amazing how sometimes a GREAT morning just hits you!  Unexpected blue skies greeted me yesterday morning and a feeling that it would be a day to remember.

Words in Action

After dropping the kids off at school, Annie and I popped into one of the classes at Jake and Lanae’s school…Mrs. C told me a few weeks ago that she’d read my blog post, Speak Life and was incorporating it into her classroom activities.  I was excited to see what she’d used and how she’d managed to work it into her curriculum.  As I walked in, there was a bustle of activity that only happens on a bright, crisp Friday morning.  Mrs. C caught the attention of the class, introduced me and asked the kids if they were ready to share this new activity.  It was neat to see the eagerness they had to share this activity and as they all quickly got into place their smiles were contagious.

Sing it out loud…

Once they were all ready to go Mrs. C closed the classroom door and blasted a Toby Mac music video of “Speak Life” from the smart board!  The kids started dancing and moving to the music and as the chorus came on they all belted out the words.  Their faces were so vibrant and excited at sharing this great exercise with a visitor to their class and I was thrilled that somehow the words I felt deep in my soul were now impacting in a way I had never expected.

Love without fear!

As the song finished up Mrs. C asked the kids if they knew what it meant to “speak life” and a few of them began to share that it meant “being kind”, “saying nice things about people”, “telling someone something they’re good at”, the examples poured out and they even made the connection that the opposite of speaking life would negatively affect someone.

What I cherished the most in that moment was twofold…one that the kids were understanding the importance of building people up.  They were grasping the power their own words had, even in their youth.  Two, I greatly admired Mrs. C’s boldness and ability to share her heart with her students without jeopardizing the classroom.  What I saw in that moment was a DEEP, deep love for the children that pass through her classroom and desire to give them more than just the lessons they learn in their books, or the specific learning outcomes the government mandates.

Modelling

I know there are many teachers out there that really enjoy what they do and have a desire to actually make an impact on another generation.  I’ve experienced a few of them over the years and maybe that’s what has impacted my love of working with children.  Recently I’ve seen the great passion for making a difference in two specific women whom I greatly respect. One is definitely Mrs. C and the other, is also a teacher, Mrs. T!  They are unique and different in their journeys and their approach to teaching BUT they share similar values and the love they have for their job is evident every minute you speak with them.  The thing that always strikes me with these two amazing women, is how they model the ideas I shared in my above mentioned post.  They speak life to their students on a regular basis,and they model the values they want their students to learn, compassion, kindness, empathy, etc.  Knowing that they’ll likely read this and in their humility shake their heads, I’ll tell you, they’ll admit to their imperfections quicker than anyone could point them out, BUT I can assure you that if we had a great many more teachers like them we’d be very thankful.

I am thankful for the moments that their great joy and passion for their job have impacted my own journey and even more grateful that over the years my own children have experienced their amazing abilities.  I know without hesitation that many a child will remember their years in either of those classrooms and look back with fondness.  Because these two women have taken the challenge to speak life into the lives of every child they encounter, new generations will be shaped for the better.