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| December 12th 2009 | ||||||||
| And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, |
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Life can be hectic. We live in a fast-paced world where there's always something more to be accomplished. As a teacher, I'm often caught up in the frantic pace of planning lessons, contacting parents, keeping records, developing classroom budgets, attending meetings, writing curriculum, not to mention - teaching. For the past eight years I've had the pleasure of teaching next to a dear friend and phenomenal educator. Terrie demands great things from her kindergarten students, knowing that these demands will make them the best students. In turn, she demands great things from herself as a teacher. One October morning last fall she called to say she would not be at school. Her cancer had returned, this time in her bones. Twelve years after her first battle, she found herself battling one more time. Battle she did and this past August she returned to that classroom next to mine to greet a whole new class of kindergarten students who needed her. I have watched in awe these past few months as she schedules MRI and radiation appointments during lunch, juggles doctor visits an hour and a half away. She wonders at recess as she pushes a child on a swing and her back pulls if the cancer is back, and takes chemotherapy by capsule as her students have snack. Many people ask her “Why?” Why put the demands of the daily school grind on your body? Why exhaust yourself with planning and preparation or expose yourself to the germs of a kindergarten classroom? Why? The answer is simple. Recently she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “Taryn, do you know why? It's because when I pull that door closed each morning, nothing else in the world matters except those children. They need me and I need them!” As I drove home from school that day I realized that getting caught up in the little things in life is useless. What matters in life is that we take time each day to pull our doors closed and focus on what really counts. This Advent season finds us once again preparing for the birth of a child, Jesus Christ. Prayer : Father, may we all find time each day to pull our doors closed and realize that nothing else needs to matter except the Child, that precious baby born on Christmas Day, sent to save each one of us. We need Him; He is what matters! Taryn Verstraeten |
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