calling role

i was sitting in class today thinking about roles. roles that people play, roles they wish they played, or roles that they should’ve played. the first role that came to my mind was a teacher, probably due to the fact that i was listening to one. a silent montage played in my mind of every teacher i’ve had since kindergarten. i remember and can thoroughly distinguish good from bad and what lessons taught me more than others. for example, i remember my third grade year with mrs. grabowski. “how do you spell my last name?” was a bonus question on one of my spelling tests; it worked because i’ve never forgotten how to spell it. i got 100 percents on all my multiplication table quizzes and found pride in coloring each part to a banana split each time i learned a new set. but above all of the weird and random things i remember about my teachers over the years, i especially remember the ones who changed me.

i have a professor at the university i attend that inspires me daily. i love her class because of the knowledge she shares and the way she goes about teaching it. today, she told us about a low point in her life and said this: “when pain happens, make sure you know where you’re going to fall – or better yet – whose going to catch you. i fell into the arms of Jesus and it’s a blanket of peace that i’ll never be able to explain. now, it doesn’t mean that i escaped the pain of life, but God was there saying, ‘i knew you could get through it.’” chills ran up and down my body as she spoke and i realized at that moment that she would be one of the teachers that forever changed me.

i thought about roles that people should’ve played and thought of my daddy. he is a straight-forward business man. he knows what procedures to go by, the character of each employee, and how to run an effective and successful company. he takes the time to know everyone around him and abides by the rules. as i was sitting in my chair, full of attentive students, i envisioned him walking into the classroom to teach us the Holy Bible. he came in right on the hour and not a minute late. in his right hand, he carried his Bible full of highlighted passages and scribbled notes, along with his reading glasses. he faced the class with a smile that revealed his warmth and a greeting that oozed a genuine welcome. he closed his eyes and led in prayer. he prayed for the students’ minds to be open to God’s amazing Word and eternal truth and for wisdom. he shared the Bible, as open as he shares his heart, and changed every student’s life as much as he changes mine every day.

i realize that we all have several roles, but i also realize that we have something bigger. we have a specific calling to be a missionary in the mission field of this world we live in … a calling to change lives whether we are teachers or not.