Touching Eternity

Today is my last day of teaching for this year! It has been the longest, most exhausting year I have had since I began teaching full time 8 years ago. I was asked to teach 7th and 8th grade girls Bible this year. We are having to make budget cuts due to dropping enrollment next year, so I will only be teaching a 50% contract for P.E. Here is an excerpt from an email I sent our Bible department:

Yesterday our oldest daughter, Chalese, called to tell us she had passed the PACT which is a rigorous part of the teaching credential program at SDSU. One of the requirements was to write an 80 page paper! She also shared that she had finished this semester with a 4.0! I was congratulating her on a job well done.

When I woke up this morning I was reflecting on my year and wondering what I had to show for it besides a ton of very hard work and many, many lost Saturday's. I was comparing what I have to show for my year to what Chalese has to show for hers and I began wondering what was the point of it all.

In class this morning Erica Rottenburg raised her hand and said she had a very big praise to share. About 3 weeks ago she had come up to me and asked if we could write letters to her father’s friend who 2 months ago was given 3 months to live. He is dying from cancer. At that time I was trying to finish up a unit and I didn’t feel like we could take the time to write. We had already written to 12 people this year and I was just weary from all of it. I was going to assign it as homework but something told me not to and to let the girls make the cards in class. We looked up scriptures, wrote the notes of encouragement, decorated the bright cards with cute foam stickers, prayed over them and sent them off.

Today Erica told us that Mr. Rayon read every card (all 4 Bible classes wrote to him) and that on Friday she and her father went to visit him. In the course of the evening Mr. Rayon gave his life to the Lord! I know that God orchestrated my classes to be part of this amazing event! I was able to rejoice with them and encourage them to continue developing their love relationship with God and to let Him use them in great ways. These young 13 and 14 year old girls have seen over and over again this year that God has used them to touch the lives of complete strangers!

The Lord spoke so clearly today to me that this year was about touching eternity! God has been in each and every class I have taught. He has seen the impact I have had even if I haven't. I believe when we get to heaven we will see our time here as being a part of the puzzle of someone else’s life.

No matter what you are doing today, I pray you will touch eternity. Your kindness, counsel, and words of affirmation can do miracles beyond what you can imagine. May the prayer of your heart today be, "Here I am Lord, use me!" Don't wait until you feel prepared, qualified and trained to be used by God. He took a little boys lunch of a few loaves and fishes and used it to feed thousands. Surely he can take what little you feel you have to offer and make a miracle out of it. Our Father delights in those who aren't concerned about their ability but each moment give their availability. You never know how God might surprise you as He pulls back the curtains of heaven and gives you a glimpse into eternity. Yesterday, I saw Mr. Rayon showing him his neon cards with foam stickers written by a bunch of 12 and 13 year old girls, and I smiled.