This past week, I have been working a long-term sub job in a classroom that works with minorly cognitively impaired children. At first, I was a little nervous. I went to school for education, but I wasn’t sure what I was walking into. And I was committed for 4 to 6 weeks until the teacher was able to come back. I was also nervous about my skills in teaching these specific kids. I am a trained teacher, but I don’t have much experience in the special education area.
One of the first few days I was here, we were talking about moms and dads while waiting to go home one day, and one of the kids said, “I don’t have a dad.” This is sadly not an uncommon occurrence. Especially in this classroom. The kids who need the most family support to succeed often don’t have it. I have heard a lot of kids talk about only having one active parent in their life, but I still don’t know what to say in those moments. But this time, the child saved me from having to say anything. He said. “Its okay, because I still have God as my Father.”
Today, we were talking about a “would you rather” scenario. It is one of their favorite ways to spend extra minutes here and there throughout the day. The prompt was this: Would you rather give up music or TV? Most of the kids said that they would rather give up music than TV, which was no surprise to me. But one of the kids said, “I would want to give up TV so I could still sing the song Jesus Loves Me!”
These small seemingly insignificant times have made my first week here so special. They are always so excited to see me and I am excited to get to work and see their smiling faces each morning. They have no idea what a blessing they are to me and how they have encouraged my heart. Yes, we have had our frustrating moments. But my goodness, have I learned about perseverance, patience, and love from these kids.
So many times, we walk into a situation thinking that we are the ones that are going to be teaching because we have the necessary training. We think we will be able to give the better advice because we are older and wiser. When we get into this mindset, we close ourselves off to the things that God wants to teach us. God can use the smallest of situations to work in our hearts and point us back to Himself. We have no idea what God will use to grow us for His Kingdom. For this season, I will be learning through this group of ten amazing children that warm my heart each day.
Where has God placed you to learn and grow in this season?
Miranda Huyck – Children’s Coordinator
