Your Calling

Do you ever wonder if what you are doing with your life is what God has called you to do?

Beth and I had a long conversation the other night about how frustrated I get with the students where I teach.  I feel like I can't get through to them and get them to be more motivated.  I tell them all the time that I don't just want them to pass my class, but to do their best and to remember that the choices they make now will decide what their future is going to look like.

You know what most of my students do when I make that speech?  Stare at me blankly.  Look the other way.  Ignore me entirely.

You won't know this unless you're married, but when you marry the right person you will know it and be reassured of it all the time.  I know this because Beth reminded me that it's not my only job to teach Geometry.  She reminded me that I can't know who really is listening or who's life is impacted by what I do and say in the classroom.

She said, "You know, Jacob, all you can do is live your life in a way that glorifies God."  She's right.  They may not learn a lick of geometry this year.  They may get more detentions than they have ever gotten.  They may hate me for holding them to a standard that they have never been held to before.  At the end of the day, though, they will all have seen me walking a walk that matches my talk - and that is worth it for me.

An interesting thing happened the next Monday morning at school.

As I walked down the hallway at 7:02 a.m., I heard "Mr. Kirchner" from behind me.  One of my students was standing there and said, "Do you mind if I come stay in your room until everyone gets here?"

"Of course," I said.  So he proceeded to follow me down to my room and sit there with me until about 7:30.  Without any prompting from me at all, he started telling me about how he had been kicked out of his house that weekend, and how frustrated he was with his mom,and about things
that had happened to him growing up, and how he doesn't want any of that to hold him back because he wants to graduate and go to college and make something of himself.  He told me things that he has never told anyone before.  Things that are hard to hear about, but even harder to live through.

He came Tuesday morning as well.

As I came up the stairs Wednesday morning, I half-expected to see him standing there, waiting on me.  I didn't.  He was absent from school that day.

Thursday came and while he didn't come early to my room, he was in class and even came to my classroom during his study hall - the last period of the day.  He said, "I wanted to come see you because it's my last day here.  I'm going to another school."

I may never see him again.  I may never know what happens in his life from now on.  But I know this - God used me.  He put me in that kid's life for a reason, even if it was just to listen, and I won't ever doubt again that I am doing what I am called to do.

If none of my students learn geometry this year, it's okay with me, because as far as I'm concerned I've done my job.