This school year at Newark Christian School is different from last year in many ways. Our classroom currently holds twice the amount of tables and little bodies and triple the amount of chairs it did last year. Our numbers have boomed and my heart is filled with excitement as we invest in these young people. And even though my returning students are growing up and continuing to grow past me (in height), they are still teachable, moldable, and still very lovable.
Last school year I remember struggling with the question of whether any of my students were understanding and accepting what I was teaching them about life with Christ. Whether they were holding onto anything I said or did to show them the path of walking into deeper waters with Him. I was sad when I saw or heard something that didn’t imitate what I was teaching. But last month I heard something that gave me a hope that rings through the struggle and will ring true through the school year.
One of my seventh grade girls is in gymnastics. Last year she had to give it up for a little while due to grades and some attitude. Her mother decided to put her back in gymnastics camp for the summer. Her mom came personally to talk to me right before the school year started. She was very excited to tell me some good news.
The camp was an all-day rigorous program with very little down time. A few days before school started her mom remembered summer homework and turned to her daughter to exclaim they needed to get started. The girl replied with, “I already did and I am almost done! I used my down time at camp!” Showing her shocked mom her notes, she began to tell her mother something even better than her use of time wisely. She began to tell her of the eternal conversations she was having with the other girls at camp. She was evangelizing and reading Scripture to them! She was loving those who were insecure and unsure.
It is unbelievable the amount of responsibility and spiritual growth this girl has gained in one summer. This has reassured me of what God has called me to and has given a renewed hope. This young lady is living into what our mission is: “To raise up Christian leaders among the urban poor.” I am excited to see what the rest of the school year holds for her and the rest of her classmates.
