The Messenger…

I wanted to share this story I wrote…please SHARE with every TEACHER you know!

Mrs. Jones was an overall shy lady.  You would never know it, though, when you stepped into her middle school classroom because she knew how to get the students attention so she could use every moment, day after day, to teach.  She loved her job and tried to focus on the fringe benefits like being home with her kids during summer break and the extra long Christmas break too.

As she was doing her best to make some new friends in this small town that her family recently moved to, she found a group of ladies that seemed alot like her.  The “small talk” conversation began in this small group when one of the very classy well-dressed ladies decided to “size Mrs. Jones up”.  She asked, “So tell the group what you do as a profession.”  Mrs. Jones knew this was her calling so she proudly replied, “I am a teacher and I teach middle school Science.”  The lady and several others began blurting out, “I just do not know how you do it.  Kids are too bad today.”  Another lady chimed in, “Yeah and these school systems don’t pay anything.”  Another lady interjected with, “You have to be crazy to want to be a teacher today.”  Mrs. Jones sat silently as a large lump began to settle in her throat.  In these moments, she felt defeated and less worthy to be a part of this “click”.

As Mrs. Jones pulled out of the driveway of this perfectly manicured home, she began to cry.  She said to herself, “Yes, this job is hard many days, but I love what I do and I hope I am making a difference in someone’s life.”  Tears just fell and fell.

Realizing she was almost on empty, she pulled into the closest gas station she could find at the local Kroger store.  As she rubbed her eyes, she began to pump her gas and then she saw a sweet elderly lady on the other side of the pump who exited her car.  The elderly lady made eye contact with her and asked Mrs. Jones, “Do you think you could help me with this pump?  Sometimes these things are so darn heavy for an elderly person like me.”  Mrs. Jones immediately went to the elderly woman’s side and said, “I will be happy to help.”  In this season of Christmas, it made her feel good to be needed now that school was out.

As the two women stood side by side, the elderly lady asked, “What do you do for a living?  I can tell you help people,” as she smiled.  Mrs. Jones hung her head as she answered, “I am a school teacher.”  In those moments, she waited, feeling defeated, for a negative response to come.

Instead the elderly woman answered, “Wow!  How wonderful.”  Then she continued, “May I tell you something else wonderful?”  Mrs. Jones curiously looked her way and said, “Sure you can.”  The elderly lady touched Mrs. Jones’ hand and said, “You know Jesus was a teacher too.  He wasn’t always popular and people thought he was crazy and well, the pay was nothing, but he continued to use his gift of teaching to impact lives for generations to come.  You have been called to this INCREDIBLE profession so just know rewards will come your way- rewards that money could never buy.”

Mrs. Jones began to sob because she was so amazed by these words of wisdom.  She replied as tears streamed down her face as she said to the elderly woman, “Thank you!  You do not know how much I needed to hear this today.”  The elderly woman smiled and replied, “I am just the MESSENGER,” as she pointed up.  Then she said, “Thank Him above.”

She handed Mrs. Jones a $100 bill and asked, “Will you go pay this gas for me?”  Mrs. Jones looked up at the pump to see PUMP #7 and then saw $35.00 on the pump and said, “I would be happy to.”  She smiled so sweetly at the elderly woman and walked to the teller to pay.  She told the teller, “I need to pay $35.00 on pump #7 that the woman just pumped gas.”  The teller looked a few times toward pump #7 and gave Mrs. Jones a weird look and said, “Ma’am no one has gotten gas at pump #7.”  Mrs. Jones looked confused and looked toward pump #7.  There was no car in sight.  The teller then asked, “Is everything ok?”

Mrs. Jones looked down at the $100 bill and began to cry.  As she walked away, all she could do was allow tears to flow freely because as she approached her car, she leaned over to look at pump #7 and she heard a whisper say, “I am just the messenger.”

May this MESSENGER thank you TEACHER for a gift that God has given you.  He made you like Jesus when He breathed the gift of teaching into your life!  Please remember this calling this Christmas.