Sometimes, it seems that I am impermeable. Sometimes.
I hear students talk when they don't think I can hear them and they talk about things that I wish I hadn't heard. I know more than they think I do.
There are times when I can listen to my students talk about things that break my heart, say a prayer for them and move on with my lesson.
Today was not one of those days.
In between class periods, one girl (girl #1) came in, sat down and asked one of her friends (girl #2) if she could do her a favor. Girl #2 said sure before she had heard what it was. It was here that girl #1 turned her back to me so that I couldn't hear. (Either I hear better than most, or she talks louder than she thinks; I can't decide which.) Girl #1 told girl #2 that she told her mom that she was going to spend the night at girl #2's house tonight so that they could work on a project together. Instead, girl #1 was going to her boyfriend's because his parents are out of town this weekend. "So could you back me up if my mom calls you and asks you if I'm there?" Girl #2 agreed. (Apparently, mom is that gullible.)
Normally, this would be one of those things that I over hear and pray about.
Girl #1 talks about going to church a lot, but I hear the other things she always talks about and I know. I know what kind of girl she really is. But I expected more from girl #2. I even told her that she shouldn't lie for her friends. "She's like my best friend."
And that makes it ok, apparently.
A student jokingly asked me today if I ever wished that I taught 3rd graders. I laughed and told her, "Yes." When she asked why, I bluntly told her, "Most 3rd graders are still innocent."
Sometimes it's hard to listen to kids who you come to respect fall victim to their friends rather than do what Jesus expects of them...what He requires of them.
I know that peer pressure can be hard to fight. I understand that it's tougher now to consistently stand for Christ than it was 10 years ago. I get that. Still, hard doesn't equal impossible. And hard doesn't equal excuse.
Most of these kids who "believe" in Jesus don't get that there is a big gap in believing in and living for. It's the living for that makes the believing in real.
Thank the Lord for the handful of students who live out their faith. It's real. Almost tangible. Those are the kids that give me hope for the rest of them. Without them, this would be a dark place to be.
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And thank God for the people who have helped the shape that handful of kids into what they are and will become.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, is it really harder to stand for Christ than it was 10 years ago? I don't think so. Different issues maybe, but same decision has to be made daily. Am I going to live this day for Christ or for myself? We all faced that same thing 10 years ago and still face it today.
And my answer 10 years ago was to almost exclusively live for myself, while proclaiming my faith in Christ. And it wasn't me falling victim to the influence of my peers. I can blame some friends, peer pressure, or others but I fell victim to the evil desires that were my own. I wonder if saying that it is harder today than it used to be is an excuse to make us feel better when we see so many openly making the wrong choices.
I don't intend this comment to be an attack on your post. Just adding some extra stuff to think about.
Maybe it's the setting. I don't know what CHS was like 10 years ago, but I know what FHS was like. There's more pressure on kids here than I remember habing when I was in high school. I think that is mainly because the ratio of students who choose to walk with Christ is smaller here than it was at FHS.
ReplyDeleteI didn't intend to make excuses for these kids. Same issues or not. More pressure or less. They still have to decide today who they will follow. And sadly, many aren't choosing Jesus.
Sadly, I don't know what CHS was like 10 years ago either. I had already left those halls long behind.
ReplyDeleteThis is a big reminder of something that a lot of parents don't realize... you can take your kid to church all you want, but you can't depend on the church to raise your child to make the right decisions. That girl "goes to church" but hasn't learned from her parents how to "be the church" in the world today. I don't know her parents, so let me note here that this is not necessarily a knock on them, just a point to be noted.
ReplyDeleteLet us, as we meet on Sundays and Wednesdays, remember that the church is not to do our job for us... WE are to be the ones teaching our kids how to live against the flow! WE are the ones who need to observe our children with their friends and be involved in those relationships.
So, let me ask you something Pat. Did your part go any further? If Abby was that girl that was spending the night with her boyfriend, would you hold her teacher responsible for not passing the necessary information on to you? Anonymously, maybe? Just curious of where the teacher's role is in this, after the whispering has faded and God is waiting to see who isn't going to 'lie' for her?!? Tough question, I know.