31 days of anonymity {day 28 – dear favorite teacher}

Dear Favorite Teacher,

You were my favorite. The way you took extra time to make sure we got it. Always pushing us beyond the textbook. You lived and breathed learning and I soon found myself infected. I really thought you cared. Believed even.

Did you know you were the first to find the Cinderella in me? To tell me point-blank words any teenage girl deserves to hear but rarely has the chance:

You were made for big things.
You are going to go far and wide.
You have so much to offer.
You are special.

Funny how the more you hear something, the further it sinks in. Your words dug deep. Taking residence in my very marrow. I believed you. What’s more — I believed you believed in me.

How I clung to your words.

Love found me in college and I became infected with something else: Grace. Still I believed I could go far. Make a difference for the One I now served. You talked of God on occasion. And I finally thought I figured out how to prove you were right.

Six years later, we met up again. I laughed when I saw you literally running to me. Anxious to hear. To validate your belief.

My excitement bubbled when I confessed you were. I went far and found wide. I discovered something greater, bigger than I ever imagined. And now I have so much to offer the world.

I told you I became a bit like you. I was teaching children things I was passionate about. Sure my classroom was a piano and a Sunday School room, but I was making an impression on young hearts. Living for something greater than myself. Yes, you were right.

You met my husband and I beamed proudly at the match I had found. To think I had become a Pastor’s wife. It had only been a couple of years and I was still discovering how far and wide that role would take me.

But your expression changed as my husband turned to meet another. And in one instant, my glass slippers shattered.

“Oh, girl. What a waste! You mean to tell me I wasted 6 years of my life on you?!? You could have been someone that did great things and made a difference! Instead, you took the lazy route, riding on someone else’s coat tails. I’m so disappointed.”

It took years to lose the grip your words had on me. And I laugh now at the irony of it all. You, investing 6 years of your life on me, then coming to believe those years were of waste. And me, spending the same believing you were right all over again.

I forgave you the year my phone rang.

My friend shared of your retirement plans and her invite to speak in your honor. To hear her tell me those first words once again warmed my very soul. Words I didn’t know you shared with her, too. And I pray you told every girl following so they could know.

They were made for big things.

They were going to go far and wide.

They have so much to offer.

They are special.

You know what? It doesn’t matter which student we’re talking about. You were right. We are all made for big things. Because God is a Master Planner and He sees no boundaries. He doesn’t look at the treasures accumulated here, but looks at the rubies of our very soul.

God thought I was worth dying for. What’s more — He proved it. 
I think I’ll cling to His Word instead…

Teacher, you were right. I was made for big things.

There’s no limit to how far His grace will take me. I’ve accepted the invitation for life everlasting. I pray I see you there. If I do, I’ll come running. Don’t worry, you’ll know me.

I’ll be the one in God-given glass slippers.

 

 

Dear Anonymous,

My heart is sad as I remember well what it is like when you are let down and feel like your glass-slipper has fallen off. I’m so thankful that you are so in love with the One who has proved His love for you . . . I’ll be looking for those God-given glass slippers in heaven!

Dear Reader,

Do you find yourself longing for man’s approval more than God’s? It seems to be a constant battle! Let’s remember the One who proved His love for us. His approval is the only one that matters!