teach.run.pray. - Unlikely Acts of Love


Oh boy. It has been quite some time since I've had an opportunity to just sit and write. A busy schedule and daily stress are not conducive to the creative flow, and though, stress typically induces a lot of serious thoughts usually of rage, I have been too exhausted from it all to even rage. Lucky for you, all my time has been occupied by other things. But, today, right now, I'm slam in the middle of spring break and just really wanted to sit and get back into the groove of sharing my thoughts; I have a lot of thoughts, but tonight, I choose to stick with loving thoughts. Time off from stress tends to do that.

Let me start with a story about my husband.

Early last week, we were busy, had no groceries, and had no time to go grocery shopping. So, we ordered from one of our favorite spots, Mekong, which is a Vietnamese restaurant, and we love their pho. I also love their tofu summer rolls with peanut sauce, so I ordered those too. Matt called in our order and went to pick it up while I worked on grad school homework. I was pretty stoked when he got home because my mouth was watering for those summer rolls and peanut sauce. We took our order out of the bag. I grabbed my summer rolls. Opened the box. There in the box were the summer rolls glaring at me-without peanut sauce. Rather than get upset, I decided they'd be just as good without the peanut sauce and proceeded to eat one. Wrong. So very wrong. They are NOT as good without the peanut sauce. The peanut sauce makes the summer rolls all they are. So, after eating one summer roll, I closed the box, put it in the refrigerator, and the next day offered the summer roll to Matt. I'm pretty sure I even said, "I'm not eating that without the peanut sauce." 

Fast forward a day. I'm logging offline from my graduate class and Matt walks in the door with groceries. He slides over a small plastic container on the kitchen counter. I look down. It was peanut sauce from Mekong. On his trip to the store, he made a pit stop just to get me a side of peanut sauce for my summer roll. I didn't ask for it. I didn't expect it. I was totally fine without it. I mean, I wasn't going to eat the summer roll without it, but I was totally fine with that decision. Calories saved, right? But, he wanted to see me smile. He wanted to make my stressful day a little less stressful. And, he did. Sometimes love is as simple as peanut sauce.

Here's another story about a different kind of love.

If you aren't a teacher, you may or may not understand just how insane the week before spring break is...especially when spring break is LATE and when your school schedules some out of the ordinary event on each day of the week before spring break. I'm talking losing your mind crazy kind of week, but sometimes, you get lucky and have a diamond in the rough kind of experience that reminds you the insane is worth it.

This school year God has blessed me with many amazing students. They have their challenges, but because of them, I firmly believe I am a stronger, better teacher and person. One student, in particular, has challenged me more than any student I've ever had. The night I met her at "Meet the Teacher" I knew God had some kind of plan. I wasn't too sure of His plan, but I knew one was about to lay itself out. Her mother was completing some paperwork. I attempted to ask the child some questions in hopes to learn a little bit about her likes and dislikes and her outlook on school since she was new. The only response I got from any of the questions I asked her was her back turned to me, eye rolling, and mumbling. In my head, all I could think was, "Oh, so, this is going to be a long year." But, in my head, I also made the decision to love this child like no other. So, I have, and some days she has made it challenging. But, I'm also guilty of making it challenging for others to love me, and I've had to constantly remind myself of that in order to deal with this student. Many days, I've come home and told Matt, "I don't know what else to do. She's driving me nuts. She may be the one that causes me to lose my job." And, each night before bed and each morning before walking into the school building, I've prayed to God for a little extra love that day. And, somehow, we made it to last week, the week before spring break, and she casually steps out of the bus line, puts her arm around me, and just lingers there talking to me. After about thirty seconds or so, she stopped mid-sentence and said, "Wait, why am I hugging you like that?" I responded, "Because you actually love me. You just don't want anyone to know." To which she responded, "Yea, you're actually right." Then, we parted ways for the afternoon. And, that was that. But, really, it was more than that. It was a pivotal moment for both of us. She can test me to the world's end, but she knows that I still love her-unconditionally. And, in the end, I know she loves me. If she didn't, we'd still be at the beginning rather than where we are today.

I chose to tell you these two very different stories about love because neither of them is necessarily over the top broadcasts of love. But, they are real. They are small moments that could easily go unnoticed, but in reality, they are two giant declarations of unconditional human love. And, the thing about unconditional human love is, it's always evolving. When it stops evolving, that's when you're in trouble. So, in a world full of turmoil and disagreements, remember, we are all evolving, because that's what the human race does, and so should our love for one another. 


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