Mrs. Evans

When I realized my last blog posting was number 300, I almost immediately thought of Mrs. Evans.  She was my English and literature teacher at Wheeler County High School.  From her I learned how to use words, write sentences, and put them together into paragraphs, essays, and term papers.  She also introduced me to Shakespeare and made us memorize sections from Julius Caesar and Macbeth.  Some of it I remember to this day.  And for some reason, she pushed me out of the classroom setting to write essays and debate in literary events.  I did not see it then, but what she was doing was preparing me for a lifetime of crafting words.  When I preached some of my first sermons at the Alamo Church, I remember that she was present and offered encouraging words to a very nervous young preacher.

 

All the writing I have done over the years of ministry goes back to what she did for me in and out of the classroom.  My only regret when I think of her is that I realized too late the way her lessons had impacted my life.  By the time I got old enough to look back and see how much she had given to me, she was gone from this life and on to the next.  Whenever I go back to Alamo now and pass by her yellow house I quietly call her name with thanksgiving.  As I noted blog number 300 and thought, "A lot of words," I knew I needed to call her name once again.

For all of us there are people like my high school English teacher.  None of us make anything of our life without the silent and often unseen undergirding of others.  The fact that God has placed them in our lives is a reason for us to be thankful.  It is good to remember such folks and if, it is possible, thank them.  But, as is always the case, every coin has two sides.  Consider for a moment that God may be using us in this very moment to help someone else along their journey.  It makes you want to stand a little straighter and live even closer to the Father God who is the Grand Director of our lives.