Life's Stories. Guest Blogger: Paige Ford

Guest Blogger: Paige Ford

Please welcome [my first guest blogger ever!] Paige Ford, a dear friend of mine. I asked her to blog for me after she told me this wonderful story. Please read it.

Because we all live in stories:

This semester I am in a fourth grade classroom observing all day Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The first day in the classroom, I noticed a particular little boy who literally did not focus at all. He never did his work and to be honest I never really even saw him try. A smile never creased the sides of his sad drooped cheeks and his clothes told the whole story. Hard home life, rough attitude, and a sense of complete failure filled the air as he slowly walked back to the desk in which I was sitting. “The teacher said you would help me?” “Of course,” I said as I motioned him to sit down next to me. From that moment on, it seemed as if my desk had his name written all over it. The teachers were astonished with how much work was being done and how well he was doing the work. After working with this precious boy, I began to learn, what made him tick, what made him laugh, and most importantly, what drove him to do the work.

It was a typical Monday and I was assisting this sweet boy with a writing TLI test. He got through a shaky first paragraph and began to break down. All I heard out of his mouth was “I can’t do this, I can’t. I can only do second grade work teacher that is all I can do. This is fourth grade work I cannot do.” My heart broke and my immediate response, thanks to the Lord’s probing, was “who said you cannot do this, who told you that all you can accomplish is second grade work?” “Everyone at my old school, my mom, teachers, just everyone around me,” he responded through tears. I looked at those blood shot eyes and said, “Precious you can do this, I have seen you do fourth grade work I know you can.” I then proceeded to tell him to shake his head and shake all those negative thoughts out. He glanced at me puzzled, and then proceeded to smile the most beautiful smile I have ever seen. His head slowly began to move back and forth. After some more probing, he finally shook all the negative thoughts out onto the floor. Then I made him say repeatedly, “I can do fourth grade work, I can do this.” He glanced at the paper and began to compose a paragraph that I would have never thought came from the tip of his pencil. The day proceeded to pass hour by hour and finally all the students went home.

Today I was sitting at Café and Broadway with my roommate and suitemate and an email flashed into my inbox. It was from the classroom teacher in which I observe each week. The email read,

“I called [the boy’s] mother today to let her know what a good day he had today. She was so proud and told me that last night she got frustrated with him and she started to yell at him. He told her to stand up and shake her head!! To shake all the worries out of her head!!! That is what his teacher's at school taught him to do with he was upset. She was very proud of him!!!”

What a great God we serve! He works through us in so many ways that we do not even know. Take the time to smile, give a word of encouragement, love, and make a difference in someone’s day. You may never know the impact you are making on a daily basis, do not let one opportunity slip through your fingers. That could have been the opportunity to change someone’s life.