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My Son's Example Touched My Heart
Billie Logan
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Before turning in the erasers and chalkboards to become
a Children’s Director, I had been an elementary school
teacher for twenty years. A moment that I will never
forget happened when my son was in the first grade. His
classroom was just down the stairs from my second grade
classroom. The
school was very, very old and had visible pipes inside
the classrooms. When there was a problem
or the teacher downstairs needed me, she would tap on the
pipes and I would come running or respond in some way.
This
particular day when she banged on the pipes, I ran down
the stairs to find that my son, Clay, had a burn across
his right cheek. A child in the room who was actually
supposed to be in the third grade had pulled the wire from
his spiral notebook, rubbed it across his tennis shoes
until the wire became hot, and then stuck it to my son’s
face.
Well, after the face was healed and the incident
forgotten, that same little guy stole my son’s bicycle.
Our home was across the street from the school. For a short
time no one knew who had stolen the bike, but one day we
found out who had it when the boy bragged to some friends. The
bike was never returned to Clay.
The school decided
that this child was much too old to be in a classroom with
first graders and promoted him to the second grade in the
middle of the year. I prayed
that Donnie would not be put in my classroom I just
didn’t think I could teach him without being angry
for what he had done to my son. Guess which second-grade
teacher received this student – me.
It
was then that I had to learn a lesson in forgiveness. Donnie
was a challenge, but I learned to enjoy watching him learn. His
eyes really would light up when he discovered something
new.
One afternoon in early
spring, all the teachers were called to the office area
and given the news that a child had been killed. It was
Donnie, my new student. We were
told that the accident happened as he was coming over a
steep hill riding his shiny, new bike not far from his
home. Yes, the bike that Donnie was riding was Clay’s
bike.
That night I sat beside my son to tell him
about the accident and that Donnie was riding his bike
at the time, thinking that Clay’s response might
be, “Well, he shouldn’t
have stolen my bike or that’s what he gets for stealing
my bike!” Tears came down his face as he thought
about what had taken place. My son’s response
was one of compassion and forgiveness. He looked up
at me and said, “Mom, I’m so glad that Donnie
had a bike to ride these last couple of months and that
my bike made him so happy.”
To become like
Christ, we must become like a child. To
forgive like Christ, we must forgive like a child.
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