When I grow up, I want to be a teacher. I have for as long as I can remember. When I dressed up as my second grade teacher, Mrs. Jenkins, for career day in second grade, I had no idea why I wanted to be a teacher. I do now. The answer is simple: I love people. More specifically, I love teenagers. I always have. Even when I was little. And no, it’s not just because I am one. I love teenagers because I love the passion that can come when we fire up our hearts for God. I love the journey (even though it’s hard) as we try to find our identity. (Which by the way, it’s in being a child of God, but that’s a different blog.) I love the openness that we have. Because believe it or not, we actually watch the adults. We watch their behavior, and we learn from it. And I love that.
The other day at school, my friend came up to me very excitedly and was like, “Mary! Don’t you think that our teacher is just like Mr. Feeny?!” (Mr. Feeny is from Boy Meets World, by the way) Just as excitedly, I replied, “Oh my goodness! You’re so right!” This started me thinking. I’m almost finished watching the whole series of Boy Meets World (season eight, disc two, but who’s counting?) and Mr. Feeny is an incredible teacher. Not just his teaching, but the way he impacts Corey, Topanga, and Shawn’s lives. And I thought, “When I’m a teacher, I want to impact students’ lives like Mr. Feeny. And I continued with my day. Later, I had a thought. Why can’t I start trying to impact people’s lives TODAY?
The truth is, I can. I know that as Christian teenagers, we hear this all the time. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12. But what we don’t think about is, IT’S TRUE. We can impact people’s lives today, as we are. Teenagers in this world run by adults. Guess what? One day, we will be those adults. And it’s not too early to start changing the world. Even in small ways. My mom tells me that I impact her life. My friends impact my life on a daily basis. A lot of times as teenagers, we’re like, “God can’t use me yet. I don’t have a job, I don’t have a testimony.” And partially, for me at least, that’s true. I don’t have a job. Nothing traumatically life-changing has happened that brought me to God. I grew up in a Christian household, and I was baptized into Christ when I was 11. The Lord has done great things for me. Well y’all, guess what? That right there is a testimony. One of my favorite verses is Psalm 126:2, and it says “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. And it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” As of right now, that is my testimony. And it will change. But so will I. And so will my place in this world. I won’t be a sophomore at RCHS forever. Eventually I’ll go to college, and then maybe I will get a job as a teacher. Because I firmly believe, after much prayer from my parents and me, that God’s plan for me is to be a teacher. But I’m only fifteen, and right now, I’m not a teacher. Right now, I am a sophomore at Royse City High School. I am a girl who loves Percy Jackson and spending time with her friends. And I can impact people around me.
I’m going to close with this. The other day, my mom shared this piece of information with me. I don’t think that she thought it would impact my life like it did. She said this: “Mary, when people ask me what you and Jack want to do when you grow up, I say Mary has her heart set on being a teacher, and Jack wants to do something with science and physics. But I’ll be happy as long as they’re showing Jesus wherever they go.” And I will too. Because even if God’s plan for my life isn’t to be a teacher, that will be okay with me. Because if I can’t spread Christ while being a teacher, then I don’t want to be a teacher. The same can be true with us today, though it can be harder to admit. I feel like I’m in theatre both because I enjoy it and I have the opportunity to shine Christ through my words and actions, but if God ever decided to take me out of theatre, I can’t say I would be totally happy. But I would learn to be. It would be hard, don’t get me wrong. But if I can impact more people and help them know my God, then that’s where I want to be.
The other day at school, my friend came up to me very excitedly and was like, “Mary! Don’t you think that our teacher is just like Mr. Feeny?!” (Mr. Feeny is from Boy Meets World, by the way) Just as excitedly, I replied, “Oh my goodness! You’re so right!” This started me thinking. I’m almost finished watching the whole series of Boy Meets World (season eight, disc two, but who’s counting?) and Mr. Feeny is an incredible teacher. Not just his teaching, but the way he impacts Corey, Topanga, and Shawn’s lives. And I thought, “When I’m a teacher, I want to impact students’ lives like Mr. Feeny. And I continued with my day. Later, I had a thought. Why can’t I start trying to impact people’s lives TODAY?
The truth is, I can. I know that as Christian teenagers, we hear this all the time. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12. But what we don’t think about is, IT’S TRUE. We can impact people’s lives today, as we are. Teenagers in this world run by adults. Guess what? One day, we will be those adults. And it’s not too early to start changing the world. Even in small ways. My mom tells me that I impact her life. My friends impact my life on a daily basis. A lot of times as teenagers, we’re like, “God can’t use me yet. I don’t have a job, I don’t have a testimony.” And partially, for me at least, that’s true. I don’t have a job. Nothing traumatically life-changing has happened that brought me to God. I grew up in a Christian household, and I was baptized into Christ when I was 11. The Lord has done great things for me. Well y’all, guess what? That right there is a testimony. One of my favorite verses is Psalm 126:2, and it says “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. And it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” As of right now, that is my testimony. And it will change. But so will I. And so will my place in this world. I won’t be a sophomore at RCHS forever. Eventually I’ll go to college, and then maybe I will get a job as a teacher. Because I firmly believe, after much prayer from my parents and me, that God’s plan for me is to be a teacher. But I’m only fifteen, and right now, I’m not a teacher. Right now, I am a sophomore at Royse City High School. I am a girl who loves Percy Jackson and spending time with her friends. And I can impact people around me.
I’m going to close with this. The other day, my mom shared this piece of information with me. I don’t think that she thought it would impact my life like it did. She said this: “Mary, when people ask me what you and Jack want to do when you grow up, I say Mary has her heart set on being a teacher, and Jack wants to do something with science and physics. But I’ll be happy as long as they’re showing Jesus wherever they go.” And I will too. Because even if God’s plan for my life isn’t to be a teacher, that will be okay with me. Because if I can’t spread Christ while being a teacher, then I don’t want to be a teacher. The same can be true with us today, though it can be harder to admit. I feel like I’m in theatre both because I enjoy it and I have the opportunity to shine Christ through my words and actions, but if God ever decided to take me out of theatre, I can’t say I would be totally happy. But I would learn to be. It would be hard, don’t get me wrong. But if I can impact more people and help them know my God, then that’s where I want to be.