As children, many of us often have irrational fears. You know, those 'things' that made you feel all awkward and nervous on the inside... Those 'things' that made you cringe and do everything in your power to avoid... Those 'things' that you would have never confessed outloud cause you would have felt ridiculous. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.
I'm going to risk the ridicule to let you all know how the Lord placed my 'irrational fear' in a new light this week. The following is a picture of my former fear:
"THE BIBLE?!?! Christine, you LOVE the Bible. It's chalk-full of words of life and freedom and redemption and grace and mercy and hope! The Bible was your irrational fear?"
No. It's not the Bible. It's that little emblem in the bottom right hand corner. That's the mark of the Gideon.
"GIDEONS! Christine, you were afraid of the Gideons?!?!"
Go ahead. Ridicule. Then listen to my story.
Throughout my childhood and adolescence, and even up until the time I was in college, I associated the Gideons with all kinds of feelings of guilt. As soon as I would spot one, WACKO thoughts began to run through my head. Here are some examples:
"Oh no. He's gonna give her that Bible. The last time she got one, I saw her make a mockery out of it and then rip it up into a bunch of pieces."
"Gasp! Don't give him one either. He threw his last one in the trashcan. He doesn't understand it's the Word of God!"
"Uh oh. I'm getting closer. What do I do, WHAT DO I DO? If I don't take it, he's gonna think I'm not a Christian. If I do take it, it means I'm gonna have yet another one to dust around. Ugh...head down, don't make eye contact."
One time, at MTSU, I even went so far as to walk all the way around the courtyard to avoid the one in front of the Keathly University Center.
I'm a nut. I know.
Now, stay with me as I tell you about how God turned my irrational fear into complete and utter thankfulness this week.
I mentioned in last week's blog that I desire for my students to grasp the greatness of Scripture and carry it in their hearts as a lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path.
This week, we focused on 1 Corinthians 6:20. It reads as such, "You were bought for a price. For this reason, honor God with your body." We talked about the price that was paid being the blood of Jesus and to show that we are thankful, we should live lives that bring God honor (taking care of ourselves, being careful what goes in/comes out of our bodies, etc.)
My 4th graders were especially pumped on Wednesday, and within the first 10 minutes of class, we'd already had our own little worship service! The rest of our time together went well, and then the bell rang to dismiss them for the day and we said our goodbyes.
Most of them left my classroom, but I noticed two girls had stayed behind. I went ahead and began erasing the board. One of the girls, Elianne, said, "Teacher, don't erase the verse. Genesis is looking for it in her Bible." When I turned aound, Genesis had out her little navy blue, tattered and worn New Testament (in espanol) and guess what was in the bottom right hand corner...
Yep, sure was.
And that Bible was PRECIOUS to Genisis. I could tell in the way she tenderly held it and then cautiously turned the thin little pages. It wasn't just another one for her to add to her collection or another one for her to dust around. This was her Bible, and she was thankful for it.
She also understood it's power. She said, "Teacher, help me find this verse. I want to know where it is so I can learn it really well."
Hallelujah! Thank You Jesus for Your Word and for the Gideons who have made it their mission to share Your Word with the world!
And thanks for ridding me of my irrational fear :o)
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