Romans 12:2 – And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
At 34 years old, after working a job for nearly 20 years, with a wife and 3 kids, I feel like at times I might be the most inadequate for this job but the question that many keep asking me is…..”Why on earth do you want to leave a job that pays more with better insurance and with that many years to teach a bunch of kids?” Why would I want to start over at this point in my life?
Often times I will say “Nick what are doing? This is crazy? This completely out of your comfort zone! Just keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ve been doing that for 20 years, you know that work inside and out, why change? ” Sometimes I feel like Clark Griswold on National Lampoon’s Vacation right before he’s about to jump in the pool saying to himself…”This is crazy, this crazy, this is crazy.” But he has his reasons and we won’t get into those.
But if you want to remain complacent in life, if you never want to see yourself grow in faith, if you never want to be criticized, if you never want to see God work in your life, if you want to keep going through the motions, go ahead and remain where you are, keep doing what you have always done…..
Remain where you are and keep doing what you’ve always done and you will surely remain as you are.
This is a question that I have been asked repeatedly over the last few months. “Why teach?”
First and foremost I will say that this is something personal for me. The work that I feel that God has called me to no matter how hard, difficult, or crazy the call may seem. Usually the things that God calls us to will make no sense to us at times but that is why he sees the bigger picture. So again, the question is asked, “Why do I want to be a teacher?”
- Is it the pay?……no…Money can never be the main purpose for doing anything because if you start something for money then you will end up quitting because of money no matter much or how little…If God calls you somewhere He will see you through it no matter the pay….
- Is it the Summers, weekends, holidays, snow days off?……no….added perk though, It’s a blessing to be on the same schedule with my kids…
- Is it getting to be at school at with kids?…..no, although that is a large part of it and a huge blessing…
I can only put the answer into just a few names:
Mrs. Beck-3rd
Mrs. Webb-4th
Ms. Young-7th
Mr. Nutter-8th
Mr. Spinner-10th
Mr. Callaghan-9th-11th
Mr. Gibson- 9th-12th
Mr. Snyder-12th
Mr. Watkins-11th
Mr. Witchey-12th
Mr. Johnson-10th-12th
Mr. Ansley
You might say these aren’t reasons to become a teacher, its just a list of names. Yes it is a list of names. But it is a list of names that have impacted my life from Elementary through Middle School all the way up to my completion of High School and beyond. The names that you see here are people who’s words still echo in my mind. People who have helped me, believed in me when I certainly did not believe in myself or think that I was ever going to make it through school, inspired me to persevere when I felt like quitting, these are the names of the men and women who were there for me at some of my worst times and moments especially during my teens years.
These teachers had taken the time, time that they certainly did not need to take, but yet they took the time to work with me, lead me, many times help light a fire under me when it was needed, they encouraged me to fight and to continue on. Many of these teachers, maybe all of them, probably will never know how much of an impact they each had on me at different stages of my life. Looking back now, I firmly believe that God had placed each one of these individuals in my life for specific purposes at specific times. These men and women, to me, are true heroes.
As a teacher, you may never know the impact that you will have on a student. That impact, good and bad, will be felt throughout the course of that students life. You never truly know what a student is dealing with at home. It so important as a leader, as a parent, as a teacher that we speak life into our young people because the only place that they might hear a word of encouragement, a word to help persevere, a word to keep fighting on, might be inside the walls of a classroom.
I cannot express my gratitude and appreciation for these teachers enough and the influence that they have had on my life and the weight of that impact that I have carried well into my 30’s. The things that they taught me, you cannot learn in a textbook, although they helped me tremendously with my academics, what they showed me, you cant teach it in a lecture or by lesson planning. Its not something you learn in in college but it comes by simply having a desire to reach people. To have a heart for people. This is something cannot be learned inside the pages of a textbook but rather a burden in which God instills in a person. A desire and a burden to reach people on a level who otherwise would be unreachable.
So what is a Teacher?
Someone who reaches the unreachable, teaches the unteachable, believes in those who do not believe in themselves, can help instill hope in those who may have no hope.
These teachers never gave up on me, even when I so badly at times wanted to. These are just a few reasons why I have a strong desire to try and maybe help those that are in the same situations that I was in as a young man.
I understand that teaching is not a very desirable position by some today, people look at me like I am crazy when I say I am entering into this field. There have been many changes in the world of education over the last 2 decades with Common Core and more government overreach but that still doesn’t change the fact that we need people with a passion and desire to walk into a classroom everyday, somedays tired, beat down and worn out, to set the example and be a teacher. With that desire comes a burden and with that burden comes many sleepless nights.
Very few people in my life actually know what drives me to do this job. The pay is average, hours are long, kids are tough to deal with, parents can be even tougher, expectations and pressures are always high but if it were easy then what kind of reward would I have? If it were an easy path to follow then everybody would be on this same path. To me this is not a job but rather a calling. Its not supposed to be easy. The work that God calls us to gives us the opportunity to grow, to learn, to fail, to get back up, to press on and continue and then to do it all over again. We are always constantly learning, growing and failing. We learn from our mistakes and failures. It is what helps us grow. I only hope that I can pass on to my future students and my own children what has been taught to me in the past by these men and women who went above and beyond the call of duty.
I do want to touch on the last name on the list of teachers that I had mentioned above. I did not give a specific grade for a reason. Mr. Ansley, I knew him as Andy. He was a good friend. When we moved from Circleville to Dublin it was a much bigger school district with a lot more people. Me, being quiet, shy, and introverted was terrified. I didn’t know anybody but Andy along with his brother Billy were the first two people to befriend a kid with a broken leg on crutches in a new school with no friends in Mr. Nutter’s math class. Over the course of the next 5 years we would grow up together and in a graduating class with over 400 I walked away with 3 really good people that I could call friends, Billy being one of them.
A good friend is something that is hard to find in this life and I am glad that I have found a few good friends over the course of my life. Andy had a passion for teaching. We lost touch for several years contacting each other every so often to say hey. Andy ended up in Arizona teaching special education and these kids absolutely loved him and he loved them. Andy passed away in March of 2018 due to a car accident. Andy had a tremendous impact on his classroom and the community around him. He was a good teacher, a good brother, a good father, and good friend with a heart for reaching kids.
It wasn’t until after I learned of his death that I really started to pray about the path that I was on and what God would have me to do. That list of names came flooding back into my memory as to why I started to pursue teaching in the first place all those years ago. We had just moved back to Ohio from Arkansas where I had recently stepped down as Pastor at the Church the year prior and I was really unsure of a lot of things and it was one of those instances where, shamefully, I had thought quitting would be the easiest way to go. But….That still small voice of God kept whispering into my ear, “Didn’t I call you to this work years ago? Did I say it was going to be easy? Did I or did I not call you to the ministry? Did I or did I not call you to do the work of a teacher?”
I kept hearing the words that I had preached so many times to my own congregation, words that I have heard my own Pastor preach several times, “If God called you to it, He’ll bring you through it.”
How would I be able to look at my wife? My children? If I threw in the towel how would I be able to look at myself in the mirror?
Things had not worked out how I thought they would or should and I really did not know where to go from where I was at at the time a few years back but you know what things dont usually go according to plan or work out how we plan but they do work out, in Gods way and in Gods time. I was in a spiritual rut and didn’t think I would ever get out of it. A rut is basically a grave with both sides kicked out. There is a way of escape but you just cant figure out how to get out or much less want to get out. I didn’t feel like praying. I didn’t feel like preaching. I didn’t feel like studying. I just felt like I was going through the motions for a good while. I went to work the graveyard shift at the store because I thought that I could hide. Go back to what was familiar and hide out hoping no one would really ask anything of me. It was basically my cave. Much like Elijah was, I went to that cave with intentions of never coming out. I was burnt out, I was tired, I was spiritually drained. Elijah didn’t see the results that he wanted to so he ran and hid. Its funny how we get let down when things don’t go our way but God always has a purpose and a plan even when we cant see a way. God had to get Elijah’s attention
I laid my pursuit of teaching down about 5/6 years ago because I started Pastoring and didn’t quite feel I could take on the weight of the load. But then I heard about Andy’s death and it coincided with the rut that I was in and I really started to pray seriously about the call of God upon my life and after much prayer, encouragement from those whom God placed around me, especially my wife, and God telling me to get up and stop feeling sorry for myself and get to work! Later that fall I would pick back up my pursuit of teaching and during that process God had lead my family and I to Alum Creek Evangelical Friends Church where I am currently Associate Pastor. A place I never intended to go but am so extremely grateful and beyond blessed to have crossed paths with the people here at Alum. As I stated above, God saw the bigger picture as He always does. His timing is always perfect if we are willing to answer the call and continue on the path that He has set before us.
Through tragedy, many unwanted but needed growing pains, humility, a season of spiritual dryness, isolation and much prayer, God helped me regain my focus, my call, my passion, and my vision.
So when people ask me why I want to be a teacher? All I have to give is a list of names who believed in a young man and never let him quit. I want to show my own children that no matter how hard the obstacles are to overcome in life that with God ALL things are possible and that we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us. Quitting is not an option for me. I want to raise my kids that way. My daughter has stated she wants to be a teacher and it is my duty as a parent to set the standard not only for her but for my son and youngest daughter as well.
To me it is more than teaching a bunch a kids for 7 hours a day. It is wanting to see the best in these kids and try and bring it out in them and help realize their full potential because these teachers did the same for me a long time ago. I know that we can never reach every single child and with that burden comes heartache, headache, and many times frustration but I have found out in life that with every battle at the end comes blessings. The harder the battle, the tougher the fight, the sweeter the victory.
Some might say I’m naive, probably, some days feel like the most unqualified person to teach kids, but you have to realize that there will always be detractors everywhere you go but if you never want to be criticized “Say nothing, Do nothing, and Be nothing.” -Pastor Cal Ray Evans
I don’t know what God has in store for 2020 and beyond that but I do know that my motto for this year is “If He has called me to this work, He will see me through it.”
Restoring Faith, Family, and Freedom in America 