We’ve slightly adapted this month’s devotion from Teachers Touch Eternity, one of CTA’s gift books for teachers. We hope it encourages you to thank Jesus for all those many blessings we often take for granted—a relationship with God through Christ, the privilege of sharing that relationship as we witness, the gifts of prayer and of friendship, the ministry of Christian teachers and pastors, and so much more!
When I was in grade school, I went to the Christian school our church supported for grades K–8. In our small town, nearly everyone in that school also belonged to our church. But on rare occasions, parents from outside our congregation would transfer their child from the public school to our church’s school, usually because the child was having some academic or behavioral problem.
I remember one such student well. Austin came to us in seventh grade. On his first day of class when we said grace before lunch, we realized this new boy didn’t know how to pray.
Didn’t know how to pray?! In our isolated world, we couldn’t even imagine such a thing!
The news spread like wildfire through the student body. I’m sure it was the focus of conversation at many supper tables that evening. Despite the uniqueness of Austin’s predicament, I don’t remember anyone teasing or excluding him. He remained at our school, graduating with his class after finishing eighth grade.
We all grew up, my family moved away, and I didn’t think again about Austin—until my sister went off to a Christian college. One weekend she came home and the first words out of her mouth were, “You won’t believe whom I saw!” There, studying in the cafeteria, sat Austin! Recognizing him, my sister sat down and they talked. He was studying Greek—at the seminary, as he prepared himself to serve as a pastor.
What a profound difference those two short years in our school had made in Austin’s life! God had used the teachers and my classmates to bring him to faith in Jesus the Savior. How many souls in his family have also come to faith through his witness? How many will God save through his lifetime of ministry?
Here on earth, we will never know, but I think of Austin often as I work with children. We pass through their lives so briefly, but we can make a difference, a big difference—whether we see it or not—because God is at work through the Word of Christ we share.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:17
