Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (First Thessalonians 5:11, NIV)
When I was in first grade, my teacher Mrs. True made an announcement that would forever change my life.
“We’re having a poetry contest this week,” she said, “so use today and tomorrow to come up with your best poem.” We had just studied the various types of poems, and I decided I really liked the ones that rhymed.
As my classmates wrote about their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, I carefully crafted the words to my poem: “I Love Penny.” Penny was my 7-year-old wiener dog and my best friend in the whole world. My poem went a little something like this: “Penny is my very best friend. I’ll love her to the very end. She’s a very special wiener dog. I love her though she smells like a hog…”
OK, so I wasn’t exactly a first grade Dr. Seuss, but my poem was good enough to win first prize. (I guess the other first grade poets were really bad.) At any rate, I won a few sparkly pencils and the honor of going first in the lunch line. Mrs. True also displayed my poem in the front of the room for all to see. I felt very special.
Little did Mrs. True know that her lesson on poetry and subsequent contest was a turning point in my life. After winning that writing contest I thought to myself, “Hey, I am actually good at something…maybe I should do more of this writing stuff.” And, so I did.
I started writing all the time. I wrote poems about every member of my family. I wrote short stories about two squirrels named Frank and Millie. I even became the editor of my elementary school newspaper, “The Panther Paw.” And all the while, Mrs. True was cheering me on.
Today, when I make appearances for “Young Author’s Day” at elementary schools and read my children’s books to the students, I am always asked two questions: “How old are you?” (which I quickly skip over) and “When did you become a writer?” Without missing a beat I always answer, “In first grade…when Mrs. True taught me about poetry, and I won a contest for a poem about my big, fat wiener dog.”
Teachers make such an impact on who we become as adults. They have a voice into our young, eager hearts, and that voice may be the only one that offers an encouraging word. I’m so thankful for Mrs. True and for teachers like her who challenge young people to follow their dreams.
Though I am not a teacher in the school system, I often teach at writers’ conferences, and I always ask God to help me be a “Mrs. True” in someone’s life. Offering an encouraging word at the right time can be life-changing for someone. Why not be a “Mrs. True” in somebody’s life today?
Let’s pray for our teachers as they start back to school:
Father, thank You for Godly teachers in our schools. Bless them, Lord, and help them to be encouraged today, just knowing that they are making a difference in so many lives. As this new school year begins, Lord, I ask that You wrap Your loving arms around them and give them grace, patience, love and wisdom for their best school year yet. In the Mighty Name of Jesus, Amen.
Adapted from Heavenly Humor for the Teacher’s Soul (Barbour Books 2011)
