A Labor of Love

I love teaching! I loved teaching English for over thirty years, and I continue to enjoy sharing insights with my Sunday school class, my piano students, my nieces and nephew, and the students I tutor.

So consider this month’s blog a dedication to teachers and students, Part 2, as well as a tribute to parents and employees who work hard at everything they do. May they love their jobs!

I once had a student tell me I loved Shakespeare too much. I laughed and continued my attempts at spurring his interest in the bard.

I credit Mrs. Pat St. Clair, my senior English teacher, and Dr. John McDaniel, one of my college professors, with spurring my own interest in Mr. Shakespeare. Their enthusiasm for teaching and the insight I found in Shakespeare’s works as well as many other literary greats sparked my own desire to become an English teacher and share these insights with others.

According to Pat Fenner’s Prayers for a Lifestyle of Learning (©2018 by Eagle Wing Books), “The best way to teach our children is to model the particular character trait or behavior we’re desiring to grow in them.”

In other words, how could I ask my students to be interested in Shakespeare if I didn’t show a little enthusiasm for his works myself.

Some students admittedly avoided my class because I gave too many writing assignments and required too much outside reading. What’s wrong with three research papers, eight major literary works, and four book reports? Throw in weekly vocabulary tests, a few public speaking assignments, and two semester projects; and the class was a piece of cake!

Seriously, the teaching profession challenged me often, and I’m sure my class often challenged many of my students. However, it was a labor of love for me and, I believe, for many of my students.

We should all strive to be lifelong learners. A love of learning logically requires a consistent thirst for knowledge. “Inquiring minds want to know”!

Even though I no longer teach full time, I never want to stop learning; and I never want to stop encouraging others to read and learn.

I recently had the privilege of reading to a local group of second graders. Their teacher had invited me to help launch their literacy program by encouraging them to love books.

We began with Little Mole Goes to School by Glenys Nellist. (See my August blog.) Little Mole helped the children to understand that learning can be fun and that “we’re all good at different things.” We finished the morning with Sophie Corrigan’s Literary Critters (©2022 by Zonderkidz), a clever book based on finding inspiration in the books we read.

As the main character William Shakesbear seeks ideas from literary characters like Mole Dahl, Edgar Allan Crow, and Chicktor Hugo, he realizes that the world is full of information and ideas. We can tap into that knowledge and insight if we look around us at the wardrobes and cups of tea and star-studded skies and endless roads that fill our lives.

As Shakespeare and C. S. Lewis were inspired by the Word, their works can inspire us to read and study the Word, and “the wheel [will] come full circle.”

In my recent efforts to personally find more time to read and study the Word and to fulfill my commitment to sharing devotions with you this year, I discovered Book Lover’s Devotional (©2011 by Barbour Publishing).  Because I love reading, this book loudly called my name.

Those of you who love reading will find relevant devotions on sixty great works of literature from George Orwell’s 1984 to Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. Each entry features a thematic overview of the book along with a supportive scripture verse and questions “For Further Thought.”

In the entry entitled “The Uttermost Parts of the World,” writer Janice Hanna uses the novel Christy by Catherine Marshall as a good example of taking our “work” seriously. In Christy’s words:

“When I left my city home to be a schoolteacher at a backwoods mission, I dreamed of adventure. I wasn’t ready for the real challenges of life in these mountains. I’d have given up, if not for the children. I came to Cutter Gap to teach, but they show me every day I’m here to learn.”

Like Christy, we are all called to work and to serve with passion and love.

“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”—Romans 12:11

From the reflection on The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, “Let’s ask [God] to give us a spirit willing to serve, the courage to believe we can do what He’s called us to do, and the strength to see it through. With God, we don’t have to think we can; we can know we can.”

This Labor Day, if you have a little time off from work, celebrate with a good book or, better yet, the Good Book, and reflect upon God’s blessings. Think about your job as a parent or a teacher or a role model; think about your 9-5 job as a mechanic or a clerk or a doctor or an engineer; think about your job as a student or a good neighbor or a sibling. Make it a labor of love.

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” –Colossians 3:23-24

“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”—Frederick Buechner

“The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.”—Mark Twain

“Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.”—Anne Frank

“The secret of joy in work is contained in one word—excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.”—Pearl Buck

1 Corinthians 16:14; Hebrews 6:10; Ecclesiastes 3:12-13