Beginning clarinetists break reeds! My students took so much time during lessons or band class to come to my desk for new ones. Often, they wouldn’t have the $0.50 and would owe me the money until the next lesson. Sometimes, instead, they would go to a friend who had extra new reeds for a quick replacement.
That’s where Nicole came in. She always thought ahead and came prepared with extra reeds. She could be counted on, and the other girls knew it. Consequently, her friends kept depleting her supply and she grew tired of it! So, she devised a plan. Nicole decided that the way to keep her new reeds to herself was to put each one in her mouth as soon as she bought it. That way none of the other girls would want her reeds!
I laughed at Nicole’s ingenuity. It also made me think about those things that we should hold on to tightly—such as God’s truth. As teachers, we continually pursue knowledge, as we should. We spend several days a year taking in-service training, going to summer and evening classes, and obtaining graduate degrees. We need to make it our business to learn so that we can teach more effectively.
However, God warns us in His Word about gaining knowledge without Him, the One in whom all knowledge dwells. So, while it is important to gain all the credentials we need in order to teach effectively and with excellence, let us primarily be people of truth, and hold it dear. May all the learning we gain be passed through the sieve of God’s truth.
Show us Your ways, O Lord, teach us Your paths; guide us in Your truth and teach us, for You are God our Savior. Amen.
Copyright Shirley Wilson.
Shirley is a retired member and former board member of Christian Educators.
