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On Friday we saw how simply reaching out to students in love will serve to motivate them to want to do their best. This was incredibly rewarding as a teaching, but I would soon learn that loving my students had other rewards as well...
As I told a week ago in Lessons From the Classroom, Part 3, I would literally meet the girl of my dream on registration day of my first year of teaching. She had learned some French on her own while living for a summer in Geneva, Switzerland, and she was keen to learn more. I placed her in my advanced French class, and she was soon one of my best students.
It was apparent from that first day of classes that this was a very special girl indeed. I was so honored when she accepted the invitation to go out on our first date, and as time went on, what God had known all along became apparent to me: This girl would be my wife.
It was with great care that I planned our engagement. At that particular school, it wasn't the custom to give a girl an engagement ring; rather, it was the custom to buy the girl a beautiful watch. If she accepted the watch, she would wear it on her right arm until the wedding day. I searched carefully for that watch. My special girl needed something to match her personality, and finally I found it.
There was a fancy French restaurant in a nearby town, and I wanted to take her there. I called ahead and asked if a waitress would be willing to bring out the chosen watch at just the right time, but unfortunately, they refused. I called a local Chinese restaurant instead, one that we both liked, and when they told me they would be happy to help me with my engagement surprise, I made reservations.
Would my girl accept the watch? It was with baited breath that I signaled the waitress to bring it out, and then, summonsing all the courage I possessed, I popped the question. To my relief, she accepted. My dream was realized.
What I hadn't anticipated was how happy my fellow teachers, and even my students, would be for us. They went out of their way to help us in every way possible, and some of my students even made the long trip to California to attend the wedding.
It all made me realize one very important Truth in God's Word: "Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." (Ephesians 4:2 NIV). My students were living in love for us. So were my fellow teachers. Why? Because God had placed a love for students in my heart and was nurturing it every day. This love was visible, tangible, and as I learned from this incident, reciprocated.
Why not seek ways today to show God's love to one another? You'll never know when that love will not only touch the lives of those around you, but also motivate them to reciprocate it!
In His love,
Rob Chaffart
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