Broken Alabaster Boxes

Eight o'clock and we gather for teachers chapel. One teacher assigned for playground duty. The rest gathered around the table. Twenty minutes for devotions, sharing, and prayer. I have enjoyed the blessing of fellow teachers who are focusing on the same issues and struggles and who are together seeking God. 8:20 the bell rings. Kids scramble to their lines, assigned by grade. Shirts tucked. Shoes tied. Basketballs handed over to teachers.  "Ms., I finished my homework."  "Ms., Josiah stepped on my foot."  "Do we have Language Arts test today?" Sometimes it takes long to quiet them, or get them in a straight line. Sometimes I send them running around the school for not obeying promptly.  Then we file in. We have 10 minutes in our classroom before chapel. Pencils grind sharp. Books and papers are set in my desk to be scored from yesterday's homework. Assignments written on the board are copied into notebooks. Lunch is ordered....

Five faces uplifted. Five pairs of ears listening, at least they were suppose to be. Together in the morning for classroom devotions, I told them of 2 friends, both from bad homes. Brothers who worked with me. One works hard, loves his family, and is looking to better himself despite life's circumstances.  The other, is experimenting with drugs and alcohol, hanging with bad characters, and wreaking havoc in his life.  And I contrasted the two. Who will go far? Who will succeed?  And when we prayed, the young voice leading out, lifted up James in prayer to Him Who cares.  He Who looks down on our classroom.  And on James. 

White eyes peering out of dark faces. Hands reaching up to clutch at mine. Voices at our door, asking, "Wata, Ms. Can I have some wata?" Shouts of happy children at play, The basketball thumping.  Or walking down the road, chatting together. Good days. When they are excited to learn and work hard in school. Bad days. When the test score comes back a failure, Or their attitudes turn sour. And normal days. Their laughter sounding from our classroom. There's Josiah, head bent over his work. Struggling to comprehend. And so excited when he only has 2 mistakes to correct. Selena, body jiggling as she laughs, Her face split in a big grin. Shachri, smart, working hard, but often in a rush. Teja, intellegent, a reader, currently reading Pilgrim's Progress. Anton, his face alight with a goofy grin. When you get them all laughing, it's sure to be hard to get them stopped.  Chapel...

"It was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them." They could not see Him.  Could not sense his presence.  He was not there. They thought. It was dark. The darkness was real. Not hypothetical.  Not imagined.  Real. And they wondered at His absence.   They forgot. Forgot His faithfulness.  His trustworthiness. Because they could not see.  Because it was dark. But He was there.  He knew. To Him, there was no darkness.  No uncertainty.  No questions. Him they could trust. But they did not always.  And I do not always.  It is a choice.  A choice to trust that He will come in the darkness.  Every time.  

By faith. By faith we teach, tho we question the comprehension. By faith we are patient, tho it may seem in vain. By faith we emulate, tho they may not follow. By faith we live, tho it may seem they do not care. By faith. Faith in Him Who called. Faith that He will take these offerings we give. Faith that, if we are faithful, He will use us. Faith in the unseen. Faith that gives us hope for a new day.

"Mornin." "Mornin." The day begins with a greeting. No excuse for barely opened eyes. The salutation is given. Early morning hours. Cars whiz down the road at intervals. People walk to work. And the goats and scrawny dogs follow you with blank eyes. Morning is the best time to walk. Fewer people out and less drunks. It's also cooler, tho by the time you reach home again, clothes are sticking and sweat drips.  The roads are generally littered with trash. Old wrecks of cars abandoned along the edges of the already too-narrow roads. Drains emit a reeking stench.  Sometimes there's fog in early morning, brushing tops of distant mountains. Sometimes rain clouds, sending sporadic down-pours. Sometimes blue sky. All promise the same. A hot day. As the sun rises and the day moves on, traffic along the narrow roads increase. Drivers frequent the use of their horns as they near narrow corners or zip around other vehicles. Music commonl...