It's how I got started. The High School Theology teacher ruptured her appendix and I got a phone call at 10pm on a Sunday night. "Any chance you can fill a long-term sub position?" I should have asked what they meant by a long-term! Six years later I am still a sub of sorts.
Someday I hope to write a book about my experiences teaching theology, religion and morality to teenagers. And I have stories to tell. The good kind, the bad kind and the just plain ugly. I plan on calling the book "My Life as a Substitute". That's how I think about what I do, and not just in the classroom. I am a substitute for Jesus. I am called to be his arms and legs, his eyes, his ears and his mouth. They are HUGE sandals to fill. More accurately I put my tiny little feet on his and we dance through the day like I did with my mother in the kitchen as a child. Sometimes I slip and fall, but often, and more often the longer I do it, it is joyful.
Today I am very excited because I have a substitute of my own. I often get tired of the sound of my own voice and I'm sure the students get tired of hearing me too. So today, by the grace of a good God, Lia Mills will be coming into my classroom to talk about her own "Yes" to God. It is a dramatic and inspiring story about what God can do when we surrender our will to him. It is not without costs, but the heavenly rewards always far outweigh any earthly efforts.
Please go check out her story and watch the video that started it all six years ago. Six years ago God radically altered the trajectory of Lia and my lives, a trajectory that intersects today. Her video has 2.5 million views and I consider it my personal goal to help it reach 50 million -- one view for every life, every priceless gift that God has intended for us that we have sent back "return to sender". Won't you help me acknowledge the love lost?
Read all about it and watch the viral video. You will be AMAZED at the gift she has to share. Do you ever get discouraged about the future? Feel hopeless about the state of things? This is the enthusiasm and the energy the next generation is bringing. I can't wait to have her in my classroom!!
