I’m sure you heard the term, ‘labor of love.’ For 48 years, that phrase described what I’ve done, and still do part time. I work with kids. I don’t necessarily say ‘teach’ because honestly, I’ve learned more from kids than they learned from me. No matter if I was teaching, coaching, counseling, or as an administrator. The kids taught me. I didn’t teach them much.
Another thing about teaching being a labor of love is that we do it not for the money, but for the joy and love of it. Yes, there are hard and troubled days. I’ve had them. All teachers have them. But they are few compared to the many good days we have.
I’ve watched colleagues give much more than they received. One assistant principal I’ve worked with bought clothes for a young man who had lost his father. She made sure he had enough to eat. Another teacher opened her home to a young man who couldn’t get along with his mom. She gave him a bed, meals to eat, and a place to study. The deal was that the young man continue working his part-time job and earn good grades in school.
My daughter, who teaches third grade, had a brother and sister who entered the foster care system just before the holidays. She made sure they had presents and clothes to wear. Her heart ached, and she wept when she told me their story.
We had a young man and his brother in school when their house burned to the ground. They lost nearly everything. Our school community joined with many others to help them out. The oldest, a boy, even had his graduation party in a fire department’s garage, because he no longer had a house to host it. The fire department stepped forward and offered them a place for it.
When Kim and I and my daughters lost our son, it was our school communities besides our neighborhood who stepped forward and helped hold us together. If it weren’t for a couple of my assistant principals, some principal colleagues, and some of my teachers, I can honestly say I don’t know how I would have made it that year. Some of them still prop me up when they notice I’m faltering.
I saw on TikTok a story of a teacher who stepped forward in a big way to help one of his students. This teacher noticed that this kiddo, a fifth grader (I believe) would hang out after and before school in this teacher’s classroom. They became friendly. One day, this young man announced to the teacher that it would be his last day. This kiddo was in foster care, and because he had a degenerative kidney and needed dialysis, he would have to live in a hospital.
Instead, this teacher opened up his home to the boy and became a foster parent. He helped the boy all the way through his dialysis, transplant, and eventually, he adopted this boy. The teacher had described himself as happily single. But the teacher became a happy father and together, they had a family.
I hope that no matter what you do in life, you do it with love and compassion, with an open mind to learn from those you work with. I hope you not only enjoy what you do, but that you enjoy those you work with. A job, after all, is not really a job if we love it, if we seek to give back, and mostly, to learn from those with whom we work. It isn’t only the aged we can learn from, but from those with whom we work with- the kids in our life. They can teach us as much or more- if only we are open to it. Something to think about …
Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!
To
My Readers:
If you like what you’re reading and
find a benefit from it, you can check out my other posts at https://www.jrlewisauthor.com under
the Inspirational Blog tab. You can find all nine books,
their descriptions, and links for purchase at the same site. I can also be
found on TikTok by searching for @josephlewis5566 and
on Tribal by searching for @jrauthor85
and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557592103627
My most recent book, Fan Mail, will
be on sale for $.99 on Tuesday, March 19th on Amazon for the Kindle
version. For your convenience, here is the description and purchase link for my
book, Fan Mail, https://amzn.to/3eNgSdS and
you can check out the book trailer video at https://youtu.be/MS5VjTzCvM4
2023 Literary Titan Silver Book Award
Winner
2023 Reader’s Favorite Runner-Up
“At once a coming-of-age story that will appeal to mature
teens, a thriller that can reach into adult audiences, and a psychological
suspense novel that holds elements of deeper life inspections about sacrifice,
redemption, and discovery, its gripping saga will reach a wide audience of
readers and age groups.” - Diane
Donovan, Senior Reviewer for Midwest Book Review, Editor of California
Bookwatch
“Starts with a bang and does not stop
its relentless shrapnel barrage until you are crying with the characters.
Fabulous job by the author. You want to read this one.” - Tina
O’Hailey, author of Dark Drink.
“Very powerful. Tough. Gritty. Character development is remarkable. Lewis cuts deep as he tackles teen sexuality questions as well as dangerous stalkers. The story explodes with tension and strength, reflective of the personalities involved. Highly recommend it!” - Sharon K. Middleton, author of The McCarron Mysteries.
“Lewis takes after authors such as C.J. Box, James
Patterson, and David Baldacci, as he immerses readers in his characters by
having them in reoccurring roles and appearing throughout each of his
books.” – The Author Spot (.com)
A barrage of threatening letters, a car bomb, and a heart
attack rip apart what was once a close-knit family of adopted brothers.
Randy and Bobby, along with fellow band member and best
friend, Danny, receive fan mail that turns menacing. They ignore it, but to
their detriment. The sender turns up the heat. Violence upends their world. It
rocks the relationship between the boys and ripples through their family,
nearly killing their dad.
As
these boys turn on each other, adopted brother Brian flashes back to that event
in Arizona where he nearly lost his life saving his brothers. The scars on his
face and arms healed, but not his heart. Would he once again have to put
himself in harm’s way to save them? And, if faced with that choice, will he?
Photo by Hannah Busing and Unsplash
