Believe it or not, this will be my final blog post….ever. I never blogged before coming down to Mississippi and never really cared to. Looking back though from the blog of my first trip to the delta to this – my summation of my MTC experience. While this experience seems to really draw the worst out of people, as a Christian, it has really drawn me closer to the Lord.
I genuinely prayed everyday Senior Year at Grove City that I would be led wherever God wanted me. Proverbs 3 simply says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your path straight.” Besides getting married this past summer one of the highlights of my recent years was receiving the email from Ben saying ‘You’ve been accepted in the Mississippi Teacher Corps’. Don’t get me wrong – this experience has been terribly difficult but I’ve grown more than I ever have as a person and am so thankful for the experience.
For this blog I’d like to relate my situation during each part of the two-year experience to a Biblical character in a similar environment. Obviously there won’t be a 100% correlation but the feelings during experience seemed so extreme – from the optimism of the first summer to the depressing times of the first year then transitioning to the highs of the second year being down here with my best friend and now wife – Jenny.
Summer 2010: Noah
Although I was surrounded by some of the most Godly men I’ve ever met at Grove City College and not an ‘unrighteous’ generation as Noah was, I felt as though I had a very unique calling to come down to Mississippi. After being accepted into MTC I thought God may be calling me down to Mississippi, however after being accepted into Teach For America two days later, in the Mississippi Delta, the calling seemed clear. My first summer in Mississippi was certainly difficult being away from friends and family although it was comforting being built up on a daily basis by fellow Christians like Hunter, Phil and Josh on what seemed like an hourly basis. Going through the summer was incredibly easy on the teaching side and maybe if it was harder I would’ve been more prepared to teach in my own classroom but nevertheless, I was thankful for the ease of the first summer.
August – December 2010: Job
By far the most trying time in my life. By far. Not necessarily the darkest time but I remember coming home each day during the first half of the year and just wondering how I could possibly summon the strength to make it through the first day. This reminds me of Job – he was a Godly man that was allowed to be tempted by the devil to prove his character and undying faith in God. Everything was taken from him - from his family to fortune and he remained steadfast in the Lord. What seemed like every day had an element of chaos in it and the homesickness really started to set in. I made a decision early on in Mississippi that I would see Jenny monthly. This along with my relationship with Jesus Christ really made this trying time manageable.
January – May 2010: Paul
Even though I never started my own church, I did seem to have a ‘road to Damascus feeling’ where the tables flipped. Not through a fight or magic but coming back from Christmas break I realized that getting a relatively fresh start with students helped reinforce the rules and procedures I worked feverishly to iron out along with the help of my Master Teacher roommate – Chris Curran. He had an approach to the children that I wanted to mimic – he cared about the children although was a firm believer in consistent discipline – as opposed to paddling in anger. Obviously myself and Chris would never hit a student but through consistent rules and consequences we could run a classroom that would fit in even in Oxford.
Summer 2011: Joshua
After 40 long and hard years wandering around a desolate wilderness Joshua had the joy of leading the Jews in the Promised Land. It wasn’t without struggles over food, shelter and safety. Joshua was one of Moses’ 12 spies to scout out the land of Canaan and was one of only two to send a positive report. He had quite a legacy on Earth and certainly goes down as a hero of faith in the Bible. In the same way I felt like I was entering the Promised Land driving back to Charlottesville to get married after my first year of teaching. The second summer in Oxford before my great migration back up north seemed to pass incredibly quickly and was a nice confidence booster in that I had virtually zero major problems and the minor problems or issues that I did have only helped me become a better teacher. I was proud of the fact that I relied on God throughout the difficult stretch of time and was ready for some much needed rest and relaxation before heading back down to the delta to start my second year.
August – December 2011: Adam (pre-fall)
Although Adam certainly wasn’t one of the more glorious characters in the Bible, I can’t imagine what was going through his mind in the Garden of Eden. As almost every Christian and non-Christian know, Adam really screwed things up by allowing Eve to eat the forbidden fruit but before that point he enjoyed perfect harmony in God’s creation enjoying everything with his wife Eve. While I have yet to eat the forbidden fruit and certainly don’t want the shame Adam endured, it really did feel like coming down to a new creation coming down here with Jenny. During my first year I wondered how I would simply make it through the day. Returning home each day from school the second year would typically result in us going on a run, hike or simply walking our puppy – Molly. We enjoyed our time after school as much as possible. While I’m not a self-promoter, my time spent in the classroom was so much more efficient. Not in terms of planning necessarily, but my students were learning things so much quicker thanks to incredibly tight management and procedures. We could get through lessons in a fraction of the time and quarterly assessments show incredible gain. The second year was off to a great start, one that almost mimicked the start of Adam in the Garden.
January – May 2012: Peter
In the Bible Peter is one of the characters that has many different ‘colors’. He is certainly a follower of Jesus but also struggles with fully believing 100% of the time. Although many may say that he wasn’t a great Christian I would argue that almost every Christian goes through seasons like this as fallen creatures. One of my favorite episodes in the Bible with Peter is when he is out on a boat and Jesus appears, walking on water. Peter wants desperately to join Jesus but certainly struggles with his total commitment. He gets out of the boat and starts to sink because he takes his eyes of Jesus. The second half of the year has been so enjoyable up to this point although I need to remind myself to constantly keep my eyes on Christ to lead us wherever we may go next. Hopefully that will be in Charlottesville to continue our careers as teachers and be close to family however I will never forget my time serving underprivileged kids in the delta.
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