Janna's View: Best Teacher Ever

There is a situation going on in my world right now

in which I feel like everything that I have invested into it

has been in vain.

To be honest, I’ve actually felt like that a lot since Rob died.

Like everything

that I worked so hard for

and gave so much for in my life,

OTHER

THAN

CHILDREN,

has just fallen by the wayside.

As much as I truly feel so very blessed

and am so very grateful that my life is as good as it is,

there are still times when current circumstances

bring back to the forefront of my mind

and to the depths of my heart

the feelings and memories

of falling off that cliff to despair and

it is so very hard

to find my footing on

hope

yet again.

It was in this state that I went to sleep last night.

But before I did,

I uttered some prayers.

I asked God to take away my sadness over the situation at hand

and to help me find my footing again.

I asked for hope.

And,

sometime between 9:45 and 10:00 p.m.,

I finished the prayer by very specifically asking

for an unsolicited reminder that

my life’s investments have not been in vain.

I just really felt like I needed that.

And, apparently, God agreed.

This morning, I woke with the heaviness of sadness

weighing enough that,

before I was even out of the bed,

the tears fell again.

After getting on up and taking care of some things at my parents’ home,

I came back home to eat breakfast and face the rest of the day

(which included a doctor appointment for my mom)..

As I was eating and riding the exercise bike

(yes, I do both at the same time),

I decided to check facebook.

It was then that I knew God had answered my prayer.

AND He had answered it at 10:11 p.m. last night.

I just didn’t know it until this morning.

At 10:11 p.m. last night, just minutes after I asked God for a very specific answer to prayer, a former student of mine posted this to facebook in response to

the photo prompt of

“Best Teacher I Ever Had Was ___________.”

Hands down Janna Caviness Shelton. I was in her first class and we loved her so much we brought her with us to the next grade. She taught me how to have confidence, how to be selfless and was a true role model. Outside of the classroom she and her late husband were a large influence in my faith in God and they always took the time to insure that the church youth were mentored and active in the community. And I will always miss the days of all of us kids piling into the back of the station wagon for ice cream and the time I spent all day in class making confetti for her "not so subtle" surprise baby shower with Anna.

Her words about me could not have come at a better time.

At a time in my current life when my confidence level over a certain issue was next to nothing, this student is telling me that I taught her how to have confidence.

At a time in my current life when I was lamenting the fact that I had put my own feelings above someone else’s, this student is telling me that I taught her how to be selfless.

At a time in my current life when I know that some of my actions have not modeled what I truly meant to convey in a certain situation, this student is telling me that I was a true role model to her.

And, to top it off, at a time in my current life when some circumstances around me are reminding me of and causing me to so keenly miss my Rob and our ministry, this student is telling me that Rob and I were large influences in

her faith in God at our very first ministry community.

WOW!

There is no way that my former student could have known how much I needed to hear

TODAY

how she feels about me.

But God did.

There is no way that my former student could have known the very specific wording she used would be exactly what I had prayed for.

But God did.

There is no way that my former student could have known that I needed to hear how my life’s investments have made a difference in her life.

But God did.

There is no way that my former student could have known that her simple “thinking about old memories” would be the answer to my prayer.

But God did.