This is a true story from my friend Lynn. You see these sort of things in inspirational movies but this happened in our town because of the faith and perseverance of a real person. Enjoy!
A typical day in the life of Mrs. Hare, substitute teacher
Last Thursday, I subbed for a second/third grade class that was tough. They talked out. Rowdy, they shook one another by the collar, gave piggy-back rides during math class, and made faces. I got tuckered out fighting fires all day.
The teacher had been out sick several days. The other second grade teachers assured me that there'd been a series of subs, but none had returned [alive]. Given no sub plans, I was winging it as best as I could.
"What's up?" I asked God. "What am I doing here?" I prayed all morning. I asked for God's presence to show up in that room. I put on the armor of God. I quietly spoke to the evil spirits and told them that they could not speak or operate while I was there. I asked God to send angels. I prayed the blood of Christ over that class. And then I asked for a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit.
I gave constant feedback to the class. Determined, they continued to be rude and disruptive. In spite of everything, it was clear I was losing the battle. Relentless, I continued to pray.
And then a funny thing happened. After lunch, I read the final two chapters of the novel Because of Winn-Dixie to the class. In the story at that point, we stumble upon a scene where 10-year-old Opal is reunited with her big, ugly, happy dog, Winn-Dixie. It is a dramatic scene, which I read with great emotion.
Now comes the good part. A character was humming a hymn in the story. So I asked, "Does anyone know what a hymn is?" No one knew. (One girl suggested that it's another word for "he.") I told the class that a hymn is a song that people sing; it's about God. It's a form of worship, and we can get into God's presence as we sing.
On the last page of the story, the characters sang a hymn together. I read that aloud, and began to sing "Amazing Grace." To my surprise, the whole class joined in! We sang every verse. I mean, I was praying in my heart, "Lord, show me more!" And He did. We sang, "When we've been there 10,000 years...we've no less days to sing God's praise." And yes, we even sang, "Praise God, praise God, praise God, praise God!"
After we finished, I looked up. You could hear a pin drop. You can't fool this crowd. It seemed like they were saying, "That was the real thing." I felt the Holy Spirit in that room. I am not even kidding you.
Later that afternoon, the counselor came down and did some problem-solving with the kids. We discussed options that kids had when things didn't go their way. Soon, one at a time, the spirit of repentance came over that class. Several kids turned to me and apologized to me for being rude & disrespectful. I surprised myself by beginning to cry. The kids saw the tears. I think that the tears were God showing up. Normally I would be embarassed by that, by somehow this time was different.
It is amazing to me how open kids' spirits are when you give them the chance.
No wonder God says you must be like a kid to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Don't ask me what I wanna be when I grow up. I'm just gonna stay a kid, later get to heaven, and skate right through.
I'm gonna write a sequel. "Because of Winn-Dixie.... a bunch of 7- and 8-year-olds experienced Christ one crisp October afternoon."
Love,
Lynn
