Love Is Moving

I was a spy today. Sometimes that happens when you're teaching; you see and hear things you, as an adult, were not meant to see or hear. Most of the time I wish I could un-see or un-hear it. Use your imagination: obscene gestures, profanity, or just plain old meanness.  

 Here's a little background. It seems there are a few students who've moved into our little community over the summer, so they're just getting to know everyone, a daunting task when you're a self-conscious teen in a small town high school where everybody already knows everybody else. I'm not just making an assumption here. I teach writing classes, so I often have an open doorway into the hearts and minds of my students. In fact, just a few days ago a girl in one of my classes turned in a paper that made my heart a little tender. In it, she detailed all the times she's moved and how hard it can be to leave old  friends behind and make new ones. 

Here's where the spying part comes in. This morning I was sitting at my desk while some students milled around in my room before the first bell rang to signal the beginning of the academic day. The girl I just mentioned was sitting all by herself in her desk near my chair. It made me feel a little bummed that she was sitting alone while so much socializing was going on, but what could I do? I'm just the old, dorky English teacher. I've learned that there are some things I just can't fix. Right when I was thinking all that, another girl from our class, one clearly born and bred in our small town, plopped right down beside the new comer to introduce herself. She asked her those same old getting-to-know you questions we've all heard a million times, but those trite questions were powerful. The new girl looked like an awkward rain cloud hanging over her head had been instantly removed. She smiled. 

Witnessing the whole thing made me feel so good. That's how I started my day.

Now, let me tell you how it ended. 

I was spying again. This time I was in my car on the way home. I was behind a school bus (Yes, It's still annoying even though I'm a teacher.) Anyway, the bus stopped outside one of the poorer neighborhoods I pass every day, and two small boys ran out -- one white, one black. Standing just beside the road was a middle aged white lady. She was clearly waiting for the white boy because as soon as he got close he launched himself into her arms. I could just feel the love in that hug. Then the other little boy, hesitating a few steps behind, approached. The woman put the boy she was hugging down and reached out for the other little boy and hugged him too. Then I could see him holding out some papers in his hand, clearly some school work he was proud of. The lady leaned down to him intently listening to everything he had to say, admiring his papers. Then the bus moved on, and so did I. But not before I saw the little boys go their separate ways home, running like little boys do. 

Today I am thankful that I got to spy on two small,simple moments full of love. I'm reminded all over again how God's love shows up in the most unexpected places. In one of her newest songs, Audrey Assad says, "Love is moving among us." How true. 

“Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.” John 13:34-35


Audrey Assad - Love is Moving - Cornerstone Chandler - Worship from brianwurzell on Vimeo.