Teaching

Good morning folks,

Sunday, October 7, 2018

I’m in Texas preparing to teach a 40 hour radiation safety course starting in the morning.  I’ll finish the class on Friday, grade the final exams, print out certificates (for those who are successful), and invoice the client.  Teaching….. When I was a young fella, I never imagined that one day I would teach anything.  My first taste of teaching was a teen Sunday School class.  It was more of a case of “we need a teacher and you have teenagers so you are our new teacher, congratulations”.  I came to find out that the more that I was involved in teaching, the more that I began to grow.  I was learning right along with the kids.  The first thing that I learned was how little I really knew and understood about my subject, the Bible and basic Theology.  So, When I became a teacher, I also became a student.  As I began to really read and exegete the Scriptures, I was not only inspired, but fearful of the responsibility that comes with teaching God’s Word.  Years later, I accepted the invite to teach a Young Adults Sunday School class at another small church we were attending.  When I say “Young Adults”, the class consisted of members who were in their early to mid 20s to those in their early 60s.  When it was suggested that the older class members might want to move to the “Senior Adults” class, they respectfully declined.  “We’re Not Moving”  One of the benefits of having older members in a class is the practical life knowledge that they bring.  We had some lively discussion from time to time as to how the Bible addresses certain issues.  We learned that we could disagree on small points of doctrine, and that was OK, but we never disagreed on the nonnegotiable parts of the Scriptures.  Our church’s pastor was an elderly and very Godly gentleman.  He was having some health issues and asked if I would consider teaching a Wednesday evening class to the whole congregation in order to give him some relief.  I told him that I would prayerfully consider it.  Two weeks later I told him that I would.  For the next several weeks I taught a course on “Classical Apologetics” to the  Wednesday night congregation.  I remember that I was scared to death on that first night.  I thought to myself “I won’t see most of these folks back next week”  But guess what, they came back and each Wednesday night became a little easier.  By the time that I finished teaching that course it was easy and enjoyable for me.  I really can’t speak for those who attended, but as for me, I had learned so much not only about defending Christian beliefs and doctrine, but how God can use a person as weak and self-conscious as me to do something that I didn’t think that I could do.

Shortly following this, my boss at work asked me if I would teach a 40 hour radiation safety course for another company.  It went something like this “You’re going to teach a 40 hour radiation safety class for another company.  They are sending the course material by FedEx and it will be here tomorrow.  Your motel reservations have been made.  You need to be there Sunday and will teach a class next week. You’ll do fine”.   I found out that the previous instructor recently had a stroke and was unable to return to teaching.  I was a little nervous before that first class, but the teaching that I had done in Sunday Schools, and then on Wednesday nights had strengthened my confidence and prepared me for this stage of my life.

Since teaching that first class, some 18 years ago, I have lost count of how many classes there have been.   I retired in November, 2014 and have enjoyed being able to set my own schedule.  In 2017 I started a new business and wrote and registered a 40 hour radiation safety course.  I teach this course from time to time for a couple of old friends and business associates.

And this brings me up to the present.  The love of my life and I plan to leave on Sunday, October 14 and head back up to South Fork, Colorado.  This November 07, God willing, we will celebrate 49 years together.   It is my hopes to soon begin making entries into this blog that showcase the beauty of God’s creation, and highlight some of the places to experience it around South Fork and the great Rocky Mountains.

So, until then,

“The mountains are calling and I must go”  John Muir

South Fork Sojourner