Leaders and Teachers

'Love and truth form a good leader; sound leadership is founded on loving integrity'
Proverbs 20.28 (Message)

One of the things my mum gave me for my birthday was a little booklet about teaching. It told the true story of a girl in Malaysia named Moey Yoke Lai who grew up amongst abusive and poverty stricken conditions. Although it meant paying twice the bus fare and walking twice the distance, the girl's mother made sure Yoke Lai was enrolled in a Christian school, Starry Hill. The details of the story are too long to share here, but in summary,Yoke Lai was shown grace and love by her principal, Ms Cooke. One of the things Ms Cooke did was give Yoke Lai accomodation in her own home so that she would be able to have a room to herself to study.

Yoke Lai went on to a career in teaching, and became one of the most positively influential  teachers at Starry Hill. In the book, Yoke Lai defines a student as 'the apple of God's eye' and a teacher as 'the eyes, lips, hands and feet of God in the classroom'. The booklet concludes with glowing testimonies/letters to her from her students One of her students told her: 'You had the ability to make us feel special. You were very pragmatic about it. It wasn't just words, it was tangible support. When someone goes to that extent to help you, it makes you think, "I'm worth it. I'd better pull up my sock and do something!'

In the new school term, I am inspired to make each student of mine feel special and important. To recognise the potential in each one, and be an encouragement and the most help I can to them. I want to make lessons and music fun for them and I want them to feel loved (even if it's not my job to love them). One quote from the book says, 'Teaching is more than just a job. To teach is to touch lives forever. To teach is to touch eternity'. I hope that the way I teach, the students don't just learn how to play the piano, but also learn how to have fun in piano playing and practice, to have courage in performing, persistence in difficulty, and confidence in themselves.

It's not enough to just be a good piano teacher. It's useless if I have no love for my students. Corinthians 13.1 and 3 says, "If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate...no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love" (message version).

Of course, we are all leaders and teachers in some way. Maybe the quote could be modified to say, "Serving customers/being an office worker/studying at university is more than just a job/place to be endured. It is to touch lives forever...to touch eternity".

In closing, here's another inspirational from the booklet:
'Perhaps the only true biography of a teacher is the one written on the faces and lives of his or her pupils'.

Life is all about loving God and loving others.