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Topic: Heroes (03/08/04)
TITLE: Hero in Disguise By Sarah Balk Bond 03/11/04 |
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He and his wife and their daughter run the school; the two eldest and moved away and the youngest is in the ninth grade. They work with these students as they come; their files are not reviewed, they are given a new chance and a clean slate. Some don't want to change, and some of them do. If they leave or quit, it is not for lack of trying on the part of this man and his family.You see, this teacher graudated third from the bottom of his class. He got to college and found out he had the reading level of a third grader. He knows what it's like to be rebellious; he knows what it's like to struglle through school.
Every day of the week he's there. He doesn't get a salary. He's a missionary who has given his life to God for Him to use, and prosper as he sees fit. For the last eight years we have all lived away from friends and family in our native state, and lived in another state 2,000 miles away. He doesn't give up. Some people would look at him and look down on him. They would think he doesn't have anything to show for his life, and even question if he is doing the right thing, this reckless abandon to God.
But, we know better.
He was a rebellious teenager, headed for destruction when God captured his heart at a coffehouse when he was nineteen. Everything changed after that, he could never settle for second best with God once he had given Him everything. He questions his life even now, whether he did the right thing always, whether he should give up and get a "real" job. That honest questioning is what makes him my hero. His disguise is a teacher/pastor/missionary; but he is a voice in his generation.
He's my dad. And after 23 years of life on this earth, fights and disappointments, and some time alone, I can honestly say there isn't one thing I'd change about him. There isn't one thing I'd change about how I was raised, or how I've been taught. The honest questioning is always there; but then again so is my dad.
My dad and mom are the best people I know; I want to be like them, to not let what this world deems worthy define what I deem worthy.
You all probably have heroes too; whether they're ones that you can still see or those gone on before, I pray we are all reminded of the greatest hero of all- Jesus Christ.
And you probably thought this was supposed to be about muscley people in their tights and underwear, with great capes and superpowers. Not a chance!