learning from those i'm teaching
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BY SUMMER WILLIAMS
I write this blog post today as a volunteer of Common Ground Montgomery, not an employee. I volunteer to teach bible study to 5th grade girls every Wednesday evening. It's just an hour and my group of girls is very small. It doesn't seem very significant as I type it out. One hour a week with a few girls. No big deal.
But it is.
At least to me it is. I can honestly say that I don't know if what I am going over is sticking with them. Do they hear my prayers specifically for each of them? Are they learning anything about the gospel? Am I sharing it accurately and to the best of my ability? These are all the questions I ask myself every Wednesday when I leave.
While I want them to learn new things about Christ and His love for them, the things they are teaching me are profound and deep. I am being taught something new every week through my interactions with these young ladies. Some weeks they teach me patience and some weeks they blow my mind with their comprehension of the gospel and how they are living it out at home and school.
Recently, we shared with one another about some of the darkest times in our lives and if we felt Christ's presence in those moments. I didn't expect to hear some of the horrific things I did from such young, innocent girls: a father in prison, feelings of abandonment, loss of family members, the list goes on and on.
I was speechless. And yet through their explanation of these events in their lives they proceeded to tell me about how they experienced the love of God in the midst of such devastation. What!?! I am 33 years old and still learning how to seek God in the dark moments of life. How did they do that? How can they explain these painful moments and then tell me that they have experienced the presence of Lord in the midst of it all? How can they still remain so hopeful? In that moment, it felt like I was talking to seasoned, Christian women, not 5th grade girls.
I go to CGM to teach them but they are teaching me. They are reminding of what childlike faith looks like and where real hope is found. I am so thankful for their wisdom and the things they share with me. I am learning so much about our Savior through these young girls. I see Him in them.
