Lexington School Kids and God's Presence in the Classroom

I got caught in the echos of His Love. Our move to Lexington was continually marked by the Presence of God. I loved it when His Presence showed up while teaching children. As I taught, He gave me Biblical analogies to teach that were relational and family oriented. Father Alphabet had 26 kids, you know (and I still have the puppet)! Then during one surprising time I wrote, “In class yesterday, the Lord directed me to lay hands on each child (there were 25 of them) and pray for each. And the presence of the Lord was strong, more than I’ve ever known in the classroom and I wondered what was next. What we prayed for that day got answered that day—including the sale of one child’s house. It was truly exciting to all of us. They are such a special group of kids.” One thing we did a lot of was memorize Scripture and contextualize the passage. In the corner of the room, you can see the the kids' drawing of Jesus from Revelation 1, in the corner from ceiling to floor, that the kids drew as we talked about Him.

That brings me to another favorite thing the kids did. Each child chose a research project for the year and when they were ready they presented it to the whole class. Their families came and we all learned a lot. Many of those kids are reading this blog today and now have kids of their own. I would love for them to add their memories of this time. I love hearing how Father has unfolded life according to His eternal purposes in their individual callings and gifts.

I'm going to post a bunch of pics of these presentations. Benjamin Monroe is doing his in  the pic of Revelation 1. I have a photo of each of the 25 presentations, so if you're reading this and don't see yours, let me know and I'll find it!

That fall we continued to experience His Presence showing up. I wrote, “God has been pouring Himself out on my class and brought 10 kids to give their hearts to Jesus. As we were praying and thanking Him, the Spirit kept moving and half a dozen kids began speaking in tongues. It was joy to watch God move on them so powerfully. And His Presence has continued on us. He then continued doing the same in other classrooms, moving throughout the school, including the high school kids, with revival, repentance and healing. It was a week of few classes, and much prayer and rejoicing. It was beautiful.”

During these years, I was given the gift of an assistant teacher with Vickie Mitchell, Sarah’s mom. Her willingness to come in daily, serve and learn, was a huge blessing to me and the whole class. Later Janis Burnam, Habb’s mom, came in too, and gave her time in doing art projects with the kids. Connie Jirak, Jack's mom, and Bettie Ann Monroe, Benjamin's mom, were also a key players in the lives of these kids. These ladies were mainstays in my life as the school went through many changes. Interestingly, the Lord took both Vickie and Janis, young God loving women, servants of His, home with Him through cancer and illness. I’m sure their reward is great, and their children know that blessing today. I wrote, “They have been gifts from the Lord to me. I shall forever be grateful.”

I also had some more prophetic dreams, though I knew not how they would come to pass, or when. “In one dream we were experiencing a year of great joy and blessing and then were sent out into the darkness, with others, bearing lights. In another dream we were in a car touring a beautiful countryside, then the ride ended and it was dark and our car lights were the only lights as we went further on, leaving the place of blessing and light.” When I told grandson Ethan these dreams, this is the picture he drew.

At the end of the year, they all came to our home and I presented them with framed plaques recognizing the character qualities I saw in each one. Here are a few other memory photos of fun times we had together.

Then they surprised me with gifts, and the special gift of a quilt with each of their hand prints and signatures. That quilt, with its 25 hand prints and 25 names, sits on my computer chair every day, or keeps me warm in the winter, so I am reminded of each one.

Meanwhile Dow began teaching classes on Jesus’ heart attitudes, motives, and life style that many attended. These classes were rigorous and good practice for what was coming next--grad school.