The Briar Patch

What does it mean to be thrown from the wolf’s lair into the briar patch of education? When I landed, so to speak, in public education, I landed with a thud. I had prepared to be a writer par excellence, not a high school French teacher. I accepted the position only after praying. The decision would be tested almost immediately as I was offered a teaching contract at a local college. I knew that God’s word said that we are to honor our vows, so I declined the college position for the contract I had signed with my district. Little did I realize, that the decision ten years ago, would be still affecting my present.

 Since my dissertation was on Br’er Rabbit, I knew that he did not desire to return where the wolf was present. As Br'er Rabbit  boldly proclaimed to his nemesis," the briar patch is where my momma and daddy raised me.” I guess I could say the same. My mother, at the age of fifty, became a public school teacher. She had always valued education highly and caused all of her children to consider it prize as well.  We often played school during her long absence at work. Watching her persevere through many hardships and struggles helped us realize what a true jewel knowledge is really.  Following her example, my brother, sister, and I have all taught in various academic and spiritual settings.

I have gleaned many lessons from the briar patch of education, all of them hard-earned, by the way:  how to discipline, how to be patient, but the greatest lesson is one of purification of motive. I have learned that perhaps what we thought we wanted is not what we want at all.  As I have taught and been taught by my students, I see that I desire altogether different things than I thought ten years. Certainly, I could have tenure by now in some university, but the impact that I would have for the kingdom would not be the same as it has been in this briar patch. I have been given the incredible gift of helping shape students' futures, calling out God’s gifts and hopes for them, and planting eternity in their hearts as they are in the process of becoming their own persons. For that, I am forever thankful.

Psalm 16 holds the central tenets of my life as I have walked through this journey:

5 LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup;
   you make my lot secure.
⁶ The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
   surely I have a delightful inheritance.
⁷ I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
   even at night my heart instructs me.
⁸ I keep my eyes always on the LORD.
   With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
 ⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
   my body also will rest secure,
¹¹ You make known to me the path of life;
   you will fill me with joy in your presence,
   with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

 Still in the Briar Patch,
M.J.