Over thirty-five years ago, my parents were led to enroll me in a Lutheran school. I’ve never left. I attended a Lutheran elementary school, a Lutheran high school, and a Lutheran university. When that journey ended twenty years ago, a new journey began—on the other side of the desk. In those twenty years, I’ve joyfully served as a teacher, a coach, a principal, and now as the CEO of a Lutheran ministry that serves students in Lutheran schools all over the nation! Why? Because I love serving in Lutheran schools!
From a very early age I was fascinated by the words of Isaiah 6:8, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” As a student in a Lutheran school I was constantly a witness to faithful men and women—teachers, pastors, principals, and coaches—who were faced with challenging tasks and always replied with the same response: “Here am I. Send me!” Those faithful servants demonstrated the absolute joy that comes from following God’s calling for your life, and they inspired me to try to do the same. What a privilege we have to be able to share the source of that absolute joy, the good news of Jesus, with the next generation!
I know that there are men and women of exceptional faith serving in public school classrooms all over the world and I praise God for them! I have no doubt those teachers followed the same calling to their vocation as I did. However, my pinnacle moments in Lutheran schools were experiences that could have never happened in a public school setting. Being able to drop everything to pray with and for a student or a parent who’s struggling, setting aside the lesson plan to discuss the application of God’s Word to the topic at hand, welcoming a child into the family of God through the waters of Baptism during chapel, and seeing my own students commit their lives to the work of the church, are only a few in a long line of experiences that fill my heart with the joy of serving in a Lutheran school. I’ve seen Lutheran schools make all the difference in the life of a student, and that’s something I’ll never take for granted. What a blessing that I get to be a witness to this kind of miracle every single day! While Lutheran schools are second to none in terms of academic readiness, more importantly we are preparing our students for an eternity with our Savior. What higher calling is there? So though the walk may not always be easy, may the response of my heart always be, “Here am I. Send me!”
Photo (c) Zayne Grantham/Lightstock
