Outlive, Out-teach

I began teaching at Northwest Rankin High School (NWR) last Fall. Before the school year began, the administration told us there would be a prayer walk at the school. Local churches would come, pray in the classrooms, pray for teachers, with teachers and pray for students. I thought, “Yes! Thank you Lord, for sending some mighty prayer warriors my way!”

So, my year began. I told all of my classes on the first day, as I always do, if at anytime throughout the semester or at any other time they needed me to pray for them, a situation, friend, or anything else, all they had to do was ask. I did not know what a door Christ was opening. As Pinelake began talking about Outlive Your Life and NWR about “Out-teach like you have ever taught before” that is what my world became. Christ showed me that by outliving, I was out-teaching. I was reaching students in other ways than just by giving them an education.

Through the Public Speaking class I teach, we are able to talk about Christ, in depth, daily. Students sometimes question other students about where they go to church, their relationship with Christ and what their beliefs are. Students would write in their class journals about the things they had seen, heard and witnessed while at school.

What I was not ready for was all the questions I was going to receive about my own personal testimony and what I thought about particular situations. Was what I saying on a daily basis really going leave a lasting impression on these young minds? How would I act when faced with a trial? As I faced trials my first year at NWR, it was hard for me to respond as God would want instead of letting my human instincts kick in. I realized, in one certain class, God was using me more than I had ever imagined. Through my trials, He was teaching my students and myself what life is all about … seeking Him at ALL times, in ALL circumstances.

Since starting Outlive Your Life, Christ has shown me through my students, colleagues, friends and Pinelake, that Christ is always on the move through me. I was so excited about my classroom being covered in prayer, I just did not know what the prayers they sent up for me would do.

Thank you for the prayers. Thank you for helping me to see that I can outlive everything I have done in life so far, and Christ has more great things in store for me and anyone else who believes in Him. I’m simply a teacher trying to outlive her life everyday in her classroom and in her walk with Christ.

by Kristen Cockrell, Pinelake Reservoir