With the exception of Thursday afternoons when Kyle picks them up, my three boys stay in my classroom with me after school. As Kyle often reminds me, this is something I've always wanted. To have my kids attend the same school in which I teach is one of the reasons why I decided to become a teacher in the first place - WHAT WAS I THINKING??? Teaching lends itself naturally to the blending of job and Mom, but there are times (and for me they're frequent) when being Homework Enforcer, Reading Advisor, Math Mentor and Sibling Referee all while trying to grade papers and create lesson plans can make life a bit crazy.
This past Friday afternoon was no exception as I stepped in to settle a disagreement between my two oldest boys. How is it that brothers always seem to know exactly which buttons to push in order to send each other over the edge? Instinct, I guess.... It took only moments to assign blame as to who pushed whose buttons first and more often, leading me to fuss, "Ian, you're being an irritant!" Ian gave me a look that only 10-year-olds can give when Mom uses unexpectedly advanced vocabulary words in her description of him. It took a second for him to search through the dictionary in his mind and figure out the meaning of the word "irritant", then he just shrugged his shoulders and went back to his computer game. So much for meaningful chastisement.
I, on the other hand, experienced an epiphany. Only a few nights before, I watched a show on TV about a man who purchased a rare (and valuable) freshwater pearl from a Thrift Store for like $14 (why this kind of stuff can't happen to me, I don't know....). Anyway, as the storyline progressed, the narrator went on to explain how freshwater pearls are created. A grain of sand is introduced to an unwilling oyster who, by nature, cannot easily rid itself of said sand. The continual irritation of the sand to the oyster will, in time, create a remarkably beautiful pearl and can, for some lucky guy who hangs out at Thrift Stores, single-handedly fund your retirement.
The info about oysters and pearls was not news to me; I'd heard it all before. But it was definitely fresh on my mind as I unintentionally phrased my rebuke with "you're being an irritant". My own words stopped me short. How like God to use something ugly, like oysters, and plain, like sand, to produce something beautiful and valuable, like a pearl! And it all started with a little irritation. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that my son is ugly or plain but I am saying that his penchant for being irritating can help produce a pearl in me - if I allow myself to see the experience for what it is, an opportunity to polish my pearl!
Scripture tells us in Galatians that all Believers have been given the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. I'm convinced that God allows irritating experiences (and people - LOL!) to come into our lives so that he can polish the Fruit of the Spirit in us, creating a beautiful pearl that easily reflects Him to the world around us.
So the next time you burn the cookies or get stuck in traffic or drop your cell phone in the toilet or face off with a neighbor, remember the lowly oyster. If God can use an irritating grain of sand to create a pearl within an oyster, how much more can He create beauty within you using nothing more than an irritating experience or person. The world, my Friend, is your oyster!
