“Miss Key, will you help me with my locker?” This is a refrain I heard daily the first two weeks of school. Somehow, I earned a reputation as the
locker-opener (I now know several of their combinations by heart :)).
Our staff room is just outside the six
grade lockers and hearing the stress in their
voices between classes the first few days of school took me straight back to my
middle school days. Who doesn’t remember
the stress of being a new student in a new school? While helping a student open
up their locker may not seem like a big deal to you, the irony of my new
reputation has made me smile.
As a 7th grade missionary kid (who fit the
stereotypes) straight off the field attending a private school (on scholarship)
my culture shock and adjustment were huge!
I struggled to find my place among kids who had name brand clothes (name
brands I didn’t even know, let alone owned), knew all the current pop culture
(I was a good 4 years behind), and had all the right friends. One of the things that I never was able to
figure out was my locker. We didn’t have
them in my school in France. I tried and tried and finally gave up. So my entire 7th grade year I
never once opened my locker and lugged my text books from class to class and
then home at night. I was too shy and
too much out of my element to ask for help and if anyone did notice, they
didn’t offer to help.
What a joy it is to be able to help these students adjusting
to middle school, some of them adjusting to Germany for the first time, do a
simple task like opening their locker.
The fun thing is to see that the question has been asked less and less
as the kids figure it out and learn how to do it for themselves. When/if they return to North
America that will be one less stress/adjustment they have to
experience. These moments remind me of
His care and faithfulness, even in the little details of life. And the fact
that He can use me to help in this small way is truly a gift.
