I walk into a class of high school students in the small mountain town where I am living and make my way to the front of the classroom.
I look around at more than thirty expectant faces, eager to soak in any and everything that I say.
But I do not know what to say to them. I am not an English teacher. I am not a Spanish speaker. I am not equipped or prepared for this. I am not a lot of things.
Oh, but what I AM far outweighs what I am not.
I am His daughter, His princess. I am flawed, yet made perfect through His blood. I am a sinner redeemed into a saint. I am His friend. His chosen. And I am His servant.
So because they have asked this of me, I stand in front of curious eyes. I stand in front of hearts and minds that have been corrupted and jaded by a culture that does not value or respect women. A culture that is hyper-sexualized. A culture that desperately needs to see His joy and His love.
And I start to laugh. A lot. I laugh because I am overwhelmed and a little uncomfortable. I laugh because I love the challenge. I laugh because it is more than comical to use what broken Spanish I know to teach them a little bit of English. "You are so happy!" they say in Spanish. One student who has seen me frequently around town speaks up, "You are ALWAYS so happy!"
That's when it hits me. It doesn't matter if I leave the classroom having taught them 2 words or 200, they have seen my joy. Joy that only comes from knowing Jesus and being exactly where He has asked me to be. Joy that can stir hearts to want to know why I am this way. Joy that, I pray, is contagious.
So we laugh together. We laugh at my horrible pictures, my obviously small Spanish vocabulary, and the dances I try to teach them to pick up on a few words. They teach me a few words, I teach them a few words, and we laugh. They leave class with a brighter smile than before.
And I feel that my prayer is being answered: the joy is contagious.
