To a great teacher, thank you

Today I crossed paths with one of my middle school teachers at the Farmer's Market in River Falls. Lisa Showers (her last name was Myhre in the early 90's) was my French teacher when I was in 7th grade and she spoke life into me when I was most impressionable. It became one of the defining moments in my life.

I've shared this story numerous times with others. I was in the 7th grade and enrolled in French as an exploratory class. I was very discouraged because learning a new language was difficult and I didn't have any of my friends in class with me. After a few days of class, I wanted to try something different. It was early enough to drop the class, so I took the necessary steps to do so. I brought a drop slip home to my parents and returned to class one day with the intention of it being my last. After class, I had informed Madame that I was dropping her class. She looked at me very sternly and said, "I'm very disappointed in you. Is this how you're going to handle everything in life? When things get hard, are you going to quit?" I stood in front of her desk, speechless, as those words pierced my heart and resonated in my soul. I would never be the same.

I don't know if Madame saw potential in me, if she was expecting more from me than others, or if she was just simply doing her job, but she had a huge impact on me that day. I vividly recall walking out of her room asking myself the same questions she had just asked me. How was I going to handle difficult situations? Was I going to quit? I knew I didn't want to be a quitter, so that day I made a promise to myself that I wasn't going to quit when things became difficult...ever. That included my 7th grade French class.

Madame signed the letter permitting me to drop her class, but I never returned it to the office. I continued learning French until I graduated from high school. Some of my best high school memories took place during French class and I've spent a few weeks in France, however, those words were applied most to my athletic career. I had tremendous wrestling coaches and wonderful support as an athlete, but without those words at that crucial time, none of my success would have been possible.

That was an important day in 1992 and Lisa Showers will always have a special place in my life. I was honored to share this story with her once again today because I have personal testimony that words are extremely powerful. Who knows, maybe my words offered encouragement to her today. Now, I search for opportunities to speak life into others because she did to me.

Thank you Madame! You had a positive impact on me made a difference in my life.

"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit" - Proverbs 18:21