Beautiful Mistake

A friend of mine, Adam Cappa, had his new cd come out a couple of weeks ago.  It's called Love Driven.  He is not only stinkin' adorable, he has a heart for God that rivals many I know.  His talent is truly God given, and God centered. 

Well, on his newest cd, he has a track called "Beautiful Mistake".  That title alone drums up so many thoughts and images.  Well, something happened this week that I consider a beautiful mistake.  It won't mean a lot to some of you, but if your child is in public school, I hope it means something.

While I was filing away some practice worksheets, I stumbled upon a huge file that had some standardized tests from, oh, six years ago in it.  I know, cleaning out files is a whole separate issue.  Anyway, as I pulled out the tests, I started taking the staples out in order to shred them.  I glanced down at the student's name on the top test.  Immediately his face came to mind.  And almost as instantly, I prayed for him.  Then it struck me.  I could just quickly go through and yank the staples out and move on, or I could purposefully take a minute and pray over each student.  I hadn't seen them (or most of them) in forever, so I had no clue where they were in their lives.  But I knew some of them needed prayer.  No, all of them needed prayer, I'm sure. 

It was SO nice to focus on talking to God about them, instead of my worries and concerns in my life.  I lifted each one up and prayed for a variety of things.  College, jobs, relationships, family, reputations, friendships, etc.  With each prayer, I grew hungrier to pray more for them.  Never shredding one random group of tests from six years ago was a mistake.  It just worked out to be a beautiful mistake.

I pray over my students all the time without them knowing it.  But it was nice to think back about this particular group and purposefully pray for them!  May God bless them!

Who says teachers can't pray in school?  Just try me.  I do it all the time!