Embarrassment

At 7 years old, my bucket list did not value formal education. Attending school was my reluctant response to maternal ultimatums. But unexpectedly, scholastic lightning struck when Mrs. McMurray became my second grade teacher.

Overnight, schoolwork took on fresh appeal. Addition and subtraction became interesting. Even reading and writing had possibilities. Evenings, I would craft a good question to ask Mrs. McMurray the next day. Then, I would approach her desk and let her speak to me directly with the answer. Pure joy.

And she liked me more than the other boys. One day, Mrs. McMurray asked me to go outside and dust the erasers. No one on the face of the earth had ever cleaned an eraser like I did that day. You could have eaten dinner off of them. Mrs. McMurray said that I did a good job. Wow! Mrs. McMurray was pleased with me. Sweet.

Then one day, things went terribly wrong. After lunch and recess, Mrs. McMurray told us to sit down in our chairs and rest. She put “The Little Engine That Could” on the record player and announced that she had to visit the principal. She asked us to remain seated and quiet for the few minutes that she would be gone. No problem. You can trust me to do as requested.

Once she was gone, several rowdy boys started running around the room. Then, my kidneys rebelled. Now what? Sitting only made matters worse so without thinking, I stood up. And that’s when the teacher from next door popped in to see who was making the noise.

Since I was standing up, the teacher assumed that I was part of the juvenile hellions. We were all marched to her classroom and made to stand in front of her students until Mrs. McMurray returned. It was not a pretty scene, and I was in abject misery. To this day I can recall the humiliation of the moment. An innocent man with full kidneys and no recourse is a real mess.

Eventually, Mrs. McMurray arrived to collect her wayward sheep. In the hall, she looked at us and said that she was so disappointed with us. We had broken her trust and had embarrassed her with the other teachers. Then she looked at me with weepy eyes and said with sorrow in her voice, “David.”

It changed my life. Now, my mission is to never again disappoint someone that I love. If they trusted me with an assignment, I will see it through, even if my bladder explodes. And this carries over into my relationship with Jesus.

May Jesus be able to trust me. May I keep my word to my precious Savior and be found faithful (Corinthians 4:2).