As Light as a Feather

Great teachers love their students.  They are always ready to inspire or to go the extra mile to help everyone be successful.  It’s in their DNA.  They are always ready to aid and assist.  Be it to a student or to an old principal, powerful teachers want to share their hearts. Their lessons always are remembered....as Ed Cagle would state, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care."

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One thing led to another and I was sitting in Karen Rackley’s classroom on a Friday at the close of the day.....the first Friday afternoon of the school year.  We visited and shared how our lives mirrored each other's.  We talked of school and meeting the needs of all children in our classes.  However, the icing on the cake was when we found out we had both stayed home with our children when they were little.  I had told her a little story from my past when I was teaching fourth grade.  Our meeting was a natural progression from this story of school to her story of love.

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Karen and I had so much more in common than we could have ever imagined......the story that I was going to tell this week was about a former student that had opened my heart to unconditional love....but my thoughts have not been able to stray from my beautiful bouquet of peacock feathers that Karen gave me.

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We talked of our mothers.  Our mothers whose lives were 1000 miles apart but very, very similar.  Both of our mothers enjoyed, no thrived, on loving their families and helping those that needed help.  Karen’s momma had a special calling....a calling that lives on today through her daughter.

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Eastman, Georgia

From the chickens that produced the eggs to the peacocks that produced the beauty (and could create the warning alarm that something was amiss),  there were feathers everywhere.  God spoke to her one day as she worked the chores that were such a natural part of her loving life.  “Share these feathers with those people who might need a visual reminder that I am with them always.  Their burdens are mine.  AND faith in Me can make their trials as light as a feather."

Her ministry was so simple and yet, so complex.  Give feathers to people and remind them that their burdens are light “as a feather” when those burdens are shared with God.  So profound.  So true..”  The Lord’s words were magnified by her faith and her love of family.

Those feathers were shared with those near and far.  Thankfully, the ministry is carried on today by her daughter.  My bouquet has brought me so much joy in the hours since I received them....and God’s love for me has been represented by those peacock feathers.  AND yes, I have shared my burdens with him.

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Macon, Georgia

The bouquet of peacock feathers were put to use this week.  Karen’s love of her career and her students is evident when walking into her classroom.  Her mother’s ministry lives on. And her blessings were shared with me as I left her classroom.  Thank you for the feathers and the daily reminder to “Let go and let God!"