Making a Dent

As hard as it is to believe, Rosebro#1 will be driving in just three months. We practice some here and there, but during Christmas break, we practiced a lot in my country hometown. I allowed him to drive all over to get real life practice. I can honestly say this was the hardest part of being a parent so far. The balance of not destroying his confidence and keeping us alive was a heavy burden. I was detailing this to my brother who immediately took Rosebro#1 out in the farm vehicle. Those of you “city folk” probably don’t know what a farm vehicle is, but all farms have one. This is the vehicle that is used in any situation, most of the times the car/truck is well over 20 years, and it usually requires much love and attention to get it started. Upon their return my brother was driving. I could tell that it hadn’t gone very well. Rosebro#1 had not done a very good job of  “straightn’ up” while getting into the carport. This caused him to scrape the side of the car on the frame of the carport. I was inspecting the damage and laughed just thinking that my poor son had inherited my driving skills.  

 You see about 20 years ago, my husband purchased a brand new truck. It was so pretty and when it was only 2 weeks old, I had to drive it and as it would go I accidentally ran into the ATM machine at the bank (I’ll pause here for the laughter to stop). When I called to tell him about what I had done, I told him that it was just a dent and not really a problem- I was sure we could buff it out. After inspecting the damage upon my return home, my husband calmly let me know, “That’s not a dent-that’s a difference!” 

All of this came flooding back to me this weekend, when I was having a conversation with a teacher at church who kept stating “I am making such a dent!” The entire time she spoke, I kept thinking about my husband’s truck and the fact that dents go away. They can be buffed, polished, shined, repainted-all at a cost mind you– but soon it will look as if it was never there. What we want to do is make a difference-not just a dent. We are here to put an anchor in the brains of our students so that they will never stray far from learning. We are to build such strong relationships with them that they will always come back for more-more books to read, more hugs, more encouragement, more smiles.

 I’ll never forget my 3rd grade teacher who told me every day, “You will go to college, and we will make it happen today.” She worked so hard to make sure each student in her class worshiped her. In doing so we would have jumped on one leg all day if she had asked. She was an artist and this teaching was her canvas. During the last weeks of preparing to defend my dissertation last year, it was Mrs. Bozard who rang in my head. As I walked into the room with the scholars who were prepared to make me struggle, I took a deep breath, and said “We are going to make it happen today" Mrs. Bozard didn’t make a dent-she made a difference.  As we come upon the 100th day of school Friday, remember to make not just a dent-but make a difference.