Whistling Donkey

Today as I was working with another teacher, she said, “Wow, I’m like the whistling donkey.”  To which I replied, “What?” and laughed hysterically.  She said, “No, it’s a real saying.”  I asked her if there was a story behind her saying, and this is what she told me:  “Once there was this farmer who had a donkey.  The donkey made really annoying noises, you know ‘Eeee-aaaaaw’, and the farmer didn’t want to hear it.  So he put a whistle in the donkey’s mouth so the donkey would suck on that instead of making the annoying noise.  One day, the donkey actually blew into the whistle and it made noise, so the farmer took his donkey and put it on a stage in front of people, thinking the donkey would blow the whistle again and the farmer would be famous, but the donkey just sucked on the whistle.  So the saying means anytime you do something good or cool without meaning to it’s like the whistling donkey.”  And she also told me I should pass this story along to my parents or put it in my blog, so here it is!  What a relief to have something to blog about!

I truly feel fortunate this semester to be where I am.  I’m still struggling with decisions that are made at my school and how people are treated there, and also typical teacher/student matters, but I’m grateful.  I feel like I’m contributing to something bigger than myself (my reason for wanting to come to Mexico in the first place), but it is different than how I thought it would be.  Instead of bring my knowledge of IB and the MYP to this school and making a huge impact throughout the whole building, I find that I am making smaller impressions in individual people.  And now that I’ve finally gotten over myself and am adjusting to the groove of this culture, I am trying to be more intentional about these individuals.  Simple acts such as sending an encouraging email to a struggling teacher, sharing resources and experiences with others, and finding time to sit down and chat with people in the midst of a hectic schedule all go a lot further than sharing everything I know about IB. 

Jesus came to earth to save everyone which he accomplished by dying on the cross, but while he was alive, he invested in the lives of a small group of people to encourage and teach them.  When I stand before God to be judged on my life and actions, I don’t think God is going to say, “tsk, tsk, why didn’t you impart your knowledge and experience of IB to JFK?”  I think God is going to be asking, “Did you love my people in Mexico?  Did you encourage and help them?  Did you weep and pray over them as I did, and did you tell them about Me?”  God is reminding me anew that my job as a teacher has very little to do with teaching curriculum and standards and has EVERYTHING to do with loving His children.  The standards and content are important too, especially if I want to keep my job, but I have a bigger purpose.

So that whole, “I want to be part of something bigger than myself” thing I was spouting off prior to coming to Mexico, I think I’ve found it, but it has nothing to do with teaching in Mexico and everything to do with God.