Thursday, March 20, 2014

The Power of Naming Our Days

The book of Proverbs says, “The tongue has the power of life and death…”

Susanne Parker, a 6th and 7th grade math teacher at Brookstone, knows a thing or two about the power of words to create life.

Last semester, Mrs. Parker began to notice a connection between the rash of negative words being spoken by her students and the powerful effect it was having on their attitudes.

“We started talking about the power of our tongues...I asked them, ‘How did God create the world?’ Well it says in Genesis: he spoke it. So we related that to how powerful and creative our words are. He breathed creation. And if he breathed his breath in us, we too can speak and create our world,” Parker said.  

After reading an article on the same subject, Mrs. Parker was inspired to start a new tradition in her homeroom class: every morning her students would name their days...positively.

Sometimes they named their day “hopeful,” sometimes “blessed,” sometimes “beautiful,” “joyful,” “creative,” “obedient,” or just plain “awesome.”

Rewind back to last December. The 6th and 7th grade are preparing for a field trip to see Miracle on 34th Street at ImaginOn. Mrs. Parker is gathering permission slips when she sees Za’Cariah Williams, one of her students, with tears streaming down her face. Za’Cariah’s grandmother had forgotten to sign her form. She would have to stay behind while all her classmates went on the field trip. Mrs. Parker’s heart broke for her student.

“I don’t know why I did this but I went out on a limb and said, ‘Let me tell you something. I promise you that if you cannot go to the play, something good will happen. God will turn it for good, even if you stay here.’”

Not long after, Mrs. Parker had an idea. She went to her homeroom class, briefed them on the situation, and asked them to name Za’Cariah’s day.

“We called it ‘gladness.’ That’s what they wanted to call her day.”

While a student searched to find Za’Cariah and tell her the news, Paul Major, another middle school teacher, walked into Mrs. Parker’s homeroom class.

“I want to know who named Za’Cariah’s day ‘gladness’?” he demanded.

Mrs. Parker’s students stared at each other in uncomfortable silence.

Major continued: “Because her grandmother just came in and signed her permission slip.”

The class erupted with cheers and shouts of joy. Their words had brought life!

“They were so excited because it was creative. I thought, ‘God, thank you.’ It was beautiful,” Parker said.

Shortly after that, Mrs. Parker caught up with Za’Cariah in the hall.

“We just stood there and hugged. It was an amazing event. We named her day, and it turned.”