Wednesday there was a huge revalation to me.

A contracter who works with my school revealed something huge. Her parents both tragically died of cancer when she was in her twenties. She quite her job to look after her parents. After their deaths, she re-evaluated her life and decided she wanted a job that made a difference. So she came to teaching.

Why is this revealing? Well - I had very little respect for her. I found her abrasive, and difficult to work with. And I thought that she was a little rough on the kids. I tried to speak to her about this and her reation was "I respect your opinion, but I would still do it that way."

This is huge. A whole bunch of things clicked into place and I understood what was going on with her. The lense I use with my students snapped into place. If you have been hurt by life as much as this lady has, you tend to develop a negative interaction style. I have seen it a hundred times.

And so, inspite of myself, I begin to warm to her. Through this God has reminded me one of my favourite quotes - "Almost everybody has some light somewhere, and light is always worth fighting for." I have also been reminded to be less judgemental.

Amen.