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Journeys With Jesus<br />
Jill<br />
Morikone<br />
A Selfless 6-Year-Old<br />
It was a typical day at school. I was halfway through my morning’s<br />
work of teaching piano—halfway through listening to scales, finger exercises, hymns, and gospel songs,<br />
reading chord charts, and teaching improvisation. Some students had practiced hard, and some hadn’t.<br />
Some kids were incredibly gifted, and some made up for that lack by diligence and perseverance. The<br />
morning had gone well—nothing earth-shattering, just the normal routine of daily life.<br />
I stepped out of the music room into the hallway to find my next student, little knowing that my<br />
morning was about to change.<br />
The teacher had just dismissed her multigrade class for recess, and I paused to watch the<br />
exodus. Children ran down the hallway, eager to get to the gym for playtime. Their voices rose<br />
as they laughed and argued, as kids everywhere do. I smiled as little girls joined hands to play<br />
jump rope, while the boys started shooting baskets in a corner. What a joy to have freedom<br />
from classes for a moment. Doesn’t every child love recess? (Doesn’t every teacher love<br />
recess?)<br />
As I turned to enter the classroom, the moment happened. Just as I reached for the<br />
door handle, the door opened suddenly, and I found myself looking down at a very<br />
cute little guy. Navy-blue pants and a light-blue polo. A short, almost buzzed, cut of blond<br />
hair. He was our only first grader this year.<br />
“Good morning, James.* How are you?” My question came out almost automatically. Rhetorically.<br />
I smiled at him and turned to enter the classroom.<br />
His response stopped me in my tracks. “Hi, Miss Jill. How is your day going today?”<br />
Had I just heard right? Had a little boy—a first grader—actually asked about my day? I let go of the<br />
handle and allowed the door to shut behind me. We were alone in the hallway. Oh, there was<br />
lots of commotion, but we were somehow shut in—he and I—in this moment of time. I<br />
stooped down and looked into his brown eyes. “Thanks for asking, James! My day is going<br />
very well—especially now. How about you?”<br />
The moment had almost passed for him. He was already reaching into his locker for his<br />
midmorning snack. “Oh, it’s going really good.” He pulled out his lunch box.<br />
Still blown away by his interest in others, by his unselfishness, I tried again. “And what’s<br />
made your day so good, James?”<br />
He grinned as he munched on some crackers, crumbs on his fingers and around his mouth.<br />
“That’s easy. I have food right here to eat, and I have two good friends.”<br />
Food and friends. That’s a pretty good combination, I thought as he ran off to play. But in reality he had much<br />
more than that. Oh, he had a good home, good parents and siblings; but somehow I sensed that wasn’t all.<br />
His was an unselfish heart. A caring heart. A heart that thought of others even though he was only 6 years<br />
old.<br />
As I entered the music room with my next student, the day seemed different. Brighter somehow. All<br />
through the rest of the morning I pondered the sermon I had seen—lived out through the life of a child.<br />
What was God, through this experience, calling me to do? Was He asking me to “get out of myself”? Yes.<br />
Would my worldview change if I lived each day speaking an encouraging word, seeking to lift up my sister<br />
or brother, searching for ways to bless others? Absolutely.<br />
Wasn’t this our gospel commission: Go, therefore, and teach and love others; preach and show Jesus;<br />
baptize and live His life (see Matt. 28:19, 20)?<br />
It’s a calling He’s placed on my heart. What about yours? n<br />
* not his real name<br />
Jill Morikone is a music teacher, a church pianist, and a host on the 3ABN Today cooking segments.<br />
30 (254) | www.<strong>Adventist</strong><strong>Review</strong>.org | March 21, 2013