“All Year Long…”

 

Al and I had just finished some pre-Christmas shopping and were on our way out of the store when the sound of a bell caught my attention. A thin man standing beside a red bucket was the source of the sound as he vigorously rang his tin bell. Whenever folks donated money, he would call out “God bless you!”

Someone from the Salvation Army! While I fumbled around in my purse trying to find some loose change, Al went out the door and made his way to the car. I tried to hurry not wanting him to worry about what happened to me.

As I approached the stand, I commented on his baseball cap with the words, “I love walking with Jesus” emblazoned across the visor.

“I like your hat,” I said, dropping the change into the bucket. “I love walking with Jesus too! What’s your name?”

“Bill,” he answered. Then he proceeded to tell me about how much he loved ringing the bell. During the Christmas season, Bill worked at two different stores.

“I love doing it,” he told me. “And they even pay me! Can you imagine getting paid for doing something you love?”

Then Bill added that the only bad part of the job was when the season came to an end and he had to give up his bell. It was so upsetting to Bill that he even had a conversation with the Lord about it.

“Lord, why can’t I ring the bell for you all year long?” Bill didn’t exactly hear God speaking, but in his heart he knew that the Lord was telling him, “You don’t need a bell. You are my bell!’” He realized that God could use him wherever he went and whatever he did, as long as he was willing.

By the time I got back to the car, Al was in the driver’s seat ready to go. I explained why I was delayed and told him the whole story as we made our way out of the parking lot.

What impressed me about Bill was his zeal to be a witness for the Lord all year long. He didn’t just want to confine it to his shifts ringing the Salvation Army bell or to the Christmas season.

That same zeal for the Lord almost got me into trouble during my first year of teaching. There was an opening for a math/PE teacher at a junior high school (7^th-8^th grade) in Anaheim, California, perfect for a math major and PE minor.

Anaheim… Disneyland… a nice place to teach, right? Well, the school happened to be located in an area known as a “barrio.” Unfortunately, drugs were rampant; and that particular school was having a problem with students taking horse tranquilizers!

After a short interview, the principal unexpectedly asked if I wanted the job. Not knowing quite what to say, I paused for a moment and prayed that the Lord would guide me in making the right decision. Then I thanked him and accepted the position.

It wasn’t long before several students began coming around to the gym or to my classroom, wanting to talk. They happened to be the kids who were on the fringes. Some were experimenting with drugs or other things.

Having been active in Christian organizations on my college campus, and being used to an environment where dialog on any subject was accepted, it was a shock to learn that things were different out in the working world.

In fact, one day a veteran teacher advised me sternly to keep quiet about my faith. What? I couldn’t imagine reserving conversations about the Lord for home or church on Sunday mornings.

Every so often, the Vice Principal would call me into the office and say in a disapproving tone, “One of your girls is in trouble again!” Since she was supervising me, it was a pleasant surprise when I received tenure at the end of my third year of teaching at that school.

To me walking with Christ meant all day, every day, all year long…and it still does! May we, like Bill, carry the good news of Christ’s birth and of the love God has for us in season and out of season. Happy New Year!

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:27 NIV