Nana

My grandmother, Janet Spaulding, went to be with the Lord this morning at the age of 90. I feel a sense of loss this morning, because I know I won't see her again on this Earth, and that my mother, her sisters and my uncle have lost their mother. However, I also am thankful for the amazing woman that she was. In so many ways, Nana influenced the person I am today. First, she raised the equally amazing woman who is my mother, whose faith is something that I am inspired by and which strengthens me on a regular basis.

Nana's influence on me was also more direct. She was a teacher at her core and her dedication to authentic learning and going beyond rote knowledge is something that is part of my DNA as a teacher. It started decades ago with her "Creative Learning Center" where she turned the family "farm" into a outdoor classroom, where children explored books, science, history, and more generally their passion for learning. At the time, I did not recognize the ways that her philosophy of education was impacting me, but it is impossible to miss now.

I remember conversations when I became a teacher with her about ways that I could introduce local music to a road trip unit that I'd created. I remember thinking how much farther I had to go to be the teacher I wanted to become. Nana saw with the heart of a teacher the ways that learning can spark something in a student. I'm thankful that I had her example, and it isn't a mistake that so many of her children and grandchildren have followed her into teaching.

My last interactions with Nana came this past December, when we both got the chance to meet her newest great grandchildren and when we celebrated another family Christmas. I enjoyed holding her hand and talking with her. I will treasure listening to her play Christmas Carols from the heart and the pureness of her amazing musical talent, a gift God continued to use to touch her and others right up until He took her home.

I'll remember Nana as the person who showed me what it meant to be a teacher, a woman of amazing creative energy, a loving grandmother, and a follower of Jesus. I am thankful for the time that I got to spend with her on this Earth and look forward to the day that we will be united together again in His presence.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Hebrews 12:1-2

"Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

      “Where, O death, is your victory?
      Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

1 Corinthians 15:51-58