Joyce

Joyce was never my teacher. Not in the way that she should have been. The year that I would have had her, I had other things going on in my life that prevented me from being part of the program that she took over teaching that year. 

But that didn't stop her from greeting me with joy when I used to go back and visit my old elementary school. 

From the moment we first met as grown-ups, it was like we were old friends.

Joyce has the ability to speak encouragement and life into me in a way that very few others in this world do...and she's happy to do it. At various points in my journey in adulthood, she has been around with a reminder of how strong, how capable, how good I am and how very much I have to offer and how very much I've made it through already. 

There are persons who sometimes say these exact same words to me, and I don't even hear them. I don't believe them. I don't think they understand, and their words kind of anger me. How can they say that? They don't know. It doesn't matter. 

But when Joyce says them, they stick. They mean something. They don't feel empty; they feel full. Full of hope, of love, of compassion, of faith. Somehow, she believes in me. Against all evidence and all the ways I've messed my life up and all the things that have come against me and all that I've had to fight and all the battles I've lost, there's this very authentic absolute faith that comes across when this woman speaks to me. 

She has this way of putting perspective into things, of helping me to learn to see things in a new way. To think in new ways. To reflect in new ways. 

To be more gentle with myself. 

She was never my teacher; not in the way that she should have been. But she's been teaching me forever. 

And I am so thankful. For that and for our friendship. 

On my best days, I hope I'm that kind of encourager. On my lesser days, it's still who I aspire to be. I want to be gentle in spirit and powerful in truth and the kind of person that others find rest in, even when I am still pushing them to grow. I want to be that voice that comforts, inspires, and challenges all at the same time. I want to speak words that never feel empty, but always feel full - full of hope, full of love, full of compassion, full of faith. I want to believe in you so much that you can't help but believe in yourself when you're around me...and maybe even a little bit after you leave. 

I may never be your teacher, but I want you to learn something good from me.