The ring was pressed into my hand as a gift from a friend 15 or 20 years ago. I seldom take it off. It says, “Peace.” The bracelet I gave to my daughter when she was navigating the confusion of adolescence. It says, “Fear not.” When she left home, she left it behind, and I took to wearing it. Now she’s 30 and has 3 kids of her own.
I haven’t worn the bracelet recently, but today I dug it out of the back of my jewelry box. Almost 2 years into this pandemic, I finally got to see my kids and grandkids for a week, and made it back into Japan as the world is closing down against the Omicron variant. Plus, it’s Christmas Eve. Plus, just before Christmas break, I read Adventures with Waffles by Maria Parr with my 4th and 5th graders.
Adventures with Waffles is a gem of a book, and if you haven’t read it yet, I’m jealous because you’ll enjoy it so much. The scrapes the two main characters get into are laugh-out-loud funny, the bumps of family and friendship are heart-tuggingly real, and you get a little taste of Norway thrown in.
Adventures with Waffles is a gem of a book, and if you haven’t read it yet, I’m jealous because you’ll enjoy it so much. The scrapes the two main characters get into are laugh-out-loud funny, the bumps of family and friendship are heart-tuggingly real, and you get a little taste of Norway thrown in.
Woven through it all is a picture of Jesus, the good shepherd, rescuing a lost lamb. It surfaces first when Auntie Granny, Trille’s great-aunt and stand-in grandmother is telling Trille and his friend Lena about what it was like in Norway during World War 2. Lena, always bold and brash, asked Auntie Granny, “How scared were you?” Trille jumped in:
“Auntie Granny is never scared,” I said before she had a chance to answer. “She has Jesus above her head when she sleeps.” I took Lena into Auntie Granny’s bedroom to show her.
“There,” I said, pointing to a picture above her bed. In it there’s a steep rock face with a little lamb standing on a narrow ledge, unable to get up or down. The mother ewe is standing at the top, bleating, very afraid for her lamb. But Jesus is there too, and he has fastened his staff to a tree and is leaning out over the cliff edge to rescue the lamb. (115)
Lena was clearly processing this, because the next day she found a lost sheep, and in re-enacting the scene ended up with a helicopter ride and a cast.
When Auntie Granny died and Trille could pick any one thing from her house for his inheritance, he picked the picture of Jesus. He told Lena, “It’s hanging above my bed, so now I don’t need to be afraid anymore” (149). Trille passed the picture on to Lena when she needed it, and she kept it through several adventures before finally returning it to Trille once all her fears are resolved.
I asked students what the picture of Jesus meant to each of the characters who hung it by their bed. They wrote, “It means Jesus always protects you,” and “A picture that makes scared go away.” I asked what Jesus meant to them, and they wrote, “Jesus helps us and forgives us,” “He is strong,” “He’s the important and only God of us” and “Super awesome.”
Life is scary and uncertain enough right now—school shouldn’t be. There’s a lot being written about making classrooms safe spaces for students—academically, socially, and emotionally as well as physically. I want to create a classroom community where it is safe to make mistakes, take risks, and fail on the way to growth. I want to create a classroom community where students care for, support, and protect each other, and know there are adults to turn to when that doesn’t happen. And as I’ve been reading about making classrooms safe spaces, and thinking about Adventures with Waffles, and getting ready for Christmas, I had this thought.
I get to echo the Christmas angels every day in my classroom:
Do not be afraid.
“Auntie Granny is never scared,” I said before she had a chance to answer. “She has Jesus above her head when she sleeps.” I took Lena into Auntie Granny’s bedroom to show her.
“There,” I said, pointing to a picture above her bed. In it there’s a steep rock face with a little lamb standing on a narrow ledge, unable to get up or down. The mother ewe is standing at the top, bleating, very afraid for her lamb. But Jesus is there too, and he has fastened his staff to a tree and is leaning out over the cliff edge to rescue the lamb. (115)
Lena was clearly processing this, because the next day she found a lost sheep, and in re-enacting the scene ended up with a helicopter ride and a cast.
When Auntie Granny died and Trille could pick any one thing from her house for his inheritance, he picked the picture of Jesus. He told Lena, “It’s hanging above my bed, so now I don’t need to be afraid anymore” (149). Trille passed the picture on to Lena when she needed it, and she kept it through several adventures before finally returning it to Trille once all her fears are resolved.
I asked students what the picture of Jesus meant to each of the characters who hung it by their bed. They wrote, “It means Jesus always protects you,” and “A picture that makes scared go away.” I asked what Jesus meant to them, and they wrote, “Jesus helps us and forgives us,” “He is strong,” “He’s the important and only God of us” and “Super awesome.”
Life is scary and uncertain enough right now—school shouldn’t be. There’s a lot being written about making classrooms safe spaces for students—academically, socially, and emotionally as well as physically. I want to create a classroom community where it is safe to make mistakes, take risks, and fail on the way to growth. I want to create a classroom community where students care for, support, and protect each other, and know there are adults to turn to when that doesn’t happen. And as I’ve been reading about making classrooms safe spaces, and thinking about Adventures with Waffles, and getting ready for Christmas, I had this thought.
I get to echo the Christmas angels every day in my classroom:
- "Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife." (Matthew 1:20)
- "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard." (Luke 1:13)
- "Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God." (Luke 1:30)
- "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people." (Luke 2:10)
Do not be afraid.
It seems that fear is not a new problem. It's one God has been holding out the answer to for a long time.
But before I can proclaim it to my students, I have to believe it myself. So I’m putting on my bracelet, shutting my computer, and celebrating God moving into the neighborhood.
Merry Christmas. Peace. Shalom. Do not be afraid.
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