Sacred Spaces

When I was a freshman in highschool, our school had just begun major construction. We were moved to a vacant high school building that was significantly smaller than our school...and pretty gross. But, we loved to hate on that building. It was thrilling to guess what gross thing was going to happen next. Subsequently, because of the small space, there was no room for underclassman in the lunch room. There was a small courtyard with maybe 5 concrete tables in which underclassmen could gather and eat (in all temperatures and weather conditions). OR, even better, we could eat on the floor of the first-floor hallways. (Side story, one afternoon sewage water overflowed from the bathrooms on that same first floor and flooded the hallways. I'm not making one part of that up. We lived to complain on days like that!  It was pretty comical. )

I don't know who originally had the idea of asking a teacher if we could meet in their classroom. But, I had a large group of friends that decided we didn't want to be outside in the rain and cold anymore.

We asked a Spanish teacher that a lot of us had in common, Ms. Addis, if we could eat lunch in her classroom. I think we even disguised our need telling her we wanted a place to have a bible study?.. Who could turn down a group of high schoolers wanting to have bible studies during lunch. Thankfully, not her.

(I think we had a real bible study maybe 5 times... during the 2 years we ate in her classroom. )

Regardless, she let us eat in her room. Every. single. day.

She gave up her period of quiet, alone time to welcome us in her room. Often times, she stayed in the room grading papers or replying to emails and we could hear her chuckle at the weird conversations that were had. She would often participate in our pointless banter and become invested in our interests and chat with us.

When it came time for her to get married, it was such a joy for us to plan to get her tickets to a concert with her new husband. We had built a relationship with her that called for us to equally be invested in her joy, and to celebrate the good things happening in her life.

This past weekend at If:Gathering, I was asked to recall people in my life who had sacrificed their comfort to help build community and disciples of Jesus. Unintentionally, Ms. Addis (Now, Mrs. McRee), built a community. We not only wanted to be around each other and decompress at lunch, but we wanted to be with her. She didn't openly share her faith, because it wasn't allowed, but very clearly we knew of her faith and trust in Christ. She modeled it in her care for us, her sacrifice of comfort, and choosing to encourage this rambunctous and loud group of friends. She cared for us- and she did that because of her love for Christ.

A long time has passed since I was in high school. But, I'm positive that if you polled my faithful lunch group from Greenville High and asked what adult helped build community in their lives, they would also answer Mrs. McRee. Our thankfulness wasn't about how great of a teacher she was. EVEN THOUGH, she is a phenominal Spanish teacher, and I have lots of friends that used their Spanish handouts from her class in college. Our thankfulness stems from her quiet witness she shared with us- which led us to become pastors, ministry leaders, educators, counselors and people who now share their lives with others.

 I've learned that community building is a gift AND a calling. It takes somoene willing to sacrifice themselves, willing to minister to people right under their own two feet, even in their place of work. It takes people willing to keep a group of people connected. Sometimes that connectedness can look like a life stage, a sports team, a common interest, a common belief, or even a not so pleasant space in run-down Parker High school.

Thank you, Mrs. McRee, from the lunch group you loved and was equally annoyed by in 2005. You taught us how to gather anywhere and make it sacred. You taught us that community and discipleship can happen everywhere. Still so very thankful for your investment in our lives!