I was asked recently how certain teachers have impacted my life over the years. It occurred to me that the ones who made the greatest impact I remember not so much for what they said, but for what they did.

In 5th grade I had a teacher named Mrs. Haugen in the little town of Lake Benton, MN.  We called her Mrs. H.  She looked and operated like the supernanny.  (Supernanny rocks by the way.)  Anyhow, most of my memories of her have nothing to do with what she said but a lot to do with what she did.  She had us make commercials with this new invention called a camcorder.  I still remember the commercial we made for 'Baxter Burneys Baked Beans'.  She had us doing plays on a regular basis and performing them for our peers and parents.  I was Rip Van Winkle once.  We had to construct some kind of vessel that would carry a raw egg four stories to the ground below without letting it break.  We flew kites while she taught us about weather.  We spent a good amount of time building and launching rockets in the football field.  We watched a lot of videos like 3-2-1 Contact (I still remember the theme song).  She was fascinated with the world and whenever anyone would travel on a vacation she would make sure they reported to the class in vivid detail what they had seen and done.  We painted a lot and cooked stuff that wasn't fit to eat.  We set fires and made messes and learned some really valuable lessons on the importance of teamwork.  Now that I type all of this, I have to reiterate that I can't remember anything she said.  But I'll never forget what she did.

There's quite a bit in the Bible about the dual productivity of doing and teaching. (Nick to Jesus in John 3..."We know that you're a teacher come from God for no one can DO these things you do except God be with Him." Acts 1..."This is a record o Theophilus of all that Jesus did and taught.") It's a fascinating study that illuminates the reality that in the Kingdom of God it's illegal just to talk. Having said that, I've been blown away at my Dad these past days. He and Mom arrived on the island last week and, without fail, have led at least one person to Christ every day since they've been here. I'm not just talking about an evangelical ambush, but obvious divine appointments in which a person who's hungry runs into someone looking to give away bread. I've heard more sermons of his than I can count, yet for all of the talking and invaluable conversation that we've shared (especially recently) his life preaches speaks far louder than he can. All of this is not to minimize the importance of 'saying' for the spoken/written word is a powerful creative force that can change a life. It's to maximize the vitality of the 'doing' for that is the very thing that, while difficult to master, can change the world. I'd like to try that sometime.