Parent Teacher Conference time in my household as child was never really a good time for me, personally. This is when the teachers exaggerated about the state of my presence in their classrooms. It was the same song and dance every nine weeks.
My parents attended the Anti-Reba conference and then came home to discuss the myriad of issues that smeared my good name. It really was only one issue though. I simply talked too much and had more fun in class than what was approved by the teachers. I wasn’t disrespectful or caused damage to property, I was just there to have a great time and tried to recruit others to do the same.
Unfortunate for me, I had an older sister who was the angel that every teacher hoped for. Straight A’s, listens in class and even helped her neighbors in class. Every teacher gushed over her and always told my parents that they wish they had a class full of students just like her. I was always compared to our resident Junior Einstein.
And, fortunately for me I had a little brother who tested all the patience and all of the nerves of every teacher that crossed his path. His grades were not the best and he was more mischievous than a barrel full of unsupervised monkeys. When he made it to Campti Junior High School my mother asked me to ride to Parent Teacher Conference with her. I did not ask questions, I merely hopped in the car ready for a ride.
The strangest thing happened when we pulled into the parking lot. My mother asked me very politely to attend the conference in her place. I was a Sophomore in High School and very mature for my age but never once did I think I was capable of playing mom for my little brother. I asked my mother if she was feeling okay, she replied that she was not…..and she shot me one of her famous Zwolle looks.
I knew better than to keep questioning her. It also hit me that the preacher’s wife told a fib.
As I entered the gym where the teachers were set up I was so curios why my mother was avoiding the teachers. Once I found his homeroom teacher and introduced myself it took a matter of seconds for me to realize why my mother was hiding in the car.
It was one story after another that detailed all of the havoc he had wreaked during his nine weeks. I took mental notes to share with my mom and was trying to find a way to break the bad news to her. I also left there that day not feeling as bad about my own poor behavior in class.
Looking back, there was no doubt that my mom knew exactly what the teacher was going to say and she just couldn’t handle it on that particular day.
As I think about it today, I just am super grateful that we have a savior that keeps no records of our wrongs. He sees the wrong that we commit and loves us anyway. From all biblical accounts, I cannot even find scripture that says he is so embarrassed by our behavior and refuses to show up for our Parent Teacher Conferences. He wants an intimate relationship with us that cannot be severed or mended by our works. He just loves us unconditionally. Period.
“Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” – Romans 8:39
