The Christian EducatorA publication of North Valley Baptist Schools
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The Heart of the Matter
By Cindie Trieber
Psalm 86:12 says: “ I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.”
It is virtually impossible to pick up a magazine of any kind (Health, Sports, Woman’s Day. Etc.) without one of the major articles in each edition dealing with the importance of heart health! Choose to move, not sit, choose to eat baked, not fried, choose to take the stairs rather than the elevator, park your car further away from the store and walk, take heart-healthy supplements and… NEED I SAY MORE? In fact, Friday, February the 6th, is National Wear Red Day for Women, designated by the American Heart Association. It is intended to encourage us to start showing our hearts some love and beat heart disease. I plan on wearing red because I am concerned enough about my heart to give it some national attention! If you are of the female gender, feel free to join me!
Your heart is that muscular organ encased in vertebrates which receives blood from the veins and pumps it through the arteries to oxygenate the blood during its circuit.
Your heart is also the “center of your total personality, with reference to intuition, feeling and emotion”. Your heart gives you the capacity for sympathy, feeling, affection, spirit, courage and enthusiasm. It is the innermost or central, essential, part of your being; the “core”. I know each one of us would agree that we certainly wouldn’t be here without our hearts!
With that being said, it is my persuasion that in order to be a great teacher, YOU MUST HAVE HEART! Why else would a teacher get up every day and head to a classroom full of students, of which, some are suffering crisis of their own, without a heart for what he or she is doing? It certainly cannot be for the paycheck of a Christian School Teacher! While teaching is definitely worth every dime you make, it takes more than a paycheck to teach every day, all day long, week after week, year after year! (Right, Grandpa Carey?) It takes a heart for what you are doing and a heart for those students whom you teach. Let me encourage everyone involved in education to have a heart for the opportunity that God has given you: To make a difference in the lives of students.
A few thoughts on “the heart of the matter” from my heart to yours:
1. Have a heart of love.
Ask the Lord to plant His love in you in a very profound and powerful way. Ask also that His love will flow through you to the students whom you teach. They are deserving of a teacher that loves them!
2. Have a heart of joy.
We all go through circumstances beyond our control but ,we must have joy in spite of difficult and painful problems. Pray that God will give you such a heart full of joy that it will overflow to others around you.
3. Have a heart of patience.
Anyone working with students would agree that more often than not, they can try our patience! Another word for patience is longsuffering. As teachers and administrators, we need to “suffer long” with our students even when we think it is impossible to do!
4. Have a heart of kindness.
Kindness is something we definitely have to work on. In every classroom there is a student to whom we might find it hard to be kind. It could be that student that seemingly rubs us the wrong way! Kindness is something you choose to show. Jesus showed us the greatest act of kindness when he laid down his life for us. Colossians 3:12 says: “ Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering.” Pray that His brand of kindness will grow in you.
5. Have a heart of faithfulness.
When we are steadfast, dependable, reliable, loyal, trustworthy, and do what is right no matter what, we exhibit faithfulness. Pray that your faithfulness will strengthen everyone you touch and inspire others to greater faithfulness too.
If you are having a hard time with the afore mentioned, ask God to help you. There is not anything that cannot be solved through the power of prayer. No ocean can hold it back. No river can overtake it. No whirlwind can go faster. No army can defeat it. No law can stop it. No distance can cripple it. No force on earth is more powerful or effective than the power of prayer.
It might be time for your heart to have a “check-up”. Take all the necessary steps to ensure that you have a “healthy heart” as you invest your life in the lives of the next generation!
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About the Author
Cindie Trieber was born in Rockford, Illinois to Dr. & Mrs. Melvin Swanson. Dr. Swanson will celebrate fifty-six years at the Berean Baptist Church in May. She met and married Dr. Jack Trieber in December of 1972 while he was serving on staff at Berean Baptist. Dr. & Mrs. Trieber came to North Valley on March 1, 1976 and have served the Lord together at North Valley for thirty-three years. Mrs. Trieber helped to found North Valley Baptist Schools and served as the school’s first administrator from 1977 -1980. Mrs. Trieber returned to the school (after having three children) as principal in 1991-2004 giving her the longest tenure, thus far, as principal of the North Valley Baptist Schools. Pastor and Mrs. Trieber have two married daughters; Tiffany Thompson and Tabitha Fanara, and a son, Tim, who will be married to Rebecca Brown in May. They have five grandchildren; Ashlyn, Titus and T.J. (Timothy Jack) Thompson and Riley and Hudson Fanara. Mrs. Trieber has a heart not only for her husband , children and grandchildren but, also ,for the great North Valley Baptist Church and North Valley Baptist Schools! While serving at NVBS it can be said of her that it not only had her heart but, it was her passion. Mrs. Trieber currently serves as Student Teacher Advisor for the North Valley Baptist Schools and Golden State Baptist College.
