EP 64: Wisdom from a 10th Grade English Class

It captures my imagination around the future and the new

heavens and the new earth that's going to be so different from

what I could ever envision in some really amazing ways.

There's also just this idea of that God has so much more for us

than what we're comfortable with.

Hey everyone and welcome back to the Grace Church Podcast.

I'm your host Whitney Manus here with my Co host Scott Mazingo.

Good morning, Scott. Hey, Whitney.

Good morning and happy summer. Happy summer.

We are well into the summer season at this point, which

means school is out of session and our teachers are getting a

well deserved break. And one such teacher is our dear

friend Sarah Bailey who is joining us in the studio today.

Thanks for being here, Sarah. Hey, Whitney Scott, thanks for

having me. Hey, Sarah.

Hi, Scott. Once Upon a time we all got to

work together on staff when Sarah was our lead writer, but

she's recently returned to her first career of teaching.

So Sarah, will you give us just a little self intro and kind of

just remap your career path? Thus far, yeah, absolutely.

So I grew up in the Upstate, went to school here, went to

Southside Christian School, went to Bob Jones, and then got my

start in teaching at North Greenville University.

Taught some of our staff members along the way.

Hit hit me up for stories about like pain later.

There you go. And so I just discovered a love

for teaching. Was not the career path I had

planned on, but had amazing coworkers up there who really

developed me a love for the classroom and also, yeah, just a

great students, great relationships there.

What was your major in? In college English.

So I had. I thought I was going to be a

writer and write the next Great American novel, but apparently

that's really hard to do. You start off to that.

There's still plenty of time. There's still time.

So yeah, watch out for that. And so then taught there for

over 10 years. And then when my husband and I

got married and had our first child, it was just time to take

a step back from that career. And that's when I came on staff

at Grace with some amazing Co workers.

Got hired during COVID. That was fun.

We both did. Remember the Zoom interviews?

That was that was a fun time. What a time.

Yeah. So that was great.

Did that for five years and then in the fall of 24, I just felt

the Lord calling me back. It was super clear.

Part of it was my oldest was entering kindergarten.

So we're back in kind of the world of school.

And part of it was just God speaking to me.

It was actually during, I don't know if you remember, we did the

series on Jonah and there was a huge emphasis in that series.

Like if you feel like God's calling you to move, just go for

it. And I remember sitting there in

the worship service, I'm like, I think, I think this is it.

I think I need to go for it, talk to my husband and I knew

that God had called me to be in our local school system.

I can't even tell you, but that was just very clear to me that

that's where he wanted me to be, which was different than where I

had grown up in a very Christian School context.

And the pieces just fell into place and the Lord's very

gracious. And so I are we're in Sprint

work county. We live right kind of on that

Greer Spartanburg line. And so I have just finished my

first year teaching at Burns High School and it was great.

It was a great experience. Yeah, and we love to hear you

talk about that a little bit more.

Both of my parents have worked in public education for a

collective 60 years. So we've bonded over that and

very grateful for teachers. That's where I got my breakfast

going up. So, but before we get into that,

will you tell us just real quick which campus you're at and just

a little bit about your family, serving roles at church, all

that kind of stuff? Yes.

So we go to the Greer campus and my husband and I, Stewart, we

actually met at church. We were at Pelham for years and

then we physically moved to Lyman and so which is just

really close to downtown Greer. And so now we've been at Greer

for three years and we love it. It's been great.

We have two kids, 7:00 and 4:00, So we're in that really fun

season of parenting where it's just the high energy, but we've

we've really enjoyed it. I agree.

We've served in a few different capacities.

One of our passions is serving in divorce care.

We both had previous marriages and that was a huge ministry to

us at Grace Church. And so we've LED those care

groups over the years. And right now though, we are

serving on the Connect team, which has been something a

little different and fun for us. And I'm also serving on our

Central Women's Ministry team, just helping, you know, plan

studies and events. And that has been really neat

for me. I hadn't done that before and

have really just enjoyed getting to know the women at Greer and

be able to serve them in that way and yeah, it's been great.

Yeah, that's awesome. Can you put a little flesh on

this idea of calling? Like when you're sitting and

you're listening to teaching and you feel like God is speaking to

you right through his word, Like is that, you know, conviction,

conscious prayer thoughts, Like how Like, how are you processing

this idea of calling? What does that?

Do you hear a voice out of the ceiling?

I wish it were that easy. I it's very hard to explain

other than it is just a sticky thought that takes root.

Not, you know, sometimes you have a thought that's fleeting

and it goes. But for me, it was something

that just was sticky and latched on over the course of weeks.

And when you pray about it and you're in the word and it just

feels like, and it's not a feelings based decision there.

And I know sometimes it's very hard for us to distinguish

between my feelings versus the prompting of the Spirit.

Yeah, exactly. And that I think is where we

lean into scripture and into community.

And that was something I did. I it was a decision that I

talked about with my spouse, obviously, and to make sure that

we were aligned on that. And even our community group at

the time we were in a I believe I re engaged great, but it

functioned as our our group of people and just processing that

in community. And as I was reading the words

as we were studying Jonah and it was calling is a strong word, is

a ministry related word for a lot of people.

But for me it was just obedience.

I think this is what God wants me to do and I'm going to take a

step in that direction. And it was very simple.

Yeah, no, thank you for that 'cause I just want it.

It doesn't need to be a ministry related work.

I think that there's a sense of stewardship around that.

So meaning, who am I? How has God created me?

What are my gifts? What are my experience?

What kind of yearning, what kind of longing do I have right now?

But but I like the way you say it was it was sticky and it took

root. And so if something takes root,

if it's healthy, it begins to grow.

And so I'm assuming that through these conversations, the idea

just grows. And what I what I think about is

if I let something grow versus try to control it, then that's

when I can feel assured that maybe God's the 1 causing, you

know, the growth and that. So that's great.

Yeah. So this this lands you, this

calling kind of lands you in a sophomore high school English

class. Is that is that where we were

at? Now it?

Did it? Did.

Yeah, yeah. So tell us a little bit more

about about that life. So it was going from teaching.

So at North Greenville I taught freshman composition and to then

teaching in Spartanburg County, which is a really diverse mix of

students, 10th grade English. It was an adjustment and

something I kind of fought against this a little bit

because I was going from a very comfortable place where

everything was very predictable and I knew what to expect and I

felt very competent to a place where I was not competent and I

was insecure and I had to ask for help a lot and I did not

feel confident. It was unpredictable. 15 year

olds are unpredictable and but there was so much joy in that

and I knew that the Lord was going to use it to humble me and

He did for sure. But there are so many good

things about it. I'll talk about kind of

challenges and joys and amazingly they go together.

One of the big challenges that I did not experience before my

teaching career was having a wide array of ability in one

classroom. So in the same classroom, I

could have a student who is very advanced, probably could have

been in an honors class but just chose not to.

And on the other hand, I have a student who has only spoken

English for a few years and is still learning the language and

intelligent, capable, but has that limitation.

You can also have a student with a learning disability that you

need to accommodate for. So just having to deal with this

wide array of ability and try to help each student when you have

25 in a room can be really challenging.

And it that was a huge learning curve for me to help all of them

and to also have like, a cohesive curriculum and learning

experience for everyone. Yeah.

And how many classes are you teaching?

So we're on a block schedule so I have three classes so not an

overwhelming at about 75 students the same prep for.

Each. Yeah, which that was a blessing

for. Me.

Not every teacher. Gets that, but I got the same

prep, so that was awesome. So that was hard, but one of my

favorite things. And as I mentioned before, I

grew up in a very kind of sheltered, white, homogeneous

context, very Christian. And our context at Burns is so

diverse. I could have four to five

different languages in the room. We have a Hispanic immigrant

population, students from Colombia and Venezuela and Cuba

and so many different places. We also have a big influx of

Russian and Ukrainian students. And it was such a joy for me to

learn about their cultures. And because 15 year olds have no

filter, they ask each other all these crazy questions.

So, you know, like a 15 year old rural kids sitting there, you

know, wearing his Carhartt is going to ask the Ukrainian kids.

So like, wait, why did you move here?

Did you flee the war? And you know, questions that

adults would not be comfortable to ask because we have some

decorum and some tact, but the 15 year old does not feel that.

And so I got to overhear so many just stories and where these

kids are from and the challenges they faced.

And to me, that was such a work that the Lord did in my heart to

open my eyes to people who are different from me, who come from

a different context. And there was such value in

that. And I think it strips away my

comfort and my often self-righteous view of how I

think the world should be. And even if it is has this kind

of Christian veneer on it, I think this is how things should

be. But you, you may not know the

whole story. And so there was, it really

sparked more and more curiosity in me about all of my students.

And so that was just such a joy to learn from that and to see it

play out in my classroom, that kind of diversity and.

Would you have the opportunity just have a lots of individual

conversations with your students?

Yeah, sometimes the language barrier was hard.

You know, we're sitting there on Google Translate.

Really, you're in, you're in the English classroom in Spartanburg

County and you're using Google Translation.

Absolutely, absolutely. And but you know, they learned

so fast. So we, we did have lots of good

conversations. And, you know, sometimes it's

around silly stuff like tell me about the music you like and

tell me about, you know, the sports.

You, you know, I learned a lot about soccer that I didn't know

before and things like that. What are you thinking related to

like God thoughts during this time?

Like you're going in and you're seeing this diversity, you're

seeing really image bearers, right, that look very different

than what you're used to and look very different from one

another. How do you connect that to your

faith? That's a great question.

It captures my imagination around the future and the new

heavens and the new earth that's going to be so different from

what I could ever envision in some really amazing ways.

And so there's that. There's also just this idea of

that God has so much more for us than what we're comfortable

with. And there is value in me

learning from other people, even if the conversation is not about

God. And I do have the opportunity as

a teacher, yes, in the public school system.

I can't stand up there and preach the gospel.

I've some limitations, but I'll, I'll tell you a little story.

So English too, has a state testing exam called the end of

course exam. So if you have kids in high

school, you know what this is and that it's a big deal and

it's a 20% of your grade. And there's a lot of pressure

because your school's rating depends on the EOC and there's

all this stuff. But when we kind of enter our

final, you know, test prep coming up to that, I have family

meeting with them and I look at all of their eyeballs and I tell

them, I want you to know that you are a valuable human being

apart from any test score you make.

And you can see in their eyes, some of them have never heard

that before. They have never had a teacher

look at them and say, I care about you apart from your test

scores. And you have value because of

who you are. I'm about to make Whitney cry,

because you are. Say you're you're.

I mean, that's a gospel truth. It is and so you there are ways

to embed truths about humanity with them without an explicit

teaching of a gospel. And that creates a safe space in

your classroom and it creates a space where some of these kids

who may not have another safe adult in their lives will come.

And I would, I saw the evidence of that, that they would, they

would come by before school or they would come by after school

just to, you know, say hey, or whatever.

So. And it, it does make me

emotional. I've just gotten the opportunity

to serve in different schools over the past few years and I

have sat and done the same thing with my students.

And it really, especially as they get closer to high school

and get closer to the end, they lose motivation if they lose

self-confidence. And so if they've just struggled

at some point in a certain subject or, you know, if they

are trying to learn a second language and then trying to do

all of these things, the lies are just so loud.

They're like, I'm just, and I've had kids look at me like I'm

just stupid or I just can't do this.

And I think especially in our culture, we do elevate the grade

so high and it is such an important reminder for all of

us. And this even does connect on a

faith level that, hey, the grade is not the point.

Like if we take that into our personal relationship with

Christ, we get so focused on am I doing the right things?

Am I obeying? And am I reading my Bible

correctly and are my prayers right?

And is my language right? And the grade is not the point.

The question is like, are you learning and are you growing and

your identity is not tied to your performance and this one

letter, that's not who you are. You're valuable because someone

else has looked at you and said that you are valuable and you're

important. And so you are really reflecting

Christ for them in that moment. And even though they don't know

it, even though they they have no context for maybe the gospel

or God, but like you are seeing them the way that the Father

sees them. And that's so powerful.

So I'll spend the next 30 minutes talking about that.

But. So when you're, you're getting

ready, getting dressed, getting in the car, driving to work, I

mean, not easy, not easy labor, right?

And we can come back to some of the challenges here in just a

second. But what is your, what is your

prayer? What is your mindset?

What type of scriptures are are motivating you for this this

Kingdom work that you're going into every day?

So kind of my passage for the year that I really latched onto

in August is from James One about asking for wisdom.

Because anyone listening to this, if you've ever been a

teacher, you know, a teacher has to make 100 decisions in a day.

And it could be as simple as, you know, this kids asking for a

second bathroom pass. Does he really need to go to the

bathroom or is he just trying to get out of class?

It could just be something little and minute, but you

stack, you know, fifty of those on top of each other, then it it

is exhausting and then you have weightier decisions you're

making. And so I just really tried to

connect my soul to the idea that the source of wisdom is God.

I am tend to be very self-sufficient.

I am prone that way. I am prone to be everyone, to

view me as someone who is competent and able.

And so if I can get my first thought to be around, wisdom

comes from God. It does not come from within me.

It comes from without. And even, as you know,

especially those first days of school, I would try to walk

around my class, my classroom and pray, pray over desks.

And God give me wisdom with this child.

God give me wisdom with this child.

What? What do they need that I can

provide that will point them to you, whether it's a safe place

or just teaching them to be a critical thinker, teaching them

to communicate better, all those things that English teachers do.

So, yeah, I think just this idea, and God is generous and he

gives it. He's not a stingy source.

He's a generous source of wisdom, as it says in James.

And also the other part of that passage that the idea of

listening before we speak, that was a big one for me because in

those decisions, it's very easy to make a snap judgement, no,

this is what we're doing. No, you can't do that.

Instead of saying, well, tell me why, Tell me more, tell me more

about that request, Tell me what's going on and try to

listen and understand a full story before you make a

decision. So.

And most of us are making, I mean, a lot of decisions in a

day. But for a teacher, I mean, it is

thousands and, you know, and then you go home and you do it

with your kids too, you know, And so I imagine it's easy to

get burned out on a lot of that. But yeah, to.

Listening to this and you're just thinking what, what should

I be reading this summer? I mean, I think James is a great

is a great read. I think James chapter one, I'll

save you a larger commentary, but I'm so glad you brought that

up. It's just something that went

and I've been discussing recently because I like what you

said about, you know, wisdom is in God.

But then in verse 6, verse 5 says if you need wisdom, ask our

generous God. But six when you ask him, be

sure that your faith is in him alone.

And I think we treat God as an add on or we, we got a guy when

we're not quite sure. He's either like a, a, a second

check, a safety or we're like, well, I don't really know what

to do here. This is bigger than me.

So I need you. And, and really James one talks

about that. It's it's, he calls that divided

loyalty. He says you're a very unsettled

soul if you do that. And, and basically that, that

God's not in that, you know, because you're divided and

you're unstable, unsettled. And so I think people here,

yeah, I mean, God is wisdom. He's an additional source of

wisdom. It's like, no, go back and read

verse 6 when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God

alone. That's that's the hard part.

It is that's that's interesting that you bring that up because

so Stuart and I have been doing reading through scripture this

year at Greer and it's been great it to reading the Old and

the New Testament at the same time in the large volume kind of

daunting, but something especially in the Old Testament

stories. Genesis is my favorite book.

But reading them again, reading through Genesis and Exodus and

all, you know, the kings and such, so much scripture in such

a short time. This idea that God wants all of

you. He is not satisfied to be an add

on, as you said. And that I think connects with

this idea of you are all in with him.

And he has a way of peeling back those layers with all those Old

Testament characters of like, yes, you said you're with me.

You said you're faithful, but what about this?

But what about this part of your life?

And that's something God's really been convicting me with

is, you know, am I viewing church and God and Christianity

is just kind of this separate compartmentalized thing?

Or is it something that I am fully hinging everything on

that? So which and you know, we all

know you live long enough and hard things happen and you find

out am I really committed or am I not?

And I think for me, I mean, it's so easy to like ask for wisdom.

And I think the other, the thing that I'm really rooted in is

just myself. I'm like, I'm going to ask for

wisdom and then I'm going to show up and do whatever I wanted

to do. I'm going.

To run it by my logic, filter here for a minute, Yeah.

Does this make sense? And then if mine doesn't work,

then God's kind of my backup. And, and that's great.

But I love the way that you're talking about like that.

You're creating space for prayer and you're creating space to

listen and to receive in your mornings.

And like God, would you, would you speak to me before I have a

chance to speak to myself, you know, and let your, your wisdom

supersede me. Yeah, and don't get the

Sometimes it is a prayer of desperation before the bell

rings. It is not always a deep long.

Sometimes it's every desk and then sometimes it's like the

whole room. Take it all in once.

Yes, yes. So this idea I this idea of the

new heavens and new earth being like your 10th grade classroom,

I think that's very fascinating. Let's go back to that.

Yeah. Tell us a little bit more.

Just just kind of walk us through some of the daily

challenges. I know that we have listeners

that may have young kids, they're their kids may be long

out of high school, but like just give us a little sense of

empathy and compassion for our our teenagers.

So here is the amazing thing about 15 year olds is they are

starting to grapple with some of the big.

Hard. Truths in life in a very raw and

unfiltered way. So you get all their full

thoughts and they're very confident that they have amazing

solutions to all the the problems.

So one of my favorite units to teach is we do an argument unit

towards the end of the year. 15 year olds love to argue and we

talk a lot about research and evidence and how you make a good

argument and they get so invested in their topic.

And again, one of the things I love about a high school

classroom is the energy of it. You sit with a group of adults

on a Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM, ain't much energy.

But if you're in a high school classroom at 2:00 PM on a

Friday, there's a lot. Yes.

And if you can channel that into them thinking about big ideas

and like, well, what is the solution to some of the big

problems of like war and poverty?

Like, how do we fix, you know, people are dying of starvation

in this other country? What what's the solution?

We have lots of food here. Look at our, you know what I'm

saying? And they will, they care.

They do, they want to figure it out.

They want to show that all the adults that are in charge are

doing a terrible job and they have much better ideas.

And so I love that. I love that journey.

And then they say I rage bait them.

But to play devil's advocate and be like, what about this?

What about this? Have you thought about this?

And they're like, you know, Miss Bailey, and they get frustrated.

But just showing them there's not always a simple solution to

things. Rage baiting Bailey.

I know. Well, you get a quick definition

just for anyone who's not familiar with rage baiting.

Just making someone mad on purpose.

They do. They do that to me all.

The time, Yeah, Yeah. I've learned a whole new

language this semester as well. That's another episode.

When you said, I think you said this offline, but you said that

they're just compelling humans. Tell us a little bit more about

what does compelling humans look like in the 10th grade

classroom. So they are 15 year olds,

they're opportunity seekers and they want to have fun.

They want to explore new things, new ideas.

And there's just joy in that. Like, you know, if we have a

little time at the end of class, they're like, let's play a game.

Or if they want to play hacky sack, y'all, hacky sack is bad,

is bad from the 90s in social. I'm like.

Your phone in touch grass, you know.

Yes. So I'm like, yeah, go for it,

you know, move the dust around and play hacky sack.

We got 10 minutes at the end of class.

And again, that is something that just is not true of the

adult world. No one is looking to have 10

minutes of joy just in each other's company or just silly

things that, you know, like, oh, listen to this song.

Oh, have you heard this one? And listen to each other.

'S music, so they don't just want to sit on their.

Phones. No, they don't.

OK, sometimes they do. I mean, they would prefer that

to doing their homework, but they don't.

Just they want to enjoy each other.

Yeah, that's great. I love that and that that idea

of enjoyment, enjoyment one another, creativity, all that.

That's awesome. I would love for you to talk

just a little bit to, I mean, you are a working mom and just,

yeah, what has that been like? Just as your, I mean, that's a

lot of responsibility. You've got kids at work, you've

got kids at home. What does that kind of look

like? And what has God taught you just

as you're trying to steward all of that well?

So that is a really challenging thing and I knew that was

another taking this job. I knew it would be a lot more

demanding than when I was on staff at Grace.

I worked fewer hours. I have flexibility, I could work

from home and I knew I was going to miss those comforts that also

benefited my children, my biological children.

And there are also there are days when I come home and I am

wiped. And it does impact my biological

children. And I have had to learn to just

give that to the Lord of part of my serving in this season.

Part of my work for him in this season goes beyond my immediate

family. And I think that's OK.

I think the Bible is really clear that God calls us to

deplete ourselves for others, not just for the people you care

about. And I do, you know, obviously

it's it's working great for our family in other ways.

Like when there were snow days, guess what?

I was off on the same day as my kids were right?

And that was amazing. But it's very easy, I think, for

moms to feel guilty when they are depleted at work or just

because they have to work. But I think that being always

there for your kids is not the highest thing to seek for as a

parent. I think the highest thing to

seek for as a parent is to show them the gospel.

And part of me illustrating the gospel for my children is

showing them that I'm willing to sacrifice myself for the good of

someone else. And and I try to be open with

them in an age appropriate way. They're young.

But my, you know, my son, he's in, he just finished first

grade. He knows.

And we have talked sometimes about like, Hey, is your

teacher, how was she today? Does she seem tired and you

know, and things like that. And it's, it's open the door for

some great conversations for and even, you know, tell me about

your friends who don't speak English in your class.

And I have a little more knowledge of what he's he's

experiencing in his school. So it has been a lesson for my

heart and just releasing them to the Lord in a way that and not

caring guilt for my lacking, which at the end of the day is

pride. Yeah.

So no, I think that's helpful. And we're certainly not going to

like the parenting is not more important than the work and the

work is not more important than the parenting.

And there's sacrifice on both sides.

Like sometimes your students get a little bit less for your kids

and. Well, and I think it goes back

to this idea of calling, you know, which is where, where I

wanted to, to, to start just because I think that that can

become a spiritualized word that never gets defined and never

gets challenged. But I think to, to break it down

into, you know, what is, what does it look like to be a good

steward of my life, of my season, of my experience, of my

skills? What does it look like to have

constant evaluation and conversation with God around

these things and others? And you mentioned earlier that

changing careers now is not the stigma that it used to be.

So we've got people coming in and out of work, seasons of

different careers. And I feel like all of that is

just that healthy. If it's done well.

It's a healthy wrestling with what does it look like to be a

Kingdom maker, you know? And we were, you know, I'm going

back to that new heavens and new earth idea, 'cause I'm

captivated by that. I thought about that.

But just like on earth as it is in heaven, right And so yes,

physical family, but spiritual family and those that are far

from him that are being brought into the Kingdom when it what

does it look like to do that. And I think that if any of these

thoughts from just a an average, you know, Lyman family career

tender going into the public school system just stimulate

some thoughts for you, then we will have use this time wisely

hope. So yeah, thank God.

God needs all those callings and that's why he gives them.

You know, that's cool. Well, as we kind of wrap up, I

mean, I would just love to hear like kind of practically just

let's talk about some books. It is the summer.

So we've given you guys some book wrecks in the past as you

have a little bit more time to do some fun reading.

And I mean, there is no better source than a teacher who is

giving great book Rex to her students all the time.

So you've got some books here next to you.

Will you just tell us a little bit about those and any more

insight into your class and some of your favorite units and

things you get to teach? OK, so the.

Books I bought as recommendations are not ones

that I would teach in the classroom per SE, but so these

are books that I just thought of.

Like what are my top three books over the past couple years that

I've really enjoyed and have just really compelling stories

and stories. And so the first one is called

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Kruger and it is a coming of age

story. Think To Kill a Mockingbird, but

it is in set in Minnesota in 1960 and it is told from the

story of a 13 year old boy who is a preacher's son and all

kinds of drama happens in this small town.

All right, it's a little bit of a murder mystery, but it's just

really beautifully written. And it is, again, kind of that

idea of what does it mean for a young boy to grow into manhood?

And he's wrestling with the issues of the age of the 60s,

issues of race issues, you know, things that were going on.

And it's just really, well, it's very thought provoking.

And because he is a preacher's son, there is some really

interesting truths in there about God and how he perceives

God. And he talks about the awful

grace of God. It's really fascinating.

And just to be clear, I think you're using coming of age a

little different than some language.

Like if a Broadway show talks about coming of age, then

there's typically a ton of sexuality and that kind.

Of stuff, yes, yes, this is a little different.

Again, think Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird.

Got it. You know, like, yes, growing up

into adulthood. Like Scout is being exposed to

kind of some more difficult areas.

It's kind of where your students are, too.

Like you were saying, like they're starting to think about

big ideas for the first time. And like you know, what do I do

with all that? Yeah, if you're going to the

Peace Center and it says it's a coming of age story, this is not

to kill them. That's not what they're.

Talking about OK in the literary sense.

In literary sense, another one, and this is it's either your cup

of tea or it's not. So this is a Greek mythology.

It's called Circe, Circe by Madeline Miller, and it tells

the story of AI. Don't even know how to describe

her. The protagonist was born of the

gods, but she is not quite like them and she's not accepted by

them. And it basically tells her

story. And of course, because it's

mythology and it's, you know, like the they live immortally.

So it spans eons and centuries and how she actually becomes

captivated by humans and she. Like a Little Mermaid, a little.

Bit falls in love with what it means to be human even though

they are weak and powerless and fragile all those things.

It's really fascinating. So I will, you know, PSA, it's

Greek mythology, so there's some racy parts in it, but.

Circe, Circe by I. Always say it's Circe.

Circe, thank you. Yeah.

It's hard to, but that was very. Yeah, you're an English teacher.

You can correct me. Whoever has a great degree, send

us an e-mail. If you liked that, so I again,

like if there is a inner nerd in you that was like, oh, the

mythology, that was kind of fascinating, Then pick this up.

It'll it'll provoke some thoughts for you.

And then my last one is definitely an English teacher

nerd recommendation. And so this is the book.

It's entitled James by Percival Everett, and it is a retelling

of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, the slave in

the story. And so it definitely will make

you think. And what was an adventure tale

for Huck becomes a survival tale for Jim.

And what's also really interesting, the author Percival

Everett, I haven't studied him a ton, but it does seem so Mark

Twain single Clemens who wrote Huckleberry Finn was very anti

religious, super clear in all his work.

He did a lot of satire on religion and this is the same.

It's fascinating though, but there is a lot of really

interesting truths for us to consider in this one.

I even I marked can I read a little?

Bit please. I marked one part that I was

like, oh, I can read this. I'm not going to try and do the

dialect though because that would just be.

So this is where Huck and Jim are talking.

You know, they've just come through this one predicament.

And there were people who were basically, they were con men and

they got caught. And Huck and Jim observed this.

Huck's like, what do you think's going to happen to them?

And Jim says, well, maybe they pay a fine, maybe they get

tarred and feathered. I don't know.

And Huck says, oh, that seems awful.

And then Jim says, I suppose it do, but they was stealing from

them folk telling lies like they was.

They were never no pirates. And then Huck says, yeah, but

then people liked it. Jim, did you see their faces?

They had to know them was lies, but they wanted to believe.

What do you make of that? And then Jim says, folks be

funny like that. They takes the lies they want

and throws away the truth. That scares them, and that's an

interesting truth to think about.

How we? We all have lies we want to

believe and truth that is scary to us that we shove away.

So this again, it's just all stories have valuable truths

about humanity in them, even when they're written by non

believers. And so that's why I'm a huge fan

of just avid reading, read what's being published recently,

read from the thinkers of our age.

This. First of all, Everett is a

Pulitzer Prize winner. So that means he's saying things

that people are thinking about. And so there's a lot of value in

reading the stories. Bailey be rage baiting, getting

us to think hard truths and I think what thank you.

That's so great. And I think what we would love

to say is summer is a good time for reading.

There's never a bad time for reading, but summer it is an

especially good time to grow your imagination.

Think big thoughts, put down your phone.

Certainly social media, like we live in a great age of media

where there's tons to watch and lots of digital content to

consume, but there's just nothing like holding the book

and just letting you go to a different place.

Yeah, use your summer hours wisely.

Yeah, and if y'all are nerds, Sarah and I are going to stick

around, but we're going to drop a little bonus episode and we're

just going to talk about books a little bit more because that

would be a super long episode. But just for those who really

love it, we'll do that. Sarah, we are so grateful just

that you're here and you chatted with us and we're thankful for

our teachers. Y'all just be praying for our

teachers. Give them a gift, tell them how

much you appreciate them. And yeah, ask them what God is

teaching them, just as you would for anybody in their career.

But they get to interact with the public in a really neat way.

They get to observe like who we've all been at one point in

our lives at a very interesting and strange part.

So they understand human behavior in a cool way.

And I told Sarah when she transitioned off staff to go be

a teacher, but she is the teacher I would have loved to

have. And I did love my English

teachers. And I still remember the books

that we read. And they really did shape a lot

of the ways that I think about the world, but also about God

and his Kingdom and what he's doing in the world.

So this has been cool. Thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me. Love catching up with you guys.

We'll see you guys. Next time on the Grace Church

Podcast.