April 15
Scripture: Heb 13:7
Source author: Ann Varnum
April 15
The Grumpy Professor Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith. —Hebrews 13:7
Dr. Bailey, psychology professor at my college, delighted in embarrassing his students. I was often the brunt of his jokes, but I determined to never let him get to me. At the beginning of class, I had bravely asked him if he would call me Ann instead of my first name, Elizabeth. Making a face, he announced, “I’ll call you whatever I want to call you.” I was the only student from that class who also signed up for his second semester class. “Hello, Ann,” he said as I walked in on the first day of that semester. It was then that I realized how much I had come to love this grizzly old bear that no one else could stand. Right at the end of school, I learned that Dr. Bailey was battling terminal cancer. He had talked with my father and told him how much I had meant to him that year. It was evident then that God had chosen me to love this grieving and grumpy professor.
God often shuts us in so that we have no choice but to love. — Ann Varnum —