Back in the spring of 1993, I received my first teaching job at a boarding school in West Virginia for underachieving junior high students. I taught active learning classes in the morning, tutored students in various subjects each afternoon and led a workshop in the evening during the Spring semester. The 3 subjects I was responsible for were probably my 3 weakest areas at this time in my life: language arts, communication and poetry. However, God used this position as a stepping stone, a work in progress to prepare me for future endeavors. This first teaching experience inspired the following poem.
A LAMP STAND of GRACE
My attempts to be a light for Christ
Is hampered by a weaken flesh
Faulty wires and burnt out bulbs
Often shut off this light daily
A Chief Electrician went into business
To deliver customers from the dark
Justifying the sins of the world
By raising a light out of this darkness
The Spirit is willing to lead you
Throughout a journey of faith
To gain access into the mystery
Of a Lamp Stand full of God’s grace
I have tried to stand upon a hill
Where the light of Christ will be seen
But when I left this original source
My faith was only a dream
Grace is not achieved through works of mankind
Nor gained by the life which you live
The only way to receive this gift
Is by embracing the ONE who has come!
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 