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Speckle Stories are testimonies of God in my life. I tell them to my students hoping they will see God too. It started about 15 years ago with my middle school physical education class. These girls were very special and we shared more than PE together, we shared life. Most are now graduated from college and married but when I see them they inevitably say, “Coach, tell us a speckle story.” They are as excited to hear how God shows up in my life, as I am to tell them. As time progresses and I grow deeper in my relationship with God, these Speckle Stories have become more than stories of how I see God in my life they are more of discovering how God sees me. Last year about this time I wrote a blog entitled “El Roi, the God who sees”. I was struggling through my sixth year of widowhood wondering if God had forgotten me at the time of writing. There are times when I feel alone, knowing He is with me but wondering if He really sees me. Recently I have been struggling with my ministry in teaching Home Economics. My co-worker sends me this email. I will let you read her words:
“A speckle story….I was at my daughter’s gymnastics classes after work on Friday…I sat down pulled out my papers and my laptop and began grading papers. A lady I have never met or seen sat down across from me and asked are you a teacher. I began to laugh and said yes. She asked what school do you teach at? I responded with CCA. She said oh wow! We talked for a little bit and then she said…I took a tour there. She said do you want to know the part I was most impressed with besides the beautiful campus and facilities… I said what was that… She said I think I was in the Home Ec classroom…. I said oh yeah with a smile, the garden is pretty impressive isn’t it! She said yes, but that wasn’t it…it was the boys learning to sew on the sewing machines! She said I saw strong athletic looking boys sitting in front of a sewing machine. That was pretty impressive. Wow! A speckle story! A Speckle story is just that…a speckle of Gods grace, love, & mercies that He allows us to see or be a part of! For me, God was just reminding me the importance of this class and the impact it has on our students, families, and it’s reach outside of the campus. Hopefully this is an encouragement to you Tina to remain strong!”
It did encourage me, more than I can say! God sees me.
He knows my heart better than I know my own. Because within that same week as I was standing at the curb of the school crossing the students as I do on most mornings, I parent dropped off their child but afterwards returned. She said “I came back because I sensed you are not yourself today. Are you ok?” I told her it was just probably because of the holiday season and explained how I was a widow. We talked for a bit and I found out that she too was a widow. She went on to tell me that she had lost her son last year as well. He died on a motorcycle! If that wasn’t enough, the little girl she brings to school every morning is her granddaughter, the daughter of her deceased son and her name is Avery. This little Avery lost her dad on a motorcycle just like my Avery. God sees me! He knew my heart was sad that morning and wanted me to know I was not alone. Daily I would talk and pray with this women as she brought her granddaughter to school and she ended up inviting us to her home for Thanksgiving Dinner. Avery and I brought my famous chocolate chip cookies, the ones I would bake for the firemen and we had a wonderful time. As we stood at the table to pray with the 20 or so guests including little Avery I looked down at my plate and next to it was a cookie. Everyone had decorated cookies next to their plates, some were shaped like turkeys, others fall leaves, but mine was a fire truck. Yes, God sees me. Speckled again.