Life and Death with words

I was visiting with Tiffany last night, and we were looking at my old yearbooks. A certain teacher's picture was visible, and I told her how he had spoken death to me in 3rd grade. The Bible speaks of humans having the ability to speak life to others or to speak death. We need to choose our words carefully, because some words can not only hurt but can alter the course of someone's life for good OR bad.

Here is what happened to me in 3rd grade: This teacher walked in to all three 3rd grade classrooms and went around the room asking each and every child what they wanted to be when they grow up. The children would answer him, and he would ask the next one. However, if we answered, "A teacher," he stated, "Oh, so you want to be poor your whole life?" Now, I knew my parents were not well-off, and I certainly did not want to be poor! What was I to do? I had dreamed of being a teacher my whole life to that point! I was one of the kids who answered, "Teacher." From that day on, I knew my dream had to be thrown away. I did not know what I should do. I tossed around some ideas during Jr. High, and my Senior year, I decided I liked accounting. I began college thinking I would get an Accounting degree, but decided the first year of college that I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to lose any credits that I already had, so I opted for Business Administration. Now, I'm glad I received my degree, but guess what I am doing now? Teaching. My dream didn't have to be thrown away (thank you, Lord), but I wonder what kind of a teacher I could be if I would've received more training and went for a teaching degree.

Now, perhaps this man had wanted a raise and didn't receive one and was just taking out his anger this way...it's hypothetical, but he could've had some reason to be ranting and raving about teachers being poor. I don't know. However, 3rd graders don't have the ability to rationalize that. All we heard were his words about how bad it was to be a teacher. Death.

Lesson: Be careful what you say, especially to children. It could affect the rest of their lives.