Wednesday, January 10, 2007

thinking back..


I received a flier in the mail today that had pictures of a student from Blackhawk Christian School (my old school)that passed away in 1992 of leukemia. His name was Greg Hindle and his passing had a pretty profound effect on the school. The flier was a reminder of the "Gregory E. Hindle Memorial Endowment Fund". I was glad to get it as i didn't even know it existed.

One of the pictures in this flier showed Greg sitting in a bathtub at school (fully clothed of course). Those of you that read this that are from BCS in the "old days" remember the significance of the bathtub. For those that aren't aware, one of our teachers -- Tom Cashen -- had an old bathtub in his room. We as students were allowed to sit in it occasionally as he read books from C.S. Lewis to us.

Tom had a profound effect on me an many other students.

He consistently encouraged us to LIVE OUT what we believed, not just believe it.

He would do things like come into class with his robe, slippers, messed up hair and coffee while acting out how he wakes up in the morning and opens the Bible. This visual still sticks with me today --- i have also taken on the habit of rising early to open the Word largely do to this.

Tom figured out long ago how to connect with kids and "LIVE OUT" his faith in the workplace. He used to be the driver's education leader and used that as a forum to connect with kids in the car. He still connects with kids today -- not in BCS -- but in the public school system. He has been a great encouragement to me and I hope to be the same to others.

1 comment:

Mike said...

I actually thought the same thing when I got the letter about Hindle. That tub was a classic and made me think of Mr. C! I remember his "skit" of morning devos and think of it often when I have my quiet time.

He is the kind of teacher I hope to be someday. (If I ever get there...) I don't remember much of the content that he taught, (maybe a couple spanish words) but I remember the impact he made on our lives and the great example he was. Thanks for the great reminder of the impact we need to make for Christ.