A Rock of Safety

I know what it means to see a loved one on a ventilator in a medically-induced coma and “call in the family”. 

I am not only a professor but also an Army wife to a soldier—who was initially thought to be the first domestic case of SARS.  My husband, now medically-retired, was ultimately diagnosed with what doctors could only call “allergy-induced asthma.” 

Yet, as a Christ-following professor, I also know what it means to rely on my Savior, my Rock to get through tough times.

He’s been my Rock in the past. So I guess it’s time for me to be a rock to my students–who need a sense of normalcy. 

In the last weeks of school, it is up to us to provide normalcy in as many ways as possible through the help of our Savior. It is not our job to downplay the significance of all the changes–athletics and arts events cancel, classed modalities changed, graduations canceled or postponed—but to prayerfully and steadily love them through it.

Like other educators, I now teach online, yet there are things I do in my practice that have not changed.

I still have high expectations for performance, check-in with students about how they are doing, ask for feedback on projects and instruction, add humor to my lessons as much as possible, and most of all stay available. 

I’m still reminded to pray for my students and fellow faculty and staff members.

As professors, we have become a lifeline to college students who had their worlds turned upside down.

And, when we return to campus in the fall, life will not be the same as it was when we left.

And as Christian professors, it will be our job to show the love of Christ to students and help them to deal with their new reality. 

Perhaps in the Lord’s closing of college and church buildings, He has deployed Christian professors to serve a generation of students in such a time as this. 

Perhaps it is our duty, both now and in the future, to be their rock of safety in His name.