The Woman Of Doubt

A woman came into the school office the other day. She wanted information on enrolling her daughter in our Christian School. She was upfront, she said with a voice of authority "I want you to be honest with me, what can I expect, are you going to punish my child for not knowing the Bible Stories?" She continued telling me that she was not interested in religion, she was not interested in coming to church every time the doors were opened... she went on and on for several minutes. When she was done I said "We intend to love your child, to teach her about God, and how He loves her." She continued telling me how she did not want her child to be picked on because she comes from a "non religious" family. Before I showed her around I told her what to expect from our school. I told her we believe it is a parent responsibility to teach and train their children about God. We are here to assist the families, but the ultimate responsibility is given to the parents. I told her we would teach her child Bible Stories, Bible Verses and how God wants us to treat others. After I told her that I asked her if she would have a problem with that because if she opposes "religion" it may be a problem later down the road as her child's faith grows and she begins to learn about God. She looked surprised at my straight forwardness. (actually I was surprised at myself as well)
She decided to take a tour of our school, when we were finished she thanked me and left. I kept thinking maybe I was to straightforward? But I really believed what I was telling her so I pushed it out of my mind and went back to work.
Later that day on our way home I told Manny about how she had so many questions of how we would handle different situations. I also felt uncomfortable of how I handle the situation because I had just received a call about William's heart surgery. (You really have to be "UP" when you give a tour of the school, I was anything but "UP"! ) Manny does what he does best by reassuring me that I was led by the Lord to say what I said. The next day I went to work and really thought this woman would not return. The phone rang and she was on the other end, she asked for me. (Oh, no you're in trouble the devil whispered in my ear:). Then the most amazing thing happened, she said thank you for taking the time to talk with me. She continued by saying how she appreciated the honesty and she was going to enroll her daughter because of our conversation. I was shocked! She even told me she thought it would be a good idea to start reading the Bible Stories to her daughter so she would be more familiar with them. After I hung up the phone I wanted to cry. It is God that brings the families to us and all we need to do is tell them what we believe without watering down the truth. She came a woman of doubt and left a woman of faith.