“Set up for
yourself roadmarks, place for yourself guideposts; direct your mind to the
highway, the way by which you went.” Jer. 31:21a
The first
illustration in The Schoolhouse is
this painting of my grandmother’s Bible. The artist cleverly added the tin cup
of brown-eyed Susans to help create the Appalachian Mountain setting for her
story.
I
keep that treasured little Bible on a bookshelf in our library. Inside the
tattered old cover held together by yellowed strips of Scotch tape is the
handwritten inscription:
Gertie
Thomas, Dec. 25, 1902
From Albert R. Rawtin, for
good attendance in Sunday School.
Grandmother
would have been six years old that Christmas. I’ve searched, to no avail, the
stained, fragile pages for underlined verses or notes recording her thoughts or
feelings. The only markings I’ve found, however, are checks and numbers
scribbles in the top corners of pages in Genesis, Matthew, Luke, and John -
indicators that Grandmother spent time in the Word of God.
What story
will your roadmarks tell?
About
The Schoolhouse:
In 1955,
my grandmother wrote a detailed letter to her daughter (my mother) describing
her adventures as a young teacher in the backwoods of the Appalachians. In
her letter, Grandmother encouraged Mother to turn those adventures into a short
story and submit it for publication. While my mother never attempted that
assignment, she passed on to me the handwritten record of this beautiful, true
tale of faith, determination, danger, servitude, and love.
From a
heart-dream conceived years ago, comes The
Schoolhouse, a story/work book birthed through that courageous teacher’s
granddaughter. It is my hope that my grandmother’s story will encourage you to
depend more deeply on God, inspire you to persevere through difficult
circumstances, and motivate you to finish life strong.
No
teacher had completed a full term at that one-room, eight-grade schoolhouse in
over four years. Neither the warnings of unruly students and an “unbalanced”
boy’s attacks on the school nor reports of a dangerous “bewitched” woman
deterred young Elsie from accepting the challenge to teach at Shady Grove
School tucked deep in the woods on Whitwell Mountain.
The shrill blast of the engine whistle sounded within moments
of her settling into the first available window seat on the train destined for
a coal mining community near her school. The click-clack-click of the wheels
along the rails and rhythmic sway of the coach helped to calm her nervousness.
Imaginations of the adventures to come played across Elsie’s mind as she looked
out on the fertile valley.
No imaginations, however, could have
prepared her for the fierce trials the new teacher soon faced. When her
determination grew weak, Elsie turned to God again and again for
the courage, wisdom, and resolve needed to finish her term at The Schoolhouse.
(To purchase, go to amazon.com or email misjill413@aol.com)
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