To thine own self be true

So I'm only about 12 years behind the times.
Last night Josh brought Renaissance Man home so we could watch it (his parents had it on tape). What a fun movie!
I thought it interesting, though, that I learned more about Hamlet from a Danny DeVito movie than I did from studying it in English class AND watching the Mel Gibson movie of it. Why is that?
I told Josh that I wished my teachers were like that. He reminded me, MC was. (so then I changed it and said "I wish my English teachers had been like that!") But rather than focus on the negative, I'll focus on the positive, and what really happened.
For anyone that saw Mr. Holland's Opus, Mr. Holland seemed like the most amazing music teacher ever. He got kids to do things they never imagined they were capable of doing. But to me, he was just a little better than mediocre.
I had one of the best band teachers this world has ever seen. No kidding. This guy rocked! A couple months ago I looked over my scores and sheets from Solo Festivals from 9th to 12th grade. I went from "having potential" to "wow" in 4 years. I give him the credit for that (yes, God gave me the ability to play, but MC really brought that talent out). It was because of him I went on to study music ed, and loved my time in music classes in college. (it's not his fault I stopped teaching after 2 years...maybe if I'd had a band, instead of a general music class, I would have kept going)
Any time I had to write a paper on a person who influenced my life, I would write about him. He made us work, and work hard. He didn't put up with my excuses, and he got me to stop making excuses altogether. He loved us. We knew he loved the Lord, but he didn't preach...just loved us and let that love show us the Father. He sought excellence from us in all areas, not just our musicianship.
So thank you, MC, for everything you taught me. Thank you for showing me that our mission field is whereever God puts us. Thank you for praying for us, demanding as much excellence of yourself as you did of us.