Teaching Versus Testimony

I always knew I had a calling to be a teacher. That’s a story for another time (lol), but it has always been woven into the fabric of who I am.

After being forced into retirement because of chronic health issues, hitting the lowest point in my life, and finally surrendering it all to God, something new began to stir inside me. A strong calling, not to stand in front of a classroom, but to write.

Of course, my trauma-shadow self was quick to speak up:

"What do you have to offer?

Why do you think you’re so special?

What could you possibly know that anyone else would want to learn from?"

It was a powerful and humbling moment. But the more I leaned into the pull, the stronger the urge became, not to teach, but to share testimony.

Sixty-two years of living, surviving, stumbling, and rising again had given me stories that were life-changing for me, and maybe - just maybe - they could plant a seed for someone else.

Back when I was an education major working toward my master’s, I once stood on a stage and said: "If I can impact even one student’s life, then everything I’ve ever been through will be worth it."

That declaration still holds true. As I started sharing my stories now, outside the classroom walls, I realized the same spirit was at work. It felt so much like my teacher-self, yet at the same time completely different.

The Distinction

Teaching is the imparting of knowledge.

Testimony is showing that knowledge lived out in 3D.

Teaching is the border of a puzzle... the solid frame that holds everything in place. Testimony is all the pieces that fill in the picture and bring it to life.

Teaching is laying the foundation of a house.

Testimony is filling that house with intentional, meaningful items that turn it into a home.

So if I was truly called to teach - and I believe with my whole heart that I was - then I was also being called to give testimony.

That’s where I landed: I will no longer question the value of my own testimony. It is my soul’s purpose. It is the voice God has asked me to use.

And if my story can touch even one life, then it is already enough.