Three very important minutes

This afternoon, God blessed me through three very important minutes with one of my students. Praise Him for all He is teaching me each and every day, as I journey through this year of change and discovery.
So what happened? I have had a lot of difficulty convincing one of my students that he needs to do his homework. Yesterday, after a month of other strategies, he had a chat with the principal and I told him that if he continued to not do the homework without good reason I would need to contact his parents. Today, his homework was done.
Then this afternoon, as I was handing back some other work, I discovered his copy of the worksheet was missing. He said he didn't know where it was, and so we went and had a look in his bag together. What I found there prompted me to ask a question about his parents, and his response to that question prompted a longer conversation. In talking with him, I discovered that both his parents are presently in other countries, one just for a short time and the other for a longer time.
That made me think! I wish I had taken more time earlier to find out what was happening in this boy's life outside of school, and to let him know that he matters, and that I really care about him, not just his homework/schoolwork. When I moved to this school, the importance of relationships was emphasised. Today, reminded me of this. My personality type has a tendency to focus on getting the lessons taught, and the academics of education. Praise God that He is teaching me, ever so gently, to get more in touch with the Feeling and Intuitive sides of my personality, and to be more thoughtful about the who of teaching rather than the how & what. If you pray for me, then pray that I will continue to be sensitive to both God and my students as I learn to focus more on relationships and a little less on academics.