The Lord is My Shepherd...He leads me to the park and the pool?

Applying Scripture in the ESL Classroom!

Often I'll share a verse of scripture with my students as it relates to the topic they've been studying for the evening. For example, if we're teaching about food or clothing, the Scripture about the lilies of the field would be a great opportunity to remind my students that although we need to learn the language for these things, God doesn't want us to worry about them. He will provide!

A couple weeks ago, after reading yet another discouraging news report about the economy, God led me to Psalm 43:5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Though it wasn't related to our lesson, I figured our students needed the encouragement as much as I did. After reading it aloud in class, one of my students said "That's it!" She had been feeling so discouraged and tired and this verse really ministered to her spirit.

Last week, Psalm 23:1-3 spoke volumes to me, so again I thought to share Scriptures of encouragement with my class. One of my quieter, shyer students boldly read the Scripture in his native Spanish. Another student read the verses in Thai. She finished with 'mmmm...very nice.' I then read the verse in English. As I was reading, I pictured the green grass and the quiet water and asked our students which of their new words they thought of when they read this. Clara called out, "The Park!"

After class, the teachers were sharing with one another the verses they'd shared with their classes that evening. I related this story and Grace came up with a new version...The Lord is my Shepherd, He leads me to the park and the pool. We got a good laugh from it, but there's some truth to that. God leads us to places of refreshment. He knows we need it and in His great love for us, He provides it. I know I'll never read this passage again without thinking of my students, and the park and the pool :-)