On Saturday, God allowed me to attend a celebration of life service for Harriette Blanton, a family friend and my sixth-grade teacher. Her grandchildren honored her beautifully. It was apparent she loved her family well and made each one feel individually special. Then her son-in-law celebrated her with the following scripture.

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In fact, he said it was the Holy Spirit that lead him to use this passage for Harriette. Instead of going through all of the attributes of the “fruit of the spirit”, he honed in on the first, which is love. He spoke of her deep love for Jesus, her husband, her family, her friends, and her students. Honestly, God could not have given him a more appropriate or timely verse.

Upon learning of Harriette’s death, I was reminded of what she did for me as my teacher, and I can certainly tell you that she couldn’t have displayed the love of Christ any more than she did to my punkish self. She displayed to me His grace and His mercy through her love for me.

Our family met Clint, Harriette, Joy and Julie shortly after moving to Columbus. We were all members of the Columbus Baptist Church. In addition, Harriette was a school teacher at Stearns Elementary where we attended school. Also, Joy and Kristi became fast and best friends, a friendship that has stood the test of time.

During my sixth-grade year, which was still elementary school in those days. We were all geared up and excited to be the BIG DOGS on campus. Our teacher was Mrs. Pat Hill whose reputation as a great teacher preceded her. She was well-loved by her former students.

I do not remember exactly the length of time she was our teacher, but long enough that most of us were very fond of her. We entered our classroom one day to discover that she was being sent to Kindergarten and Harriette, the Kindergarten teacher was moving up to sixth grade. We never knew why, and we were crushed, or at least some us were.

Honestly from day one of Mrs. Blanton (aka Harriette) entering our classroom, I was determined to make her as miserable as I was. Trust me when I say, I said and did things that I am not proud of. The straw that broke the camel’s back was the day she discovered some ugly things I had written about her in a note. She was broken by my words. I couldn’t deny it because it was my handwriting, but initially I did not feel any remorse.

She didn’t immediately reprimand me. Instead, she waited until it was time for recess. That’s when she asked me to come talk with her. I will never forget the sadness in her eyes, and she asked, “Is that really how you feel about me? What have I done to make you feel that way?” If she felt anger, she never displayed it, only hurt.

That’s what broke me, the hurt I saw in her eyes. My words had cut her deeply. Then I had to answer honestly the question she asked. “Not, I really don’t feel that way about you. I’ve been angry because they switched our teachers. I am sorry I said those mean, hateful things.”

Tears filed her eyes as she hugged me, “I forgive you. I know you’re angry, and I know you’ve had a lot of change over the past few years in your life. I am not going to talk to the Principal about this, nor and I going to tell your parents. I know deep down you did not mean to hurt me. I love you.”

There it is….like Brian (aka Spanky) said on Saturday, the predominant fruit of the spirit Harriette possessed was her love. Our of the overflow of her love, other characteristics of the fruit were also on display, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self control. (I’m singing the children’s song, can you tell?)

As I mentioned before, that day, Harriette Blanton, not only displayed love, but God used her in a mighty way to show me what His mercy and His grace looks like. She could’ve easily taken me straight to the Principal’s office, but she didn’t She should’ve called my parents. Instead she showed me love when I least deserved it.

Oh, how thankful, grateful, and blessed I am that Harriette Blanton was an integral part of my early years.