Mrs Reid Retires
Mrs Reid joined The Vine in 2016 as a support teacher giving extra lessons to our children who needed them. Later, when the Grade R post became available she successfully applied for the post.
Now, when Mrs Reid started at our school, she had been teaching for many years and she had never heard of Ambleside and how we teach at Ambleside schools. And as I look back, one of her attributes that stand out for me is her teachability. Mrs Reid was willing to do all she had to do to learn a very different way of teaching and had to learn new skills.
Another beautiful thing we have come to know about Mrs Reid is her love for gardening. In fact, it was Mrs Reid who established our Grade garden and over the years our staff and students have enjoyed the fruit of her loving labour. From that beautiful garden we have enjoyed strawberries, lemons, granadillas, mint, fennel and also just the beauty of the different flowers and trees. Teachers sometimes just sit in the garden and admire the beauty of God’s creation and also pray to Him.
Speaking of fruit - in the Bible, in the book of Galatians, we learn about the fruit of the spirit that we as Christians must allow the Holy Spirit to develop in us. Mrs Reid, we have certainly seen in you the fruit of the spirit and three that stand out for me are love, gentleness and peace.
Love… your evident love for Jesus and your family
Gentleness… your gentle yet powerful interactions with staff, parents and pupils
Peace…how you allow the Holy Spirit to give you the peace that surpasses all understanding. I remember how you underwent two medical procedures in hospital and even though you may have felt anxious, I saw you allow the Holy Spirit to give you God’s peace.
Mrs Reid, you did not have to speak about these things to instruct anyone in them you have lived them out. We are incredibly grateful to have been inspired by you. You have sown these seeds of the fruit of the spirit in the lives of the children you have taught over the years, you have inspired your friends and colleagues at The Vine to also allow the Holy Spirit to cultivate these fruits in our lives. Thank you.
In the 9 years that you have been with us you have shown us what faithful service looks like and our prayer as you go into this new season of serving others as you work alongside your husband in his business, is that more people would be drawn to Jesus through you and the fruits of the spirit that you so graciously live out.
And whenever we sit in that beautiful Grade R garden, we will miss you and think fondly of you and be grateful to God for the blessing you have been to us.
May our Heavenly Father richly bless you and continue to use you for His glory and for the sake of others.
