Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac . I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day . So grab your cup of coffee , sit back , relax and let me help you start your day right . John Maxwell is a very powerful teacher about leadership . He describes leadership in one word .
He calls it influence , and , whether we realize it or not , we all are leaders in some way , shape or form , because we all influence people around us . We can either be a good influence or we can be a very negative influence .
Over in the book of Ephesians , chapter 5 and verse 15 , we are given this instruction Be very careful , then , how you live , not as unwise , but as wise , making the most of every opportunity , because the days are evil . Every day that we live , we have the opportunity to influence people around us .
Some of us more than others Teachers particularly have this ability to influence the lives of young children , and I want to tell you a story today about one of those teachers . This is the story of Mrs Thompson who , many years ago , taught a grade 5 elementary school class .
On the very first day of school she looked over her class and she saw slumped down in his seat in the front row , a little boy named Teddy Stoddard . Mrs Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and had noticed that he didn't play well with the other children and that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath . And Teddy could be unpleasant .
In fact he could be downright unruly , and it got to the point where Mrs Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen , marking bold X's and then putting a big fat F at the top of his papers .
At the school where Mrs Thompson taught , she was required to view each child's past records and she put Teddy's stoddards off until last . However , when she reviewed his file , she was in for a surprise . Teddy's first grade teacher wrote Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh . He does his work neatly and has good manners . He's a real joy to be around .
His second grade teacher wrote Teddy Stoddard is an excellent student , well liked by his classmates , but he's troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a real struggle . His third grade teacher wrote his mother's death has been hard on him .
He tries to do his best but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if steps are not taken . Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote Teddy started his withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school . He doesn't have many friends and sometimes he sleeps in class .
By now Mrs Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself . She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper . Except for Teddy's . His present was clumsily wrapped in heavy brown paper that he'd gotten from a grocery bag . Mrs Thompson took great pains to open it .
In the middle of the other presents , some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing and a bottle that was a quarter full of perfume . She stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was and she put it on and dabbed some of the perfume on her wrist .
"'teddy stayed after school that day just long enough to say "'Mrs Thompson , today you smell just like my mom used to' "'After the children left , she cried for at least an hour . "'on that very day she quit teaching reading , writing and arithmetic "'and instead she began to teach children . "'mrs Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy .
"'as she worked with him his mind seemed to come alive . "'the more she encouraged him , the faster he responded . By the end of the year , teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class . A year later she found a note under her door from Teddy telling her that she was the best teacher he had ever had in his whole life .
Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy . He then wrote that he had finished high school third in his class before she got another note from Teddy . He then wrote that he had finished high school third in his class and she was still the best teacher he had ever had .
Four years after that she got another letter saying that while things had been tough at times , he'd stayed in school and stuck it out and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors . He assured Mrs Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life . Four more years passed and yet another letter came .
This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree he decided to go a little further . The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had , but now his name was a little longer . The letter was signed Theodore F Stoddard , md . The story doesn't end there , you see . There was yet another letter that spring .
Teddy said he'd met this girl and he was going to be married , and he was wondering if Mrs Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom . Of course Mrs Thompson did , and guess what ?
She wore that bracelet , the one with the several rhinestones missing , and she made sure she was wearing that perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing . On their last Christmas together they hugged each other and Dr Stoddard whispered into Mrs Thompson's ear Thank you , mrs Thompson , for believing in me .
Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference . Mrs Thompson , with tears in her eyes , whispered back . She said Influence . We have the ability to influence people around us every day , and sometimes we don't know the depth of what that is .
We truly do need to be very careful , then , how we live , not as the unwise but as the wise , making the very most of every opportunity . Have a great day , my friends . We'll talk again tomorrow . Thank you for listening today and I invite you to join me Monday to Friday , right here on Starting Right , with Danny Mac .