The multigrade classroom was buzzing with excitement. December at last! Christmas would soon be here, and this was the week for painting Christmas scenes on classroom windows. Second and third graders, having done this before, were more than happy to work with the first graders, the “new kids on the block.”
There was much concentration as each child created a practice drawing on paper, using the brightest colors possible, which were sure to bring life to the clear glass windows of their church school classroom. Some children chose to work in small groups, while a few others preferred to work alone.
Once the window space was divided to everyone’s satisfaction, the windowsills and carpeting were carefully covered to catch any spills or splashes from overly enthusiastic artists. At last it was time to begin painting, each child wearing either an oversize painting smock or one of dad’s old shirts.
Before long a manger scene began to appear on one window, a Christmas tree overflowing with decorations on another window. Soon a variety of Christmas wreaths and gift-wrapped presents, shining angels and bright stars, and shepherds and lambs all began to fill the empty spaces. Since tempera paint is washable, mistakes could easily be wiped away and corrected.
Much giggling and chattering meant that everyone was having fun. Teacher, while trying to ignore the increasing level of noisy excitement, was kept busier than ever, washing paintbrushes and shaking large bottles of tempera paint to fill smaller containers in the color requested by each child. From past experience she knew that painting classroom windows was definitely not a quiet activity, nor should it be. Sometimes happiness has to be expressed with more than just a smile.
Since red and green are the most popular colors at Christmastime, Teacher noticed that some of the children would soon need more green paint. Picking up the large container of green tempera paint to give it a good shake, she never noticed that the lid was not screwed on tightly. Just one vigorous shake of her right hand was all it took for the green paint to erupt like a volcano.
In an instant Teacher turned bright green; well, at least the right half of her did. She was Christmas green from head to toe, right down the middle!
Just as suddenly all the happy sounds stopped. No giggling or whispering now. The silence was deafening. All eyes, large beyond description, and mostly full of questions and uncertainty, stared at their green teacher.
While not one child said a word during those few seconds, Teacher was struggling to choose how to react to turning green. As she looked through the one green lens of her eyeglasses, all the way down to her one green shoe, she felt pure frustration. It isn’t easy being green! But in those few seconds her teacher instincts took over, and she realized how ridiculous she must look. For the sake of the children in her classroom, she knew without a doubt what she had to do.
So even though it was the very last thing she wanted to do, she took a deep breath and threw back her head in a hearty laugh. That gave every child in the room permission to join her in laughing uproariously. This was the funniest thing that had happened in their classroom all year!
How long they kept laughing, it is hard to say. Some of the children who were still at their desks laughed so hard they fell from their seats onto the floor. And the teacher, who didn’t want to laugh at all, suddenly couldn’t stop laughing, for how often does a teacher turn green?
She laughed while she washed her glasses. She laughed while she wiped her one green shoe. She laughed while she soaked her half-green, half-blue sweater in the classroom sink. Everyone laughed until there were no more laughs left. This was indeed a Christmas event never to be forgotten. Teacher even laughed that evening in the shower when she realized that some of her skin was colored green, and she was thankful that tempera paint is indeed washable.
It doesn’t take a wise man to know that “a cheerful heart is good medicine” (Prov. 17:22). While one would never laugh
at someone who made a silly mistake, it is perfectly proper to laugh with the person who owns the problem.
So next time you’re in the middle of an embarrassing situation and you don’t feel like laughing, try doing it anyway. Laughing is contagious, whatever your age. It will give those around you permission to enjoy a good laugh with you, and you will feel all the better for it.
Now about those classrooms windows: After the paintings were finished, the decorated windows were enjoyed and admired by friends and families alike. Perhaps someone may have noticed a Christmas tree that was not quite straight, or a wreath that was a little lopsided. Maybe that angel in the top corner of the window was a little hard to identify, or perhaps someone had never seen a pink lamb before. But that’s OK. The children knew that the windows were pretty when they saw the smiling faces of their parents looking from the outside in.
And when the sun shone through the windows into the classroom, all agreed that the painted scenes were really very beautiful. And just maybe, many of the children would even say that the bright green on the windows was their favorite color of all.
Of course!
