Auctioned Off to the Highest Bidder

Auctioned Off

The first year I taught third grade students in Texas I was auctioned off. That’s only one of the differences I discovered between teaching in Texas and teaching in Florida.

The curriculum was different. The state standards were different. Parent involvement was different. And we certainly never auctioned off our teachers.

We didn’t have such a thing in Florida, and I wasn’t quite sure that I liked the idea of being auctioned off, if you want to know the truth.

It was the annual spring fundraising carnival that introduced me to the practice of auctioning off time with teachers to the highest bidder. The whole idea of being auctioned off frightened me.

What if none of my students bid on spending time with me? How horrible would that be? “Poor Mrs. Quandt. None of her students liked her enough to bid on an opportunity to go on an outing with her.” Can you imagine the horror of such a thing?

Turns out, though, I had no need to worry. Seems I was more in demand than I thought.

Auction Day

The day of the carnival, I was nervous about the whole auction thing.

I’d turned in my activity to be auctioned off, and the bidding sheet was on the auction table.

The activity was a morning spent bowling with me and a friend of the top bidder’s choice, along with lunch.

Before I headed to my assigned volunteer post, I nonchalantly wandered through the Silent Auction area. I scanned the sheet with my name on it. Wonders of wonders, someone placed an early bid on the sheet already. The student was McKenzie.

As I had time throughout the day, I checked my sheet. Something I noticed was that whenever someone other than McKenzie placed a bid, her name appeared beneath it with a higher bid.

Protecting Her Bid

At some point in the day as I wandered through the Silent Auction area, I saw McKenzie standing next to my sheet.

She held her hand firmly over it.

Curious, I thought.

After it was announced that McKenzie was the highest bidder for the outing, I spoke with her mother.

I mentioned how glad I was McKenzie won, and told her I looked forward to our time together. We discussed the details of what I had in mind. Once she checked her calendar, we would coordinate a future time and date.

As we spoke, McKenzie’s mom told me the last time her daughter came asking to up her bid, she’d given McKenzie an amount. She told McKenzie that was as high as she’d go. McKenzie’s mother had two other children at the school who also wanted to bid on their teacher. She had to set a limit for each of them.

This One’s Mine

McKenzie’s mom went on to explain that once McKenzie wrote that final bid, the third grader wouldn’t budge from the sheet. Instead, she placed her hand on it. All other potential bidders were turned away as McKenzie told them, “This one’s mine.”

That brought tears to my eyes. The thought that spending time with me was so important, so valuable, to my little third grader that she was willing to forego experiencing all the pleasures and excitement of the carnival in order to protect her time with me, about broke my heart.

McKenzie wasn’t one to sit on the sidelines. No. She was a star athlete who dreamed of being an Olympic soccer player like Mia Hamm, and was well on her way to achieving that goal.

So, standing watch over a sheet of paper with my name on it instead of running around outside, truly meant quite a lot to me.

Jesus Wants to Spend Time With Us

As I thought about this scene from two decades ago, I remembered someone else who wants to spend time with me.

Someone who said, “This one’s mine.” Jesus.

McKenzie protected her auction bid by placing her hand over the sheet with my name on it.

Every time Jesus stands before his Father in heaven and pleads my case on my behalf, he puts his hand on the Book of Life where my name is written.

There he boldly proclaims, “This one’s mine. I paid a high price to spend eternity with her.”

Your Turn

Jesus paid a high price to spend eternity with us. He offered his own perfect, sinless life as the price. He left his throne in glory, came to earth as an infant, and lived among his creation so he could understand what it is like to be us. And through understanding, he is our High Priest, Mediator, Intercessor, and Advocate who pleads our case before his Father.

Christ willingly allowed himself to be treated as the worst of criminals, tortured mercilessly, and crucified for each of those who claim him as Lord of their lives.

He did it for you and for me. All so he can stand before God and say of us, “This one’s mine.”

McKenzie sacrificed a day at the carnival. All so she could win the auction bid, and spend time with me.

Jesus sacrificed his all to win our hearts so he can spend eternity with us. That should bring tears to our eyes and break our hearts.

How much are we willing to sacrifice to spend time with Jesus?

This certain hope of being saved is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls, connecting us with God himself behind the sacred curtains of heaven, where Christ has gone ahead to plead for us from his position as our High Priest, with the honor and rank of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:19-20 (TLB)

If you’d like to read another post of my adventures as an elementary school teacher, you can find one here.

I wish you well.

Sandy

Photos courtesy Pixabay.