To find people who are well-acquainted with operating in life’s messy gray-area, we need to look no further than the dedicated men and women of our educational system. In this episode of Operating in the Gray, I invite Kentucky educators Tina Tipton and Artavia Acklin to share their experience in navigating how to be God’s light in the classroom. Whether you’re an educator yourself or not, every Outsider will benefit from hearing how these two women came to recognize teaching as a ministry and how we too can live out God’s love, even when we’re operating in the gray.

Episode Highlights

0:08 - How do we operate in the gray in the classroom? Welcome educators Tina Tipton and Mrs. Artavia Acklin

1:40 - Impact over income: why Mrs. Acklin chose to come back and teach in her small hometown

3:49 - Flashback to 1968! What 50 years has taught Tipton about teaching as a passion (and how its ministry goes hand-in-hand with Going Outside)

5:08 - “I just want the babies at school and to know that they’re safe.” How God called Mrs. Acklin and her staff to step out and extend love to immigrant families

8:40 - From tradition to technology: the one thing that Tipton says hasn’t changed in education since the sixties

10:50 - What inspired Lee the most about his conversation with Tipton

11:39 - Want some wisdom? What Mrs. Acklin and Tipton want to tell you about operating in the gray