Story of the Week: Called To Love

Emily works as a teacher but her truest calling is to love her students well.

As Emily Hanenburg watched her former student, Taryn, step into the baptism waters at Woodmen, she could trace the quiet faithfulness of God through the years.

Emily recalled when Taryn was a shy kindergartner in her first class. They stayed connected as the years passed, through conversations at cross-country practices, morning drives during a family crisis and honest talks as Taryn navigated college.

Emily could never have planned how each small interaction would build upon the last. She had simply tried to see the person God placed in front of her and love well.

“Sometimes God brings people into our lives, and we just have to say yes to what He brings in front of us,” Emily shares. “The Lord was working, and we all got to be a part of it.”

A SEED PLANTED

Emily understands how a teacher’s faithful presence can shape a life. She grew up in a Christian home and attended a Christian school in Colorado Springs. One day, her kindergarten teacher shared the gospel with the class, and Emily remembers praying to accept Jesus into her heart.

These days, the woman who planted that seed sits just a pew away from Emily at Woodmen’s Rockrimmon campus. Their lives have remained intertwined in ways neither could have predicted: Emily has taught the woman’s grandchildren and now coaches them in cross country.

After graduating from TCA, Emily attended the University of Colorado Boulder, where she competed on the cross country team. The environment was a long way from the Christian community she had known, but God used Emily’s time there to deepen her understanding of ministry.

Her place on the team was about more than her own athletic performance; it was an opportunity to see, serve and care for teammates. “I got to learn about seeing people well and loving people well,” she says.

CALLED BACK

For much of her life, Emily imagined that obedience to God might take her overseas into missions. But when her mom became sick, she returned to Colorado Springs. During her senior year of college, a former high school teacher and track coach invited her back to TCA as a coach. Soon, she also accepted a teaching position there.

Emily spent eight years teaching Spanish and art to elementary students while coaching at the high school level. In 2019, an opportunity arose for her to move fully into the high school. She loved her elementary students and wrestled with the decision, but dividing her time between two schools was increasingly difficult.

She prayed, took the step and discovered once again that God directs His people exactly where they need to be. “There are so many opportunities in a school to love people — to see kids, love kids and encourage them,” Emily shares.

A FAITHFUL STEP

One of those opportunities began during Emily’s first year of teaching. Taryn, a quiet kindergartner in her class, had older siblings on the cross country team. When Taryn came to practices, Emily made a point to say hello. A simple connection grew.

Years later, when Taryn was in middle school, her mom was diagnosed with cancer. Remembering the relationship Emily had formed with his daughter, Taryn’s father asked whether Emily could drive her to school.

For two years, their morning commute gave Taryn a place to open up — and Emily a place to listen. After Taryn’s mom went home to be with the Lord and the family changed schools, Emily continued meeting with her during breaks.

When Taryn reached college, she told Emily that she wanted to reconnect with church. Emily introduced her to Lindsay Driscoll, a close friend who served as a college group leader at Woodmen, and offered to pick her up for church whenever she wanted to come.

Soon, Taryn was attending Woodmen. Then she made the decision to be baptized, publicly declaring her new life in Christ before her church community.

Emily marvels at God’s “layer-after-layer” way of growing things. From a relationship that began in a kindergarten classroom, Emily never set out with a strategy to mentor Taryn for years. She simply noticed a girl created by God and stayed open to His leading through the years.

THE HIGHEST CALL

Most days in education do not come with a clear view of the ending. Teachers often face full classrooms, long task lists and situations they could never anticipate. They need God’s wisdom every day.

But amid everything that must be accomplished, Emily tries to remember what matters most. Whether she is teaching, coaching cross country and track, or simply listening to a student who needs to be heard, her greatest calling remains the same.

“I have kids in my room, and there are a lot of things that have to get done,” Emily says. “But what a gift. My highest call as a follower of Jesus is to love them.”

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