Mr. Bouvier, or "Bouv" as everyone called him, was tall and lanky, with a sparkly smile and more silly camp songs than I'd ever known (which perfectly qualified him to be a junior high teacher).
Bouv taught our 7th grade Bible class. We learned hand-motions for the whole story of the Bible and watched a lot of those creepy 1970's "Thief in the Night" rapture movies (the ones that always ended with the old Larry Norman song, "I wish we'd all been ready...").
But what I specifically remember about Mr. Bouvier was the day he challenged us to start walking with God now.
"So many students wait until their junior or senior year of high school to get serious about God," he said. "They share their stories about how they were living for themselves all through junior high and high school, and then God got ahold of their lives. But wouldn't it be amazing if some senior could stand up and say, 'I walked with God in seventh grade. I walked with God in 8th grade. I walked with God in 9th grade, and 10th grade, and 11th grade. And I'm still walking with God today.'"
I remember sitting there and thinking, "That's what I want. I don't want to waste my time living for myself. I want to walk with God every day for the rest of my life."
And praise God, by His grace, that's my story today.
In 2007, a painful illness had its way in his body, and Bouv, only 39 years old, went home to be with Jesus, leaving behind a wife and three young children and a legacy of faithfully walking with God until his very last breath.
(Not the greatest picture, but here he is with my brother, Austin.)
But what I specifically remember about Mr. Bouvier was the day he challenged us to start walking with God now.
"So many students wait until their junior or senior year of high school to get serious about God," he said. "They share their stories about how they were living for themselves all through junior high and high school, and then God got ahold of their lives. But wouldn't it be amazing if some senior could stand up and say, 'I walked with God in seventh grade. I walked with God in 8th grade. I walked with God in 9th grade, and 10th grade, and 11th grade. And I'm still walking with God today.'"
I remember sitting there and thinking, "That's what I want. I don't want to waste my time living for myself. I want to walk with God every day for the rest of my life."
And praise God, by His grace, that's my story today.
In 2007, a painful illness had its way in his body, and Bouv, only 39 years old, went home to be with Jesus, leaving behind a wife and three young children and a legacy of faithfully walking with God until his very last breath.
I praise God today for Mr. Bouvier's influence on my life.
I'm sure it's just me, but these accounts move me to tears pretty much every day. Love you,
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Thanks for posting, Amanda. Bouv was a humble, godly man. I know I never expected a Bible class to be so much fun and memorable. The things I learned from his classes helped me greatly through my Bible classes in college. I am grateful to God for giving Mr. Bouvier to ECA for the time He did. Galatians 5:22-23
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! I too, was impacted GREATLY by Bouv. He cared so much for each one of us, and went to great lengths to speak truth into our lives! I still hear some things that he and Amy told me, and I now use them, while mentoring the youth at my current church. He was a man of God.
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