"When will we use diagramming outside of English class, Mrs. Schick?"

For once, I was excited when one of my students asked me this question because I had a fabulous answer! I never realized how useful sentence diagramming was until I sat under Sue Hermes at Clearwater Christian College. I endured her Advanced Grammar class my senior year, but she influenced me to study a new way of meditating on Scripture--diagram the verses. This idea has resurfaced in recent weeks when Pastor Moreno has discussed the grammar behind the texts of his sermons. I diagrammed the verses in my notes, and Brad thought I was a huge nerd. "Yes, I am a nerd," I told him, "But I am a nerd who now understands her Bible more fully."

I shared this answer with my seventh grade English classes, and both of them just stared at me like I was crazy. However, I've used several verses as examples for their diagramming review sheets, and some of them have begun to see what I mean about the value of diagramming verses. I was encouraged by my review with them today because I found myself meditating not on adjective and adverb clauses, but on the content of the verses.

First, I meditated on Colossians 3:4, "When Christ who is our life is revealed then you also shall be revealed with Him in glory." This verse was more than an excellent example of an independent clause with both adverb and adjective dependent clauses. I thought, "Wow, one day I'll be revealed with Christ in His glory." As I've been reading through John, I've noteced Jesus constantly reminded his disciples and listeners about the importance of God's timing. He wouldn't perform miracles or disclose certain information simply because it wasn't God's time for Him to do so. This verse reminded me that Christ is just waiting for the perfect time when He will reveal Himself to the world as the King that He is, and I, His child, will come triumphantly behind Him. I'll get to physically follow my Savior and proclaim to the unbelievers, "See? We Christians were right all along!"

Second, I was encouraged by Romans 5:6, "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." Again, God's timing is mentioned. The more I think about this verse, the more excited I am for what Christ did for me. I was helpless; I couldn't please God on my own and certainly couldn't seek Him. Yet Christ died for me, the ungodly, so that He could lift me out of this helpless state. I can now live for Him, find my hope, joy, and peace in Him, and seek to glorify Him with my life. I can love my jr. highers only because of Christ's work in my life.

So to my English students, sentence diagramming does have a purpose. It has an eternal purpose, and I love that I can point you to Christ through it.