When my kids were little, they attended a preschool at a church in our neighborhood. I would drop them off and they would happily run to hug their teachers and play with their friends. They were still joyful at the end of the school day, piecing a puzzle together or building a tower with a classmate. Even when I stopped in during the day to drop off a forgotten lunch, things were surprisingly smooth: as I would walk down the quiet hallway, I would marvel at the calm and peace from within the walls of each classroom.

How did these teachers take whole groups of wily toddlers and never get their feathers ruffled? I tell you, they must have been filled with the grace and power of God. They were the calm in the storm and drew the kids into that grace and power.

You have likely met a preschool or kindergarten teacher like this: you look at them and see the face of an angel. As a parent, I understand that toddlers and preschoolers can be exasperating, and I have seen daycares where yelling and punishment were the norm. So how is it that some teachers possess such grace and power in the midst of what could easily be conflict and chaos?

I believe it comes to love for what they are doing as well as a dedication of the bigger picture. Both are essential. You can love kids and yet struggle to regulate your emotions around them. You can see the big picture of developing caring and engaged humans but still become detached and uncaring. You need both the love and the big picture, maybe better described as purpose or “the why.”

In the same way, in Acts 6, Stephen was filled with both: he exhibited grace and power and also dedication to Jesus’ larger goal of developing God’s kingdom. He worked “great wonders and signs among the people,” and wasn’t deterred when they put false charges against him. His purpose, his greater goal – his “why” – was Jesus, and holding on to that gave him a calm and brightness “like the face of an angel.”

When do we lose sight of why we are here? When do we let the chaos around us close in on us? When do we narrow our vision and operate out of fear for our own interests or to save face? How do we know when we are doing this?

Look to the preschool teachers with a two-year-old throwing a tantrum: in any situation, ask if you are the preschool teacher or the toddler? Are you emanating God’s love out to those around you or are you adding to the disorder? Are you so filled with God’s grace and power that you shine like the face of an angel or are you lying to yourself or others to get your own way?