The Origin of Mr. Matt

First I need to say that Mr. Matt is a title reserved for the children at my school or for teens from other countries I mentor. 🙂

I had a group of teens from Vietnam that I mentored from 2008 to 2015. In their culture, they are taught to show respect to the teacher by saying teacher. One day they asked me what they should call me and I told them they could call me teacher or Mr. Matt. After that every Saturday and Sunday afternoon when we met, I heard Mr. Matt several times.

Fast forward to interacting with children at the school where I teach in the mornings I introduce myself to the children as Mr. Matt because I know my last name would be difficult for them to pronounce especially for children in ELL, English Language Learners, Level 1. When children at school see me, they greet me with Hi, Mr. Matt. It gets my attention every time and I say a quick greeting to them.

One other aspect of the children calling me Mr. Matt is that it helps them to feel they can connect with me.

Have you ever noticed how it feels to say Jesus? The name Jesus makes God someone we feel we can connect with. Saying the name Jesus feels more personal that saying God at least for me it is. The name Jesus gives us access to God the Father.

This morning when I go to church, I will greet Jesus. 🙂

Thank you for reading. God Bless.