Thursday, October 23, 2014

Ephesians 3:14-21: Students, Community, and Lessons

    The first partial of school is already over, and November is quickly approaching. I finally feel as if I'm back in the swing of teaching again as I have routines and schedules. My kids are working super hard to do all that is asked of them, and they continue to bring me joy in their random comments and gestures. The more I'm here, the more I realize how blessed I am to have the opportunity to teach in a place where sharing the gospel and the love of Christ is encouraged. I love being able to stop and pray for my kids when I'm frustrated. I love hearing the preschoolers shout praises every morning (the most precious noise ever). I love being able to take time to sit with a crying student and remind him that God made him with unique gifts and talents. There are definitely hard parts of teaching with its work load and technicalities, but the intentional time with my students is so so worth it.

     This year, I've seen both deeper sadness and deeper joy from my students. God continues to teach me so much through them. My eyes have been opened so much as well to the reality of the home lives of some students. Most of the students at my school are from higher income families, but that doesn't mean those families aren't broken. One of my students showed me a bruise on his leg that brought me to tears when I learned that it was from his father. A lot of my students only live with one parent and sometimes even their grandparents. A lot of my kids also don't understand why they need extra help in their learning and have cried because they don't want to be "different". My heart is breaking more and more every day. BUT God also shows me continually why we are to become like children. They are so full of joy and so genuine in their concerns. They break out in dance daily, and I'm constantly laughing at their sweet words. As I asked for prayer requests one day, my third grader said "Miss, we just need to pray for the people who don't have homes or food." I know that teachers never stop learning because education is constantly changing; however, I would say that I never stop learning because my kids are always teaching me new life lessons.

     The teacher community has also blown me away this year. Just last week, we had a worship/game night where many of us gathered together to sit and worship in Spirit and in truth on a Friday night. The message was presented from Psalm 107. I loved being able to simply look through scripture together as the body of Christ and make connections to Jesus even in a chapter from the Old Testament. It never ceases to amaze me how sound God's word is, and how that is just proven more and more as we search it and know it. Worship night left me with the desire to learn the many names/descriptions of Jesus, so that's something I'll be doing in these next few months as I search through the gospels. I'm already blown away by it.

     This school year is off to a fantastic start, and I'm doing my best to take in all that God is teaching me. I think I've specifically been learning about humility this year in so many different ways. A lot of it has to do with my desire to control certain areas of my life that I can't. This past week, both of my grandparents ended up in the hospital. It really scared me. It's hard to be here when I know that hard things are happening back in Ohio. That is when God helped to remind me of the peace that comes when I place my trust in Him and put my focus back on Him rather than my worries as "'Tis So Sweet'" started to play on my radio station. He encouraged me through the prayers of many friends and showed me of His might and power. I was humbled and brought to my knees once again as I remembered that in the end, God has the victory. He is sovereign and bigger than I can ever imagine. His love is incomprehensible. He chooses to call me His child, and I am so thankful for that grace. God's goodness leaves me speechless and smiling. Even though these teachable moments are often the hard ones, I'm blown away by the way that God is continuing to teach me more about His faithfulness and goodness day after day.