Who's in the Tree?

I would like to say every devotion I write comes right out of my own experience or my heart. But sometimes I read something and I feel compelled to share it. I  find a nugget in someone else's writing and off I go. This is the case today. The idea came from a small devotional by Charles Stanley from June of last year. What he wrote was not intended for teachers but it is certainly applicable.

Who hasn't been discouraged by a student or maybe a parent? In our district, probably discouragement comes daily. We serve the underprivileged, the under achievers, high poverty, low motivation, broken-in-many-ways families. That's what you signed up for if you're teaching here. But I don't mean to make it sound like there's no hope. You really can't make a career in an environment where you don't see hope.

What I'm saying is that you are the hope. You are the servant here. You are the constant in someone's chaos; the light in a very dark world for some of them. Just as Jesus spent time with the outcasts, the sinners, the sick, the rejected, you, too have a calling. In Stanley's devotion he likened Jesus' visit with Zacchaeus to an opportunity to serve a "spiritually needy" man. He looked up a tree and intentionally singled him out by saying He would join him at his house; Zacchaeus, a despised tax collector in need of a Savior.

Jesus took the time to look up and pursue a relationship with someone in need. Not unlike what you do every day in your job. No doubt you will find someone up a tree today, waiting and hoping for a teacher, a secretary, or a principal to be available, aware, and  accepting just like Jesus. Who's in your tree today? We'll pray that you will have what it takes to look up and be willing to serve.

You are, after all, blessed by the Lord and highly favored.
Barb

Kindness is a Secret

Where does kindness come from? If you had to explain it to someone just learning the English language, what would you say? You can't hold it; you can just see evidence of it like when we "see" the wind. You can't smell it or taste it, but maybe you can feel it. You might use words like, "helping others, doing something nice, or encouraging someone." But really, kindness looks different to different people.

Last year, I was reading some student work on a wall at one of the schools I  visit. I don't remember if there was a picture or just the writing but it said, "Kindness is the best secret language." I wrote it down in my collection of things to write about someday thinking it was worth some thought, not really knowing what the student was thinking when they wrote it or if it was even original. But wherever it came  from, I think it tells us kindness is another language we can use to communicate with just like our learned oral language. Maybe the secrecy comes into play because it's not taught by textbooks. It's observed or modeled and it can be learned or ignored.

There are countless references to "kind" or "kindness" in the Bible. "Kind word cheers you up. Blessed is he who is kind to the needy, kind to the oppressed, he is kind to the ungrateful, love is kind, be kind and compassionate, to whom I can show God's kindness; understanding, patience, and kindness," and on and on. We read these verses and because we read them in God-breathed Scripture, we know they're true. It really isn't much of a secret at all. It's more of a command. It's what Jesus was all about and it's our goal to make modeling this "best secret language" not so secret any more.

Be blessed by the Lord and highly favored.
Barb