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

Passion

I remember thinking many times in my classrooms, "They just aren't excited about learning. They have no passion to understand! If I could just engage them and set them on fire about learning! They don't seem teachable." I'm sure my lessons were somewhat adequate and  interested  some of them, but there were always those that I didn't seem to reach. I found it hard to create curiosity; to create a passion for learning. I'm pretty sure they had a passion for something...could have been video games but it surely wasn't school.

What about our lives? Do we feel passion for the right things? What does a passion for Christ do for us? Have you ever felt it? We could have an ever-increasing hunger to know Him more thereby showing His righteousness as we live our daily lives. We could recognize how He works through our suffering for our growth and our good. We could know all this or we could act like many of our students and feed our passions for something other than the the most important relationship we could  have. As believers, we can model a passion for Christ even in our classrooms and pray that it is contagious; that someone who watches us could want what we have. We could try feeding our students' passions as we grow in ours. Christ is our hope, He is in us, and so we can be hope for someone else.

Be blessed by the Lord and highly favored this season.
Barb

Changing a Stone

Have you ever felt ineffective? Like you can't make a difference no matter what you do or how you say it or how many times you try? Sometimes it feels like what I'm trying to do is comparable to changing a stone.

I love stones. They are in bowls, baskets, piles, plants, and buckets all over my house. I love the colors and patterns; the shapes. And I would never try or want to change any of them. But the other day I was having my quiet time with the Lord in my living room. In front of me on the coffee table sits a bowl of stones from Lake Superior. I picked up 3 of them to hold in my hand while I was praying. They were cold to the touch but I held them for enough time to transfer my body heat to them. I put them down when I was done then remembered someone I had forgotten to pray for so I picked them up again but of course, I couldn't remember which 3 I had originally chosen. As I grabbed them I noticed one of them was cold. I thought, "Wow, these 2 have been changed. They're different. I can even change a stone!"

I immediately thought how we're changed by God. He probably sees us as stones sometimes. His touch is what will change us. But just as the stones in my bowl will grow cold again without my touch, we need God's hand on us continually to keep us in His will, surrendered, and obedient. Staying connected to Him allows us to be the conduit between Him and our students, or family, or this broken world. We really can change stones. Teachers are living proof. With God's help, we do it every day.

Hand Written

Have you ever had your handwriting analyzed? I haven't but I am aware that there are people that have studied this science and can tell a lot about you by the way you write. While looking through holiday recipes the other day, I ran across a card in my mother's handwriting. It hit me hard because of her recent passing. There will be no more recipes passed down in her handwriting. I have what I have.

Then it hit me. I am familiar with how she wrote her letters. I could identify her words if you scrambled them up with someone else's. Don't you wonder how that happens? There are 26 letters but everyone writes them down in their own peculiar way. I was thinking about how Scripture was written. These are the most important words we'll ever read and they, too, can be recognized and identified as belonging to a specific Author. What we do with these Words is up to us. I know I love to read letters hand written by a friend or family member. I read and reread them and they warm my heart. God wrote, hand wrote, letters, lessons, and stories for us and they are bound together for us to read and reread. These words should guide us and prompt us to share what's in them and follow the messages.

As we give thanks in this season, I'm thankful the Lord has chosen to write to me; to send me a letter personally and to love me through His Words. Be blessed by the Lord and highly favored.
Barb

Not Meant to Be Like This

I found this quote by Timothy Keller. It says: "Our Christian hope is that we're going to live with Christ in a new earth, where there is not only no more death, but where life is what it was always meant to be." It was an "a-ha" moment for me when I read it. Our lives are not what they were supposed to be.  As teachers, we aren't supposed to have children from broken homes. Homes weren't intended to be broken. We aren't supposed to have children with multiple disorders and diagnoses where learning becomes an insurmountable challenge. Disorders weren't supposed to happen. Poverty, abuses, addictions...none of these household words were supposed to happen. They weren't part of God's original plan.

But we live with them. They are part of our lives and our classrooms are the showrooms of the society we're in; broken, poor, neglected, challenged, hungry, unloved, and the list goes on. These words only begin to describe what you might face at work. Your work is a mission field. It's the real world; a microcosm of a world created by a perfect God but occupied by sin. Don't let that sin get in your way or come between you and the children in your care. They are the product of a sinful world and you may be the only light they see all day. It's your job to embrace the reality of "what really wasn't supposed to be." Not supposed to be, but really is. We certainly can't overlook or dismiss all the challenges in our classrooms but I believe it is our responsibility to love unconditionally whoever comes to us. That's how Jesus lived and I think He wants us to do the same.

Be blessed by the Lord and highly favored,
Barb

Jesus at the Door

I have shared this story with several schools during a devotion time but it bears repeating. It may help one of you one day. A couple years ago I was teaching a particularly difficult class and I had to remind myself often during the day to quiet my words and hold my frustration and anger. One thing that helped me during really stressful days was to visualize a parent at the door of my classroom. I knew that if Mom was watching, I would choose my words carefully and probably be more effective in my disciplining.

While talking to one of my more challenging students, it appeared that one of us needed to get under control and it wasn't going to be me! I'm not proud of the level of my voice or what I might have said but my young student had pushed my last button. Sometime during, "I know I have repeated these directions a hundred times," and "You owe me some recess time!" I turned to see his Mom standing in the doorway; watching.  I quietly walked over to her and began to defend my actions. I explained her son had disrupted the class all morning, had not followed directions, and yes, I had lost my temper. I was caught and there was no reason to deny what was happening. To my surprise, she walked toward me, reached out her arms, gave me a big hug, and said, "You go, Mrs. Quist. You do what you gotta do." The relief was overwhelming. I felt as if I had been redeemed and set free!

I pass this story on, not because I'm proud of my teaching techniques, but because picturing a parent at the door might be worth trying. I soon realized I couldn't always picture a Mom in the door that belonged to whomever I was talking to. So I began picturing Jesus at the door. If Jesus was watching me, how would I react? What words would I choose? Then I thought, if Jesus was at the door He probably wouldn't stay there. He would join me, right at my side. He would calm me, guide me, even give me words to use. What a wonderful thought! So put a parent at the door if you want to, but for real support and the strength you need, put Jesus there. What a help He would be!

Be blessed by the Lord and highly favored,
Barb