STAYING BEFORE THE LORD
January 27, 2021
Prayer: Please go with me into this new day, Lord. Please let Your love show through me and draw someone to want to know You more. I pray for the salvation of all of my co-workers and students. I ask this in Jesus’ powerful name, Amen.
Scripture: O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. Ps 108:1, 2 KJV
“Jubilant! I feel Jubilant! This is why I teach! Today’s class response made all the hard work worthwhile!” “Horrible. The worst day of my teaching career. How can I live through this one more day? I simply have no strength to put one foot in front of the other. I’m done!” Are those responses of two different teachers? No. They are responses of one teacher on two different days.
I can’t imagine any other career that has as many highs and lows as teaching. What are some pieces that put together a great day? What are the pieces that put together a horrible day?
Without even thinking about how a pandemic wreaks havoc, consider the number of students from single parent families, the number of students with an incarcerated relative, the number of students with a sick animal, a new pimple, a recent fender bender, a parent out of work, or a romance problem. Then consider the number of teachers with marital problems, the number of teachers with financial stresses, the number of teachers caring for elderly parents, or up half the night with fussy babies, or with decisions looming ahead.
When I think of the complex personal problems that enter a classroom, virtual or physical, it’s a wonder anyone has a good day. But through God’s grace we do have good days! Good days aren’t occasional. They are more often the norm. But sadly, it is not the even-keel day that settles down on our brows as we close our eyes to go to sleep. It’s the day when the administrator walked into our classroom and saw the student standing on a desk. It’s the day everyone bombed our test. It’s the day that a student stole our keys and credit cards. Those terrible days don’t come often, but they LOOM large as we are trying to go to sleep.
When the next day does come, with it comes hope. We lug our bags and books out of the car and head into the building, or we go to our workspace at home and log in to our virtual classroom, and await the faces of our students, trusting that we had a good night’s sleep and can give them a good day of learning.
It is our responsibility as teachers to stay before the Lord in the morning, before we leave the house or sign in online, to be the teachers that God wants to greet His children as they begin their school day.
Copyright Cheryl Skid. Email [email protected]
Thank you so much! God Bless.
Thank you!
This encouraged me today. Thank you!