Discouraged

        
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ~ Ephesians 6: 11

Let me start by saying that I love teaching.  "Teaching" being the operative word in that sentence.  I don't care for the other stuff that goes along with it:  the meetings, the long lesson plans, the mounds of "proof paperwork" that is supposed to show someone else sitting somewhere else that I am actually doing my job.  So, there are days when I get discouraged and the joy seems to ebb somewhat. 

I've been in school for a month now, and this week I have been really discouraged because I didn't feel I was where I wanted to be on a personal level with my students.  As the kids say now-a-days "I just haven't been feeling the love."  It was bothering me, so I have been sharing my thoughts and feeling with coworkers and with God.  I have a class that have a few more emotional issues than I would say was the "norm" these days.  It is mentally exhausting to try to figure out how to reach some children.  I've been around the block enough times to know that if a teacher doesn't have a relationship with his/her students, he/she can forget teaching them.  It just seems slow going right now, so I have felt the weight of discouragement this week. 

On the way to work this morning, I was on my final leg of my trip to school just sharing my final thoughts with God and asking Him for his guidance and wisdom as usual.  I got to school, did my early morning duty and headed down to my classroom to begin my teaching day.  One of my students walked up to me and handed me a note that he said was from his mother.  I had just spoken to his mother yesterday afternoon, so I figured the note was just her following procedure letting me know her child would be leaving early again today for an appointment.  I opened the letter and this is what she writes:

 

After reading her note, it was all I could do not to just burst out crying.  God's timing is always perfect timing.  I just felt like, if I read between the lines, that God was telling me, "Hang in there.  We've got this.  Keep doing what you know to do and don't be anxious." 

 

I needed that encouragement to get through the day.  It was a tough day, not with my students, but with other things that I "could" have let affect how I responded to the children.  I'm thankful I was able to let it roll off and realize from which  (or I should say from whom) it came. 

 

On another note, the Roosters are enjoying their new school and seem to be adjusting great.  I love hearing them discuss what they did in class and hearing them compare their day. 

 

 

I would have to say that even with its faults, school is a pretty cool place to spend the day!