Pictures of 5th Grade

I've been wanting to show people pictures of my AWESOME 5th graders from last year. I've finally put some up to share with you a little of the fun times we had! Hope you can see what stellar students I had! :)

This picture is particularly unique because my class is coloring the VICE PRINCIPAL's head with markers! :) He is a fun guy and yes, it did come off.

Finding A Resting Place

“Wait on the Lord” ~ In the past, when I’ve seen this verse posted on someone’s Face Book status or shared in a Bible study, it was used to refer to a girl or guy waiting on the LORD for that perfect someone. While I think that kind of “waiting on the LORD” is legit, I believe God has helped me to discover a deeper meaning to this phrase.

What God taught me during these short summer months stemmed from my mother’s life of calmness, peace and steadiness.

At the beginning of this summer, I knew I needed to take some time just to relax and do nothing! After my first year of teaching (which I enjoyed SO much), my mom passing away, and going through a couple different jobs - all in one year – I knew it was time to mentally “chill out.”

I’d like to share with you a couple things God taught me through this process.

First of all, he told me to LISTEN MORE & TALK LESS. This one kind of makes me laugh, because if you know me, you know I’m a very social person and love to talk. At the same time, I’ve had a lot of jobs that require I be the one in front, doing the talking! Reaching out to new people, training teachers how to teach, communicating to churches about God’s work among kids, and helping students to grasp new concepts are all examples of me talking for my job!

However, God wanted me to take some time out from talking and to simply listen! My mom is a HUGE example to me on this one. The picture that God brought to mind was a large, gentle, yet firm hand (God’s hand) being held out towards my mouth: get the picture?

It’s amazing the difference it makes to quietly listen to others instead of talking to fill in the gaps of quiet time.

Another lesson God spoke to me about was BE STILL. Do you ever feel like you are constantly anxious, worried or stressed out? Well, that was me.

This stillness refers to the most inner person of my being – my soul. No, this is not equivalent to the Buddhist idea of “inner peace” as seen in Kung Fu Panda II. Rather, this peace comes from BEING in a QUIET PLACE of rest, away from the business of life, and letting God deal with those deep heart issues. One by one, he will strip away the real heart issues as you let Him. This may be hard to do if you have a million commitments! But can I suggest one thing? If you feel you are needing to do this….you may need to step away from some of your commitments. People CAN go on without you, believe it or not!

One thing I noticed after I let God deal with my soul in this way, was a quietness/calmness that came with me wherever I went, not just in that quiet place.

Anyone who works with kids or has kids knows how things can get really crazy sometimes! However, when I think about my mom raising her 9 children, I do not think of a frazzled woman grasping at time and constantly overwhelmed about life, like you often see in movies. Yes, she had her moments of frustration and feeling inadequate for the tasks at hand, but those were few and far between compared to the calmness and quietness of soul she possessed. This year, during my first year of teaching, I really thought about this character trait in general!

From what I have observed, my mom gained this peace by:

1. Giving her cares to Jesus on a daily and even moment by moment basis

Being in constant communication with Him rather than people.

2. Letting go of her control and letting God do what He wants to do!

3. Being flexible

I know I have just discovered the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the lesson of QUIETING MY SOUL. However, I hope this bit of honest sharing blesses your life in some way today!