I am sure most of you have heard at least one teacher complain about his/her job. With mounting stress of evaluations, school mergers, common core, and a plothera of over things going on with our schools, it is easy to become overwhelmed. It is easy to begin planning. I begin to question "Is this what I am supposed to do forever?" "Why did God call me to do this?" "Will I really be working on the weekends, before and after school, and in the summer for the rest of my life?""Is this what I had pictured this job being?"
I wonder these things quite often.
I begin "planning" my future the way I want it. The way I dream of it being.
I plan/dream for a new career. I also pray for these things too.
With the career of teaching becoming harder than ever, it has drawn me closer to God, for that I am thankful. I have to fully rely on the Savior each day when I walk in that school building.
My best quiet time is on the way to school, driving in my car. I ask for strength, wisdom, peace, and patience for myself so I can serve and teach the kids.
As the school day trucks along it is easily to get caught right back up in the stress and anxieties.
I pause for a moment. I ask myself those questions above. Then, grace shows up and calms me down. Then, I realize why I was called to this job and it is simply for ONE reason and ONE reason only...the kids.
No matter the stress, no matter the issues, no matter the evaluations, no matter the other mess that can go on in my day, I am reminded to just BE and just BE with the kids. Yes, easier said than done.
When I began my devotional today, I wept. I wept because the message was just what I needed this morning. It starts off like this....
"YOU WILL NOT FIND MY PEACE BY ENGAGING IN EXCESSIVE PLANNING: ATTEMPTING TO CONTROL WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU IN THE FUTURE."
and it ends like this....
"TURN FROM THE PATH OF PLANNING TO THE PATH OF PEACE."
( FROM JESUS CALLING)
This is what is on my heart this morning, I can not experience peace with trying to make my own plans. I have often heard it said that God laughs at our plans. We can not control our future because our steps are directed by Him.
Therefore today, I will ask for peace when I find myself "planning." I encourage you to do the same. I will just BE.
-With Grace,
Jane
Thank you for posting this, Jane. Amazing perspective, and I needed to hear it. Praying for you to keep bathing in His grace--to just BE! And praying I can do the same!
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