Progress Report

19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. Revelation 2:19

I can hardly believe that it’s already time for our next round of Parent/Teacher conferences, but here we are! I have spent quite a bit of time this last week preparing to meet with parents to discuss their child’s progress. I have poured over all the assessment data and progress monitoring data, I have updated charts and graphs, and I have written comments of my thoughts and observations.

For some students, all the information is pretty coherent. It is evident that they are making gains towards our goals. They may not be there quite yet, but they are getting closer and closer, and all of the scores I have collected are showing growth. Those are the conferences I look forward to holding!

For other students, the information is much more difficult to decipher. Sometimes they seem to be making progress, and other times they seem to be falling back again. They may do really well on one assessment, but on a different test, they don’t do so great. And I can’t always explain why. These conferences are more difficult to feel prepared for.

All parents (and teachers) want to know that their students are making progress. It’s not so much about meeting every single standard at grade-level expectations - although that would be fabulous! It’s really more about showing and knowing that the students are improving. We all know that it is very unrealistic to expect all students to reach these standards at the same time, so we don’t expect that. But we do expect them to improve from where they started and move steadily towards those goals.

As I was thinking about that, a question came to mind. How am I doing in my spiritual walk with the Lord? If I were to receive a progress report, what would it say? How are my attitude and my thought patterns? Am I using my time wisely? Am I providing evidence of growth? Making progress? Reaching goals?

I don’t know if you are familiar with Revelation chapters 2 & 3, but in those chapters, John relays a message to seven churches. In each message, Jesus gives them a type of progress report, naming things they have done well and things they need to turn away from. Some churches receive only one or the other, but most of them receive some of both. He encourages each church to persevere and names a gift or reward they will receive for being faithful, and He also names consequences for not repenting of sins. In all the letters, it is clear that Jesus wants them to continue being faithful and to turn their faith back to Him if they’ve failed.

I think it’s good for me to examine my own heart and to spend some time asking the Holy Spirit to show me those things in my life that need improvement. I know I am a work in progress, and there are many things that need to change to make me more like Jesus. I’m pretty sure I’m more like my students with all the mixed information -- improving some, but not consistently. One day at a time, one piece at a time, He is helping me to make progress.

So as I spend time this week speaking to parents about their child’s progress at school, I am also going to spend some time reading through these letters in Revelation 2 and 3, and I am going to ask God to give me a progress report. I know I could never do anything to earn God’s grace and love -- He’s already poured that out all over me! But I want to please Him in all that I do. So this week, I’ll ask Him to show me one thing to work on--one place where He wants to make me more like Him. And then I’ll ask Him to help me. I’ll surrender to His loving hand and allow Him to change me a little each day until that piece mirrors Him. And hopefully, He will be able to tell me what he told the church in Thyatira -- that I am now doing more than I did at first--that I am making progress.

Father God, Thank You for always working on me! Thank You for Your encouragement and Your discipline. I want to be more like You. I want to please You. But I need You to transform my mind, to change my heart and make it more like Yours. Show me where I’m holding back, and help me to surrender to Your hand.