More Than Playing Dress-Up

Picture found at: https://girlgloss.com/childrens-dress-up-clothes/

This week is Halloween. (Teachers everywhere just shuddered!) It is usually a difficult week at school as students are excited about the coming fun, and then worn out from it afterward!

I’ve never been one to enjoy the creepy, spooky Halloween traditions. Haunted House? Not for me. Zombie costume? No, thank you.

But trick or treating? That was always fun! Of course, I loved the candy! But what I really enjoyed was the fun of dressing up in a costume and visiting the homes of all our friends and neighbors.

When I had my own children, I really liked finding or making a special costume for them. The boys usually wanted a superhero or favorite character. My daughter always wanted something pretty and sparkly. The more glitter or sequins the better! And she loved to wear makeup with her costumes, too.

It was always special to imitate someone else for an evening - to dress just like that person, to carry props like they had, and to pretend to be them for one night.

I have been reading through Paul’s letters over the last few weeks. In his first letter to the church at Corinth, he writes about how to handle situations where the believers were invited to eat with non-believers who were eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. He recommends that if someone pointed out that it was an idol sacrifice, then they should not eat it for the sake of that person. But he ends with a statement that makes me pause. Here’s what he writes in 1 Corinthians 10:32-11:1.

32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33 even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

11 1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

Did you catch that? His advice is for the Corinthians to imitate him, as he is trying to imitate Christ. Wow. That hits me hard. Am I confident enough in my Christian walk to encourage others to do as I do? If others were to imitate me, would their actions be Christ-like? Is my life lived to please God and to benefit others that they might be saved?

Paul wrote similar charges in 1 Corinthians 4:

11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

14 I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16Therefore I urge you to imitate me.
And again in 2 Thessalonians 3:

7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.

No matter who you are, people are watching you each day. When you work around children, you know that they naturally imitate others around them - including you! But it is not just the children who are watching. People with whom I live and work see me and my actions - hear my words and my attitudes - every day. Am I being the example I should be?

I’m trying. But I fail often. I am still a work in progress. But Paul has challenged me to follow Christ so that others are led closer to Him. It’s not exactly a dress-up costume I put on to do this, though. In order to imitate anyone, you have to know them well. That means I must study my Bible constantly and be open to allowing the Holy Spirit to guide me and change me. I must constantly put my faith into action, applying the scripture in my life, putting others before myself, and laying aside my own agenda.

It’s definitely more than playing dress-up for just one night! It’s a life-long commitment that I hope I become better and better at as I go.

Father God, I know I am not confident enough to tell others to imitate me as I try to imitate Christ. Please continue to work in me and around me to make me more like You. I want to be an example for those around me, but when I fail, help me to admit it and try to make it right. Thank You, Jesus, for Your perfect example, for Your Word, and for Your Holy Spirit that helps us along the way!

True Colors Revealed

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. Luke 6:45

The leaves have turned here in Mid-Missouri this week! They are so beautiful! I’ve always found it fascinating that the colors we see in the fall leaves are actually present in the leaves all spring and summer. It’s only in the fall when the temperatures begin to drop and the trees stop making food that the green chlorophyll is allowed to break down and be absorbed. Then, we see the beautiful colors that have been hidden by that chlorophyll all along.

Not all leaves have vibrant fall colors, though. Sometimes when the chlorophyll is gone, all that’s left is a very drab, lifeless, brown leaf.

I saw a teacher walking in from recess this week holding a gorgeous, bright red leaf. I didn’t stop to ask her about it, but I’ve been out at recess enough to guess that a student probably picked it up and gave it to her.

I wonder if two weeks ago, when a student ran across a green leaf on the playground, do you think he would have noticed it? Would a green leaf have been handed to the teacher? Probably not.

And I’m also pretty confident that the red leaf the teacher received was not the only leaf on the playground. There are more than a few dull, brown ones out there, too. But the leaves that are deep red, orange, or yellow catch our eye. We treasure them because of their beauty.

In Luke 6, Jesus says that what comes out of my mouth is exactly what I have stored in my heart. Sometimes I can cover up a bad attitude with a smile on my face, but once I start to talk, that bad attitude is going to show up. Just like a fall leaf whose chlorophyll has faded away, my true thoughts and feelings will come out in the words I speak.

Am I frustrated with a situation? That’s going to show in my words.

Am I excited about an opportunity? That’s going to show in my words.

Am I resentful of someone else’s gain? Guess where that’s going to show?

Am I feeling overwhelmed, joyful, guilty, proud, ashamed, thankful, sad? What I say will flow out of whatever feelings are in my heart. Some of those are beautiful, vibrant emotions that draw people to me just like the brightly colored fall leaves. But some of those are unattractive, life-draining emotions that push people away.

For our school, this week is parent-teacher conference week. That means I will be doing even more talking than usual! I always want my speech to be “full of grace,” as Paul says in Colossians 4, but I am more mindful this week of choosing my words wisely so I can communicate clearly. And I want my words to be encouraging and positive and beautiful--as much as possible.

So I am realizing that I need to check my heart condition this week. Unlike the fall leaves, I can choose which emotions I allow myself to store up and which ones I decide to give up. I can take those negative thoughts and feelings and pour them out to Jesus, confessing them and letting Him control the clean-up process. 

And I can fill my heart with scripture and encouraging truth that will change my outlook and bless others, too. When I open my mouth and my true colors are revealed, I want to be like a beautiful, fall leaf that brings God’s joy and peace to others.

Father, help me to see the evil that is in my heart as You see it. Take away my sinful thoughts and attitudes and transform them as only You can do. Help me to have a heart full of Your love, grace, joy, peace, and compassion so that my words will flow from there and uplift all those who hear them.

A Blind Mouse

Image found at: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Apodemus_sylvaticus_bosmuis.jpg

12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. I Corinthians 13:12
I have a picture book that I like to use during lessons about similes and lessons about drawing conclusions. It is “Seven Blind Mice” by Ed Young. Do you know this story?

In this story there are seven blind mice who argue about a strange object they happen upon. Each mouse, in turn, investigates the object and proclaims to the others what the object is. The problem is they do not agree on what they have found. That is, until the last mouse explains to them that they have each described only a part of this unknown thing and that they must put all their information together to understand what the object is. I won’t spoil the end for you -- it’s fun to see if you can figure it out before they do.

Oh, but how I need to be reminded not to make the same mistake of the first six mice! So many times I take the bit of information that I have in front of me and presume to understand the whole situation.

Sometimes I jump to a conclusion about a students’ behavior. Other times I make a quick judgment about a student’s achievement based on one or two assessments. If I’m honest, I do this all the time with coworkers, parents, and other adults that I interact with, too. I hear one comment and assume I understand their thoughts and their situations. I am just like those blind mice!

I remember several years ago reading a book about assessment where the author compared assessments to windows. (I’m sorry I can’t properly credit the author now -- I have no idea what book that was this many years later!) When you look out your window, you can only see part of what is outside. You get a limited glimpse of the surroundings, but there is also a lot you can’t see. I see how this analogy applies to many aspects of daily life with other people.

There is no way I can understand someone’s point of view on a particular topic without spending a great deal of time learning about all their past experiences that led them to that belief. I should not be so quick to assume I understand someone else’s behavior when I only get the view from my window. I need to be reminded to step back and realize that I don’t have all the information.

When a mother complains about an assignment, I am tempted to be defensive and short-tempered. But what if there are circumstances that I don’t see? She may not be telling me that her Dad has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, or her husband lost his job six months ago, and they are facing foreclosure on their home. In short, her complaint about the homework is really not the root of the problem, it’s just one more thing she feels she cannot deal with right now.

When my coworker refuses to help with a project or fails to complete it, I get frustrated and decide she’s taking advantage of me. But maybe what I don’t know is that her child is lashing out at her over everything since her divorce. It’s possible that her best friend has just betrayed her, or she has just discovered that her husband has been unfaithful. The project that seems so important to me is not even on her radar because she is overwhelmed with her own problems.

When I think like this, it reminds me to be kind and forgiving. I can be more patient and understanding. Even when I don’t know the whole story, I can resist the temptation to make a quick judgment.

This idea also applies to my spiritual life. I cannot comprehend all that God is doing from the limited viewpoint that I can see. He is at work on such a grand scale! God’s plans are so much bigger than I can even imagine, but He is at work all around me. I should never assume I completely understand what He is doing. While I see what’s out my little window at one given point in time, He sees a view even bigger than a google earth shot! And He sees across all time! In this life, there are going to be a lot of times when I don’t understand what God is doing. But God sees the whole picture -- all the time! I can trust Him to work in His perfect timing and His perfect ways, even though I can’t completely see it myself.

And one day, we will see clearly the whole picture of God’s plan working around us. Until then, I’m going to try to be more and more like that seventh mouse who didn’t jump to a conclusion but who took the time to gather up all the information and see as much of the picture as she could.

Father God, help me to avoid jumping to conclusions based on partial information. It is so easy to do! Help me to be the person who always attempts to understand, who always offers the benefit of the doubt, who seeks Your wisdom and shows Your love even when I don’t know the whole story. Help me to be gracious to others, as You are gracious to me. And help me to see more and more of You each day and to understand how You are working around me.

Give It to Me

Picture found at: https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/how-to-help-kids-cope-with-disappointment

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

A coworker told me a story about something that happened in her classroom a few weeks ago, and I just can’t stop thinking about it. I’m not sure I’m going to remember all the details of the story. I’ll probably not get it exactly right, but I want to share what I remember anyway.

She said that she has a particular student who sometimes comes to school with a difficult disposition. Sometimes, things at home are just not great, and it affects him as he comes into her room. One day he came in like this and was having problems with the other students.

When she called him over to her, he exclaimed, “I don’t want to be in trouble!” Even though that wasn’t what was happening. She told him he wasn’t in trouble and asked him, “What’s wrong?” He said, “I’ve just been having a bad morning!” At this point, she held her arms open wide and said, “Come here. Squeeze me hard. Give me all the bad.” So he hugged her tightly. She asked, “Was that all the bad? Did you give it all to me?” When he said yes, she let him go, and his day turned around.

This just really struck me. Sometimes our students carry around so much bad that it affects everything they do and say. Wouldn’t it be amazing if they had someone who was willing to take all the bad? Someone who would hug them tightly and help them make it through the day? What if we were that someone for them?

What if we looked at behavior from others and instead of reacting with our own frustration, we took the time to find out the true source of that behavior? How much of a difference could we make in someone’s day by asking the right question or just giving a hug?

I can’t literally take away all the bad in someone else’s life, but I can be a positive presence. I can be a safe place or a listening ear. Paul encouraged the Galatians to do this for one another. Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

How can we carry someone’s burdens today? Could I lighten the load for someone who is feeling swamped at work? Could I make a meal or send a note of encouragement? Could I ask how I can pray for them -- and then do it right there?

Jesus said in Matthew 11:
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus wants us to come to him with our burdens. He wants to give us rest from the worry and weariness that come with life.  If I'm doing that each day, then I'm in a place where I can take on the bad of others around me and bring it to Him, too. 

Jesus, help me to look at those around me with your eyes.  Help me to understand that some are carrying around an awfully heavy burden that makes them weary and affects how they act.  Help me to know how to bear those burdens with them.  Thank you for taking our burdens and for giving us Your peace.

Just a Pencil

9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” Jonah 4:9-11

I am no different from many other teachers all over the country. When Wal-Mart is full of yellow cardboard boxes each summer, I go and buy supplies for my classroom. One thing I usually purchase for my students is a couple big boxes of yellow pencils so my students don’t have to carry them from their regular classrooms to mine.

The first day I had students for classes this year, I had several brand-new pencils out for my students. As I put them out, I noticed that the erasers in these new pencils were just a tad longer than normal. Now, I’m sure that sounds like a good idea to most people, but what I know is that a longer eraser usually ends up breaking off right at the metal band - if not just below it - the first time a student goes to erase. Since I knew it was likely to happen, I warned my students to be gentle when they used the eraser so they wouldn’t break.

We hadn’t even gotten to the point in the lesson where the students were actually using their pencils when I saw one particular student’s eyes go wide. I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but he managed to break the eraser off before he had even used the pencil.

I am not going to lie to you, my first instinct - my gut reaction - was pure frustration! I was irritated! I had just warned them about this very thing! In fact, I was starting to compose a lecture in my head about listening and treating our supplies more carefully.

But, right then, I felt a tiny prick in my heart. It’s just a pencil. Look at his face. He’s waiting to see how you react, and he’s bracing for it. My frustration level instantly deflated. I took a deep breath and let go of that lecture. Instead, I chose grace. I handed him a new pencil and went on with the lesson.

This last week, I studied the book of Jonah. If you’ve been in church much as a child, you are most likely familiar with the story of how Jonah disobeyed God’s command to go to Ninevah and ended up in the belly of that giant fish. You probably know that after three days and some prayer time, Jonah was vomited onto land and then obeyed God and went to Ninevah.

But the part of the story that we don’t often teach our children about comes later in the book. After Jonah preaches to the citizens of Ninevah, they humbly repent, and God, in response to their repentance, pours out His grace and does not destroy them.

Jonah, however, was not happy about this outcome. You see, Jonah didn’t want the Ninevites to be spared. He wanted God to punish them and bring the destruction he warned them about.

So Jonah goes out in the nearby desert and sits down under a shelter that he builds. Then God makes a plant grow up overnight to provide Jonah some relief from the punishing sun. Still Jonah is angry. The next morning God sends a worm to destroy the plant so that it dies and Jonah is left in the scorching heat with no shade. At this point, Jonah is absolutely livid.

That’s when God asks him a pointed question: “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

You see, sometimes I get angry because of my circumstances. Someone breaks a pencil eraser that I bought with my own money, and I get mad. A coworker gets an opportunity that I wasn’t given, and I become angry. A parent is demanding something I feel is unrealistic, and I get irritated. I could go on . . .

But is it right for me to be angry about these things?

God goes on to tell Jonah that He is concerned about people who do not know Him. He is concerned about people’s spiritual needs, their eternity.

Am I concerned about people like God is concerned about people? Do I put my own wants, my own comfort, my own well-being, above all else? Or do I have God’s heart to help those around me know the amazing power of God’s grace?

I know that I personally need to be reminded that sometimes, it’s just a pencil. Let go of the anger. Be a conduit of God’s grace so that others might turn to Him and find eternal life. So if you see me carrying around a pencil with the eraser ripped off, you’ll know that I’m trying to remember this lesson that God is teaching me - to have more compassion and to be full of His mercy each day.

Father God, You are so compassionate towards us. Your grace and mercy are extended to us over and over. I know we live in a world full of people who don’t know You, who seek only their own gain, who regularly practice evil in order to get ahead. When we encounter these people in our daily life, help us to remember that we don’t deserve Your love either. Remind us of their need for You, just as we need You. Help us to be merciful and full of grace, just like You.

Vision Check

Image found at: https://mywhiteboards.com/glassboard-marker-trays.html

Have you ever felt like God has had to hit you upside the head to get your attention?

I had an after-school teacher’s meeting that I was in charge of one day a couple years ago. For the meeting, I had taken some equipment from my own classroom to the meeting room, and afterwards I had to put it all back away.

I don’t know if any of you are like this, but I tend to move quickly and try to do things as efficiently as possible, especially at 4:45 when it’s time to go home. So, I was moving quickly around my room putting these different items back where they belong.

One of those items was my wireless router. I had to plug it into the network box, which was located right at the edge of my whiteboard, and also to the power strip which sat on the floor right beneath my board. I plugged it into the network box, no problem, and then very quickly leaned over to plug in the power cord.

It was at that point that my efficient and timely progress came to an abrupt halt. When I leaned over to plug in that cord, my forehead suddenly slammed into the aluminum tray sticking out from the bottom of the board. You know, the marker tray that holds a few tools that I literally pick up and set down over and over again every day!

After nearly knocking myself silly, I had a few thoughts in rapid succession. First, “OW! That really hurt!” Second, “Thank you, Lord, that no one else was here to see that because that was really dumb!” And third, “How in the world did I do that?” I mean, I could plainly see that tray there. I knew it was there. But in my rush, with my eyes solely focused on those three little holes in the power strip that I was aiming for, I failed to truly see the bigger picture of my surroundings. My focus was too narrow.

Unfortunately, I think I often have this same problem in my spiritual life. I am often focused only on my own little world -- my family and all our activities, my work, my to-do list, my bills, my problems, etc. I don’t often take the time to look around me for how and where God is working.

This week my Sunday School class studied a passage from 2 Kings chapter 6 where Elisha keeps informing the king of Israel about his enemy’s plans. When the enemy king figures out that it is Elisha who is sharing his secrets, the king hunts Elisha down to capture him. When Elisha’s servant wakes up and sees the enemy king’s army of chariots surrounding the city they are in, the servant panics in fear. Here is Elisha’s response:

16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
That speaks to my heart! God was there the whole time. He had a plan. He had resources - a whole army ready to respond and act on their behalf. But the servant couldn’t see them until Elisha prayed for God to reveal it to him.

How many times do I run around in a panic because I don’t see what God is doing? How often do I let fear and stress and anxiety rule in my heart because I am not even trying to see where God is working?

And do I regularly pray for God to open the eyes of those around me who are panicked and fearful because of their life circumstances? Am I ever the calm reassurance for someone that God is right there ready with His perfect plan?

I don’t know what’s going on in your life right now that has you full of fear and stress, but God does. I believe that our Sovereign, Almighty God has a plan for you and for me that does not involve running around in a panic or being paralyzed by fear or overwhelmed by stress and anxiety. He wants us to see Him, to hear His voice, and to trust His perfect love for us.

I know life is not easy on this earth. But I know that God has promised to be with us always. He is right here - even when we cannot see Him.

Lord, I pray for each and every one who is reading this post. I pray that they will be granted a glimpse of You today. Show them that You are with them. Show them that You are in control. Help us, Lord, to trust You more and more. Help us to pray for one another and to encourage one another. Open our eyes that we might see.

For small groups:

Do you have a story of a time when you saw God working?  Share it with your group!

Like the Moon

Photo found at: https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6084/6142430996_37b335c4d0_b.jpg

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations. Psalm 67:1-2

Last week we had a full harvest moon shining. It was beautiful! I love to gaze out my bedroom window after all the lights are out while the full moon is shining over the landscape. It is amazing how much light there is, especially when you consider that the moon is only reflecting the sun’s light. It is not producing that light on its own. It is only catching the sun’s light and beaming it back at us.

But the moon is not always that bright. At some points in the lunar cycle, the moon is not reflecting light to us at all. Sometimes it’s just a tiny sliver. Other times it is completely, fully aglow with the sun’s light. It all depends on where the moon is along its path around the earth. We can be a reflection of God’s glory to those around us, like the moon reflecting the sun’s light. But in order to do so, we must be in the proper position. We have to be in God’s presence to catch His light, but we do not have to produce the light ourselves.

Moses experienced this in an amazing way. In Exodus 34, Moses spends 40 days on Mt. Sinai receiving God’s Ten Commandments. In verse 29, we read “Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him.” His face was literally shining because he had been in God’s presence -- so much so that the Israelites were afraid to approach him. But then the Israelites came to accept this as a visible sign that Moses had been in God’s presence and had received His word. And in 2 Corinthians 3:13, Paul tells us that Moses used a veil to prevent the Israelites from seeing this glow fade away.

As I reflect on that, I wonder: Do those around me see God’s light shining from me? Does my life reflect His glory? How long does that radiance last before it starts to fade?

I know that some days I do not shine because I do not spend enough time in God’s presence. I want to be alight with God’s love every day, but I don’t always receive that light like I could. And even when I do, it is easy for me to be sidetracked by life and allow that glow to fade away.

I slept too late, so I hurried through my time with God so that I wouldn’t be late to work. I allowed a student or a coworker to dim my light with a few words that made me angry. I hurried past a hurting friend so that I could get something else finished and missed the chance to encourage her. I reacted with harsh words when someone was critical of me. I could go on and on.

So how can I be a better reflection of God’s light? I can play worship music as I get ready in the morning and allow its truth to sink into my heart. I can place scriptures around me to remind me of God’s truth during the day. I can give myself time to meditate on my daily scripture reading and work to memorize those verses. I can sit quietly and listen during my prayer time so that I can hear God’s voice. I can consciously look for ways to minister to those around me through acts of service, encouraging words that build others up, or even a smile and a hug.

It doesn’t take much to make a big difference in someone’s day. I think the key to reflecting God’s light is to allow His Spirit to control, guide, and flow through us. If we are turned towards Him, we can shine with His light.

Lord, help us to be better reflections of You. Help us to be steadfast in our efforts to spend time in Your presence. Teach us to avoid the enemy’s distractions so that we can stay turned towards You. We want to shine Your light in our dark world and spread the love, joy, and peace that You have so graciously given us!