Pressing On!

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14

We have made it to the end of third quarter in my school building. That means that we are definitely on the downhill slide to the end of the school year, but it also means that many of us are feeling tired. Tired of fighting the same battles with our students day after day. Tired of the same behaviors from our students. Tired of the same attitudes, the same arguments, the same exhausting cycles, the same difficulties and learning challenges.

How many times can I say the exact same thing?! How many days do I have to have the same conversation!? How many ways can I teach this particular skill?

Honest truth here: some days it is so very tempting to just give up--to quit fighting that fight, to stop attempting to create change, to move on to a new skill even though the old one still isn’t mastered.

I have one particular group that has been a bit discouraging to me this year. I am teaching them some very foundational reading skills, and we are at the point where we have finished one step and assessed their learning. And they didn’t meet the minimum requirements necessary to go on to the next step.

It’s discouraging. I want to push on and keep teaching them new things, but they haven’t really mastered the “old” things yet. I know it’s not really best for them to move on, but I would really like to move on.

In my position, I sometimes have the unique opportunity to work with the same students for multiple years. I have a student with whom I have been working for almost four school years now. When we started our work, this student was really struggling to read even the most basic materials. When I started with this student, another school employee asked me if I really thought this student would learn to read. This employee made the comment that this student may be one who just never really learns to read.

But I disagreed. I said, with conviction, that I did not believe that was true. I believed this student could and would learn to read, but I admitted even then that I knew it was not going to be easy, and it was not going to be quick.

And it wasn’t. We have worked really hard for the last three and three-quarters school years and even over the summers. And we are not done even now. But today I saw some test results that showed big gains in this student’s reading level! I was so excited!

And I needed that reminder today. I needed to remember that sometimes the results are long in the making, that some goals take a long time to reach and cannot be rushed, and that you absolutely cannot reach a goal if you give up along the way.

I have no doubt that everyone reading this post has some sort of situation that has us exhausted and discouraged and doubting whether it will ever change. Maybe you are a teacher and you are worn out with a particular student situation. Maybe you are a mom struggling to keep on with a challenge from your own children. Maybe it’s a work situation - something with a boss or a co-worker. Maybe it’s a family situation - a sibling or a parent. Maybe it’s a spouse that has you worn slick. Maybe it’s something else altogether.

Whatever it is, don’t give up! Press on! Keep seeking God’s wisdom to know how to deal with the situation. Keep asking for resolution in prayer. Keep doing your best to do the things you know you need to be doing. Don’t give up. God is still working - in you and through you. Press on towards the goal! God is with you!

Father God, thank You for Your presence in the midst of the challenges of life. Show us more of You this week. Be with each one reading this right now and grant them wisdom in their difficult situations. Give them a glimpse of the impact they are making to encourage them this week. Grant us the strength to persevere when we feel like giving up. Help us, like Paul, to press on to take hold of that for which You took hold of us. Thank You for Your faithfulness and Your never-failing love!

Applying the Lessons

12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:12-13
In my small group instruction each day, I teach my students some very basic strategies to help them read words accurately. One of the strategies I teach my older students is how to divide a longer, unknown word into syllables. It can be quite a tedious process to teach this breaking of a word into its syllables because there are several steps, and there are some points where they need to learn some knowledge about words and their parts in order to complete the process successfully.

But what I know is that if they take the time to learn this process really well, so that they can do it independently, it will help them so much! So I take the time to teach them, and they participate each day in the process. And when they are in my room and that is what we are focusing on, they have it. They can do it.

But here’s an important part that many of my students seem to miss. In order for this strategy to be helpful to them, they have to use it all the time -- when I’m in the room with them, and when they are reading in their classrooms on their own or at home. Knowing how to do this doesn’t help them one bit if they don’t actually follow through and use it on their own. And it is very frustrating to watch a student struggle to read a word that you know they have the ability to read, if they would just apply what they’ve been taught.

There are a few of these older students that I see at two different times during the school day -- once for grade-level reading instruction and once for specific work in word study/phonics and fluency. And it always amazes me that when they are reading from their grade-level reading textbooks, they rarely apply the things they are learning during our word study/phonics lessons. They will get stuck reading a word, and I will prompt them to use the strategies they’ve learned. That’s when I usually get a big sigh and an eye roll.

So when I read these verses from Paul during a Wednesday night Bible study time at church, I was instantly convicted. Paul was reminding the people of the church at Philippi to continue to obey in the things they had learned when Paul was with them, even though he was no longer there. Just because the man who was teaching them was gone physically from their presence, they had no excuse not to continue to live out what he had taught them.

God’s Holy Spirit is constantly teaching me, too, and I am quite certain there are many times He is frustrated with me for not using what He has been teaching me. When I am sitting at my computer typing a devotion, when I am studying my Bible at home or at church, when I am teaching my Sunday School class and discussing the scriptures with others, the lessons seem so clear! But when I walk into my day, when I leave the church building, when the Bible is left on my bookshelf while I go “do life,” how easy it is to forget to use what I have been taught!

God has a good purpose for us.  He wants us to fulfill that purpose.  He teaches us and speaks to us to help us along the way, but at some point we have to put those lessons into action.  If I'm going to experience life as God intends -- if I want to be a blessing to someone else along the way as God has planned ahead, then I must obey in the things He has taught me.

Lord, forgive me for so often doing just what my students do - so often I fail to apply what You have taught me when I am in the midst of my days. Thank You for Your gentle reminders and constant patience with me!

Trusting His Authority

When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well. Luke 7:1-10

This week I have been challenged more than once by a particular student who would really like to be in charge. Sometimes it pushes my buttons. I try to always respond calmly, but after the umpteenth time of listening to arguments erupt over whose turn it is to be leader, my patience wears thin. Today, I found myself saying very firmly in a raised voice, “If you don’t stop arguing about this, then no one will get to be the leader.” At that, things got quiet for a minute. Finally, I thought, they are recognizing my authority!

But then, not even 15 minutes later, when I corrected a student and prompted her to do something the correct way, she responded with, “But that’s not the way I do it!” She didn’t really care that she wasn’t doing it the way I was asking her to. She wanted to do it her own way - it was easier for her and more comfortable, and she liked it that way, even though it wasn’t correct.

This week, I studied the story of the centurion and how Jesus responded to him.

This Roman centurion was a man who understood authority. He lived it in his military position every day. He expected those under his authority to obey his commands, just as he obeyed the commands of those in authority over him.

And when he sent these Jewish leaders to Jesus to ask Jesus to heal his sick servant, he understood that Jesus was the ultimate authority. He didn’t need Jesus to physically show up at his house. The centurion knew that all Jesus had to do was give the command, and it would be done.

And did you catch how Jesus felt about that? He was amazed at this man’s faith, and the centurion’s servant was healed. I don’t think very many people did or said things that amazed Jesus, but this centurion’s statement of faith in Jesus’ authority made an impression.

It makes me stop and think about my own faith. Am I more like my students, arguing and attempting to always do things my way? Or am I submitted fully to the Lord’s ultimate authority over my life? Am I willing to let Him be in control and completely confident that my requests in His hands will be handled in the very best way, according to His will?

My students don’t always understand why I ask them to do the things I ask them to do. They don’t always see the plan I have that will ultimately help them be more successful at school. Sometimes, they trust me and do it the way I ask. Sometimes, they do it the way I ask just because I’m the teacher and they know they could get in trouble if they don’t. Sometimes, they stubbornly refuse to do what I ask.

And yes, I am relating to that struggle tonight. Sometimes I don’t want to do things the way God asks, even though I know I should. I know He is trustworthy. I know His ways are always best. I know that He knows and sees things that I can’t even begin to understand, but I still struggle to lay aside my own agenda and let Him be in charge of my life.

Lord, help me to have faith like the centurion. Help me to trust You and submit to Your authority in my life every day.

Asking for Band Aids

Image found at: https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/earle-dickson-band-aid-1921/

9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:9-11

Last week, I had a group of younger students around my table when suddenly one student held out her hand and exclaimed, “I’m bleeding!” I glanced at her palm, and sure enough, there was a small spot of blood. It looked like just a small scratch, but over the years, I have learned that sometimes it’s easier to offer a quick bandage and roll on. And I knew that this student was not likely to let it go with a quick, “You’ll be fine.”

So I told her to wait just a minute until we had finished an activity, and then I would get a bandage out of my desk for her. She calmed quickly, and we continued our activity. I walked to my desk, got a band aid, and returned to the table.

But when I asked her to show me where she was bleeding again so that I could place the bandage on it, instead of showing me her palm, she tilted her head back and pointed up her nostril!

“Wait a minute,” I said. “I thought your hand was bleeding. Are you telling me that it was from your nose?”

“Uh huh.”

“And you want me to put a band aid on your nose?” I asked.

She nodded in response, eyes wide, and lower lip protruding.

But there was no way I was doing that. I bit back a laugh and told her I could not put a bandage on her nose. Instead, I directed her to get a tissue and use some hand sanitizer!

I knew that a band aid was really just to make her feel better, and I was willing to put one on her hand. But a band aid over a nostril is just not going to help anything. There definitely would have been laughter at her expense, and I really doubt she would have felt better at that point.

She didn’t really need a band aid. She needed to keep her finger out of her nose -- and possibly some relief from the very dry winter air we’ve been experiencing lately.

And right about here is where I start thinking about some of the things I ask God for. How many of those things are really just to make me feel better? How many of those things wouldn’t even be necessary if I had handled the situation better in the first place? How many of those requests would end up being something that would cause me more grief in the long run?

I am so thankful that God, in His infinite wisdom and abundant love for me, answers my prayers with what I need instead of just giving me what I ask for. I am so thankful that I can completely trust Him with my requests, knowing that He will not simply grant me everything I ask for just because I asked for it. Instead, sometimes, He hands me the tissue and the hand sanitizer because that is exactly what I need.

Lord, thank you for answering my prayers the way that only You can -- knowing exactly what I really need even when I don’t. Help me to trust You more each day and to understand that when You don’t answer the way I am asking You to, that it is because You know what is best for me, and You love me too much to give me anything else.

The Greatest Is Love

image found at: https://4mygodsglory.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/love-god.jpg

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. 1Corinthians 13:1-8a

One of my students stopped our lesson today to tell me all about how excited she was to go home after school. When I asked why, she said, “Because after school I get to decorate my Valentime's box!” There was going to be tissue paper and special stickers, and she just couldn’t wait!

One of the reasons I think the students get so excited about Valentine's Day is because they really enjoy giving each of their classmates a little treat. They enjoy getting the little cards with their corny jokes and showing each other a little love.

It has me thinking about showing love to others. It’s pretty easy to say the words, but it is not always easy to live it out. And yet, that is what Jesus taught us to do. The greatest commandments, Jesus said, are to love God and love our neighbor (see Matthew 22).

Paul really explains what it looks like to love in 1 Corinthians 13. Love should be patient, kind, protective, trusting, hoping, persevering. Love should not be envious, boastful, proud, dishonoring, self-seeking, easily angered. And Paul says if we do good things, but do them without love, those good things are worthless. Like, really worth nothing. Meaningless. Save your energy because without love it’s just noise.

I have to be honest, I can easily slip into the habit of doing things without love. Sometimes I do things that I know I should do, but in my heart, there is pride and selfishness. There is anger and score-keeping. The “good thing” I do is not an expression of love, but an act done for recognition or to uphold a certain image. Maybe I even do a “good thing” to try to elevate my own status above someone else’s.

I don’t want to be like that. I try really hard not to be like that. But sometimes, I’m like that anyway. And that is not love.

But sometimes I am so overcome by the love Jesus has shown me that I can’t help but show that love to someone else. I want to be the woman patiently waiting in the grocery check-out line with a smile and a bit of conversation. I want to be the one anonymously giving generously to help someone with a need. I want to be the friend that protects others, gives the benefit of the doubt, reacts with grace, and easily lets go if wronged.

I’m definitely not there yet, but God is still working on me. He has shown me so much grace and love -- over and over again! When I remember how God loves me, it makes it much easier to show love to others.

So this “Valentime's” Day, I hope that you receive God’s amazing love! But I also hope that we can all take a minute to show that kind of love to the others around us. What a difference we could make in this world if we could only learn how to be better at loving one another!

Father God, thank You for the gift of Your great love!  Help us to examine our hearts this week and to see our true motives.  Help us to be the kind of people who truly love others as You love.  Make our hearts more like Yours.

Desiring More

When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” John 5:6
Every two weeks or so in my classroom, I take a day to check progress. I don’t teach much, if any, on these days. Instead I take the time to assess each student individually with a quick, timed reading passage or word list or alphabet list -- whatever matches what the group is working on.

The students have charts where they track their results each time, and I have a bulletin board where they get to put stickers when they improve.

Most of my students are not reading on grade level, and although I never point that out or discuss that with them, they seem to know. They want to get better, though.

They don’t always want to do the work. But they do want to get better. And sometimes I have to remind them of how our daily work is designed to help them get better. Sometimes a reminder of the goals we have is enough to help them push through when the work is hard and/or monotonous.

I’m like that, too, in my spiritual life. I want to be better. I want to be closer to the Lord. I want to have more faith. I want to share my faith with others more. I want more fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). But I don’t always want to do the work.

Now, please don’t hear me saying we have to earn our salvation -- we are saved by grace through faith, but there is effort required on our part to grow in our spiritual journey. We have to work with the Holy Spirit as He continues to work in us.

I read a passage of scripture this morning from John 5. It tells the story of Jesus healing a man who was lying beside the pool of Bethesda. People who needed healing would sit near this pool watching for the waters to be stirred up by an angel of the Lord. When the waters stirred, the first one to enter the water would be healed.

Jesus met a man there who had been paralyzed for 38 years. And after learning this, the first thing Jesus does is ask him if he wants to get well.

Now why would Jesus ask that? It seems like it would be pretty obvious that he wanted to get well. That’s why he sat near the pool, right? I wonder if Jesus was challenging the man’s thinking as He sometimes challenges mine. For instance, I have not been exercising for quite some time, and I have gained some weight. If someone were to ask me if I wanted to lose those extra pounds, I would absolutely say, “Yes, of course!” But if someone asked me if I was willing to do what was required in order to lose that weight, I know I couldn’t answer that the same way.

I could easily say I want to improve my skills on guitar or violin or piano. Sure, I want to play better! But am I willing to put in the practice time that becoming better will require? Um, maybe? Sometimes? Ok, no, not really!

Later, Jesus speaks with this man again at the temple, and Jesus tells him to stop sinning or something worse may happen to him (verse 14). See, there was something in this man’s life that was holding him back -- we aren’t told exactly what that was. But Jesus was asking him to give it up.

In order to grow, I have to give things up -- attitudes, thoughts, activities -- that keep me from making progress. Things that take my time and attention off of Jesus. And I have to replace those things with more positive, productive alternatives.

And that requires some effort and dedication. It requires some commitment. Maybe even some sacrifice. But is it worth it? I guess that depends on if I really want to get well.

Father God, I know that You are working on me, and I know that sometimes I need a push in order to do the things that I need to do in order to grow. Help me to do the things that are necessary to cooperate with your Holy Spirit so that I can be more like You. Create in me the urgent desire to change that is required. Thank You for always being present and for Your desire to see me become stronger in my faith and more mature in my spiritual life.

A Snowflake Lesson

20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? Romans 9:20-21

Recently, some of my students at school read about a man that you may not be familiar with. His name was Wilson Bentley, and he lived from 1865-1931. Even without the help of today’s technology, he spent many, many hours of his life using micro-photography to capture pictures of individual snow crystals to share with the world. And his photographs are amazingly beautiful! Even more so when I learned the lengths he had to go to in order to create them.

He took many, many pictures over the years, but he never found two snow crystals that were identical. They are all beautiful, and they all share some similar characteristics, but each one is uniquely designed. He studied the weather and found that even slight differences in the atmosphere - humidity, air pressure, wind, etc. - created differences in the patterns of the snow crystals.

Today our school dismissed early because it snowed. I love to watch it falling, but as I watched today, I also thought about Bentley’s snowflake pictures and just how many individual designs there were piling up on our landscape. And although they are beautiful all piled together and covering everything with their white blanket, I can’t really see the individual beauty of each snowflake from my window. I can’t appreciate the delicate patterns that make each one special without some special equipment and a commitment of time.

I think I am like that with people, too. I know that God has created each person with individual differences that make us each special and one-of-a-kind. But I don’t think I always take the time to appreciate that. Especially when it comes to my own design.

I am pretty aware of my own strengths and weaknesses, but I have to say that I probably focus more on my weaknesses than my strengths. Those are pretty easy for me to rattle off - even if some of them are hard to own. However, when it comes to those around me, I tend to see more of their strengths than their weaknesses.

For me, that is usually a comparison where I come out the loser. I think things like, “My coworker is so organized! I wish I was more like that!” Or, “Man, my friend is so much better at encouraging others than I am!”

But God is showing me that He has created me to be different from any other person. He gave me a unique set of talents and abilities, as well as weaknesses, that make me who I am. He has given me individualized life lessons - challenges and difficulties to overcome and work through - that have changed me and shaped me into the person I am today. And He wants to use all those strengths and weaknesses for His purposes.

Maybe you are like me and don’t always feel like you measure up to those around you. Maybe you sometimes wonder why God made you the way He did instead of making you more like someone else. Maybe you wonder why you have had to endure certain trials and difficulties when others around you have not. Maybe you feel very common when you’d like to be special.

Friends, can I ask you to please read again the scripture at the top of the page? I’ll put it here again for you.

20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? Romans 9:20-21

God created you just as you are. And He has a purpose for your life. He loves you and sees your unique beauty, even if you don’t. You are not just one small snowflake in the middle of a huge drift. You are a special, one-of-a-kind creation, custom-made to fulfill His plan and complete His will. Those trials and difficulties are the environment that have shaped and are still shaping you into the person He has designed you to be.

You are treasured. You are beautiful. You are loved. Just as you are.

And maybe someone else in your life needs you right now. Maybe they need you to notice their beauty - their strengths and gifts - and tell them about it. Maybe someone needs to hear how you endured through something difficult so they can do the same. Maybe God can use you today to encourage and lift up someone else who desperately needs it. Maybe God wants you to use your special gifts and abilities to serve someone else around you and be a blessing to them. Will you allow Him to use you for His purposes today?

Father God, Your creation is so amazing! Your designs astounding in their individualized beauty! Help me to remember that You are my creator - that You created me just as I am on purpose and for Your purposes. I want You to use me today. Show me how to be a blessing to someone else today.