Teachers in the Trenches #2 Who are the Teachers in the Trenches? They are the hot-hearted, the humble and the ones who seek the Lord's direction in their high calling. Micah 6:8 - He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Luke 24:32 - They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" I have the humble honor to visit with many of our called-out, hot-hearted educators in the public schools and thought it would be encouraging to share some of the stories of His grace and presence in our public schools today. The names and places are not their real names, but the stories are the real thing. Marilyn is a 6th grade ELA teacher in my own district who was given a new 3rd period class of 8th graders. This class was "hand-chosen" by the 8th grade teachers when they class size was too large and they could chose who they wanted to move. Yes, this new group has definitely come with their issues. Marilyn prayed for wisdom, creativity and ways to help this class with the love of Jesus. Since October until now, the class is definitely more peaceful, more trusting of her and are developing a better work ethic. It reminds me of the class Mike Hicks was "given" and he had the idea of asking the students to write their stories and then (with permission) share them in a book called "Roots of Apathy." I suggested that Marilyn consider given the students in her class a similar opportunity. She has seen numerous answers to prayer over the last few years. She taught high school for just one year, but she really felt that the Lord placed her there "for such a time as this." She attended our LIFT dinners in January and was very encouraged to know that there are other Christians at her school with whom she can fellowship. One of the coolest things she showed me was she FL ELA standard LAFS.8.3.9 - Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new. I visited Manny's FCA group during lunch to introduce the students to Honor the Grads, a Christian Educator integrity award for students. This student-led group began with prayer, worship, a little business and a devotional by a bold student who encouraged the students to knock on God's door through prayer. He described the door in his minds-eye as very large, so large that he couldn't even reach the handle. When he knocked the door was opened by his Father God as it will be opened to all his peers. I shared the FREE to Speak pamphlet with the students for their understanding of what they can and cannot do during the school day legally and gracefully as they represent Christ. It is so encouraging and refreshing to be with these on fire young Christians. Tamiya is an 11th and 12th grade English teacher in our district who prayed for years to start a student-led Christian group at her campus. In the first year she tried to begin the group, she only had 2-3 students come regularly. She asked God if this really was His plan for her and all she could understand was to "be still and know that I am God." She tried again the next year when her school went to one lunch for an hour on Wednesday. This meant that she could hold the club during a portion of the lunch in her room during the school day! The club named themselves Revolution Youth and drew in as many as 25 students. They prayed, sang worship songs and preached during their club period during lunch. They studied the Word and shared common issues they were experiencing and how to handle them according to God's Word. One of the students was describing how important it is to her to go to a local Christian college because, "I would go crazy if I could talk about Jesus anytime I wanted!" The president of their club described how she was asking God how she could advertise the club and as she was just staring at her computer she began to create a poster that God had to have given her because she had no plan in her mind. The icing on the cake today was when the group chose the president as their representative for Honor the Grads in May. I praise God for the opportunity to encourage, equip and empower these precious educators and look forward to being able to share with you what God is gracing us with in the public schools. If you have a story, send me your "tale" in an email to [email protected]. Prayerfully yours, Your prayer coach, K www.aw180days.com www.one16pray.com www.ceai.org [email protected]
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Tales From the Teachers in the Trenches - 1 Who are the Teachers in the Trenches? They are the hot-hearted, the humble and the ones who seek the Lord's direction in their high calling. Micah 6:8 - He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Luke 24:32 - They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" I have the humble honor to visit with many of our called-out, hot-hearted educators in the public schools and thought it would be encouraging to share some of the stories of His grace and presence in our public schools today. The names and places are not their real names, but the stories are the real thing. Rachel is a kindergarten teacher in Pompano Beach, FL. After attending one of our LIFT America dinners, she realized she was not alone. Too often as classroom teachers, we don't get out of classrooms, especially in these days of school security and locked classroom doors. Her eyes were opened to the joy of sharing her faith with her colleagues at her "table of 8" at the dinner and continuing the conversations at lunch and before or after school with her brothers and sisters at her school. The Lord has been working with her to spending more quality time with her family and she recently had surgery that has curtailed her ability to lift anything (including her bookbag!). Rachel is now getting all her work done at school - even when it's not totally done and going home without the pressure of planning, grading and forms to complete. Somehow they have all waited for her on the next day. She praises God for turning a trial into a blessing. Sabrina is a K-8 principal in Seminole County, FL. She and her husband have been pastors of a church, but after difficult injuries for both, they needed to let their pastoral duties go. Although it has been a bit of a void, the Lord revealed to Sabrina that He placed her as principal at her school to shepherd the staff and students. Although she never crosses the line of principal to pastor in her official capacity, she has been able to counsel teachers who are overworked, overstressed and heavy-burdened when she takes her principal hat off. When counseling a teacher in need, she asks if they would allow her to pray from them (with her principal hat off) and the peace that passes all understanding bonds them in a way that only God can do. Katrina is a 5th grade teacher in Osceola County, FL. She has been praying about finding others who believe like her for a while. She was invited to a LIFT America dinner and couldn't believe her eyes when she saw over 100 educators from her own district praying and fellowshipping together. At her own table, she was able to meet teachers who were also Christian and were even from her own school. Katrina immediately joined CEAI's Free Movement which helps all educators realize they are connected to something bigger than their own school and later realized just how amazing CEAI is. She became a full-time member because she wanted to support the cause of encouraging, equipping and empowering educators with Biblical principles. She also received a $2-million liability policy as a benefit of membership. Katrina not only feels protected, she feels connected! Linda is a high school Intensive Reading teacher in Brevard County, FL. She too, attended a LIFT America dinner and was inspired to start a teacher fellowship group. Because teachers have so much on their plate and so little time to gather, they decided to study Around the Word in 180 Days - the Promises of God. With 200 promises available, the scripture is listed in four translations, their is a small note to the Educator, a prompt of our 1:16 PM prayer and and small area to reflect. The teachers were excited to begin this study which affords them time in the Word together and the rich blessings of God applied to their classrooms. I praise God for the opportunity to encourage, equip and empower these precious educators and look forward to being able to share with you what God is gracing us with in the public schools. If you have a story, send me your "tale" in an email to [email protected]. Prayerfully yours, Your prayer coach, K www.aw180days.com www.one16pray.com www.16-9blog www.ceai.org [email protected] |
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