Dear Christian educators,

Whoever said it would be easy to be a Christian in the public schools? I doubt anyone would claim that. Easy is not what we are looking for but instead God's transforming power. This verse admonishes us to "put on" compassionate hearts, kindness, humility meekness and patience. The putting on of these attributes are gifts of the Spirit. We are God's chosen ones and He has chosen to place us in service to the public schools. Let's go to God for the ability to "put on" these humanly impossible gifts for the sake of our students.


Each day during this season of Lent, I will post one verse and pray it with you. Consider saying the verse in your quiet time and praying it also. You may use the same prayer or try your own. Each day until Easter (except Sundays) there will be a new post that contains: a verse, a small reflection, a prayer using the Scripture and an image. Feel free to share the images because I made them with the Bible Lens app and took all the pictures. What a creative God we serve!

Day 30

Colossians 3:12 English Standard Version (ESV)
12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
Patience is one of those attributes of God that calls for the intervention of the Holy Spirit, for sure. In this verse, however, we are told to "put on" patience. What does that mean? Are we to muster up patience on our own? I'm not sure that's even possible. When we "put on" patience, it is with prayer. If there is a particular situation at school, that requires patience and you know you will need help, pray in the morning before you leave your home, pray the moment your arrive on campus and then pray in your classroom or office before the students arrive. He is able! If it's a situation that happens on the spot, before uttering a word, utter a short silent prayer using this verse that might go something like this: Dear Lord, help me to put on patience Your way please!

Dear Christian educators,

Are you patient? Is it just a personality trait? There is no doubt that some people are more patient that others naturally, yet the promise of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit means that we will produce the Fruit of the Spirit. I remember a very wise principal once pointed out that the "Fruit" is singular and that we don't cherry-pick the ones we are more prone towards displaying. The Holy Spirit will display all fruit when we get out of the way and let Him. Oh that it was that simple on a day-to-day basis.

Each day during this season of Lent, I will post one verse and pray it with you. Consider saying the verse in your quiet time and praying it also. You may use the same prayer or try your own. Each day until Easter (except Sundays) there will be a new post that contains: a verse, a small reflection, a prayer using the Scripture and an image. Feel free to share the images because I made them with the Bible Lens app and took all the pictures. What a creative God we serve!

Day 29

Romans 8:25 English Standard Version (ESV)
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
What are some of the things we hope for in school and wait patiently for? Students who do not understand our content and suddenly the light goes on. Patience paid off. Colleagues who seem to be against what we stand for, come to us in a crisis. Patience paid off. Administrators that seem to unfairly evaluate us give us a glowing evaluation. Patience paid off. Naturally in any scenario in school, patience is undergirded with prayer. Ask others to pray for you when you are hoping for something that you just don't see happening. Patience will pay off when you issue is solved or may no longer even matter. 

Dear Christian educators,

We are the Lord's servants. Our duty is to not be quarrelsome and to be kind to everyone. We must also be able to teach while patiently enduring evil and correcting our opponents with gentleness. That's a big charge! However, the payoff is eternal because if we do these things, perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of truth. Isn't that our hope especially for the students we serve and the colleagues we serve with?


Each day during this season of Lent, I will post one verse and pray it with you. Consider saying the verse in your quiet time and praying it also. You may use the same prayer or try your own. Each day until Easter (except Sundays) there will be a new post that contains: a verse, a small reflection, a prayer using the Scripture and an image. Feel free to share the images because I made them with the Bible Lens app and took all the pictures. What a creative God we serve!

Day 28

2 Timothy 2:24-25 English Standard Version (ESV)
24 And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,


This verse makes me think of the grievance system between the unions and administration.  When things are not going the way we think they should, we have the right to grieve the situation. Sometimes it becomes a helpful tool to bring issues to solution, but too often it's used as a weapon. What if every Christian educator modeled this verse? Would it mean that nothing evil would come our way? On the contrary, it's almost a guarantee that evil will be experienced, but if we answered our opponents with gentleness, not being quarrelsome, while being kind, there may be quite a different outcome. No doubt, it's hard to do, but this is one of the ways transformation can happen with God's love and truth.

​Dear Christian educators,

As Christians in the public school, our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Change Maker, the Chain Breaker, the Life Giver and the One Who loves us. We do not look to convert or proselytize, but to be missional in our relationships. We are missionaries to those who are hurting and lost and by our conduct we seek to show the reason for our hope and to do it all with gentleness and respect.


Each day during this season of Lent, I will post one verse and pray it with you. Consider saying the verse in your quiet time and praying it also. You may use the same prayer or try your own. Each day until Easter (except Sundays) there will be a new post that contains: a verse, a small reflection, a prayer using the Scripture and an image. Feel free to share the images because I made them with the Bible Lens app and took all the pictures. What a creative God we serve!

Day 27


1 Peter 3:15 English Standard Version (ESV)
15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
Wouldn't a classroom of gentleness and respect be the goal of every school community? When we set up our rules and goals in the beginning of the year, we all seek to have a safe environment with respect and dignity. Upholding these high standards are not impossible, but improbable as the school year is in full gear. Often times we don't even see a tangible change, but attitudes and behaviors seem to slip. We need prayer each day for our students, colleagues, administration and the whole school community. Prayer for Christian educators in the public schools is never in front of the classroom, but always in private before or after school undergirding our efforts to be gentle with respect. Do you have a prayer partner at school? You can pray alone but the beauty of having a partner, triplet or group is that Jesus said that where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am among them. Let's invite Him in and you will see true transformation.

Dear Christian educators,


In our world today we typically associate humbleness and gentleness with weakness when the opposite quite true. In this world, we push and shove to get our way, but those who are Christ-followers are learning to be like Him. Jesus is the Gentle Shepherd. Who is more powerful than He? Jesus is the Humble Servant? Who is more important than He? I just love how Jesus turns the world's ways upside down and shows us how we ought to be.


Each day during this season of Lent, I will post one verse and pray it with you. Consider saying the verse in your quiet time and praying it also. You may use the same prayer or try your own. Each day until Easter (except Sundays) there will be a new post that contains: a verse, a small reflection, a prayer using the Scripture and an image. Feel free to share the images because I made them with the Bible Lens app and took all the pictures. What a creative God we serve!

Day 26


Ephesians 4:1-2 English Standard Version (ESV)Unity in the Body of Christ
4 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

​
I love how Micah 6:8 lays out what is important for us. "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." In our school communities, we need humble servants who treat the children with gentleness. Christian educators have the heart of Jesus and when we seek to represent Jesus we have a heart to do things His way. When it seems impossible to be gentle in a hostile environment, remember that Paul was writing Eph. 4:1-2 from prison. Now that's not a place where we would look for gentleness for sure. Let us be mindful of situations at school where we can turn the issue from hostility to gentleness with humility. With consistency, they will come to see that you are real and then you have the opportunity to tell them how Jesus is working with you.

Dear Christian educators,

Romans 2 is about judgment. Oh how easy it is to judge others and not consider the consequences. Anytime we judge another, we are condemning ourselves because we do the very same thing we are judging others for! Thank God for the riches of His kindness toward us. Praise the Lord that He is kind to us to bring us to repentance. Isn't this what Lent is all about?


Each day during this season of Lent, I will post one verse and pray it with you. Consider saying the verse in your quiet time and praying it also. You may use the same prayer or try your own. Each day until Easter (except Sundays) there will be a new post that contains: a verse, a small reflection, a prayer using the Scripture and an image. Feel free to share the images because I made them with the Bible Lens app and took all the pictures. What a creative God we serve!

Day 25


Romans 2:4 English Standard Version (ESV)
4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?


We do not have the legal right to preach repentance in our classroom. We are teachers, not preachers, so what can we do legally? Honesty is one of the highest character values in any school setting. Modeling honesty, teaching the benefits of honesty (Honesty is always the best policy - Ben Franklin) and using quotes to emphasize honesty are all needed. When it's time to confront a lie from a student, you have set the ground work. Our hope is that they will tell the truth. We can pray privately for the Holy Spirit to convict them to tell the truth. Our highest goal is to be like God - extending the riches of His kindness that leads to repentance.

Dear Christian educators,

I will be the first to admit that gentleness is not my strong suit. I tend to be more like a bull in a china shop (if that were the opposite of gentleness). However, this is one of the greatest areas of improvement we can all work on for the sake of the students. We need only to cast our eyes upon Jesus and see His gentle touch on the unlovables. What a Mighty God we serve!



Each day during this season of Lent, I will post one verse and pray it with you. Consider saying the verse in your quiet time and praying it also. You may use the same prayer or try your own. Each day until Easter (except Sundays) there will be a new post that contains: a verse, a small reflection, a prayer using the Scripture and an image. Feel free to share the images because I made them with the Bible Lens app and took all the pictures. What a creative God we serve!

Day 24


Galatians 6:1 English Standard Version (ESV)Bear One Another's Burdens
6 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.


I wrote an blog entry on gentleness in the classroom a few years ago. This is an excerpt from it:

What might a gentle classroom look like? One of the synonyms for gentle is placid. As a lake without ripples, waves or turbulence, a gentle classroom will have a sense of calm. As the gentle leader, our students will respond to “events” in our classrooms as we do.  Ask any substitute teacher about classroom personalities. If the teacher is loud, the class is often loud.  If the teacher is calm and soft spoken, the class, in general, takes on those qualities. It’s a great experiment to test this theory.  Speak in your normal tone while giving instructions or lecture and then mix it up with a very soft voice. Our students will immediately notice the difference, perhaps strain to listen, and if given the opportunity to respond, they will answer in a quiet tone.  Our classrooms environments are set by our standards, our mannerisms and our display of the Fruit of the Spirit.  Let’s be purposeful in being gentle to these precious children we will inevitably be making an impact upon. Let’s strive to be gentler in order to give our students a calm, orderly, and safe place to learning.

The greatest teacher who ever lived, Jesus, was described as gentle shepherd. What a compliment if we could be like Him! These four verses are my favorite reference to gentle in the Word.  May you and your students be blessed with a gentle classroom this year.

Proverbs 15:1
 - A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Matthew 11:29
 - 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.

Philippians 4:5
 - Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

1 Peter 3:15
 -But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

Dear Christian educators,

Friendship is amazing. We all have many acquaintances in life, but there are only a few true friends who last a lifetime. That kind of friend is so easy to get together with even if it has been years. You seem able to just pick up where you left off. The best part of friendship is what this verse is all about: kindness in friendship. Let us be keenly aware of how we treat others and to be particularly kindness as an act of friendship.


Each day during this season of Lent, I will post one verse and pray it with you. Consider saying the verse in your quiet time and praying it also. You may use the same prayer or try your own. Each day until Easter (except Sundays) there will be a new post that contains: a verse, a small reflection, a prayer using the Scripture and an image. Feel free to share the images because I made them with the Bible Lens app and took all the pictures. What a creative God we serve!

Day 23


Job 6:14 English Standard Version (ESV) 
“He who withholds kindness from a friend
    forsakes the fear of the Almighty.


What does friendship have to do with school? For some students, it's the main motivator for attendance. As educators, we are often in a position to observe when friendships are not good ones. It's very tricky to advise a student that their friendship with so-and-so is not a good one. This verse can be a great guideline for the friendship. Is there any kindness being withheld? Taking a look at how one is being treated kindly or not can help open the eyes for a student. For educators, it's a gift to have a work friend. Common interests, issues and cares can be lessened when we are kind to each other. Most of all, we would never want to forsake the fear of the Almighty by being a poor friend.

​

​Dear Christian educators,


Yesterday we talked about loving kindness, but today I want to talk about the ability to love kindness. There is a difference. Loving kindness is a way you conduct yourself towards others. It is always about putting others before yourself. To love kindness is a mindset to make loving kindness a way of life. Can you imagine if every Christian (adults and students) in the public schools loved kindness. We would have a revolution.That's exactly what our Jesus came to do and he began the greatest revolution ever - from 12 to millions now who have professed His way and into eternity where ALL who are with Him with love kindness. 


Each day during this season of Lent, I will post one verse and pray it with you. Consider saying the verse in your quiet time and praying it also. You may use the same prayer or try your own. Each day until Easter (except Sundays) there will be a new post that contains: a verse, a small reflection, a prayer using the Scripture and an image. Feel free to share the images because I made them with the Bible Lens app and took all the pictures. What a creative God we serve!

Day 22


Micah 6:8 English Standard Version (ESV)
 He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?

​
Catherine Ryan Hyde established The Pay It Forward Foundation in September 2000 to educate and inspire students to realize they can change the world and provide them with opportunities to do so. The Pay It Forward Foundation is a small, mostly volunteer organization with a powerful heart and gift to educators.  They provide Pay It Forward grants, ideas to share and an excellent website with success stories. The Pay It Forward Foundation has trademark rights to the term, “Pay It Forward Foundation.”  The idea of “pay it forward,” however, is in the public domain and the foundation encourages all who want to promote the concept of paying it forward to do so.  The Pay It Forward movie and website are property of Warner Brothers and the novel, “Pay It Forward”, is copyright property of Catherine Ryan Hyde. She has now given the reigns over to a young man named Charley Johnson. He developed the Pay It Forward bracelets and has distributed hundreds of thousands throughout the world. He's spoken at TED twice and is about to do his third. Here are three samples: the story behind Pay It Forward bracelet, Global Reading Flash Mob of Pay It Forward, Charley Johnson on TEDxBountiful.



In April 2005, I developed a “Pay It Forward” presentation for students of all ages which encourages students to create their own movement with their families. I have presented the lessons for hundreds of children from kindergarten to college and in very large group settings and even churches.  I have an annual date with one of my daughters who is a teacher on the Friday before Thanksgiving to present the concept to their families around the Thanksgiving table. If you are interested in a presentation for your classroom, just contact me. There’s no charge for a Pay It Forward lesson, you only need to agree to pass it on! 

Pay It Forward Day is April 30th each year.  An Australian group is hoping this will become a worldwide event.  Check their website at www.payitforwardday.com for more details and ideas on how to Pay It Forward!

Let’s face it, our classrooms can use a whole lot of kindness. Why not make a commitment to raise the kindness level in your classroom this year and teach your students not random acts of kindness, but purposeful and targeted ways to be kind to others? Order the Pay It Forward bracelets for your students and as they do an act of kindness, they hand a bracelet to the person and encourage them to pass it on.  Simply beautiful!
​

Dear Christian educators,


Loving Kindness is a gift that comes in so many ways. I found a very cool blog post, "18 Heart-Warming Acts of Kindness That Will Make You Cry." When humans feel another human's pain or need and act on it, that's loving kindness. Jesus did more acts of loving kindness than we can even imagine. We know of miracles and healings, but did you notice that it was always for the marginalized or outcasts? It was never for the self-sufficient, self-righteous or wealthy. What an awesome example He has set for us.


Each day during this season of Lent, I will post one verse and pray it with you. Consider saying the verse in your quiet time and praying it also. You may use the same prayer or try your own. Each day until Easter (except Sundays) there will be a new post that contains: a verse, a small reflection, a prayer using the Scripture and an image. Feel free to share the images because I made them with the Bible Lens app and took all the pictures. What a creative God we serve!

Day 21


Titus 3:4-8 English Standard Version (ESV)
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.
What does goodness and loving kindness look like at school? We often call this random acts of kindness. Students generally love to participate in these types of activities. Why not start a tradition of goodness and loving kindness? Ask students to do a random act of kindness and then tell their stories. Collect and tell the story to a wider audience, perhaps posting the stories to a class blog. As more and more students do acts of kindness, it becomes contagious. Lead by example. Do some random acts of kindness or pay-it-forward activities and tell about them. Telling stories encourages others to participate. It's not about bragging about your deeds, but setting examples that others may try. Everyone wins, everyone is blessed and everyone can do this.