I cried at the end of the school day yesterday. Tears streamed down my face and Thomas just sat holding me, reassuring me of his love.
It had been a bad day, and if you’ve ever spent a day in public education, you can relate. Teaching in today’s world is hard. We deal with kids from all different backgrounds and home lives. Add that with hormones kicking in at the middle school level where I work, and you have a recipe for disaster.
My days are spent caring and working hard for my students. And then they come to school and don’t care at all about what we’re doing. But we have to think to ourselves, did they even have dinner last night? Did they have to stay up half the night caring for a baby they didn’t ask for but have suddenly become responsible for? Did they have so many other things to worry about besides school work?
That’s a hard pill to swallow for some of us teachers. We want them to care because we know that with an education, life can be better. We know that if they’ll just quit putting on that mask to cover up their problems that this education will open doors they never thought were possible.
I have to remind myself, though, that only through Christ can they be changed and totally free. I also know that only through Christ can I love my kids unconditionally the way I should. So, I am inviting Christ back into the classroom. I am inviting God into my school. He’s been gone for way too long and so many worry about stepping on toes or offending people, but I am standing up. I am proclaiming, “No more! Holy Spirit, thou art welcome here.”
Won’t you join me in praying this prayer over your classroom today?
God, I know this is a place where they say you aren’t allowed, but I’m asking You to come Holy Spirit. I’m inviting You into this place. I pray that as my days are spent in between these four walls that You change me and every student that steps through my door. I pray that the love of Jesus would radiate from me and that I would be a light in this dark world. I pray over every seat in this classroom. I pray that Your Spirit is felt each and every day. In Christ’s Name I pray, amen.
Ribbons and Lace 