God Called ME

I have worn a lot of hats in my lifetime so far, and will probably wear many more. I KNEW as a little girl that I would fulfill 3 important roles that God made me for......a wife, a mother, and a teacher. I am serving in all three of those roles and living my best life. In this post....I am going to focus on being a teacher.

I used to set up my "classroom" in my room as a young child and "teach" my cousins, friends, parents (whoever would play along). My teachers in elementary school would get rid of old workbooks or textbooks and I would ask to take them home so that I could play school with them. I would gladly volunteer to check papers, cut lamination, or help another student during my early elementary classes for my teacher. I just knew I was meant for that role.

As I grew up, I still knew that teaching was my calling. I tinkered with the thought of being a neonatal nurse because I love babies so much, but in my heart I knew that education was my destination. After high school, I worked part time as a nanny and I enrolled in a community college to obtain my associates degree. I then transferred to a university where I obtained a dual bachelor's degree in elementary education and special education. Student teaching is where I gained the most wisdom from the veteran teachers that took me under their wings and gave me real experiences in a classroom at the start of my career. To this day, I always volunteer to host student teachers in my classroom as a way to give back to a profession where many teachers have given so much to me.

For my first year teaching I started with a bang.....setting up my first classroom 2 weeks postpartum. I was out for the first 6 weeks of school and then I had a blissful 2 years as a first grade teacher. I then went to fourth grade for a couple years, taught gifted education for 4 years, went back to fourth grade for 3 years, and then headed to fifth grade where I have served for 7 years. I have been at 2 different elementary schools and served on various teams within each building. I have met countless colleagues that helped me grow, taught me new things, challenged me, and supported me throughout this journey. Some of my favorite people are my educator friends....they just get the ups and downs and are always along for the ride! Teacher besties are on another level....they are pivotal in being able to do this job and their support is unwavering. Shout out to instant girlfriends and cheerleaders on my team throughout the years!

Education has its pros and cons. The pros are getting to serve students and their families. I get to witness children grow for a full school year and I get to have a front row seat to celebrate their accomplishments and wins! I get to be in the role that I played over and over in my head throughout my childhood and in my dreams. I will be honest though.....cutting laminating and grading papers are my least favorite tasks of teaching! Educators that are in this role as a calling must focus on the good parts of teaching. I try and focus on the calling that God has placed on my life to teach. I pray over every child in my classroom and I know that God has placed each one in my path for a reason....for me to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus while showing the love of Christ through my interactions, attitude, and the way I serve others. I am a public school teacher, so I do not get to share the gospel in my classroom. Sometimes it is a person's actions and they way that you present yourself that stands out to others as though you are different. The love of Christ just shines differently. Its not always pretty and definitely not perfect, but I strive to be better each day. I am human and I fall short (sometimes my emotions get the best of me), but each day is a new opportunity to shine God's light.

The cons are ever present as well and have gotten tougher to bear over the years in education. I constantly feel like I give my best self to the students in my classroom while my own children get my left overs in the afternoon on hard days. This profession is exhausting....both emotionally and physically with the work load and expectations that feel like a balancing act. Knowing the difficult home situation or trauma some of my students experience or have experienced is tough. When it has been a tough day dealing with behaviors or difficult parents, my husband gets my short temper. The red tape in educational protocol infuriates me when fighting for one of my students to get what they need to be successful. The 5am wake up is brutal and I cringe when my alarm goes off as someone that is not a morning person. The list could go on....but for this post and for my professional life, I choose to focus on the positives, advocate for my students when needed, and speak out to help change things for the better a tiny bit at a time.

I have thought about walking away from this profession so many times out of frustration, exhaustion, and guilt for not being my best self for my family through some difficult years and challenging groups. Educators are held to a high standard and we place an even higher standard on ourselves personally. The truth is that I still enjoy being in my classroom and feel called to teach. Our public education system needs a lot of work and I cannot begin to tell you how to fix it all. However, I can focus on the students in my classroom and work to give them the best education possible for the year I get to serve them and their families. When God tells me to hang it up, I will. In the meantime, I will keep rolling up my sleeves when that early alarm sounds and heading off to school where I get to do the work God had planned for me from the beginning.....with some caffeine in hand and a smile of course to greet my sweet students.

"My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment." James 3:1.

"A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed" Proverbs 11:25

"Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6

"Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs form the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts" Colossians 3:16