The Subtle Ways...

Committed and persistent work pays off;
get-rich-quick schemes are ripoffs.
Playing favorites is always a bad thing;
you can do great harm in seemingly harmless ways.
If you think you know it all, you're a fool for sure;
real survivors learn wisdom from others.
Proverbs 28:20-21, 26

I had a wonderful conversation today which came at the perfect time. I love how God works like that. This morning I thought to myself...why haven't I prayed about this? The "this" I'm referring to is the school year thus far. Like I've stated in other posts...it's not going quite like I planned. Therefore...I'm quite tired...worn out...weary. I figured I should probably talk to God about it...which is something I should've been doing all along.

This talk took place as I was prepping my room for the day...turning on the computer, writing the date, organizing my desk. The seemingly mundane things I do everyday provides an awesome opportunity to talk to God about things...so I did. Now, it's not like he spoke right back...but I did feel a sense of peace. The morning didn't go so well so I left my kids in the care of the P.E. teacher for their gym class and went back to my room to mentally prepare for what I thought would be a crazy day.

At that point the teacher that I did my student teaching with came in and asked how things were going. I was honest and stated that they were not going at all...backwards maybe. That's when she shared some insight that proved to be so valuable and encouraging. That's where these verses from Proverbs come from above.
The first phrase is so true that it's stupid...committed and persistent work pays off. That's my plan right now. No matter how hard and annoying it may be...I need to commit to doing a good job. Why...because it's my job and it's what I love to do...my students deserve no less. Also, the persistence thing...wow. It may take some time, but my class will get there...we just need to keep practicing, moving, working.

The second verse is something that I maintain...stick to no matter what. I love that I have the advantage of not being from around here so it doesn't matter "who" the student is that I've got in my class...I'm going to treat them fairly and respectfully no matter what.

The last verse refers to "real survivors." I'd like to think of myself as a "real survivor" right now, in the sense of my career. The wisdom that was shared with me this morning made me realize that I'll make it...especially if I take the good from those around me who have the experience and heart. I have to remind myself that I'm only in my sixth year of teaching...I don't know it all...I probably don't even know a part of what I could know.

So...I'm back to feeling productive, encouraged...now to get some sleep before another day with the small children.