It has been a while since I shared my heart, and I wanted to take a moment to welcome you back to my blog. I know you did not leave; I did. Maybe it would be more appropriate to thank you for being here when I came back. Even though I am sure you do not necessarily need to know why I was away for so long, I feel it adds to what God is leading me to share with you today…so here goes.

While I typically do take time off for the summer, this time it extended far beyond the months of summer. I have spent many hours over the past six months processing why I do what I do. Why work so hard to reach the kids in my class? Why give up vacation hours to train and learn new strategies for teaching? Why stay in a career that is one of the most draining of fields? Why take on the burdens carried by each of my students as if they were my own?

Maybe you have had questions exactly like mine.

What I found was that I struggle often with these questions. Sometimes I struggle because it is exhausting, and I get worn out physically. Sometimes I struggle because I forget the role that God has asked me play in the educational story, and I start to pick up things that He has not asked me to do. Sometimes I struggle as a result of decisions made outside of my control but that do affect my teaching day. Sometimes I struggle because everyone knows how to be a teacher and feels the need to tell me how to do it as well. I struggle because I know how hard I work, and I feel others should appreciate that.

My goal this summer was to step away from all of that. Stop thinking about what others think, how tired I might be or what I think would make the struggle go away. I just listened. I just sat. I just waited…and waited…and waited.

What I learned is that God will do His thing with or without me. God will do His thing in spite of me. God will move through me if I let Him.

Why do I do what I do?

If I teach for man’s approval, I have missed my calling. If I teach for an internal form of satisfaction, I have missed my calling. If I teach to be noticed, I have missed my calling.

If I teach to bring honor and glory to the Creator of the Universe allowing Him to be my voice, I have found the reason for what I do. Once I step out of the position of control, that is when the purpose becomes amazingly clear. I start to see student success as a step forward on the path God has laid out for that student. I start to notice God’s moving in my environment. I start to see what God has been doing all along.

I would encourage you today to step back. Move out of the chaos of the teaching world and view what God is doing in the lives of your students. Ask God to let you be a part of that story.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10