Sunday, November 24, 2013

Courage to Rest - Classroom Lighthouse Series #5

Work six days only; the seventh day is a day of solemn rest, a holy day to be used to worship Jehovah… don’t even light the fires in your homes that day. (Exodus 35:2)

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

The Courage to Rest


            Neil Carlson, a high school English teacher, has a son attending his school who is a cross country runner.  Neil attends all of his son’s races.  Over 150 young men usually line up at the starting line.  The starting gun is fired and for the first few minutes the sprint is on. Most of the runners start with a manic mad dash to get their desired position in the massive pack.  Two to three minutes into the three mile race, the runners relax and fall into their desired paces.  Each morning when Neil gets to school to start his academic race, he closes the door and spends five to ten minutes of quiet time simply speaking to and listening to the Lord.  One morning while praying, after another late night grading papers, Neil saw in his spirit, many exhausted educators who had been professionally sprinting, part of a mad dash since the start of school.  Neil heard a quiet whisper of God saying to him and the faculty at his school, “Rest and find your pace.” 
            Each school year is an academic cross country race.  More accurately, it is an academic marathon.  If we don’t start resting in a disciplined manner and pacing ourselves then we are going to get burned out and not have the best race possible. In the old Mosaic law, God instructed the farmers to take every seventh year off to let the land rest.  He instructed them not to sow their fields and not to prune their vineyards.  He told them that whatever the land yielded during that year was to be the food for them and their animals.  Wow!  How much courage and faith would that take? How much of a true partnership with and belief in God would that involve?
            One of the Ten Commandments is to take a day of  rest each week to worship God.  The Israelites were instructed not to light fires in their homes or harvest in their fields on this day of rest. 
            Jesus told his disciples to come to him and he would give them rest.  When his disciples were so busy that they were omitting meals he told them to come with him alone to a quiet place and get some rest. (Mark 6:31) 
            God mandates and encourages naps!  Wow!  Just like kindergarten!  Have we been missing our naps and our days and seasons of rest?  Do we trust God enough, do we have enough faith to let go of our agendas and start following His, to get into that steady productive rhythm of running and resting instead of running and running? It takes courage to set our agendas aside to follow God’s.  Do we have the courage to rest as God asks?
            One of Neil’s coworkers seemed to be physically ill quite often.  He knew she was a believer and often prayed with her at the faculty share, care, and prayer group once a week.  As prompted by the Holy Spirit, one day Neil asked her, “Do you ever rest?  Do you ever take a REAL Sabbath day of rest?” She assured Neil she did so he asked her what an average Sunday was like for her.  This was her Sabbath agenda: 1) prepare for and teach Sunday school, 2) attend a worship service, 3) prepare and serve lunch for her family, 4) do several loads of laundry, 5) take a two hour nap, 6) prepare and serve supper, and 7) go back to church and attend the one to two hour evening church service.
            Neil was exhausted after she got done explaining it to him.  Her “day” of rest was actually “two hours” of rest.  What does your Sabbath day of rest look like?  What agendas do you have that are more important than God’s instructions to rest?  We are made in the image of God and the Bible tells us He rested.  Where is our rest?  We need the courage to start resting.  We must set our jobs, families, selves, and the world down. We must turn off our computers and TVs.  We must stop constantly carrying so much.  It’s alright to carry things but not all the time! 
            God wants us to rest in his arms. He wants to take our empty hands and dance with us. He can’t grab our hands to lead us if we are constantly carrying something.  We must let go and let him lead. God has not given us enough time to fulfill His agenda, our agenda, and the world’s agenda at school.  We cannot live three lives at the same time.  Watch what God will do when we let him lead. As educators, we have all spent time waiting for obedience from strong-willed, self-willed students who have their own personal agendas. God is now patiently waiting for us.     
Prayer:  Peace!  Be still!
Application:  Go DEAP daily. (Drop Everything And Pray)  Take several minutes a day at work to stop everything and pray.  At least once a week meet with coworkers at school and pray. Take a real Sabbath each week.
Sharing:  Share your “rest” habits and what you do on the Sabbath.


CLASSROOM LIGHTHOUSE SERIES: TEACHER! TAKE COURAGE!  (For inquiries contact ceaihouston@sbcglobal.net.) # 5
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Prayerfully dependent,
K


PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement.
      Go to www.one16pray.com for more information
      Go to www.ceai.org for more information (which will point you to the above address!)
      Visit,  "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page.
      Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind 101 (we have 205!)
      Follow us on Twitter for the prayer prompts @one16pray
      Look for the prayer prompts on the 1:16 PM website or Facebook page.

May God bless you with success His way this 2013-2014 school year.

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry byclicking here.

Christian Educators Association International is the only professional association in the United States specifically for Christian educators in public schools.  CEAI protects our members first in prayer, next with excellent professional liability insurance and other benefits while helping them live out their high calling as a Christian in the public school.  







Sunday, November 17, 2013

Just a reminder





I realize how difficult it is to take time out of the day to meet, therefore,  I wanted to remind you that we are your partner in the public school created to encourage, equip and empower you in your high calling.  At CEAI, we believe that transformation in education can take place when Christians in the public school live out their faith legally and gracefully. As you work with each child in your class or with your colleagues, remember to see them as image bearers of God Himself. He has fearfully and wonderfully made each and every one of us in His own image (even when we are not so lovable).

         I would like to remind you of just three resources for now to encourage you in your walk. The first is prayer. Consider praying in the desks of each of your students (perhaps one a day) before school begins.  Ask God to help him/her with specific needs for that particular child. Prayer is the most powerful tool of a teacher. We now have a national prayer movement that we would like you to join - the 1:16PM Prayer Movement. We are calling on all Christians in the public schools to set a silent alarm each school day to pray for the needs of their school community. These are reverent, discreet, silent and personal prayers lifted up with others across the nation on a daily basis. There is power in prayer. Please go to www.one16pray.com for more information and share with your church and Christian friends.

         Second, I would like to remind you of the best little informational pamphlet ever - FREE to Speak. This powerful summary of legal guidelines was actually written by the US Department of Education and then redesigned into this format by Gateways for Education. Please study this booklet to understand the religious freedoms and guidelines for Christians in the public schools.

         Finally, we have many devotionals and resources specifically designed for your empowerment in blog form, online devotionals and websites. If you would like to subscribe to it, sign up on the CEAI website. Two other weekly devotionals beautifully written by Don Clark include:


                   Please remember how much God loves you and has blessed you as an educator. Do not hesitate contact me if you have any questions or concerns (kseddon@ceai.org). I would love to share His love with you and please let me know how I can ask God to bless you.


Prayerfully dependent,
K


PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement.
      Go to www.one16pray.com for more information
      Go to www.ceai.org for more information (which will point you to the above address!)
      Visit,  "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page.
      Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind 101 (we have 205!)
      Follow us on Twitter for the prayer prompts @one16pray
      Look for the prayer prompts on the 1:16 PM website or Facebook page.

May God bless you with success His way this 2013-2014 school year.

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry by clicking here.

Christian Educators Association International is the only professional association in the United States specifically for Christian educators in public schools.  CEAI protects our members first in prayer, next with excellent professional liability insurance and other benefits while helping them live out their high calling as a Christian in the public school.  




Monday, November 11, 2013

God's Repeated Review and Drill - Classroom Lighthouse Series #4




Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid.  Do not be discouraged.  Be strong and courageous.” (Joshua 10:25)

God’s Repeated Review and Drill


            


God believes in intermittent repeated review and drill in order to teach an objective.  He believes in spiraling objectives throughout our lives.  Have you ever noticed that when God wants to give you a message, He will tell you the same thing in several different ways, often using different people or circumstances to share the exact same lesson? In the Bible the great Hebrew leader, Joshua, is told multiple times to be strong and courageous.  Moses told him to be strong and courageous when he was in a crowd with many Israelites. (Deuteronomy 31:1-6)  Moses then did some private tutoring.  He pulled Joshua up in front of his classmates and personally told him to be strong and courageous once again. (Deuteronomy 31:7)
            After Moses, Joshua’s teacher, died, God Himself had a little chat with Joshua telling him to be strong and courageous. He told Joshua this two times. (Joshua 1:6)   Joshua was then given some “hands on” cooperative learning group activities (battles) in order to practice the concepts he had been taught. He led the army of Israel into the Promised Land. He saw the walls of Jericho fall. He had to deal with sin in his own camp, that which caused him to fail an assignment, to lose a battle (Joshua 7). He saw many of his fellow Israelites become discouraged and flee a battle (Joshua 7:5). In the midst of this, God tells Joshua once again to be strong and courageous (Joshua 8:1). Again, more review and more practice. Joshua asked God for a miracle during one particular battle and God granted it. The Lord sent large hailstones down upon the enemy and also made the sun stand still in the sky. 
            Joshua not only learned the lessons of strength and courage God taught him, he began to teach these same lessons to others.  He called the Israelite leaders out to stand on the necks of five enemy kings his army had captured.  What does Joshua tell these Israelite leaders?  Of course, “Be strong and courageous!” (Joshua 10:25)
            Encouragement is contagious. It is a healthy virus that can spread throughout a classroom, a school, and a district. One encouraging person can put hundreds of discouragement demons to flight.
            Rachel was placed in Anna Mendoza’s special needs classroom in the third grade because of severe dyslexia. Rachel’s reading skills were two grade levels below her grade placement.  The first day of school, during her reading period, she came up to Anna after class and said with downcast eyes, “I can’t read Miss Mendoza, I can’t read.” There was no hope in her eyes, no joy. At age eight, her spirit was defeated and she seemingly had no courage left to try.
            Anna knelt down and got down on Rachel’s level, looked into her eyes, and replied, “If you do what I ask you to do, if you try, I promise you will learn to read.” Anna encouraged Rachel by telling her she could learn to read but it was going to take discipline.  Starting at her instructional level, Rachel began rapidly moving through the phonetic curriculum planned for her within a small group setting. Rachel began to try to read once again.  She took courage and began to move forward one step, one phoneme, at a time.  During individual independent class reading times and during testing Anna made a point to listen to Rachel individually read for five to ten minutes every day – encouraging her for her progress and gently correcting mistakes.  Anna bathed her student in praise for every small accomplishment she made which gave her even more courage and motivation. Anna privately prayed for Rachel and the school staff prayer group also began praying for her.
            At year’s end, Rachel had made two years growth in her reading skills, four times more than her annual average. She passed the state third grade level reading exam. The following year, Rachel was placed back into a regular classroom for reading with support from the special education inclusion team. Thank you Lord.
            No matter what you are facing professionally or personally right now in your classroom or in life, “Be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous.”  No matter what disability, dysfunction, or depression any of your students may be in, your cry to them from the Lord must be, “Be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous.”  Let God lead you. Be disciplined and you shall see victory after victory. Give God the glory for every victory.
Prayer:  Lord, fill us to overflowing with strength and courage. Fill and overflow the students, parents and staff we serve with courage and strength as well.  
Application:  Every week select a different student of the week (one each period if you are a secondary teacher). Make a point to personally talk to this student before or after class or before or after school.  Get to know his/her hopes and dreams. Encourage him/her to work hard cooperatively with others to achieve these dreams.
Sharing:  Who has been the greatest encouragement to you professionally and in your personal life? Explain.

CLASSROOM LIGHTHOUSE SERIES: TEACHER! TAKE COURAGE!  (For inquiries contact ceaihouston@sbcglobal.net.) #4




Prayerfully dependent,
K


PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement.
      Go to www.one16pray.com for more information
      Go to www.ceai.org for more information (which will point you to the above address!)
      Visit,  "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page.
      Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind 101 (we have 205!)
      Follow us on Twitter for the prayer prompts @one16pray
      Look for the prayer prompts on the 1:16 PM website or Facebook page.

May God bless you with success His way this 2013-2014 school year.

Note: To more fully understand the 16-9 Movement, please read the first blog entry byclicking here.

Christian Educators Association International is the only professional association in the United States specifically for Christian educators in public schools.  CEAI protects our members first in prayer, next with excellent professional liability insurance and other benefits while helping them live out their high calling as a Christian in the public school.