Just Be

"Just Be" in your classroom

The Name of God that summarizes all His Names is “I Am.” What a name! I’m sure that there are theological scholarly studies that can help with a thorough and beautiful understanding of this powerful name, but I met a teacher in Charlotte that applied its power to us as teachers.  Karen Barber said that all she needs to remember when she walks in the classroom is to “just be.” Isn’t “am” one of the conjugations of the verb “to be?” When we are in our classrooms, we don’t need to necessarily say we are Christians, we need to “just be” Christians. What does that look like? How would you know?  Can it be learned? Why would you want to “just be?”  How can our actions reflect the Great I AM? The simplest things are not the easiest things and on our own it is impossible, but we are Jesus with skin on in our classrooms and without a word spoken about it, we can “just be.”  You know you are there when people ask, “Why are you always so happy?” “Why do you always smile?” or “What makes you so nice?” and/or any combination thereof. That is our opportunity to tell them about “I AM.”

I would like to suggest 5 Baby Steps for Christian educators in the public school:

1. Know Jesus
2. Frame your worldview
3. Practice the Fruit of the Spirit
4. Learn the law
5. Be in communion

Baby Step #1 – Know Jesus.  Read about Jesus. Sing about Jesus. Listen to audio/video about Jesus. Immerse yourself in Jesus. He’s so amazing.  Who wouldn’t want to be more like Him? Begin to apply his questioning skills, embrace everyone who is needy, laugh with the downtrodden and love the unlovable. These are quite the shoes to fill, but when you can recall stories about Jesus, you can place yourself in His shoes (or at least try to!) 

Baby Step #2 – Frame your worldview. This is what makes us different that. We look at everything through the lens of the Bible. We frame our thinking around life and love and what God has done for us. We are in humble adoration of the great I AM and know where we have come from and where we are going. That quiet confidence can be a cornerstone to “just be.”

Baby Step #3 – Practice the Fruit of the Spirit. Memorize them. Can you “be” love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control and faithfulness? (Gal. 5:22-23) I am looking for teachers to help me describe what each of these fruit looks like on daily basis in the classroom. Do you have a story or example to share?  Theory is great, but teachers want practice.  Please let me know what you do and consider being a guest blogger for the 16-9 movement!

Baby Step #4 – Learn the law.  As government employees, public school teachers must know what they can and cannot say and do in the classroom.  We have been incredibly misinformed over the past 3-4 decades about separation of church and state and at times do not even realize just how much we can do under the First Amendment. It is imperative that all teachers and administrators come to know and understand, at least the first 16 words of the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; ………”

Baby Step #5 – Be in communion. Our God is in constant communion with Himself and us. He created us to be in communion with Him and others. As a Christian educator, you are not alone.  There are thousands upon thousands of us who share this high calling. Unfortunately, we can be in a school for years without even realizing that some of our colleagues are Christian also. We need to seek prayer partners and friends on campus who want to learn how to “just be” so that we may transform our schools through God's Love and Truth. Being in an organization like CEAI, is a huge start in uniting Christians across our nation. Won’t you consider joining us to build this communion between Christians in our schools, districts, states and nation?

As always, I am

Prayerfully yours,

K

http://www.one16pray.com

www.aw180days.com

Download the CEAI app

PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement and Around the Word in 180 Days:

•      Go to www.one16pray.com  and www.aw180days.com for more information.

•      Visit,  "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page and the Around the World in 180 days Facebook page.

•      Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind 101 

May God bless you with success His way this 2015-2016 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. 

The 14th Annual Back-To-School Prayer Breakfast

The 2015 Back-to-School Prayer Breakfast, sponsored by CIPE (Christians in Public Education) held a powerful prayer breakfast for those who love our schools and love the Lord. Coming together to pray for each other and specifically for our superintendents, administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals, parents and precious students is our paramount goal. The CIPE team celebrates another very successful time of fellowship, prayer and worship.

The program kicked off with the exciting Seminole County Gospel Choir. These talented young adults sang two songs with intensity and joy. Our only complaint is that we couldn’t have more! The breakfast was opened with prayer by Pastor Ron Williams and then I gave a short description of a few tools the Christian educators have for their toolbox. It is important for all educators to know the law and to remember these two numbers 16 and 9. Know the first 16 words of the 1st Amendment to be a legal Christian in the public schools and the 9 Fruit of the Spirit to walk the walk with grace. Second, we invite all Christians to pray with us at 1:16PM each day and to be in the same chapter in the Bible through Around the Word in 180 days. 

Breakfast at the beautiful Orlando Lake Mary Marriott was delicious and served by a class servers. We were blessed to have Erika Dunlap as our guest speaker this year. Erika is a native of Orlando and presently serves as the major gifts officer at FAMU. However, Erika is best know as the 2004 Miss America! Her passionate message of encouragement to educators to love with our eyes. She shared from her heart and made most of us cry with her.

Jane McCann lead us in a corporate prayer as she placed us in groups of 3-4. Praying as a team yet in such an intimate setting was powerful and beautiful. It’s a precious sound to hear the small voices of others calling out to God in petition and praise. Jane guided us through prayers of adoration, supplication, confession and then for our leaders, colleagues, students and more. What a precious time of communing.

Finally the prayer breakfast was concluded with an accounting of funds as CIPE continues to support schools in Africa, community networks and Honor the Grads for the first time this school year. Teachers were encouraged to form prayer groups in their schools before or after the school day. We sang two upbeat songs lead by William Tillman, 2nd grade teacher, on keyboard and his team of two singers and a drummer. They rocked it as if they were a 10 piece band. Kathy Morganelli helped us conclude the morning with Amazing Grace. 

Having a prayer breakfast to give honor to God and to help educators understand that they are not alone in the public schools in our goal of connection. It was an honor and privilege to bring so many dedicated servants of God together to join together to transform our schools with God’s love and truth. We would like to thank Children’s Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) for such a large group of supporters.

For more information on putting together a prayer breakfast in your community, please contact the CIPE team.

Mail: CIPE, P.O. Box 621589, Oviedo, FL 32762-1589 

Email: Christiansinpubliceducation@yahoo.com

Call:

Kathy Phillips at 407-927-9634

Gracia Miller at 407-349-5830

Rebekah Richey at 407-252-7009

Karen C. Seddon at 407-892-5651

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christians-in-Public-Education

As always, I am

Prayerfully yours,

K

http://www.one16pray.com

www.aw180days.com

Download the CEAI app

PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement and Around the Word in 180 Days:

•      Go to www.one16pray.com  and www.aw180days.com for more information.

•      Visit,  "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page and the Around the World in 180 days Facebook page.

•      Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind 101 

May God bless you with success His way this 2015-2016 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. 

FL Daniel Weekend

Our 1st Daniel Weekend took place in Florida on August 7-9, 2015 just before school got rolling for our 27 participants. The Daniel Weekend is a unique time of spiritual renewal designed by Tentmakers and supported by Christian Educators to encourage, equip and empower educators to transform their schools through God's love and truth. The setting was the beautiful Cocoa Beach Hilton where the teachers were treated to all their materials, a 2-night stay and all their meals. Funds were raised and supporters caught the vision of teachers as missionaries in the public school. They gave so that the teachers need only to bring themselves.

All 27 participants created Action Plans for their schools and students (when appropriate) and are fired up to see their plans through. The plans ranged from creating an intentionally positive experience for the children this year to starting prayer groups on campus. All the educators were excited to be with other educators from around the state to realize that they are not alone.

Being a Christian in the public school can be tricky at times because most administrators and teachers do not know the law. Teachers do not lose their 1st Amendment rights at the classroom door and can participate in prayer and Bible study groups before and after school. Teachers cannot pray with the students but can certainly pray for the students. As long as there are tests in school, there will be prayer!  Finn Laursen, executive director for Christian Educators Association, Int. (CEAI) gave an exciting presentation of the legal rights of teachers and students that helped all the participants understand how to be both a legal and graceful Christian in the public school.

FL districts that were represented were: St. Johns, Clay, Indian River, Seminole, Orange and Osceola.  Positions included principals, assistant principals, district leaders, classroom teachers, support teachers and retired educators. We even had a representative from CEF - Child Evangelism Fellowship who sponsor Good News Clubs for the elementary level.

If you are interested in partnering with us to support another group of teachers through a Daniel Weekend, please contact Karen C. Seddon. A teacher empowered by the Lord is a jewel for the public schools. Not only do they know how to love the children as image bearers of God, they also know what they can and cannot do. Heather, one of the Daniel facilitators gave the participants frogs to help them remember to be Fully Reliant On God. When it came time to try to explain the Daniel Weekend in  one or two words, one of the participants said, "FROG license." He now has the legal backing to be all He can be for the Lord in his classroom. Special thanks to Tentmakers, Christian Educators and all our sponsors for making this one of the greatest outreaches to public school educators anywhere.

As always, I am

Prayerfully yours,

K

http://www.one16pray.com

www.aw180days.com

Download the CEAI app

PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement and Around the Word in 180 Days:

•      Go to www.one16pray.com  and www.aw180days.com for more information.

•      Visit,  "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page and the Around the World in 180 days Facebook page.

•      Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind 101 

•      Follow us on Twitter for the prayer prompts @one16pray

May God bless you with success His way this 2015-2016 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. 

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to the 2015-2016 school year! This is the time of new beginnings: new ideas, new students, sometimes new schools and new classrooms and new colleagues. Let's concentrate also on new prayers. Prayer is the foundation of your successful classroom. Prayer releases unity in our profession with God's favor. Prayer is your direct connection to the Teacher of Teachers! Pray for all the new beginnings. Pray for new ideas to inspire your students. Pray for your new students. Sit in their desks and pray individually for them, prayer walk your classroom and school. Pray for your colleagues because we all know there is great pressure in the beginning of the year to get all the ducks in a row.

You are not alone! There are thousands of Christians in the public schools beginning the school year just like you. In fact, there are probably a lot more right in your own school that you are not aware of. Begin praying where you are for those in your sphere of influence. Ask God to bring you prayer partners. When we pray God's Word we know it is His promise. Jesus told us in Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three gather in My name, there I am with them," How incredibly exciting is that!  As a Christian, know your legal rights. Respect the law. Read the first entry of this 16-9 blog for a more in-depth understanding, but in a nut shell - You are Congress when you are on the clock. According to the 1st Amendment, " Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" That means that while you are being paid by the school district, you cannot establish a religion in your classroom by praying with the students or proclaiming your religious beliefs. However, the second part "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" also means that when you are not on the clock, you are a 1st Amendment protected American who can gather with your colleagues to pray and study God's Word. What a blessing you will be to your school as a legal and graceful Christian.

Here are some tools for your new school year:

• Join the 1:16PM Prayer Movement by setting an alarm at 1:16PM each school day and join hundreds of other educators across the time zones as we petition God for school requests. We even offer text prompts at either 6:30am or 1:00pm www.one16pray.com
• Begin a 1st step prayer. The 1st step that you take out of your car and walk into your building, begin praying for your colleagues and students and the specific needs of your school.
• Be in the Word of God daily. Listen to Around the Word in 180 Days specifically designed for educator needs with a Biblical worldview. Around the Word in 180 Days begins on August 24, 2015 for this school year. www.aw180days.com.
• Download the CEAI (Christian Educator) app for a wealth of resources and tools for your Christian walk in the public schools. http://get.theapp.co/394c
• Subscribe to Christian Educators Daily Devotionals on school days.

Most of all, give praise and thanks to God for being an educator. Whether you are a Christian teacher, custodian, secretary, paraprofessional, administrator or bus driver, God has placed you at your specific school for a specific purpose of touching the lives of those around you for His glory. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord shine His face upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His countenance towards you and give you peace.

Abundant blessings for the 2015-2016 school year.

As always, I am

Prayerfully yours,

K

http://www.one16pray.com

www.aw180days.com

Download the CEAI app

PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement and Around the Word in 180 Days:

•      Go to www.one16pray.com  and www.aw180days.com for more information.

•      Visit,  "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page and the Around the World in 180 days Facebook page.

•      Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind 101 

•      Follow us on Twitter for the prayer prompts @one16pray

May God bless you with success His way this 2015-2016 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. 

Summer is here!

We have reached that time of year when rest is real! Even if you have some responsibilities over the summer, the pace of the school year is behind us for a little while. Relish it, enjoy it, give God the praise for His goodness in calling you to be an educator. What will you do this summer? Will you be able to spend more time with family and friends? Will you travel? Will you sharpen your skills? No matter what you have the opportunity to do, make God your priority. Pray daily for His wisdom, even a double portion, that you may serve Him well next school year. Ask Him to show you what is important and even to prioritize your lists. He is a mighty God Who knows all our plans. He actually allows us to plan! He, however, directs our steps. What a gift that we don't have to depend upon ourselves.

I would like to encourage you to gather with other Christian educators over the summer. There are thousands of us across the nation totally un-unified. Many of us feel like we are the only Christian in our school, but I can assure you that there are more. In fact, there are thousands upon thousands of Christians in our public schools, but we have been told so long that we can't mention anything to do with God that we have gone underground. It is time to gather together that we may be fully followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can be gracious, legal Christians pouring His goodness into our students and colleagues daily. It takes a team. You are not alone!

One of the initiatives we are doing through Christian Educators (CEAI) is to host Daniel Weekends around the nation. There have been 12+ Daniel Weekends through the nation and even one in the Czech Republic! Our first one in Florida is this summer at the Cocoa Beach Hilton where we scholarship 25 teachers to a "think tank" environment. Most teachers who attend a Daniel Weekend come in loving the Lord, but leave missional. It is one of the most life-changing, career-changing events one can attend. Can't wait to let you know about our new Florida warriors!

More information about Daniel Weekends can be found on the CEAI website. We also have a Dare to Be a Daniel Facebook page if you would like to check it out.

As always, I am

Prayerfully yours,

K

http://www.one16pray.com

www.aw180days.com

Download the CEAI app

PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement and Around the Word in 180 Days:

•      Go to www.one16pray.com  and www.aw180days.com for more information.

•      Visit,  "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page and the Around the World in 180 days Facebook page.

•      Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind 101 

•      Follow us on Twitter for the prayer prompts @one16pray

May God bless you with success His way this 2014-2015 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. 

Honor the Grads 2015

Without a doubt, Honor the Grads in St. Johns County, is my favorite Christian Educator event in the world! Seeing these amazing young Christians step up and give their testimony of how God is working in their lives gives us a hope and purpose for the future. Last evening, at Switzerland Community Church, 13 high school seniors were honored for best walking their walk with integrity. Six of the 13 were present to give thanks and give us a glimpse into their future plans. 

The Christian Educator network in St. Johns County meet three times a year: in the beginning of the year for a prayer breakfast, in the middle of the year for a potluck meal and fellowship and at the end of the year for Honor the Grads. Everyone who attends the first two events brings an offering to be used for the graduates at the end. It's amazing how each year there is just the perfect amount of money collected to cover medallions, certificates and $100 scholarships to these seniors. 

The nomination process is made during student youth groups times at each of the seven high schools (FCA, Youth for Christ, Young Life, etc.) and because it is student-led, the award is all the more special. Can you imagine what it must feel like when your classmates award you with the one who walks their walk with the most integrity? Wow. This award is one of the highest honors anyone can receive. 

This is the 20th year that the St. Johns County Christian Educators have sponsored this event and are very grateful to the local churches and youth group leaders who serve and assist throughout the year to make this one of the most memorable events. Inspired by St. Johns County, the Osceola County Christian Educators will be hosting their first Honor the Grads in Osceola County for the 2015-2016 school year. Let us know if you would like to begin this most important tradition in your district too.

Congratulations to the honored graduates!

Bartram Trail High School

Tim Seing

Hannah Sowers

Creekside High School

Hannah Eberhardt

Zachary Jones

Nease High School

Juan Ortiz

Lauren Wisniewski

Pedro Melendez High School

Elizabeth Colvin

Aaron Melfi

Ponte Verdra High School

Jackson Coker Hammond

David Lichlyter

St. Augustine High School

Emily Bennett

Mark Kyle

St. Johns Technical High School

Steven Bew

As always, I am

Prayerfully yours,

K

http://www.one16pray.com

www.aw180days.com

Download the CEAI app

PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement and Around the Word in 180 Days:

•      Go to www.one16pray.com  and www.aw180days.com for more information.

•      Visit,  "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page and the Around the World in 180 days Facebook page.

•      Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind 101 

•      Follow us on Twitter for the prayer prompts @one16pray

May God bless you with success His way this 2014-2015 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. 

Teacher Appreciation Week - Friday

This is the last day of Teacher Appreciation Week, but certainly not the last time we want to thank teachers for all they do. May God continue to bless you throughout your career with a focus of excellence. We count it a joy to be able to remind teachers and the ones who love them to celebrate this great profession. Each day this week, we have posted a blessing a day the includes:

• a video to encourage you
• a verse to equip you
• a prayer to empower you

Encourage

Thank you teachers for a job well done. Thank you teachers for coming to school when you didn't even feel like getting out of bed. Thank you teachers for praising students and encouraging them to go beyond just ok. Thank you teachers for making the day-to-day doldrum of routine more interesting. Thank you teachers for loving students even when you didn't feel like it. Thank you teachers for consistency, confidence, comfort and counseling. Thank you teachers for safety, security and stability. Thank you teachers for your time and trusting students. You are loved. Today's video is below.

StoryCorps - Thank A Teacher

Equip

Don't you just love the Word of God? It's truly a gift of instruction, correction, encouragement and much more. I've read many books in my life, but the Bible is the only book that reads me!

Romans 12:10 -  Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Empower

Dear Lord,

Thank You for creating us to be teachers. You are the Potter and we are the clay. Mold us into teachers of vision who see a glimpse of what You intend us to be each day. Help us, Lord to be teachers on a mission to be like You in the classroom displaying love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control and peace. Obviously we can not do it alone. Thank You for being in our classrooms even when we forget. Your mercy and grace fill us with the inspiration to flourish in this difficult position. Lord, we are grateful to You for giving us this high calling of teacher. Blessed be Your Name. Amen.

As always, I am

Prayerfully yours,

K

http://www.one16pray.com

www.aw180days.com

Download the CEAI app

PS. Don’t forget to spread the word about the 1:16PM Prayer Movement and Around the Word in 180 Days:

•      Go to www.one16pray.com  and www.aw180days.com for more information.

•      Visit,  "like", and add comments the 1:16PM Facebook page and the Around the World in 180 days Facebook page.

•      Sign up for text message prayer prompts from Remind 101 

•      Follow us on Twitter for the prayer prompts @one16pray

May God bless you with success His way this 2014-2015 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.