This is why I teach!
“Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” Luke 22:46b
This morning when I read Luke 22:39-46, God must have been preparing me to make sure I had a prayerful day and not to fall into temptation. Whew!
After I read God’s word, I decided to let the scriptures marinate in my mind throughout the day and that I would type my journaling this evening. Well, marinate and applied is most definitely what happened today.
You see, when it was time to start waking up the kids, Holly is the first one that needs to get up. She’s a girl, what do you expect. After about three attempts to wake her up, I was beginning to lose my patience. Just then, God reminded me to NOT fall into temptation. I was tempted to get upset and loud, but, no. I prayed, and God gave me calmness and Holly finally got up.
Later, it was Cole’s time. All was going fine until it was time for me to put his lunch in his lunch bag. Let’s back up a day…yesterday I went to put his lunch in his lunch bag. I asked him where his backpack was so I could get his lunch bag. Had jumped up and said, “Oh, I’ll put it in there. I should be doing this.” I was curious but agreeable. Now fast forward to today…I went to get his backpack and Cole tried to take it from me. “No, I’ve got it. You finish your breakfast.” I told him. Well, that’s when I discovered the reason why he didn’t want me to see inside of his backpack. His progress report was there needing to be signed. Ugh! My heart sank, my mind swirled, and I took a deep breath. Again, I prayed and God stopped me from giving into the temptation to go ballistic on him about his grades. (We dealt with this calmly after school.)
So with my mind on Cole, I kept thinking about reasons why, comparing him to my other children, questioning my teacher/mother abilities, etc.. Satan was trying hard to ease his way into my thoughts. I was ready to call it quits on teaching next year so I could stay at home again to be attentive to my own children. Again, I prayed and God revealed to me a piece of His plan and didn’t allow me to succumb to temptation.
This afternoon, I received some confirmation in all areas of my temptations today:
- Holly survived and thrived in her day, even when she got up late. She looked fabulous and was successful in school. She even completed all her chores at home before I got home to reiterate to her what they were. Yeah!
- Cole understood his consequences to his actions and is doing extra homework as I type. He is thriving in what he is reviewing and learning. Praise God!
- One of my dear friends/coworker teaches reading on my team. Today she had our students choose a teacher or teachers to write a letter or card to for “Teacher Appreciation Week”. She gave me a stack of cards this afternoon before I left school. When I came home, God confirmed to me why I teach these 6thgraders. I sat in my kitchen, read every card/letter, and cried. The precious words that the students wrote touch my heart. (Thanks, Tonya! I appreciate YOU.) God does have me making a difference in my students’ lives. His light is even being shown, and I know it is evident because of some of the comments the students made.
Thank you, Tonya, for making me cry.
Prayer works. Temptation is around us. But with God’s help, we can conquer it.
Blessings to you.
May 7