Purpose Driven Classroom

The purpose of this blog is to encourage Christian Educators to recognize their high calling as a teacher. We will be studying the Book of Esther for the next few months. Join us for this ten part study and don't forget to comment on how you think this applies to the classroom. May God help you to see your purpose for Him as a missionary in our schools in America.

Day 11

My dear teachers,

Becoming best friends with God is not an easy concept to understand.  We can grasp being in a creator/created position or master/slave, but friend?  Can you imagine God wanting to be friends with me?  That just sounds too incredible, but that’s the God we serve.  He is interested in everything about us and wants to spend time with us everyday.   He named Moses and Abraham as His friends and called David, “a man after His own heart.”  That same heart wants you.

Thinking about what you do with your friends - you spend time with them and you talk to them about what ever is on your mind.  You can do that with God.  As teachers, we must train our minds to think about Him during the busy school day.  It is not a natural thing to “pray without ceasing,” but it can be learned even in a busy classroom!

Rick Warren quoted Brother Lawrence from the 17th century with his advice for developing a friendship with God.  Brother Lawrence said, “The key to friendship with God is not changing what you do, but changing your attitude toward what you do. What you normally do for yourself, do for God.”  This means praying any time and in any place, yes, even your classroom. Brother Lawrence advised us to have shorter conversational prayers throughout the day rather than a long formal one.  One method used is called “breath” prayers. Choose short Biblical phrases that you can say in one breath: For me to live is Christ, You will never leave me nor forsake me or any favorite phrase from the Word you want to commit to memory that will give Him the glory.

In my middle school math classroom, I loved to put a new saying on the board everyday as a bell ringer.  The kids copied it into their journal, made a comment and then I would allow three students to interpret what they believed it meant.  Most times I would put scripture on the board, rephrase it and never put chapter and verse.  The wisdom of the Word far outreaches any daily sayings that are collected professionally.  Just using Proverbs and Psalms will give you much more that 180 quotable quotes. You must be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove in your approach, but you will be blessing your students with the opportunity to discuss God’s principles without “establishing a religion.” If you are a middle school or high school teacher, you will have the opportunity to meditate on His principles multiple times throughout the day.

The best advise from Rick Warren on continually prayer is: “Pray as often as possible so it is rooted deep in your heart.  Just be sure that your motive is to honor God, not control Him.”

From Rick Warren:  Ps. 25:14 - Friendship with God is reserved fro those who reverence Him. (LB)

From me:  1st Thess. 5:17 - Pray without ceasing.

Until next time, I am…..

Prayerfully yours,
Karen

by: seddonk at 18:54 | link | comments

Day 10

My dear teachers,

The heart of worship is surrender.  In our politically correct generation, who in their right mind who consider surrender?  Christians!  According to Rick Warren, “This act of personal surrender is called many things; consecration, making Jesus your Lord, taking up your cross, dying to self, yielding to the Spirit. What matters is that you DO it, not what you call it.”  I never really understood surrender until I surrendered my eating to Him.  I wait for His invitation to eat each day (when my stomach growls) and enter each meal as a personal invitation to His feast.  This did not come naturally nor willingly, but after eating this way for six years, I now have freedom from weight gain, stomach aches and the control food had over me.  Surrender is freedom.  It’s hard to believe.

Surrender is not for cowards or doormats. Likewise, it does not mean giving up rational thinking.  As teachers, we are in a position of leadership everyday.  How can we possibly surrender?  There is not a teacher who has experienced a perfect classroom setting every single day of a school year!  Especially during those times when the plans are not going as you envisioned, surrender.  Give up your classroom reigns and hand them over to the One Who gave you these particular children this year.  Ask Him to be your Boss everyday.  Pray before you do your lesson plans and before the kids enter the room.  “You let go and let God work.  You don’t always have to be in charge.”  There are great blessings in surrender: peace, freedom and God’s power.  William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, said, “The greatness of a man’s power is in his surrender.”  I say, “The greatness in a teacher’s power is his/her surrender.”  Do you want this year to be memorable for your students?  Do you want it to be an environment of peace? Do you want true freedom and God’s power everyday?  You will need to surrender to Him.  Don’t be afraid; nothing under His control can ever be out of control.   I love this line in Chapter 10 :  The problem with a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar, so you may have to surrender your life fifty times a day. 

Surrender is not easy, nor normal, but you will surrender to something whether it’s food, busyness, family stresses, workaholic tendencies, or any list of time robbers, so choose your surrender.  Surrender to Him.

In conclusion, I have attached a story of a classroom surrender that happened to me 15 years ago when I could not create a good learning environement for my students.  It didn’t happen overnight and I tried to surrender 50 times but the 51st time, I truly gave up and let Him.

 

From Rick Warren:  Romans 6:13 - Surrender your whole being to Him to be used for righteous puposes.

From me: Phil. 4:6 - Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything yoy need, always giving thanks. And God's peace, which is so great we cannot understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

May God bless you as you seek Him each day.
 
Until next time, I am…..

Prayerfully yours,
Karen

by: seddonk at 09:13 | link | comments (4)

Day 9

My dear teachers,

Does God smile when He looks at you? Do you bring Him pleasure?  Chapter 9 in the Purpose Driven Life is titled, “What Makes God Smile?”  He smiles when you love Him. He smiles when you are obedient.  Rick Warren said, “Instant obedience will teach you more about God than a lifetime of Bible discussions. Obedience unlocks understanding.”  In the classroom, we have many times that we can be obedient. 

I can remember when my husband (who was not a teacher at the time) would ask me to call the dentist or call the doctor or even him at some point during the day.  I always told him that it was next to impossible.  He thought I was making a big deal out of nothing. It wasn’t that I didn’t have the ability or the means, but as teachers we get so wrapped up in the students, our lessons and the all-encompassing day. I honestly wouldn’t think about anything else once the day started and was generally spent by the end of the day to make phone calls.  However, just before the kids came in and after almost everyone else left, I always felt uncluttered.  I would like to make a suggestion for this school year.  Before your day begins its series of all encompassing events, tell God 2 things that you are grateful for BEFORE the day starts while you are in your classroom.  At the end of the day, tell Him 2 things that you were grateful for that happened that day BEFORE you leave your classroom and lock the door.  This habit will help you to deal with some of the inevitable issues that will develop during a school year.  And you know what else, I bet it will make Him smile!

By the way, my husband understands now.  He's a second year teacher!

From Rick Warren:  Ps. 147:11 - The Lord is pleased with those who worship Him and trust His love.

From me:  Ps. 66:16 - Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what He has done for me.

Prayerfully yours,
Karen

by: seddonk at 21:17 | link | comments (1)

Day 8

My dear teachers,

Starting the school year with prayer is critical.  I'm not sure why this year was so special, but I attended four back to school prayer events in one week!  I hosted two, was the guest speaker at one and a guest at today's. If you do not have anything like that in your community, start one!  It doesn't have to be elaborate. It doesn't have to cost money.  It only has to be the opportunity to give God glory and point the educational community to Him.  Our whole goal is to be prayerfully dependent on Him.

In Chapter 8 of the Purpose Driven Life, our focus this week is being created for His pleasure.  Last week on of the comments that Kim from Texas made was that she used to say, “I am just a teacher.”  Now she feels empowered to say, “I am a teacher, a very noble profession.”  God has created us for His purposes and His enjoyment.  There is no such thing as just being anything.  Everything we do will bring Him pleasure once we really take in the significance of His relationship with us and how much He loves us. 

One of the greatest gifts God has given us is pleasure.  Have you thought about that in relationship to your classroom?  At a prayer breakfast in Palm Beach this morning our brother Don Clark, challenged us to create an atmosphere of fun and creativity in our classrooms.  When our classrooms are a place that kids look forward to, discipline problems decrease and test scores rise. I believe we are taking data driven decisions too seriously. Creativity is what makes the difference in a classroom. Our kids don't remember us for what we taught them but for how we treated them. Our God is the Creator of creativity and will give you all that you need.  Ask specifically for a great idea or new way of doing things that will bring pleasure to your students and glory to Him.  There will be something about you that the kids will be attracted to and that’s Jesus in you.  Our kids don't remember us for what we taught them but for how we treated them.  You need only to be like Jesus.  Tender, compassionate, creative and have a servant heart.  He always went to the Father for all His needs.  Why wouldn't you go to Him for all your needs this school year?

Although many of the Florida schools are going back right now, some of our friends from across the nation are still enjoying those hazy, lazy days of summer.  Regardless of how close the start of school is for you, begin your requests for creativity now so that you will have the Creator of creativity as your Designer. 

Rick Warren’s question this week is, “What common task could I start doing as if I were doing it directly for Jesus?”  I would like to encourage all Christian educators to do a study on state and national mottos this year.  Find out what your state’s motto is and hang it prominently in your classroom.  Label it: Our state motto.  Next, do a study on our national motto and then hang, “In God We Trust” in your classroom and be sure to label it: Our National Motto.  This is perfectly legal to do, not to mention patriotic. What a blessing to have Christian educators in our schools today. By the way, Florida's state motto is also, "In God We Trust."

From Rick Warren:  Ps. 149:4 - The Lord take pleasure in His people.
From me: Dan. 4:2 - It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God as performed for me.

Prayerfully yours,
Karen

 

by: seddonk at 21:29 | link | comments