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 36

My dear teachers,

In this rich missionary chapter in the Purpose Drive Life, Rick Warren shared his experience with his dad’s unquestionable mission on earth.  His dad said hundreds of time in and out of consciousness with his last words, “I have to save one more for Jesus.” Finally, when it was apparent that he was finished, he laid his frail hand on Rick Warren’s head and said, “Save one more for Jesus.”  It was Rick Warren’s commissioning by his dad with this amazing touch.


Dear teachers, we are commissioned to “save one more for Jesus” also. Everything we do, everything we say is a message of our life’s mission.  If you are a Christian (one who follows Christ), you have been sent to the lost in your sphere of influence.  Ours is unique because we wear a “government hat” in our positions and we cannot share Jesus directly from our classroom, but we cannot live a divided life either.  We are Christian. We are His ambassadors.  We must exude His love to the children we are assigned each year being as wise as a serpent and as harmless as a dove. What a privilege, what a blessing. 


One of the missions of my church, as in most churches, is to help us be a Great Christian embracing the Great Commandment to advance the Great Commission. I did not even have a clue until late in my career that I had a mission.  The first time God revealed the concept to me was when I was sent to Washington, DC to receive a nice award. As I stood in Statuary Hall in Congress, I read these words under Crawford W. Long’s statue:  My profession is to me a ministry from God.  Wow. As Rick Warren explains, our ministry is our service to believers, our mission is our service to unbelievers.   Please accept this prayer for us.


Dear Father,

Hallowed be Thy Name, You are the Gracious One Who calls teachers to touch other teachers for You.  Help us Lord, to be like You.  Help us Lord to see our students as fearfully and wonderfully made and to encourage them to be all they can be to fulfill their mission that you have placed in them.  Lord, help us to know how to do this in Your Way within Your will and help us to be contagious and a sweet fragrance for Your sake.

We love you and asked this in Jesus’ name. Amen.


From Rick Warren: Matt. 28:19-20 – Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing the name in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

From me:  2nd Peter 1:5 – And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith goodness; and to goodness add knowledge; and to knowledge self-control; and to self-control add patience; and to patience add service to God. And to service to God add brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness add love.

Until next time, I am…..
Prayerfully yours,
Karen

by: seddonk at 17:48 | link | comments (1)

Day 35

My dear teachers,


The point to ponder in the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren this week is:  God works best when I admit my weakness. Now how can this possibly be a good thing for a teacher?  How can a teacher be weak?  Why would this be a good thing in the classroom? Isn’t the teacher supposed to be the authority figure, unshakeable and the one who is strongest?  In theory, sure, but what teacher is not human? 


We have all been made by our Great Creator in His image and likeness.  However, He did not make us perfect.  Our bodies deteriorate. Our minds can be forgetful.  Our attitudes can go sour.  All of this can happen during the school day!  For the sake of our students, we need to be as authentic as possible.  I realize that it is a fine line between the kind of weakness that they seem to detect the minute a first year teacher tries so hard to make them like him/her and the kind of weakness that depends on Christ.  Each of us have varying weaknesses in the classroom, but all of us have a Kinsman Redeemer Who can use His strength in our weakness.


How do you let go and let Him be strong?  It’s not a simple thing to do as a teacher. Prayer is always first.  He loves to hear that we can’t do it on our own and that we need His help.  The first step is to recognize the problem.  What is giving us such a hard time in our school day?  Is it disrespectful students, meddling administrators, demanding parents, a pile of papers that just won’t quit? There are an endless amount of demands on us as teachers and when you seem to be doing a great job, they tend to give you more to do or the worse groups of students “because you would be so great for them.”  Whatever the weakness may be He will help.  Bow at His throne room of grace and lay the issue as His feet.  You can’t take it back.  Pray that He will show His strength through you and be sure to praise Him for it.  Our colleagues and human connections need to hear how great our God is. 


I really recommend writing down these petitions you bring before God because when He does make a way for you, the log will be a witness to you and those with whom you shared.  It’s amazing how quickly time passes and before you know it, an issue that seemed so difficulty 5 years ago, is a non issue later.  Praise God for answered prayer, even when the answer is no.  He always knows what is best.

So, how can weakness possibly be a good thing in the classroom?  Depending on God to care for our weakness actually makes us more accessible to our students.  How can we stand in judgment of their weaknesses when we have so many of our own?  There is no need to share our weaknesses with the kids, but developing empathy for their troubles is the key to a classroom full of the fruits of the Spirit.


From Rick Warren: 2nd Cor. 12:9 – My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness.

From me:  1st John 3:18 – My children, we should love people not only with words and talk, but by our actions and true caring.

Until next time, I am…..

Prayerfully yours,

Karen

by: seddonk at 18:19 | link | comments

Day 34

My dear teachers,

As I read chapter 34, Thinking Like A Servant, from Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life, I am struck by how gratifying it is to look into others’ lives.  Just as we are fearfully and wonderfully made and we all have a DNA pattern unlike anyone else, we have lives that are uniquely composed.  As I listen to tales from teachers in the trenches, I can’t help but be struck by the need to serve each other.  This is the first time I missed a week in our study and the worst part was that I didn’t even know I missed it until Wednesday!  I really knew something was wrong with me when I went on the Purpose Driven study on Wednesday to look for comments and realized that I hadn’t posted last week’s study.  I am humbled.  Last week my younger brother (the healthy one) had a heart attack.  In the four days he was in the hospital, I ran a red light and got a ticket and had and accident (that was my fault) and got a second ticket until I came to grip with the fact that I was out of control.  These are the times in life when we are weak and He is strong.  (By the way, my brother and I are doing well.)


What would you ever do without prayer?  He raised me up and helped me to give Him my burdens, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  You can’t even begin to understand that until you are weak.  That’s why this study in thinking like a servant is so important.  Just when you think you are going through difficulties, you get a prayer request for someone who really needs intervention.  That’s  what we are all about in Christian Educators.  How many of our colleagues are hurting so much that they need our prayers?  Being a servant means thinking like a servant.  Rick Warren writes, “ This is true humility: not thinking less our ourselves but thinking of ourselves less."


Look around your campus.  Ask God to show you colleagues who need prayers.  He is the Intercessor and will give you a heart for the ones that need you.  As a servant on your campus, you can make an impact if you determine to pray for the needs of your colleagues.  It is so difficult to be a teacher these days. You could probably have a prayer list that would wrap around your school.  However, ask God to raise up an army of prayer warriors.  You can’t do it alone.  Can you picture your campus covered in prayer?  If not, perhaps you are just the servant to get it started.


From Rick Warren:  Phil 2:5 -  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

From me:  Phil 2:3 – When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide.  Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves.  Do not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others.

Until next time, I am…..  
Prayerfully yours,

Karen 

by: seddonk at 18:18 | link | comments