Perspective

Though things have been hard for me, God has allowed me to get a glimpse into other situations that have helped put my circumstances in perspective...
...A teaching friend across the country whose school district has much more impossible standards and consequences for standardized testing than mine does.
...A family friend who is teaching in Africa while running a drug recovery home: pouring into the lives of her "sons", cooking the food, washing clothes by hand, and struggling financially. And I thought teaching alone was a full-time job. She says, "In many ways, I am in my element. There’s no place that I’d rather be. In other ways, I feel like I’m stretched beyond my stretching ability. Especially when a son comes home, looks me in the eye, and tells me he didn’t smoke. After I’ve poured my heart and soul and everything into him. After God has given me so many promises. The smoke that is obviously coming from his lungs makes me sick to my stomach. God is teaching me to 'love without an agenda.' He is also teaching me that sometimes He has to speak to someone 47 times before they hear Him and change, but that 47^th time will come. And all the times leading up to that changing point are not wasted, but are building towards the day of change."
...And most recently, I've learned about another teacher at my school, who has been battling an autoimmune disease for ten years, and now the doctors tell her there is little hope for survival.
Yes, God has allowed me to go through difficult times, but how can I complain in the face of these amazing challenges that others are facing with such faith and courage? My prayers go out to them.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. " -2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Enthusiasm

I've always known that part of being a good teacher is instilling excitement in your students for what they're learning. However, I have been allowing the stress and frustrations to take away the joy of teaching. After a particularly bad day, when my students were not doing anything they were supposed to do, I went to another 5th-grade teacher for advice. She told me that she acts every day for her students - she is so overly enthusiastic that they are drawn in. Her example was that, when talking about symmetry, she said, "Doesn't that blow your mind?!? You can fold it in half and it's the same on both sides!" I tried it the next day. I acted like everything we were doing was the greatest discovery ever made, and it worked. My students responded much better. It certainly did not eliminate all behavior issues, but at least I had fun, and my students were more engaged.

I realized that life is a little like that. If you act like you're enjoying it, you really do.

"...don't just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God... Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you're serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn't cover up bad work." -Colossians 3:23