I keep seeing signs for heroes and I want to keep adding other jobs on the sign. I think custodial staffs at healthcare offices and the hospital are heroes and I think our teachers are heroes. I am not just talking about the teachers at the schools but those parents who are homeschooling. I cannot imagine doing that right now. My kids would not learn any math if it were left to me. I could teach them how to count money and do percentages from shopping sales and that is the only math I have ever needed! I cannot imagine the frustration and fights over me trying to home school.
I love all of the things I have seen posted on social media about parents having to home school during this quarantine. "If you see my kids locked outside today, mind your business. We are having a fire drill." "I'm kinda starting to understand why pets try to run out of the house when the front door is open." "Been homeschooling a 6 year old and 8 year old for one hour and 11 minutes. Teachers deserve to make a billion dollars a year. Or a week."
"Home School Day 1: How Do I Get A Kid Transferred Out Of My Class?" And this is just a few! I think teachers are finally and truly getting the recognition and appreciation they deserve! A teacher affects eternity: he can never tell where his influence stops.’ –Henry Adams
I have been asking God to bring to mind those who need encouragement during this time. Through a devotion He reminded me of teachers. There are those teachers who are getting a paycheck (not what they deserve) trying to figure out new technology and new ways of teaching during this time of quarantine. I thought their jobs were stressful before but now they are having to learn to teach in a new way. And there are the parents who are having to home school now. We need to be praying for these teachers!
My devotional was about a teacher who needed a little solitude during the day to provide an opportunity to reconnect with her spiritual life. I bet there are some teachers/parents reading this right now and they are already laughing. You probably forgot you had a spiritual life! Jesus asked the disciples to go away with Him to rest and find renewal. As I often say, if Jesus needed it, we definitely need it! Mark 6: 31, "Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat,he said to them, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.'”
Jesus was a teacher. He traveled and taught. People were always crowding around Him. They followed Him. They were always asking Him to perform miracles. They were always asking Him to heal. He never lost His cool over interruptions. While we are not Jesus, we could do like He did. He used solitude to talk to His Father and renew His strength. All through the demands of His ministry, Jesus withdrew to be alone with God and pray. This intimate relationship with His Father was the source of His wisdom, power and compassion.
This was a priority for Jesus. This is how He made important decisions, dealt with difficult emotions, how He dealt with grief, how he dealt with the demands of His ministry, how he taught His disciples, how He prepared for ministry and even how He prepared for His own death on the cross.
I read a quote that I had written down. “Solitude is the creation of an open, empty space in our lives by purposely abstaining from interaction with other human beings, so that, freed from competing loyalties, we can be found by God.” We are reminded of this all through Scripture. Psalm 46: 10, "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 62:5, "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone." Among all the chaos, let's pray for those teaching that they may rest, pray and renew their spirits. Let's pray they hear, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." Please forward this to teachers and/or parents who are homeschooling and need some encouragement!
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