Come away and rest

Lately, I've been feeling like quite a bum.  Work doesn't start until August 8th, so I've really just been hanging around my new apartment, watching TV, and surfing the internet mindlessly.  I've been thinking the past few days that I need to have something meaningful to do each day, so I thought that one meaningful day I should do each morning is read this online daily devotional before doing anything else on the computer:  http://d365.org/todaysdevotion/

They have a theme each week, and this week's theme is Christ's Peace.  The Scripture is Mark 6:30-32, where Jesus tells the disciples to come away and rest after hearing all of the things they've been doing in the community. 

How appropriate for the way I'm feeling right now!  After thinking about how lazy I feel not doing anything, it's great to read that Jesus encourages us to rest after being so busy.  I feel like I certainly need it after the school year, wedding planning, moving, traveling, and then settling in to my new place.  It's ok to be busy, but it's also ok to take a step back and rest after those busy times.  What a great reminder for all of us in the crazy busy world we live in.

So, I encourage all of you to follow Jesus' word.  Rest after doing many things!  It's going to do you some good and recharge your batteries for the next busy season of your life.  Thank you, Jesus, for the encouragement and assurance that we don't have to be busy all the time!

Faith Like A Child

I saw the most precious thing in church this morning.  It occurred while we were singing the final praise song in worship.  There was a baby a few rows in front of me, and at some point during the song, the baby raised both of his hands into the air as if he was praising God with his hands.  He kept them up for the whole chorus, put them down, then when the chorus came up again, he raised his arms back up.  I'm sure he had no idea what he was doing, but God certainly used that moment to move in me.

I've always loved going to contemporary services for the music.  I just feel like I can worship more fully when singing those songs.  I'll tap along to the beat, tap my toe to the music, and sometimes even dance very subtly.  Some people worship by raising their hands into the air, but growing up in the church that I did, I've always seen that as really showy.  So, at times when I feel the urge to raise my hands in the air in worship, I don't do it because I don't want to seem showy.  But, when the baby in front of me did that, everyone sitting around him took notice and made a comment about how precious it was.

I want to have faith like a child.  That pure, unabashed faith you see in children during Sunday School, believing everything that's said and not questioning the legitimacy.  The faith you see when children sing out loud praises to God and don't care what they sound like.  The unquestioning trust in Jesus because the Bible tells them so.

When I worship, I don't need to be concerned about how it looks to other people.  I need to worship and praise God in any way I feel necessary.  If that means raising my hands into the air during a particularly moving part of a song, I should do it.  If that means singing a song as I'm walking to my car, even when others can hear me, I should do it.  I don't need to be ashamed or concerned about what other people are thinking about me.  God is the one that I should be focusing my attention on, especially during church!

Thank you, God, for that moment this morning that showed me your face.  I pray that I can praise you like that infant, and that my praise will cause others to take notice and praise you more fully, too.

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Forever Young

It's days like today that remind me why I teach.  The kids took the math CRCT (state standardized test) yesterday, so we had an easy day of a math word search and watching a movie.  I let the kids vote on either watching The Blind Side or Finding Nemo.  While many of them complained about Nemo, most of the classes voted to watch that movie.

I have never seen so much joy, excitement, and engagement on their faces!  One of my favorite students had the biggest smile on his faces, laughing and quoting his favorite parts.  What touched my heart the most was watching some of my toughest students, especially the "tough guys," being completely enthralled with this animated movie!

Today reminded me that I teach KIDS!  I think throughout the year, when I'm trying to get through all of the material, I think of them more as adults and forget the fact that middle schoolers still enjoy "childish" things.  They may act too cool or complain about it, but when it comes down to it, they still want to enjoy acting like kids.  I began thinking about ways that I can incorporate this fact into my classroom on a regular basis to let them begin enjoy learning.

I am very thankful for my students and for the expressions I saw on their faces today.  It was quite refreshing to see them enjoying themselves and being kids, even if it was only for 70 minutes today.