I CAN'T PRAY???

This past week, I joined the ranks of millions of others, just like me, across our great nation embarking on a new journey for the year of 2013-2014.  I am a teacher (there’s no app for that!)  and I have returned to the halls/classroom of the high school where I teach. There are times that I think of my classroom as a garden – that I am blooming where God has planted me, and providing fertile “soil” in which my students may grow and blossom educationally. 

Too often, however, it is more like a battlefield. It has nothing to do with classroom management as most of the students give me no grief.  I am in a battle for their minds,  to retain my sanity, preserve my Christianity, provide a well-rounded, challenging education for the nine elective subjects I teach for those who truly want to learn; entice those students who lack motivation, intrinsic or otherwise, and maintain order for those who are truly just occupying space!

An old email that has been circulating through teacher circles in the past couple years is humorous but only those of us on the “inside” know just how true it really is! Sharing it with you at this time only seems appropriate:

“Let me see if I've got this right.

You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning...

You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self-esteem and personal pride...

You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job...

You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the state graduation and final exams. You also want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents in English, Spanish or any other language, by letter, telephone, email, and report card...

You want me to do all this with a marker or piece of chalk, a whiteboard or a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps...

You want me to do all this and then you tell me .... I CAN'T PRAY?'...”

Go ahead.  Laugh.  I did!  But, the sad fact is, this is very true.

            I keep as many little subtle hints of my faith as I dare in my public high school classroom and I insure that my voice is well heard and students clearly understand my position on issues such as profanity in my class, particularly taking God’s name in vain, etc.  I dare to put a small manger scene under my classroom Christmas tree and every chance I get to share just a tidbit of wisdom from God’s word, I do so.  One of my favorites is: “A closed mouth gathers no foot”. (Proverbs 21:23)

            Each school year, I find that fewer and fewer students make any reference to having any knowledge of God or Jesus Christ.  A few years ago, during one of the parent teacher conferences for our school that took place in mid-December, a mother came into my room with her student, a young man. He pointed at me from the rear of the room and I heard him tell his mother, “that’s the teacher I told you about!”  Expecting the worst, I braced myself with a silent, quick prayer and introduced myself and warmly welcomed her and the student to my room. I wondered what was going to happen.  She held onto my hand and patted my arm and exclaimed, “Thank God, there are still some of you left in the world of public education!”  (At that point, I felt like the last human left after an alien invasion.) I didn’t know what she meant.  She said that her son had shared with her about various things I had said in class, while subtle, the young man definitely knew I was a follower of Christ, and had shared that fact with his parents.  How honored I was and while I am far from perfect, I whispered a prayer of thanksgiving that my light was shining even though I had to “bushel it”. 

            I was also blessed one time about four years ago when a young lady came into my office seeking technology help.  She stood at my desk and my iPhone was playing music by Casting Crowns.  She was excited to hear that I was playing Christian music and told me that was one of her favorite groups.  We talked for a few minutes and she shared with me that while there were few, there were definitely Christ followers among the student body.

            There is very fertile soil within the walls of my classroom and God has planted me in that room to offer education, share tidbits of His word as I am able and moreso to allow His light and His love to shine through me.  I have held students as they have wept on my shoulder about the loss of a parent or a close friend.  They have cried at the loss of their young, “first loves”. They have shared with me their dreams for the future and their fears.  They have talked with me about struggles at school and at home.  They question what life will be like for them as they graduate.  “Will there be a life for us?” they ask.  One student stepped down off the stage at graduation one time and hugged me so tight as he thanked me for all I had done for him and for being a “mom” to him.  He told me it was because of me that he was graduating.  I felt good all under and reminded him, it was God, not me, who gave him the courage and the strength to make it through.

            As the students return, my prayer is that I will bloom where God has planted me, that I will be salt to “flavor” a tasteless world, and light in a world darkened by sin and evil. I pray for strength (Philippians 4:13) and for courage (Joshua 1:9) and most importantly, I pray for wisdom (James 1:5 and I Kings 3:9).

            To teachers across our nation, God speed, be safe, be courageous, don’t give up, and realize you are limited only by what you can dream (and by what the Board of Education allows).