Strengthening Our Call

Jeremiah 29:11 — For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Most people believe they are fully prepared for their field when they finish school. However, as an educator, I have found out that I am never finished learning. Of course in public education, they change programs as often as the average person changed their underwear (no joke, four literacy programs in four years). Having to learn new concepts is part of the game, but the real reason I desire to be better.

The reason why I desire to be better is not because I want the next promotion or a giant raise. The reason why I want to improve as an educator is, if I want my students to be better, then I have to be better. I want to reach more students who struggle, and are stuck on a concept that has never made sense. It is tempting to think that I have learned everything, but if I do that I am not being the teacher my students deserve.

At the beginning of each school year I ask my students how many books they read over the summer. Without fail, the number can be contained on one hand. For some, the number is zero. Typically those students are my readers who struggle. Often they lose about a half years worth of work during the summer because they did not take the time to read. Like an athlete who shows up to training camp out of shape; these are students who have to struggle for one to two months because they did not read over the summer.

Imagine me the teacher, when they ask me how many books I read, and I replied “zero.” This is the other reason I read and study in order to be a better teacher. You cannot demand something out of someone, you yourself are not willing to do. A leader is someone willing to do the work no one else is willing to do in order to get the job done. If I want my students to be better readers, I myself have to be a better reader for them.

I also do it to model for my kids what a lifelong reader looks like. Children pick up on what is your priorities. My two for instance, know that church is an important part of our lives, and often on Sunday mornings they are the first ones up because they are excited to go.

Priorities as seen by those we are called to lead. I know God has called me to be a teacher. I look back on how he has prepared my life for this moment, from different people who inspired me to various events that I lead me to this place. When God gives us a calling, we have follow it. We don’t just go and stay, but we go and grow.

A calling is not only something that your faith leads you too, but it something that will strengthen your faith. Too often when we arrive to where God is leading we believe we are done. We have to remember even though we have reached our destination, we are still not done.

The Israelites prayed that God would free them from captivity in Egypt. When they left Egypt they were still not done. Pharaoh was in pursuit with his army in Exodus 14, and the people believed they were lead there to die. While it might seem that way, God was not done. He lead Moses to the Red Sea, and parted to they could cross in order to escape.

When the people arrived to the Promise Land, it wasn’t just handed to them. They had to conquer the land piece by piece. They made it to the place they were called, but the work and preparation was not done.

We must always find ways to be better at what we do in order to bring more glory to the God who brought us there in the first place.