We Must All Show Up

It has been awhile since my last post...I have been super busy! I took my students to the Texas Association of Future Educators State Conference this weekend. They did really well, and won a whole bunch of awards. I was very proud of them! I am still recovering though from the stress and lack of sleep that go along with taking an overnight trip (2 nights!) with kids...It's exhausting! Anyways, here is a picture from the conference...While at the conference, I got to here the National Teacher of the Year speak, and she was incredibly inspirational! Education has changed alot over the years, even since I was in school. Today we focus so much on test scores and measuring success, that sometimes we lose the most important component...The relationships we must form with our students in order to figure out how we can help them reach their goals and dreams. One thing that struck me most was a story about her dad who was also a teacher. Some one had told her about a student that her dad had in class that had had alot of issues and was very close to dropping out of school, but his parent moved him to a new school. In this new school, the student was placed in her dad's woodworking class. The student was so imspired by her dad that he went on not only to graduate from high school, but also receive a college degree in civil engineering. The amazing thing about her story was that when she told her dad, he was just as shocked. His response was that this student was not one of those that you see immediate success in during the year while you are teaching him. Her dad had felt like he wasn't sure if he had done enough to help this kid graduate or make it in life. One great point she made was that all too often teachers do not see the difference they are making in student's lives down the line. I have found this to be very true this year. I often work with students who I do not always feel/know if I am doing the right things, but I do the best job I can for them, and hope that in the long run, somewhere down the way I have planted a seed that they can develop and grow.

I have been very blessed to have a few of those cherished moments this year though when I have seen or been told the difference that I have made, and those are definitely the ones that keep me going on my hardest days.

Last semester I lost a student from my Ready, Set, Teach program who was a senior. She passed away suddenly over the weekend due to a long term heart condition. It was very difficult. The week before I had just seen her teach a lesson to the third grade class she worked in and she had done an amazing job preparing her lesson and interacting witht he kids. For you teachers out there she hit almost every part of the lesson cycle, which is a feat for a high school student in my book. Watching her I was so proud of her, and I felt like I could finally see that I had been able to give a student something that they could take with them and use to be successful in life. A week later when she passed away I struggled with the loss of a young life and future teacher who had the ability to impact so many lives.

Over the next few weeks, God revealed many truths to my aching heart...With the outpour of love and sympathy from her friends and classmates at her school and at the school she worked atI realized that my student didn't need to go to college and get a degree and have heer own classroom to make a difference. She made a huge difference in so many of her friends, classmates, and students lives already that you wouldn't believe it. It wasn't about a loss of potential impact...It was about doing what you are called to do by God when He calls you to do it...It was about showing up and being obedient. That lesson the week before and semester she worked in the classroom was the opportunity and the time God had given her to fulfill her dream of being a teacher and make a difference in others' lives. And she did it to the utmost of her ability. And without me even realizing it, I had been called to plant and nurture that seed in her. I am honored and thankful to have had her as a student and to learn that lesson early on...

As teachers we never know how or when our students are going to use the knowledge, skills, and life lessons that we pass on to them, but we can plant the seed, nurture it, and do what we have been called to do in our student's lives, to have the privilege of making a difference in the lives of many others and helping them to achieve their dreams and in turn inspire others.

This is a message to all of us...We only have a limited time on this Earth to do what our God put us here to do...We have opportunities and we make choices as we walk with Him. We must prepare as he leads us, even for the unknown, and show up each time He calls us to, because we never know what difference he has for us to make or what purpose he has for us to fulfill in His kingdom at any given time.