what you do matters

The school year is off and running.  I don't know about all of you, but it seems to be so much more hectic than the beginning of last school year.  Yesterday I had to make myself stop and take a deep breath.  Today has been a nice balance of rest with a little preparation for the coming week.  Last week allowed little time for downtime much less blogging time - I apologize to all two of you who read my ramblings.

For the past week I have contemplating encouragement.  There have been times in my life where someone has stepped in my life that through either words or actions has provided encouragement for me.   I like words - actions can be misinterpreted at times unless they match the words and words contain a specific power to either build someone up or to tear them down.  I must admit that in the past words have been a weapon for me - a fact that I am not particularly proud of.  However, that is not the point of this post.

The focus is encouragement.  The weeks leading up to school starting found me not feeling a little discouraged - through some events and actions by others I felt a little like my contribution to this world was small and insignificant.  I felt as though I was not really making a difference at all.  Then the Lord brought to mind a few words that I had heard once on a television show - "what you do matters, it's what got me here."

Sometimes we really need to hear that - that what we do matters to someone out there.  I am sure there are those of you out there who are stronger than I am, and you don't need anyone to tell you that what you is important.  But maybe there are others out there like me - maybe you need to hear that what you do matters - you may never know this side of heaven the difference you make in someone's life but know that you are making a difference.

My moment of encouragement came from a 3 year old little girl who was laying down for nap on the first day of school who before she put her head on the pillow said to me, "I love you."  I took a quiet deep breath as fought back the tears (remember I am emotional by nature) as I had really needed that.  I love hugs, and it felt like God was giving me a big hug as He whispered in my ear, "what you do matters."

I just had to pass it on - I don't know if you are struggling with discouragement, burn-out, exhaustion, doubts, etc.  I just know that "what you do matters."  Believe that with all your heart, take a deep breath, and get back to it.

wow

So yesterday was in-service at school, and all of the faculty and staff from the three campuses(pre-school, elementary, and high school) were together for lunch.  It was at lunch that I had one of those "wow" kind of moments.  One of the teachers at the high school taught me when I was in high school, and she was one of my favorite teachers.  She was my teacher for 3 consecutive years for Algebra II, Trigonometry/Advanced Algebra, and AP Calculus.  Her classroom felt like a safehaven for me because it did not matter how many questions we asked - she answered every single one of them as if she were explaining the concept for the very first time.  This practice revolutionized my thinking - not only was it not dumb to ask questions but questions were welcomed in her class.  Her attitude and willingness to help us learn are a couple of things that inspired me to become a teacher.  I wanted to be that kind of teacher for generations to come.  So now that you know a little of the backstory, my moment occurred when I realized that I worked for the same school system as one of my inspirations.  It's one of those moments where you realize that all of the work, tears, screaming sessions, and blood that went into your education is all worth it.

Just thought I would share that with you - today is our official first day at school! I work with the After-School program at the Pre-School so no, I am not blogging at school!  I am looking forward to beginning this new chapter of my life!