What's your mission?

I have heard preachers and inspirational speakers talk about working at everything you do as working for the Lord.  And I love the Steven Curtis Chapman song "Do Everything"...I believe.the lyrics are, "do everything you do for the Glory of the One who made you." I have thought before about my job and my husband's job as our missions.  We both do jobs that financially don't pay much in comparison to the work that we do, but the rewards within ourselves are more than most jobs that do pay more.  I am a teacher and he is a police officer.  More specifically, he is a crime scene investigator.  Both are professions that are seeing increased burnout rates. One study found that 1 in 4 new teachers will leave the education profession within 5 years.  And the rate of alcoholism, divorce, domestic violence, suicide, heart attacks and depression within the law enforcement community is alarming.  My husband meets individuals and families during extremely difficult and poignant times of their lives.  He works with guys that deal with the same daily struggles as him.  How he conducts himself speaks volumes to all of those around him.  I am making him a sign to put on his desk that says,"Seek Justice, Have Mercy, Walk Humbly with Your God."  This saying comes from the Courageous movie.  It can be a constant reminder to him of his mission.  I have verses about teaching, patience, and encouragement that I have on and around my desk.  These help give me focus on my mission to be a good example, an encouraging and compassionate figure in the lives of my students. So, what is your mission?  How do you stay focused on your mission?

1Timothy 4:12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

A Lesson inThanksgiving

This month I opted to join on the Facebook Thanksgiving bandwagon and post something I am thankful for each day of the month. I thought at the beginning, this will just make me be more conscious of what I have. As the month has progressed,I have found that actually taking the time each day to sit down and write about something I am thankful for has made me really think about my struggle I have with being content. I wish that there was a contentment pill that I could just run to the cabinet and take when I felt the feeling of discontent welling up. My quest for contentment will continue through constant thanksgiving. Seeing ways that God has blessed and touched the tapestry of my life brings so much gratitude to my heart and I am truly humbled by His blessings. I am sure I will still see the things that are "wrong" around my house, but I will be thankful that my house is dry and warm. I will remember that I have a home that many would love to have. Contentment through thanksgiving....lesson learned. Now to just remember this lesson the next time my boys come in covered in mud and I start thinking we need an all new house with a bigger mud room.

Mother Knows Best....Sometimes

We have a large bonfire party each year that is a lot of fun for our friends and for us. The week leading up to the party is a lot of work with not just getting the party necessities all in order but also getting the house and yard looking what is called "grandma clean" in our family. Grandma clean is a level of clean that my grandma Dot would clean. This level of clean requires a lot of scrubbing and total organization. In trying to achieve the level of "grandma clean," we require all hands on deck. So today I asked my son to clean the coffee table. Next thing I know, he's squirting the table with water using his water gun and wiping the table down. I immeddiately asked him what in the world be was doing! He looked at me with a slightly puzzled look and answered, "What you told me to dooooo." At that moment I realized that although his technique was far from what I would call proper, he was getting the job I asked him to do done. Would it be faster if he just wiped the table down the way I would have? Probably. But this was his way and his way was working too.
As a parent and teacher, I sometimes struggle with wanting my sons and students to only do things MY way. This can be discouraging for both me and them! I believe that being a good leader, whether as a parent, teacher, or even as a citizen, requires me to see that leading is about more than me and my ways. It is about guiding, and encouraging others even when I think I have a better way of doing the task at hand. When my way needs to be used, it is about sharing my way in a tone that is not demeaning or critical of others. There are times as a parent and teacher when my way just has to be the way that things are done but I'm going to be more aware of the times when my way does not have to be used....or even suggested.
When my sweet, 7 year old finished cleaning that table with his water gun, he stepped back to look at it and smiled with pride. Seeing that pride made this mother's heart happy.

Philippians 2:3-4 Do