Be The Teacher

Hi all! I usually post on Sunday night so ya'll will have a fresh blog post to set you up for the week. However, I've been so sick I'm just now getting around to posting. I've actually not been in my classroom to teach one day this week. And tonight and tomorrow are PT conferences!! AHHHH. I'm having to reschedule. So if you think about it, say a prayer for me!! We are in the 6th week of our delve into the fruit of the Spirit. So far we have talked about love, joy, peace, patience and kindness. Today we are going to talk about goodness. I think goodness is one part of the fruit of the Spirit that we have a little trouble wrapping our minds around. The definition of goodness seems a little obscure. Maybe because its meaning isn't as cut and dry as joy or patience. Or maybe it's because we use the word "good" so flippantly in our vocabulary to describe so many things. Goodness Defined So how DO we describe goodness? Merriam-Webster uses t

Ever heard of Kid President? This is his quote. :) Kindness Matters Have you ever been cut off in traffic? Called a name by a classmate? Have you ever been purposely left out or ignored? Do you have an inconsiderate co-worker? Or a family member that makes you feel inferior? When I was a kid, my my dad would tell me "Just kill them with kindness, Kristy." This advice changed my life. At first my motives behind my actions on this were more harsh than kind. I wanted to get back at them. But, the longer I've used my dad's advice the less harsh my motives have become because I've seen the proof of the power of this Biblical truth: Kindness changes hearts and minds.   You say, "Yeah, Kristy. It's not that easy. Showing kindness is really hard when someone has hurt you." And I'll say right back, "I totally agree!" Being kind to an offender is one of the hardest things I've ever done. Honestly, I can't say that it gets any easier each

Welcome, friends! Happy Sunday! I hope that you've rested, spent time with family and gathered together with other believers today. This week is our 4th week in our closer look at the Fruit of the Spirit. Before I begin, let me tell you that the Lord allowed me to be tested on the peace that I blogged about last week. I so cheerily hit the post button last Sunday night feeling calm, cool and collected. Then came Monday. Monday tested my peace like no other day I've had in a very long time. Thank goodness the rest of the week eased up a bit but Monday proved to me that if I'm going to have the guts to put it out there (even on a blog), I better have the guts to back up my talk with some action. I also proved to myself that the peace of Christ does live in me and I'm never alone. So on to this week's fruit! Patience. For the first time in my entire life I practiced patience by being really "patient" in researching our topic this week. Ok. So I procrastinated

Peace. What comes to mind when you hear the word? Go ahead and say the word out loud and formulate a thought in your mind. Did you say it? What came to mind? Some of you may have thought of a beauty pageant contestant speaking on world peace. You may have thought of a peace sign or a bell bottomed someone holding two fingers in the air. Or maybe you thought of a sleeping baby or a rolling stream. Maybe your mind took you the opposite direction and you thought of the lack of peace we have in our world. Political unrest. Wars. Famine. Racism. Peace is one of those things that everyone wants but no one really knows how to get. And if they do figure out how to get it, they can't figure out how to keep it. Lots of people think that living a peaceful life is living a life without problems.  If we could just get rid of our stress, if we could get our finances in order, if we could get away from that annoying family member/coworker. But, this can't be further away from the Biblical vie

This is the second post in our fruit of the spirit "teaching style" series. And today we're talking all about JOY! First let's talk a little bit about what joy actually is. I think a lot of us get joy and happiness confused. Having joy is so much more than just being happy. Happiness can waver with your moods and emotions. Happiness can be easily taken away depending on situations and circumstances. But joy, my friends, is rooted in something much deeper than our feelings or our experiences. True joy is rooted in Christ. And when you have a joy that is rooted in Jesus, with that joy comes hope; with hope comes assurance; and with assurance comes peace. When we live lives full of peace, assurance, and hope in who we are because of Who we serve, joy is ours for the taking.  John 15:11 says, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." This passage speaks of two joys. The joy of Jesus and our own joy. And Jesus implies

This week begins our nine week dive into the Fruit of the Spirit "teacher style". Last week we talked about what it takes to be a truly great teacher. I think we can agree that it takes more than a really great communicator who is knowledgeable in their subject area. It takes heart, mission, and most of all love. Which brings me to this week's subject! Love is a powerful force. We know that love is what absolutely makes a difference in our homes, our jobs, and our schools. Love has the power to change hearts and minds and can ignite a fire in our souls.  And true genuine love will be the force that transforms our classrooms. Not only will it penetrate the hearts of your students but will define you as a teacher. Yet, sometimes it's hard to show genuine love to the kid/coworker/administrator that is acting so unlovable. During these times we must remember that love isn't a feeling but a decision you make to forgive the offenses, endure the hardships, persevere thro