Teacher Devotion.

Today was our inservice day at school! I was so excited, because the Early Ed. only gets ONE inservice day each year, so it's really special to have our own meetings, time with coworkers, and time getting our classrooms ready for our new classes (even though we teach all year, we still have big "transition" periods of kids just like a regular school year).

I actually asked if I could share a devotion today in our meeting, which is unlike me. I don't typically like speaking in front of groups, but I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with trying to prepare for a whole room full of new kids immediately after coming off of a tough(er) summer, because I had a classroom full of kids with many clashing personalities. I figured what better way to battle discouragement than by proclaiming/speaking encouragement?

I shared Colossians 3:23, which talks about in whatever you are doing, do it as if you are serving the Lord, not men. I also shared Matthew 25:40, which talks about how whatever you do to serve others, you are also doing for the Lord. I know these verses are pretty popular, but were convicting and encouraging for me this week.

I also read Jen Hatmaker's Dear Teachers Everywhere, which is a blog post she wrote last year for Teacher Appreciation week.

I ended with listening to Casting Crowns new song, "Thrive." I really love the lyrics to this song, and thought it was a great song to kick off a new school year. Also, it was a really neat connection that this song is kind of our "school song" for the year, which I had no idea about before this morning.

I am so blessed to work at my school!