Thoughts for the first day of school

So tomorrow is the first day of school for teachers in my system. Yep summer is a thing of the past for this year and exciting days are ahead to welcome in an multiple opportunities to make a difference. I've been thinking about this blog for a couple of weeks now and what exactly I wanted to say. I thought about doing two separate ones...one for my tech blog and one for my devo blog, but what I have to say fits with both. So if you follow both you will see the same post.  Tomorrow starts my 9th year of teaching. What I have learned in the last year and half could more than fill a book about teaching, sadly most of you would question whether some of it is true or not. So here is my dear teacher post to start the year. My hope and prayer is that EVERY teacher regardless of what they teach will know at some point each and every day how much they matter. 

Dear Teacher,

I know you are sitting there thinking where did summer go and how quickly the time has passed. You are also sitting there questioning how it will all get finished before the students walk through the doors on their first day of school. Rest assured it will because it always does. By now your dreams have been filled with lesson plans and designing your classroom in your head, that was how I always knew the start of school was soon ahead.  Get to know your students that first week. More than everything you will study for the year, they want to know how much you care. Give it your all during the day, but remember to take time for you. It's about balance and giving to yourself allows you to give to those precious kids you impact every day. I know you will have days when things do not go according to plan. You will feel stressed at times, frustrated at others, and some days may just leave you feeling wore out. It will happen, but those days and moments will pass. On those days though remember this...YOU MATTER! What you do is important and you are making a difference in lives. Don't let the feeling of stress or frustration cause you to doubt this important truth.  So teacher reading this, take those two words into your room this year and into your school. Share them with a colleague and your students. Thank you for doing what you do, for giving your heart to those kids, and for loving them for who they are. You make a difference, what you do matters, and most of all remember YOU MATTER. 

Sincerely, 

A fellow teacher

So where is this coming from? I am on a mission. I can be pitiful about some stuff this year or I can do something about it(aka powerful as Joyce Meyer always says).  My words for the school year for me personally are intentional, determined, and discipline. I'll blog about more of that later, but I have decided to look for ways to be intentional with encouragement. I know who I am as a teacher (finally) and regardless of the actions of others, I have to move on from that. That being said, I've learned from past experience that sow into others and God will sow back into you. Have a wonderful school year teacher friends and everyone! I wish you the best. I pray your year is filled with moments that make you smile and love what you do. Don't let anyone make you feel like you aren't enough or that you don't matter, because you do! 

~Melissa 

Reflection on the summer

I always question where the summer went at the end of every summer, but this one truly flew by. I've spent the last week almost in disbelief that the summer of 2014 has almost come to an end. My to-do list did not get finished(and there is no way to finish it in two days) and I did not make it to everything I "planned" to do. There are only so many hours in a day, and I'm also realizing the older I get the more I need this thing called sleep. I'm almost out of denial that I can still keep the hours I did when in college. (Umm yeah Melissa that was ten years ago...ouch). I have learned the power of reflection this summer. I went to several conferences for professional development. Reflection was a take away from ISTE that I now apply to every conference and PD session. Time is precious and the investment we are doing as teachers who are life long learners should make a difference, but I digress. This summer was a unique one and while it had some amazing memories, it has contained SEVERAL lessons and applications. Here are some of those lessons ;-)

• What you call a wall, God calls a lesson
• You can not give out that which you have not taken in
• Be the difference you desire to see...God created you to do something. 
• Love is a powerful four letter word, Love people right where they are not where you think they should be. 
• The mask doesn't fool God. 
• When God gives you an ocean, the enemy will make you still long for the fish tank and it's boundaries. Don't limit yourself when God gave you room to dream. 
• Change and Action go hand in hand
• Obedience keeps things moving in the right direction 
• The desire to learn is priceless, always find somewhere to grow. 
• When someone can't accept the real You..the one God called you to be not the mask you have worn for years to please others....move on. The season may be over either way God gave you the insight for a reason. 
• Everyone needs someone with skin to talk to, but a priceless find is someone who will listen without trying to "fix" it. 
• Value yourself enough to be more than "just a"(Because you are!)
• Numbers do not make you who you are, so don't let them define you
• Take time with your yes...your time is a seed you sow, an investment  you make. Will your investment be eternal? 
• The ladder of success is wide, but hose that climb without stepping on fingers are few and far between. 

I could elaborate on some, but some may turn into a blog later ;-). I'm happy with just being me. I'm over trying to do everything everybody else wants me to do and quite content just listening to Him and getting better every day at seeing where He steps. I still miss Him some times, but each time I have known it and started back tracking to see where I took the wrong step. I don't want to ever get so far that I can't tell that and quickly find my way back. If I could put the summer wisdom in a nutshell it would be, value yourself the way God does. I have been the world's worst(maybe not, but pretty bad) at pity parties and the I'm just a line. I could have probably made it into a sign. Up until this weekend even I was still using it, but would feel guilty about it afterwards. As long as we allow other people to define how we see ourselves we will always be "just a". Someone else doesn't have to notice your value for you to have worth and for what you do to mean something. I get that now...I can't say I did even 24 hours ago. What finally made it click? I can't exactly say, but it has. God never promised it would be easy, but we make it so much harder on ourselves when we refuse to wear His glasses or look into His mirror. Life is hard enough without using the world's standards to measure yourself by. With that being said, the enemy knows where we are weak at and therefore those are the "buttons" he tends to try and push. Step back from the situation(s) and let God reveal where the triggers are. At some point you will start to see the triggers before the button is pushed and can listen to what He says not what the button said. Life is too short to spend it on a hamster wheel or climbing a ladder God did build. Love those who come into your day, invest in those you have a chance to, spend time with those who invest back in you, and most of all be YOU! We make God smile when not only look at that gift He gave us, but take it out and use it. Our goal in life should be for others to see Him, not us. Put your gift in action and when the time is right, He will let others see what He's always seen and known.

Blessings on the journey this week!
~Melissa

Be immovable.........

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58 

God has been writing on this verse for the last week. Something happened last week and thankfully a friend told me not to react just yet, but to wait. So I did....and God's response was Be immovable. I'm not the greatest with memorizing scriptures in a formal sense, but more is hidden in my heart than I realize until moments like this. It took me a minute to know which verse He meant. (The KJV version of this verse has be immovable for stand firm). 

The enemy would be perfectly happy if we stayed in the boat with our walls built around us sailing toward something. Not being able to see where we are headed or staying focused from all the distractions, fits him just fine. When we get determined to do things God's way, he gets a little nervous, when we actually start trying to walk out our determination he gets scared. If I've learned anything over the summer when the enemy is scared, he starts trying to throw banana peels in your path. The reality is we don't always see the banana peels until we are mid fall. Even worse sometimes we see that it was a banana peel after we are lying on our backs looking up. 

"Be immovable" and "Stand Firm" doesn't mean you will always see the banana peels. Oh how I wish that were true, but that's not reality. You get quicker at getting back up and recognizing what the peel was that time, but unfortunately the enemy always finds a different color or shaped one to throw in the path. When God says to stand firm and to be immovable letting nothing move you, it means on the inside(or at least it has for me lately). God knew things would get thrown in our paths that would mess with our pace. He knew that we would have slips, but He was more concerned with how we were doing on the inside. When you are down on your back from a fall, you have two choices. One you can stay down or two you can get back up. Stand firm in knowing whose you are and who has His hand reached out for help and let nothing move you from that. When we are immovable and firm in Him we know He has our back and nothing can change that. Immovable to me means that even though others are being negative, I know He will shine through. Immovable means I don't get down on myself because I know Whose I am. (Heart minute: I have always said I was my own worst enemy. God's breaking that off while breaking off the chain of people pleasing. When He whispered to be immovable, He wanted me to know that regardless of how I "felt" in the moment, He had this covered.). So many times we want to run with feelings one moment and the Spirit the next, but this isn't how it works. Immovable means standing firm knowing God has got this because He's got you!

"Always abounding in the work of the Lord." (Again the KJV version but you get the picture). To abound means to have plentiful. When we abound in something it's our focus, it's our mission, it's our calling. When we abound in something, we have a purpose. When we cast off worrying about what other people are going to think, say, or do and follow through with what God said to do we move a little further over the mountain. If we always stay in the comfort boat, we will never feel the strength of walking on the water. Getting out of the boat takes faith in knowing two things. One God said to get out and Two you believe that truth enough to start walking it out. So many times we know God said to get out of the boat, but we stay in anyway for fear of what "someone may think". Pleasing other people can cause you to miss what God has planned for you in this moment called today. Sowing and Reaping is biblical, sow what He instructed you to do with your whole heart(feelings aside) and know that He will show you the harvest in time. What you do for Him is never wasted and will never leave you empty. Do it because He said to, not because someone else did. (Heart minute: When you finally turn away from the people pleasing, the journey forward is not easy at first. It's hard for others who used to walk over you so to speak, or tell you what to do to realize you can say no. Saying no to them means you can say yes to God. Cautiously weigh your schedule against your calling, they should easily balance.) 

I don't know where you are at right now, but God does. For me I needed to be told last week to be immovable.He knew where I was at. Sometimes the best road to take is the silent road. Line up others actions, words, and reactions with what He says. God will never cause you to doubt yourself, feel discouraged about something,g or leave you stressed. None of those "plans" are for your good, so dismiss them and smile. He has it all covered. Follow His lead and know that in time others will see the change in you.  Take Him at His word and live each day for an audience of One. 

~Melissa

Blog or Bust moment...

Call it a blog or bust kind of moment….

You can call it that or you can call it I've been away for a couple of days and had time to reflect, either way here’s a blog.

This isn't the blog I intended to write just yet or even one of the ones I’ve started. This summer has been full of a lot of conferences, but at the same time I have also learned the power of reflection. Reflection, time to stand still, step back, and take a serious look at things. Reflection time to truly think about why it is you do what you do. I can’t say all of the truth that was “revealed” was easy to swallow, but at the same time it was beneficial. God never spares a moment. If we ask Him for truth and to peel back the layers, we better be ready to listen to what it is He has to say. The choice now is to listen and put that truth into action. Do we take the truth to heart or does it become yet another moment with God that doesn't transform our walk.  When we move forward from the moment, can others tell it made a difference or are we still walking the fence we were before we asked for truth? The world knows how to walk a fence. The world knows how to speak their minds. The world knows how to push forward to achieve “success”. It’s time we as Christians started remembering what it is we know to be true.  Truth that is truth on Sunday is also truth the other six days of the week. Quit letting the world tell you what success is or even for that matter what truth is. The truth is as a child of the Most High, you are a royal heir, now live like you know Who has already won the war.

Do the words that you let repeat in your mind speak His truth of the world’s truth? Hit delete if the latter is the answer. Too many times we let what others say resonate in our minds and take root in our spirits. Discernment is a gift, if you have it use it. Some people are in our lives because of our choice, some in our lives because of God’s choice. Know the difference and listen when God shows you who He has there to speak into your life and who isn’t. This summer I have become so thankful for those that God has placed in my life who can see past everything and love me for the heart inside. The older I get the more I am learning how few those are. Treasure them and let them know how much they mean to you. When God gives you inspiration, go with it. Too many times we let others squash the very thing that God may use to minister to someone else. Creativity is a gift from Him and if He gave you an idea and you know it was from Him, He has it covered for you to do.  Sowing and reaping are biblical.   Trust Him for the harvest if you are sowing. In return once the harvest comes, start sowing again. In the same manner, sow where He says to. Sometimes we sow where and how others want us to and wonder why we never reap a harvest that makes us smile.

What you do matters because who you are matters. Add to someone’s life and the difference will be felt in yours.

More to come later, but for now unpacking still awaits ;-)

~Melissa 

My heart for His

I've reflected on all of my PD sessions lately that I haven't slowed down long enough to reflect on the other part of me. Actually though the more I stepped back the more I saw that what used to be the two me's were finally merging into one. How does that look, that's when the people pleasing chain is finally broken and thrown away. It's when you finally realize that He is all you have to make happy. Every time I "think" I have made it to the other side of that mountain, I decide to test it. Not good, usually ends up in a sinkable moment(see my previous post) and I usually end up with a lesson learned. This time the lesson stuck, why because when you physically don't feel good it tends to make an impact on you. So since reflecting seems to be my theme for the summer, I started listening to figure out where the steps went wrong. Thankfully I heard them loud and clear. I recognized the buttons and saw that I basically left them wide open for the enemy to push. The more determined we get to follow God's leading and to keep our focus on Him, the more the enemy will do his part to make you fall. Falling is not failure, staying down is. It hurts to do it His way sometimes, but that's how we get stronger.

God has perfect plan for each of us and my new theme verse may as well be "Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial.". For me eating healthy has always been a struggle. I don't mind healthy food, but I also enjoy my ice cream as well. Well on this health journey I've been on, I slowly started letting "cheat" days slip in here and there. Eventually the cheat days turned into cheat weeks and I started feeling blah. I also noticed that with the blah's I was discouraged, felt defeated, and could honestly say I analyzed everything. What was the common thread? I let some of those things God had said give to me for now come back in. Obedience really is better than sacrifice. He takes it seriously when you say I'm yours God and He'll get you to the point where He has it all. The best part is when you give your heart to Him and He gives you His back.

I won't say it's a daily battle right now, but it is a struggle. I am aware of where the buttons lie and where I am with Him. One day the buttons will not bother me, but for now they are better under His care.

So here's to loving the moments in life for what they are, because each one has a precious truth to be found inside of it. Here's to showing love period. You don't have to like someone to be nice to them, manners means being nice. It doesn't mean you have to spend time with them. You can't change others and you shouldn't let them change you. Discernment is a beautiful thing, use it wisely and with common sense. God didn't plan for you to be anyone but who He made you to be. If you are frustrated and stressed, take a look at who you are trying to please and whose voice you are really listening to. Some moments in life are made to just be spent in His arms. You'll be stronger when you start to walk again anyway.

I'm not perfect, I've just learned a lot can be sorted out between me and God. I am finally happy with me and if you knew how much I ran around doing the people pleasing thing, you'd understand the magnitude of that statement. I am thankful God doesn't always give us what we prayed for, otherwise this summer I may have only swam in a fish bowl instead of the ocean. (blog about that later). I am more than a just a___ , and God's about tired of me letting the enemy slide that one in every couple of days. The enemy will use other people to do his dirty work, but that could be a blog for another day. Be careful whose words you take to heart and who you let speak to that inner part of you. Some words need to be deleted immediately instead of replayed. We are not responsible for the actions of others. We are only accountable for our reactions. My prayer is that this will get easier as I get stronger, but for now I'm taking a breath with each thought and listening. I'm trusting the One on the inside instead of the one on the outside. The flesh will not be the loudest in time, but it's a process in the making....another moment along the journey.

Wherever you are at with Him today, take a moment and just stop. He knows where you are at on the inside and on the outside. Ask Him to just speak and then really listen. Once you listen, obedience is the next step and putting actions to the words we have heard.

Enjoy your journey and live it for an audience of One!
Blessings,
~Melissa

The sinkable "moments"

I started to title this as "The Sinakables" but I'm not sure that is a word. I had to tell God I was sorry last night for letting a sinkable in yet again. It almost happened again this morning, but I am starting to recognize where they are coming from a lot quicker. Those of you that know me really well know that I am my own worst enemy. If I can question it, or doubt it, I will. I can believe things for other people all day long, but I struggle to believe them for myself at times. Hence those sinkable moments. If we never take a step out of the boat, we will never believe Him when He says we can walk on water. Mind you stay focused once you take the step out of the boat, because the sinkables would rather you stay in the comfort zone. The enemy doesn't want us to find out we can walk on water, much less do it. The enemy thrives when we are in our people pleasing mode and when we can't see that our actions and words matter. The hardest thing to do is to be positive inside when the world around you is negative, but that is what God calls us to do. He never said it would be easy or that it wouldn't be a fight, but if we want to experience that walk on water kind of faith we have to be different. I almost let different slide away and pick up the blender instead. Being different means not caring what others do or don't do(not in a selfish matter, but you don't let what someone gets away with or doesn't do bother you). You are accountable for you period. Being different means not analyzing something to death trying to figure out what was really meant. God gives us a wonderful gift of discernment, use it. When He puts the pieces together, it doesn't mean its for you to share your "thoughts". It means it is for you to know what YOU need to do. Others are watching your actions and can ask questions later if need to. (Ouch). God will let you in on the time when the pieces need to be shared. Unless someone else has the same gift you do at the same level, they will not understand your thought process. Trust God to show you who you can share with and provide those "confirmation" moments. If someone doesn't respect you, appreciate you, or accept you for the You He made you to be, do they really need to be someone whose opinion, words, actions keeps you up at night?

Sinkable moments happen every day and often times more than once. I'm thankful for them in a way, because if I had never experience one I wouldn't know He could pick me back up. Now that you know that though, don't keep sinking in the same spot over and over. Walk forward on the water, knowing that when the new sinkable moments come, He will be there to pick you back up again. The best part (and the most amazing because that's who He is), is that even when we sink, He never let go.

God forgive me for my sinkable moments. Help me to take the truths you have revealed and the gift of your discernment and move forward walking on the water with You.

Take your trust to the next step and believe what He says about you. Get out of the boat and be the person He has called you to be. The other stuff will go strangely dim when we stay focused on that. (Lord forgive me for letting my flesh win and say it's too hard....You are calling us to be different and to show that to the world.).

Hands and Feet of Him,
~Melissa