Praying for that Classroom

For the last two days my social media feeds have been flooded with “First Day of School” pictures- both from the perspective of parents and teachers.  My students don’t return until next week, and I will still be home on maternity leave for a few more weeks, but I am still spending the majority of my time at school this week getting things ready for my substitute (God bless my friend, Judy, for stepping in!!).

As I look at the pictures of kids I have watched grow, and see the classrooms of friends I dearly love I think about all this year will hold.  All I can do is hope that I’m not the only one praying over that classroom.  Praying over the classroom because while I am a teacher, I’m still a person too.  I’m worried about meeting all the needs of every child in that room because I know that no matter how hard I try I will feel like it wasn’t enough.  I am a person and it hurts when outsiders complain about teachers or parents question how much I care or the approach I am taking.  I hear all the outside “noise” about “why aren’t schools teaching this or that…” and trust me some days I wonder too, but I have to follow the standards the state has set out for me.  I am a teacher, but I am also a person so I struggle with stress, am overwhelmed with joy, and wonder about the future… often all three within the same hour in my classroom.  I am a teacher, but I am also a mom who is worried about my own babies at child care while I work.  I am a teacher, but I am also a wife and friend trying to juggle relationships outside of the classroom.  I am a teacher, but I am also a Kingdom Worker so I am spending every day trying to show my students the love of Jesus in the best way I can for a public school classroom. 

I am praying for that classroom because it is filled with students.  And while they are students, they are also children- some who are missing parents because they have spent the entire summer together, some who are missing parents because their parents are absent from their lives.  They are students, but  they are also siblings who are distracted today because they had a fight with brother or sister this morning or are wondering what their best friend sibling is doing down the hall in another classroom.  They are students, but they are also athletes tired from practice or worried about their game that evening.  They are students, but they are also friends who are learning about the social interactions of their adolescent years where one moment you are besties and the next you are “frienemies”. 

I am praying for that classroom because I know the year will bring a roller coaster of “life” through the homes of everyone in that room.  I am praying for that classroom because I know the kinds of events that we will watch on the evening news and ask God to protect our community from experiencing the same turmoil.  I am praying for that classroom because I know that prayer is the most powerful thing I can do for the lives that walk through my door every day, and it is the only way to help keep peace in my heart and mind as I face a new school year.

Will you join me in praying for “that” classroom?  Mine, but also “that” classroom your child, grandchild, teacher friend, or even random stranger is stepping back into for the start of a new year.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6