Transitions & Teaching

You guys. Teaching is hard work. No matter the grade, the course, the school, the kids... it is difficult work. Draining work: (requiring multiple naps already).

Meaningful FOR SURE, but it ain't easy.

Can we just agree that life in general isn't always easy either?

I am back to teaching on my own this fall. My care team and I decided it was time and I was ready to begin teaching on my own again, and this year I am part time. I haven't taught on my own since the fall of 2015 - and if you haven't heard, that didn't go well. I ended up having to stop working entirely for a few months. I pushed too hard too fast and it backfired. Now that I am back at it again on my own, I need to confess that it is seriously hard to manage upwards of 34 kids in one class (let alone high school algebra/trigonometry!).

And still, it is hard.

Last night, I was reading a study from the App called She Reads Truth. The plan I have been reading is titled "Proverbs: The way of Wisdom," and the study was a shorter one, one that spoke to me, one that hit me right where it was supposed to as if God was saying, "Rachie girl this is meant for you."

Proverbs 27:17 "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."

When I read these words, I began to ponder what God means by them. Here's what I came up with.

The one man sharpens another -- this piece means that as the body of Christ comes together, we are to be vulnerable and share with one another how our life is really going, not the fake kind of talk... I mean #realtalk or #truth, and sharpen one another to seek Christ in the Word and challenge one another spiritually to stay the course. Iron doesn't sharpen itself. It needs another piece of iron. Maybe likewise, one person cannot sharpen himself. We need others to help us when we are down, when we struggle, and are called to lift one another up.

So here I am. Calling it like it is. The struggle is real in my life. Surviving after a traumatic brain injury is NOT easy. But I continue to grow in my faith and hope for a better future because of the Word of God and via the body of Christ. (Insert here: Josiah my hubby, all the members of my family, friends, co-workers, and the body of Christ from church).

This is hard. And, it is ok.