MY BLOG POSTS

We are one week and four days from the end of school. But who’s counting? 

I am! And so are all my students. We have put in a full year – lots of work, lots of assignments, lots of late nights, lots of pushing “Snooze” on the alarm. But all that ends in one week and four days.

This is the time of year when everyone – students AND teachers – are tempted to get lazy. But, as I remind my students (and myself): We’re not done yet. We need to do our best to finish well.

Do we need to finish well because getting good grades is important? Nope…some lazy kids can get great grades and some hard-working kids can barely pass. We need to finish well because our character is important.

People of character finish well. Even if they’re exhausted. Even if they hate what they’re doing (i.e. Geometry*). People of character finish well because they desire to honor God in all things, to work for Him, not for an A, or for a boss’ approval.

People of character know that they are constantly developing habits, and they want those habits to be good ones. The habit of finishing well is a very good one. One that will reap benefits far into the future.

So, keep going, keep studying, keep resisting that “Snooze” button, keep pressing on toward the Finish line – wherever yours may be.

“Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.” 2 Cor. 8:11

*Life lesson: Geometry was one of two courses in HS that made me cry (Chemistry was the other). But I did not finish it well. I didn’t even start it well. As a result, I had to take a whole year of “Dummy Math” in college, where I had to re-learn what I failed to learn in school. A year. So when I challenge you to finish well and stay the course, I speak from experience. Learn from my mistakes. Or you may end up in Dummy Math. Just sayin’.

Me, move to California?? I don’t think so.

One year ago this week, Dave and I were finishing up a one-year contract with a Christian school in Florida. We had no clue where’d we go once that contract ended. We were, in fact, still adjusting to that move – a move that had taken us 45 minutes from “home” (Tampa, where we’d lived for a total of 10 years).

One year ago this week, we’d sent applications to Christian schools as close as Tampa and as far as South Korea. We had interviewed with several schools and none seemed like the right fit. I am an English teacher with a passion for AP courses and musical theater. Dave is a Bible teacher with a passion for digging deep into God’s word. We have three kids who love sports and the arts, and we want them in a school where both those activities are encouraged. It’s tough to find a school that can check all those boxes!

One year ago this week, I was job-hunting. As always, I put in the parameters “High School English and Bible” in the Christian school  job search database. Calvary Christian Academy popped up. It was near San Diego. Dave always wanted to move back to California. The Golden State had gotten deep into his bones as a child living in the Imperial Valley – no Mexican food anywhere in the world tasted as good as the Mexican food in Southern California (this is true!).  So I researched the school, and found, to Dave’s shock, the principal, Dan, had gone to high school with Dave in Long Island, NY over 25 years ago!

Calvary Christian Academy in Chula Vista CA

One year ago this week, Dave reached out to Dan and discovered this school had a need for an English teacher with a passion for AP classes and musical theater; they also needed a Bible teacher with a passion for digging deep into God’s word. The school also had sports for the kids – all the sports they love and then some.

One year ago this week, we had a Skype interview with the CCA administration. We were drilled on our relationships with God, our philosophy of teaching, and questioned why we would even consider a cross-country move to a school we knew nothing about. We, in turn, asked questions about the school, its academics, and why they would consider hiring a couple, sight unseen, who lived across the country.

A year ago this week, our world changed forever. Within a week of our interview, we were offered the job. We accepted after a few days of prayer and seeking advice from friends and family. A month later, we had packed up our house in Florida and began the 2400 mile drive to a school we had never seen, in a city we had never visited, with no house to move into, and no friends within a 100 mile radius.

A year ago this week – May 2015 – I could never have imagine what life would look like this week – May 2016. This week, my oldest will go to prom with her “squad” – an amazing group of kids who have taken her in like she’s been here forever, not just 11 months. This week, I’m watching my middle daughter play softball on a team that is virtually unstoppable. A year ago, she had no idea she could even play Varsity softball, and this year she has been a starter on softball and Varsity volleyball. This week, my son will help lead worship for the middle school youth group, playing an instrument he had never even picked up last year. This week, Dave and I will teach classes we love to students we love in a school that we love – a school that was just a just a position on a job search board a year ago.

One year ago this week, unknown to us, God would begin a process that would stretch us, change us, and move us in more ways than we could have imagined. The year has not been easy, but it has been good. We still miss Florida – we probably always will. But God has blessed us for our obedience in following His lead to California. He has shown us His power, His grace, and His mercy throughout this year.

What has God done for you this year? What does He want to do for you next year? Is He asking you to take a leap of faith? If He is, learn from us…take that leap. God is with you on this side, and He is waiting for you on the other side. God is good. ALL the time.

Teens today are saturated with the pressure that they should be prettier, stronger, skinnier, smarter. And they are collapsing under the weight of all that pressure.

Teens are pushed to be above-average. But the truth is that far more people are average than are above-average. That is, in fact, what average means.

And that’s okay. It’s more than okay – it is from God. God made us for a purpose. HIS purpose. He has works for us to accomplish, a career to pursue, people to impact, and, for many, a spouse to marry. And He gave us each exactly what we need to accomplish those things.

Some people need above-average intellect because the careers God has called them to requires that. Some need above-average people skills because God is going to use that ability in ministry. Others are given above-average appearances because the spouse God has chosen for them is also above-average in appearance. Does that make them better than those of us with average intellect, people skills, or looks? Absolutely not!

God gives us each exactly what we need to accomplish His purposes. 

God calls most of us to be “average”. That doesn’t mean we don’t work hard or that we don’t seek to do our best in all things. It is not an excuse to be lazy. But it does mean that we STOP comparing ourselves to others. We stop getting down on ourselves because we aren’t prettier, stronger, skinnier, or smarter. We stop whining about what we don’t have, and we allow God full access to what we do have. We remember that He is in control, He knows best, and He is  incredibly good.

The pressure from the world will not go away. But, friends, you don’t need to give into that pressure. You were created for a purpose, and you are perfectly equipped to accomplish that purpose. Be who God called you to be without embarrassment and without excuse. Stop allowing the world to tell you who should be. Listen to the Voice of Truth and follow Him.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jer. 29:11

My daughter, Ellie, a Freshman, is playing varsity softball this year. She has played softball before, but on church leagues where the coaches pitched and everyone got a prize at the end. This is the “real” thing, where girls pitch FAST and teams have to fight to make the playoffs.

I’m not new to being a “sports mom”. But softball is different than the other sports my kids play. There is a distinct language among softball players, a unique cadence to their voices when they’re talking to each other that I haven’t heard in other sports.

I teach all of the girls on this team, and I thought I knew them. But they are different when they’re together. Not a bad different – a “team” different. They speak the same language, know the same secret code words, understand the Coach’s hand signals. They spend time together in practice and it shows on the field. I watch them and realize that they have something I just don’t get, I can’t get (I am ridiculously un-athletic!). They have a unique bond, forged on the field.

As I sit on the bleachers and watch these games, I think of the Christian life. As Christians, we have our own language, we have our own music, we have a Coach whose instructions we follow, and we have a bond that is out of this world. And, like Ellie’s softball team, those on the “outside” sometimes think we’re a little crazy. (Who am I kidding — some of us are a little crazy!) But that’s okay. We don’t need to apologize for being “weird”. We’re in the game. We need to help each other,  be ready to catch a ball that flies past the short stop, cheer on that home run, and give a word of encouragement when a teammate strikes out.

So, as the Lady Knights say, “You got this, Babe!” Just keep running toward Home.