Identity

The past two weeks I have spent a lot of time with my friend Amanda in the classroom that it all started in : the 2's/3's potty training room. I spent four years in there, for one of those Amanda was my aide. We went through some very tough times together, the toughest school year of my career so far, but it built a camaraderie strong between us. When the world felt like it was crumbling, when we didn't know how, or if, we would survive, we had each other. She has expressed to me how that specific time prepared her for the commitment she needed to be ready to marry. To know what it was like to be in the trenches with someone through the good and the bad - knowing neither of you were leaving, even though it seemed impossible to make it, having each other we clung and grew together, not apart. We learned much about dependence and strength from God. That was a year of many tears and frustrations, but I look back now and know God must have strengthened my character through it, and gave me a deep love to share with my friend Amanda. This week I have been filling in as her aide, and it's really fun to be working closely together again. I love having another teacher in the classroom. It really is the best way I work.

Today I was telling her how I feel I have grown so much as a teacher this past year. My perspective has changed in some ways. I've learned the importance of some things, and that other things aren't as important as I once counted them. As I was verbally processing this, I tracked it back to deeper things. I didn't really learn these things in isolation only pertaining to my career, but they linked to much deeper aspects of my life. I realized it was reflective of my overall growth as a person, which came from the deepest part: my spiritual growth. 

C. S. Lewis wrote down the idea of us not having souls, but being souls who have bodies. I teach my students our soul is the part that is made to connect with God, and we need to feed it and water it to grow. It is the deepest part of us. It completely makes sense that this ripple of quiet, steady transformation in my life all links back to the things I have been learning as a child of God. My church went through a series this year on what it means to have our identity in Christ. What it means to put on Christ. What it means to really be in Christ. It changed my life. It has renewed my thinking. It has strengthened me in my weaknesses, humbled me in areas of pride, and given me fresh air to breathe. It has given me weapons to fight against my tendencies toward people pleasing. It has brought me new life, and because it is the work of God, it allows me to bring new life into my relationships, my work, my classroom.