New Year’s Resolutions

August 17th, 2008 Tim Posted in SevenLakes Info |

Okay, it’s like 100 degrees, muggy, the kids are about to go back to school, the air-conditioner is panting like a dog, and I’m writing about something we usually think about in December or January. 

One of the nice things about being a teacher (besides summer) is that every year I get to reinvent myself.  The mistakes of last year (not just my students’ but my own) are a thing of the past, I get a new batch of kids and I get to start over.  That’s pretty cool! 

So, it’s usually this time of year that I also come up with a phrase that I use to keep me focused.  A few years ago my phrases were more motivational expressions that stuck with me for a few weeks and were forgotten.  But over the past couple of years I’ve felt compelled to come up with things that help me focus on God.  And they’ve stuck with me and I’ve adapted them as the need arose. 

For example, last year I started off the year with “Image of God.”  I wrote that on a few small pieces of paper and put them in places where I could see them several times during the day like on my computer screen.  It was a constant reminder that we are all made in the image of God, even 14-year-olds who are loud, disrespectful, and unmotivated.  Though hard to see on the outside, we all possess God’s image, and as such, we are all deserving of honor and respect.  And patience!!

That was pretty helpful, but as the year wore on and things became more and frustrating not only with students but also with administration and the state of public education in general,  I changed it to Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”   I even put a shortened version of that verse on my cell phone that shows up whenever I power on. 

This year I’m going to focus on worship.  Of the many things that God has impressed on me since I started going to CrossPoint is the importance of worship.  And while Joey is an awesome worship leader, I’m not referring to that time of worship so much.  As a follower of Jesus, I’m growing in my understanding that worship is not just the 20 minutes Joey leads us in on Sunday, but it is rather the other six days, twenty-three hours and forty minutes that happen the rest of the week.  That’s when real worship happens.  My prhase will be “In all I do…” to help me remember that all I do can and should be made an act of worship.

So when I’m planning a lesson, helping a student understand something, and dealing with a kid who hasn’t seen is dad in six years and was just initiated into a gang and is cussing his head off at me because I’m trying to get him to get to class, that will be worship just as much as singing along to Joey and the band. 

This also includes my time at home, when I’m driving my car, and handling the many tasks that come my way. 

I know most people don’t have jobs that change every year, but every day can be a new day.  Give it a try.  Based on what you’re reading in the Bible, a song Joey sang, or something Dan said in a Life Lesson, find a key word or phrase to help you focus, and then stick with it for several weeks or months.