It's amazing how the Lord will lead people in our path to remind us of something that we often forget.

I just spoke to the psychotherapist at my work.  She comes to our place once a week and has been working with us for 3

months but it's only now that i got a chance to talk to her.

She graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena.  While she was studying psychology she was also taking theology

at the same time. I was just blessed with her passion to minister and be a channel of blessing to our elderly.  She said for her work

is ministry.  She was offered a job for 80K annually but she turned it down instead followed the calling of God in her life. 

And guess what she is making right now —-$15 per patient.  That's not a lot if you compare that to the 80K/year

According to her, she goes home every night with joy in her heart knowing that the Lord has given her the opportunity to share

God's hope and love to people in need.

Work is ministry.  Day in and day out i go to work and what motivation do i have?

This made me stop and ponder.

2 Corinthians 3:3 says,

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

May this really be an active truth in my life– to make a meaningful influence on people's lives.

Lord, let my words and actions be a living epistle from You to the world. Amen!

Wow that's awesome.  Praise God!  Yea, I feel the same way too.  My work is my ministry.  There are many times that I feel so literally drained from work because of the needs of my students – not only academically but spiritually.  I believe God has really placed me there for a reason.  There are times that I want to just “quit” because of all the heart aches (hahah, really!) but deep inside of me, I know I have a mission.  These are kids who are hungry for love and thirsty for an ultimate fulfillment in their lives.  They are only in Middle School and most of them have experienced things that probably many of us have never experience (drugs, sexual abuse, etc..) Please pray for them, and that God will use me to channel His love to them in the way I teach them.  Thanks for sharing Ate Lianne.

Maybe this will encourage/touch your <3s. 

So, I had to miss work yesterday because I had a headache when I woke up and I knew I would've “died” if I still forced it and went to work.  When my students (at Sun Valley MS) came in for Period 5 (after lunch), one of the kids yelled out and said “Ms. Belle, my Art Teacher told us you're leaving!”.  I was shocked because I really didn't want to tell them yet since it's not 100% positive.  However, I had to confirm it to them and say “Yes, I am leaving because of blahblah….”  I never would've thought that they'll get so emotional about it.  Period 5 is one of the craziest class – they argue with you, cuss you out, super-defiant, major attitude problems, girl drama, etc… Yet, with this they were affected. My heart broke! – sigh!  As much as I sometimes dont want to be here because of the issues these kids go through with me, I know somehow, “a seed” has been planted. 

Period 6 comes… and one of my student just came and gave me a high-five then went on saying ” I wasn't here yesterday cuz my parents got divorced!”  I thought he was kidding, but when I started asking him about it, it was really true.  He said that his step-mom took all their stuff, his step-brothers and sisters and he's now left with his dad with a mattress in the house.  I asked how they are surviving without all their house stuff and he said, “well, my dad works and gets paid every couple of weeks so we'll get some stuff in a couple of weeks”.  So, I tried to be an encouragement to him and told him that I am sorry for everything that's happening.

(SIGH)  I also got an email from the Arts Chair at SV saying how much they need me. 

NO ONE wants to be in this school.  Trust me, most teachers here have given up on the students.  I heard one of my students say the other day that MY class is where she does MORE work and they just don't do anything in other classes!  I was shocked with that too… I don't even do much with them because of their behavior.  I have to differentiate it each time. 

My point is, in any way we can, we are becoming an encouragement to the people around us.  Yes, there are lots of times that I want to just leave… quit teaching at this school and go to the “greener” side. However, it's not always the case.  God allows us to go through times like these for us to grow and to learn that there's more to life than just being comfortable where we are. 

I am thankful, despite all the stress, that I have experienced teaching a SV.  I have alittle less than 2 months to “finish up” with them, unless something comes up.  For now, I know my call is to continue to be an encouragement to my kids.  (SIGH)

Black.

Black and blue. 

Why feel bad?  Black?  my roots.  That's something I can't deny (only without the –ATTITUDE– excuse me!)

ahahah (choke) ahahaha

I know this is an old posting, but I wanted to share a testimony I got from a friend.

He hated his job, dread going in every morning.  I don’t remember why I just know he didn’t want to be there. He was miserable. He would pray that God would open up a door for him to go elsewhere.  He prayed and prayed.  But He got no answer from God.  And he would get more impatient the more time passed.

After some time He heard from God.  Basically the message was that he needed to change his attitude.  He was there because God had a purpose for him.  It was training ground.

My friend also came to the realization that when you’re in a tough situation, something unpleasant there’s something to be learned, at least for him, he wasn’t going anywhere until he learned what God was trying to teach him. 

His attitude changed, he became a blessing at work.  He had moved up a level in his spiritual walk.  Without noticing he had stopped asking God to move him. 

Then one day he had an opportunity, for a much better job than he currently had.  He praised God and moved on, a better man.

This is something I do now.  When I’m in a bad situation, something uncomfortable, unpleasant, when my heart is breaking… I ask “Lord what do you want me to learn from this?”

The faster you learn your lesson, the sooner you’ll be out of that situation. Of course that’s not always the case.  The Lord may have a completely different plan. 

That’s just what I got out of it.

yes Praise God!!

He's so awesome!!  And THANK GOD for His patience