No real time to write this morning. Nieces and nephews tumbling into the day, interview to do, then off to the airport to pick up the kids' mom and dad. This is why I didn't blog back when I had children at home and taught middle school.Of course blogging wasn't even on my radar in those days. But, I did have an idea of how to invite peace into whatever was going on, so I'll talk briefly about that in the few minutes I have.
Every morning, pretty much as soon as I arrived at work, I'd take about one minute at each student's desk in my classroom. I'd pray for each child, by name, while sitting at their desk. Then, back at my teacher's desk, I'd finish the devotional time and ask God's blessing on the day.
It was a simple discipline, yet it had a profound impact. Again, and I've said this many times, I have no idea how prayer works, but it has been and continues to be my experience that such times - spent in open-hearted communion with my Creator - are invaluable. Peace - DEREK
- My research methodology may be unscientific, but the anecdotal evidence I have collected tells me that less than ten of every 100 Christians I talk with have an active, well-considered daily devotional life. That’s a really low number. But here’s a piece of completely reliable corollary data that turns out to be remarkably interesting: 100% of those who do maintain a regular devotional discipline report that the daily routine pays off in ways that are nothing short of huge. By “huge” I mean eternal, unremitting, awesome, satisfying, and unarguably life-changing. By huge I also mean discernible improvement in daily lives across the board. Relationships, parenting, work attitude, productivity, work satisfaction, effective Christian witness, love life; need I go on? This is true even when the people I talk with believe they are only just beginning to scratch the surface regarding their daily walk with God. The investment of just a few short but deliberate minutes, every day, makes a difference in the lives of Jesus-followers that cannot be accounted for by any other variable. If any advertised manufactured product could claim anywhere near the level and consistency of the verifiable results found in consequence of a daily devotional life then that product would sell off the shelves. (GET REAL - 2007)
Peace - DE
2 comments:
Lovely memory -- I just have one question -- did you offer 182 prayers every morning? That's what I would need to do if I were to do now what you did then. So instead, I pray for them as a group and for myself as their teacher. I sure wish I could do the 'each child by name" thing, but I just trust that God knows each of them and will give me what I need to do the job.
The beauty of self-contained ESE. 12-18 kids - SED. Very challenging but I could invest myself in them as individuals...
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