Truth

I have my students write letters to me.  Letters about real things.  Letters that tell me what they think I need to know about them, their family, their likes, dislikes, fears, hopes and dreams.  I cried reading them today.  Wow.  Connecting to what it true in their lives is going to help me to be a better teacher.  It's going to help me alleviate their stress.  It's going to help me to build them up.  It's going to help me to teach them.
It amazes me how vulnerable and open most of them are...even after only being together for a couple of days.
I love them.  They know it.  They like being in my room.  They are afraid that they are not smart enough.  Afraid of failing.  Afraid that they won't do well enough in school.  Afraid that their parents won't be proud.  Afraid.  And so young.  Sad.
My work is cut out for me.  I need to teach them some new truths.  Purposefully.  With kindness.  With patience.  With persistence.
I need to show them that they a are loved.  It's more than job.  It's a ministry.  A mission field.
I joke that I'm a "heathen" because things didn't work out at church after the divorce, but the truth is....I know where hope comes from.  And I know Who will provide enough love for these sweet children.
Let the children come to me.....
Maybe, for me, being a little more like Jesus means simply spending my days with His children.
blessings.