Dare 15: Love is Impossible

It almost feels strange to be thinking about school right now.  Over the past 10 school days, 8 of them have been snow days!! Hence why there was no dare last week... I had no school last week, and it really wasn't on my mind!
So this week's dare is "Love is Impossible"  ... I am definitely skipping around in the book now... because I'm pretty sure the "Love Leads to Intimacy" one doesn't apply here. 
"Let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God."  1 John 4:7 

"The Love Dare starts with a secret.  And though it's been an unspoken element throughout each day, you've likely grown more and more suspicious of it all the time.  Now that you're this far, it's a secret you're discovering for yourself, even if you haven't exactly know how to put it into words.  
The secret is this:  you cannot manufacture unconditional love (or agape love) out of your own heart.  It's impossible.  It's beyond your capabilities.  It's beyond ALL our capabilities. 
You may have demonstrated kindness and unselfishness in some form, and you may have learned to be more thoughtful and considerate.  But sincerely loving someone [or in our case, a bunch of someones] unselfishly and unconditionally is another matter altogether.  
So how can you do it?  Like it or not, agape love isn't something you can do.  It's something only God can do.  But because of his great love for you--and His love for your [students]--He chooses to express His love through you. 
Still you may not believe that.  You may be convinced that with enough hard work and commitment, you can muster up unconditional, long-term, sacrificial love from your own heart.  You want to believe it's in you. 
But how many times has your love failed to keep you from lying, ...overreacting, and thinking evil of... [ your students ] ...? 
It's this failure that exposes mankind's sinful condition.  We've all fallen short of God's commands (Romans 3:23).  We've all demonstrated selfishness, hatred, and pride.  And unless something is done to cleanse us of these ungodly attributes, we will stand before God guilty as charged (Romans 6:23).  That's why if you're not right with God, you can't truly love your [students] (or anyone else for that matter) because He is the Source of that love.  
you can't give what you don't have.  You can't call up inner reserves and resources that aren't there to be summoned.  In the same way that you can't give away a million dollars if you don't have it to start with, you cannot pay out love in greater measure than you own.  you can try, but it will fail.  
So the hard news its this:  love that is able to withstand every pressure is out of your reach, as long as you're only looking within yourself to find it.  You need someone who can give you that kind of love.  
'Love is from God' (1John 4:7).  And only those who have allowed Him into their heart through faith in His Son, Jesus--only those who have received the Spirit of Christ through beliefe in His death and resurrection--are able to tap into love's real power.  'Apart from me,' Jesus said, 'you can do nothing' 9John 15:5) 
But He also said, 'If you abide in Me, and MY words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you' (John 15:7).  god has promised through Christ to dwell in your heart through faith so that you can 'know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the likeness of God' (Ephesians 3:19). 
When you surrender yourself to Christ, His ppower can work through you.  Even at your very best, you are not able to live up to God's standards.  But He 'is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us' (Ephesians 3:20) (my favorite verse!) That's how you love [your spouse, your students, people...]
So this unseettling secret--as defeating as it may feel--has a happy ending for those who will stop resisting and will receive the love God has for them.  This means that the love He has 'poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us' (Romans 5:5) is always available, everytime we choose to submit to it.
You simply won't be able to do it without Him.  
Perhaps you've never given your heart to Christ, but you sense Him drawing you today.  You may be realizing for the first time that you, too, have broken God's commands, and that yuor guilt will keep you from knowing Him.  But Scripture says that if you repent by turning from your sin and turning to God, He is willing to forgive you because of the sacrifice His Son made on the cross.  He is pursuing you, not to enslave you, but to free you, so you can receive His love and forgiveness.  Then you can share it with the one(s) you've been called most specifically to love.  
...
The truth is, you can't live without Him and you can't love without Him.  But there is no telling what He could do in your [life] if you put your trust in Him. "

So, all of that is taken mostly word for word from The Love Dare (Kenndrick).  It wasn't my intention to just copy what they said, but it was all very real and phrased much more precise than I could try to make it on here.  If you have any questions about any of it, please let me know. And your dare for the week will be to really examine where you are at with the Lord and to call upon His strength and His love to give you the strength to love your kiddos. 


Have a blessed week. 

Dare 14: Love Intercedes

Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.  3 John 2

Dare 14: Love Intercedes 

"You cannot change your [students].  As much as you may want to, you cannot play God and reach into their heart and mold them into what you want them to be....    
Insanity has been described as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  But isn't that what happens when you try to change your [students]?  It's frustration at the highest level.  At some point you have to accept that it's not something you can do.  But here's something you can do.  You can become a 'wise farmer.'  A farmer cannot make a seed grow into a fruitful crop.  He cannot argue, manipulate, or demand it to bear fruit.  But he can plant the seed into fertile soil, give it water and nutrients, protect it from weeds, and then turn it over to God.  Millions of farmers have made a livelihood from this process over the centuries.  They know that not every seed sprouts.  But most will grow when planted in proper soil and given what they need."  

Just like not all the seeds will sprout, not every student will be changed by your attempts to love.  But the reason for going through the love dare with your students is not so each of them will change.  The reason you are going through the love dare is to stretch yourself to love as God has called us to love.  Even if you don't see a change in one student this year, hopefully you'll see a change in your heart.  And chances are, if you are truly trying to carry out each dare, your students will be affected.  You may not see the change in them now, and you may never know just how much your love for them touched their hearts... but it will happen.  "But you won't be able to do this alone.  You will need something that is more powerful than anything else you have.  And that is effective prayer."  
And boy, do our kids need prayers.  Not a day goes by that my heartstrings aren't pulled by a glimpse of a students' home life.  This won't surprise you, but I tend to be a forgetful person, and unfortunately, often times I simply forget to utter up a prayer for them.   It is my prayer that God hears my deep concerns for each of them as prayer.  
It is my desire, and I know it is God's desire, to pray more fervently for my students.  I truly believe it is one of the most loving things we can do for them.  


So this week, take time to pray for your students' hearts.  Pray that God would work in their lives and that you might be given opportunities to speak to their hearts.  


love you all.  praying for you as well. 

woa.

No one deemed it necessary to tell me that the weekend came and went and now suddenly it is Tuesday and apparently I had no idea.  

YIKES! 

Grace it is, my friends, grace it is.  

God bless. Have a good week.  Don't give up on me :) 

And again...

I don't know about the rest of you, but I only had two days with students this past week due to snow days... I know its going to take me a while to be conscious of practicing grace, so here we go again...
Praying for all of you. 

Dare 13: Love Offers Grace

I realize that offering grace and letting them start fresh is very similar, but I've really been challenged lately with what it looks like to offer our students grace.  

We are in the middle of a series at church over Galations 2:20.... "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."  

Today we discussed the balancing act that is freedom and legalism.  It is easy to live in either of these extremes and extremely difficult to find the right place on the pendulum.  We either judge ourselves against others making us seem okay or we live a life that is spent entirely on ourselves and our "rights."  Romans 6:23 says the "wages of sin is death..." and all throughout the gospels we're told of how Jesus came for us to die for us.  Without Jesus, we have no rights.  We don't have the "right" to be treated better by people... we actually deserve to be treated worse, because we have treated God worse... BUT GOD (probably my favorite two words together) still offers us GRACE... over and over and over and over and over... you get the picture.  

And Galations 2:20 says that I no longer live, but Christ lives in me ... well, then I am called to be offering the same grace God has offered to me.  So, if i really understand God, I will ALWAYS respond out of grace, NO MATTER WHAT you've done to me, I will give you grace because I've done worse to God and he still gives me grace.  

Do I do that?  Big negative.  Was I guilty of not doing that 5 seconds after I left church this morning?  Unfortunately, yes.  

And I just can't seem to wrap my mind around what it looks like to offer this grace to my students?? How can I offer them grace over and over and over again and still expect them to respect me and the guidelines of the classroom and school?  
I understand that there is such a thing as tough love and that God loves that way too... It is just really hard for me to know what it looks like to apply all of this in a way that is pleasing to God and works in the classroom.  Not that I don't offer grace to my students ever... but let's be realistic in saying that I definitely don't offer them grace after X amount of offenses... 

So my dare for the week is to really focus on what it means to offer your students grace.  Pray that God would provide ways for you to offer them grace and that He would open your eyes to His grace in your own life.  

I know that there's a good amount of you that read this, I get the stats on here.  Most of you never comment, which is fine, but I'm asking that you would share with us all how you have learned to offer grace in your classroom or in your daily lives... 

Praying you have a wonderful week and that God would bless your socks off! :) 
 

Dare 12: Love Lets Them Start Fresh

And after a long reprieve... here we are again!   Hopefully I didn't lose you along the way.  Things got a little crazy around Thanksgiving with my husband and I moving to a new home and then being without internet for what seemed like forever! 

I know many of you started back with kiddos today... our district is lucky enough to have a work day the first day back after break, so I was able to make copies and set my lesson plans in place today.  I'm so very thankful to be able to ease back into the groove of things. Breaks always seem to spoil me a little too much :) 

I think I'm going to have to start getting a little creative with our dares.  The further you get into the book, the "deeper" the kind of love it talks about.  

So, my dare to you this week is to let your kids start fresh.  Part of the work day today included going over all my kid's grades from last semester and double checking them before I imported them for grade cards.  Browsing through some of their grades, I found myself getting frustrated all over again at their lack of effort.  It made me dread tomorrow.  And then, I sat through a meeting where we discussed our repeat offenders for lunch detentions.  (Let me tell you, I was really looking forward to tomorrow after that one.) 
I could feel my negativity welling up and realized that I needed to cut it out!  So I told myself that I was going to make tomorrow be a good day just by having a good attitude.  I'm going to let my students start fresh in my book. Those repeat offenders deserve grace just as much as the others.  So, my goal will be practicing grace and helping my students feel like they can start fresh and move forward.  I'm excited!  I just know that some of those kids are going to jump at the chance of a clean slate.  

Dare 11: Love Lets the Other Win

Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.  Philippians 2:4 

Dare 11: Love Lets the Other Win 

It seems like it has been forever since I've posted! I'm sorry for the long break!  I have, however, been thinking a lot about what it looks like to love our students.  I had the opportunity this past week to switch classrooms with a teacher in a class a year below me.  This class (ones I'll have next year) is a really difficult class all around.  I've been "warned" about them for the past few years, and rightfully so as there are a lot of major issues amongst them.  I know that if I find this year's kids (who are really great all around) hard to love at times, I'm really going to have a rough time next year.  So I'm really wanting to prepare myself and examine what it really looks like to love them and still be their authority. 

Sometimes the dares in this book are a little hard to modify because they are speaking about loving someone who is your soul mate, your equal.  Yes, we are to love our students, but it will require quite a bit of different love than our spouses.  So, what does it look like to let the other one win, when the other one is your student? 

Well, obviously, there are just going to be some things that are your way simply because you are the teacher, no matter what.  But the book points out that a lot of arguments stem from stubbornness... and the opposite of stubbornness is willingness.  I may not argue much with my students, but I know that sometimes I am probably a little too stubborn in my ways and I forgo being willing to listen to their excuses, or excuse me, their reasons, and automatically have things the way I think they should be.  

"...The one best example of it is Jesus Christ, as decribed in Philippians 2.  Follow the progression of His selfless love... As God, he had every right to refuse becoming man but yeilded and did--because he was willing.  He had the right to be served by all mankind but came to serve us instead.  He had the right to live in peace and safety but willingly laid down His life for or sins.  He was even willing to endure the grueling torture of the cross.  He loved, cooperated, and was willing to do His Father's will instead of His own.... 'Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus' (Philippians 2:5)--the attitude of willingness, flexibility, and humble submission.  It means laying down for the good of others what you have the right to claim for yourself."  

What does this look like for us teachers?