The Strength in the Weakness

So this blog will have little to do with my life here in Santo Domingo, but more of my thoughts or insights while being here. Being in a new place, really has forced me to assess myself as I react to new stimuli, see what strengths and weaknesses I have and something I've stumbled upon has really proven to be an eye opener in how I view myself and how I view others.

Our weaknesses and our strengths are in fact the exact same thing. The thing you love most about yourself or your best friend is the exact same trait that you hate most.  I truly believe that God  gifts us with a  specific trait that mirrors His own heart , but as we are human we don't have the same control over these gifts and so often struggle to maintain these Godly traits in our own imperfect souls.

For example, some people are born leaders, they take charge of situations and find solutions to problems. This is a God given gift, yet this amazing trait can also come across as pushy, bossy or aggressive. People who are easy going and take life one step at a time can be seen as passive or unable to make decisions. Also, people who are empathetic and are good at reading other people, often are seen as overly emotional.

This has been a big insight because I've realized that when we view the weaknesses of ourselves and others through the lens that this is God's gift, we are able to appreciate it more and also learn to control and change the behavior. The source of our greatest weaknesses is in fact controlling the great strengths that God has gifted us with. For example, thinking in retrospect, my greatest strength is that I have a super strong conscience which makes me trustworthy and honest to a fault. My greatest weakness is the fact that I have a super strong conscience which makes me judgemental, over think nearly everything and feel guilty when I don't need to.

When you think about yourself, your students, your coworkers, your spouses, your best friends and even the people who drive you up a wall, I challenge you to find the gift and then I promise you will view them  and yourself in a whole different way.

"Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." -1 Corinthians 12:7

First Grade Adventures Month 1

They say you act like the people you spend the most time with, so I  think I need to owe apologies that my main social interaction is approximately 14  6-year-olds. No wonder my bedtime now ranges between 8:30 and 9:30 every night and instead of wanting to eat fruits and vegetables I am forever craving brownies.

Anyways, first grade has been going well. The most difficult part about first grade and I'm sure other primary teachers can attest, is that first graders need so much direction on how to complete activities and assignments, but their attention span is super short. I feel very much like airline stewards who have to spend the beginning 10 minutes giving pertinent emergency instructions to an audience of passengers who are not listening. So it's definitely a balance between trying to make the directions short and sweet and giving enough information so the kids don't just walk over to their desk and draw a family portrait instead of write about their favorite part of the book and yes this has happened.

After being a hard core fan of upper elementary and its "sweet spot" of students being at the right age to still love school, but also be able to go into topics deeper and have responsibility over their work, I definitely was a little apprehensive about teaching first grade. But to be honest I absolutely love my students. I think my favorite part might just be how uncomplicated their lives are. I love how their problems are so fixable, from tears about a broken pencil to not deciding which food to eat for lunch. 

I'm constantly reminded of the bible verse (Mark 10:15) where it talks about receiving the kingdom of heaven like a little child. I think as we adults, we so often over complicate our lives. We see every gift with strings attached, every kindness as something we must repay and even Heaven as something we must earn. But looking through eyes of kids, everything is black and white, you either have something or you don't. If someone offers you something, you take it and don't ask questions, if someone offends you, you hurt and sometimes even get mad or sad, but then when they say sorry, its forgotten. There are no grudges. That is something I hope to learn from my students. You deal with the issue at hand and then once you find a solution, you move on..... no bringing up the situation later, it's over, it's solved. I hope to teach my students this year to read and write, but I also hope to grow from them. I hope to go to God like they come to me with complete faith that He can solve the problems.