Teach Me Your Ways

"Lord, teach me your ways." // Psalm 25:4

Completing my Montessori training and then getting my first job as a lead teacher at my top-choice school, I felt excited to begin. I had invested so much time and energy as well as financial investment in all my training. I felt so much anticipation to get started and put everything to work. And yet, those first weeks and first year as a new teacher were a new kind of "training" all in themselves. The beautiful pristine ideals of my studies often clashed with the stress, overwhelm, conflicts, and uncertainty of the reality of dealing with a classroom full of thirty three- to six-year-old children, as well as all the concerns of their parents.

Working at a Catholic parish school, during my lunch break I would come upstairs to sit in the chapel and look on the large icon of Christ the Teacher, begging Him, "Lord, teach me your ways" (Psalm 25:4). I would pray, "God, teach me to be a good teacher. Teach these children through me. Teach me what to do. Teach me your ways, God."

And, gradually, things got better. As I detached and let go of my attempt to control certain outcomes, I could relax, trusting that God was leading the lives of His young children. I could laugh with the children and accept the spilled water, the messes, the tantrums, the exhaustion, the rambunctiousness and numerous personalities of the children all with different needs. I could trust both my own intelligence as well as my intuition, even if I felt I didn't really know what would be the right answer or right thing to do. God was teaching me and teaching my students through me.

What's an area of your life where you need to surrender control? Where do you need to allow God to teach you the goodness of His ways? Together let's pray the line of the Psalm today and asking Him from a sincere heart, "Lord teach me your ways."

Allow God to teach you the goodness of His ways. // Mary Catherine CraigeClick to tweet

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