Everyone hears teachers get very excited about spring break (and rightfully so!). This year for me spring break came very late. When we return we only have six weeks left. Last year, spring break was two weeks earlier and we had our built in "snow days." This year the long haul to spring break definitely was felt.
This week I am at home in Spartanburg after returning from Indianapolis for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). The conference was great as I got to participate with other teachers I know from around the country. It also allowed me to start spring break early! However after a great but tiring trip I was ready to relax for the week.
I tend to put high expectations on breaks. I usually make a long to-do list and the looking to this week for so long also adds pressure for me to feel like it "lived up" to what I was expecting. It may just be my personality but I feel like I always do this. I also get anxious as the week goes on that is going by too quickly.
Knowing this, I wanted this week to be different. This week is special because it is also leading up to Easter on Sunday. So on Monday during my quiet time, I prayed that God would lower my expectations for the week. Instead, He had a different plan--He gave me a singular expectation and standard: that this week will be "successful" if I draw closer to Him and seek to know and love Him more in prayer, Bible study, and loving my family. Not that this should not be a continual seeking, but I knew He wanted me to use this week to have unhurried and intentional time with Him.
In that time, He has been using it to teach me so much--largely about prayer. In my Bible study, we are reading Pursuing MORE of Jesus which focused this week on prayer. This week I have had the perfect opportunity to focus on this in a quiet house with few distractions. God also has revealed to me how a lack of prayer reveals the pride and self-suffiency I can have in all areas but specifically with school. There is just no way I can do my job for His glory in my own power. And, it is incredibly prideful of me to think I can. Prayer unlocks His power in every situation! Thus, this week has been a great time for me to reflect and pray about the last six weeks of school--that God would grow my love, my patience, and my witness in my job.
Mandy-i had no idea that you blogged! how fun! thanks for sharing this post!
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