#21" E The Lighthouse Lego

I got my first Lego for Christmas and it changed me. It was the first gift that I have gotten that needed to really pay attention to and be present to enjoy fully. It was the first gift that I have gotten that came in pieces. 538 to be exact. And I had to follow the directions to create the goal. And I had to take it apart sometimes when I missed something. But I knew. I knew that I would have a lighthouse that lit up in the end.

And I wondered is that how God sees us?

He knows. He knows that we come in pieces and sometimes we look at them and think is this really going to make a lighthouse and a killer whale in the end? And we wonder...how is this going to work? How is this piece really going to help the end goal? But it does. And he knew all along.

He knew that every piece had a purpose and a place. He knew that sometimes we need to take things apart for them to get put back together the right way. And he is stinking patient. That is what struck me more than anything in building my Lego. It took me 4 hours! And I thought it was going to be a quick 20 minutes. But the good stuff doesn't get built in 20 minutes in our lives...it takes hours. Days, years, really. To create the stuff that we look at and say "wow that's so cool...that must have taken hours to build."

And God just looks at us and smiles and says, "yep, it did. And look at how all these pieces turned into this amazing life."

He knows and knew all along. That's the part that makes my heart happy everyday as our Lego pieces of life might look like they are just a pile of Legos. They so aren't. There is so much potential in those little pieces. Just wait and see.  

#20 "E" I can't be that teacher...

So I'm totally inspired by this I Can't Be That Mom read last night and I knew the second I read it I had to make my own version of it.

So here it goes...

I can't be that teacher that leaves sub plans that are 17 pages long and tell you every detail about how Sally needs to make sure she gets along with Suzy. Or how Joey needs to be reminded of how to turn in his paper. Or how to put away everything in the bookcases just so.

But I will be the teacher that when I get back look for students that were kind and helpful and celebrate the good that the sub leaves in the report.

I can't be that teacher that has a website updated that has every PowerPoint slide and lesson plan posted since the first day of school so that if you are absent you know that you missed how to memorize the quadratic function without even coming to class.

But I will make kick ass videos and post them on Google Classroom so you can get direct instruction from me and go at your own pace and makes you feel like I am right there with you even when I'm not.

I can't be that teacher that gives you a 20 page review guide for a test. That doesn't teach you how to independently learn and own your learning.

But I will give you opportunities to continue to show your mastery and process of learning and not average your tests. Instead I will override your previous scores to reflect your current understanding. And this takes time and effort, but I believe the effort is worth it.

I can't be that teacher that never lets you fail.

But I will create the best and safest environment to fail in so that you don't stay in that place and you want to learn and grow.

I can't be that teacher that wears heals and skirts everyday and looks like I am going to a business meeting downtown.

But I will have blue hair and wear my boot cuffs as knee warmers and crazy leggings and sparkly Converse and laugh and laugh about how silly I am.

I can't be that teacher that goes home and grades your unit tests the day you take them and give them to you the next day.

But I can invest in my own kids when I go home after school and know that that makes me a better teacher the next day.

I can't be that teacher that has a planner that is organized in the way that teacher school taught us.

But again...I will give you my heart and energy and best everyday when I walk in the classroom. And when the end of the day comes you will know that you got my heart, my spirit, and that I love being a teacher and I will do it again the next day and the next day. Because teaching is fluid and I love that it creates the gift of revising and editing and trying new things. And I will keep trying new things and because of that sometimes you might just look at me with that look on your face wondering what the heck?! And we will grow together through it all.

Yep, that is who I will be. And we will both be the better for it.