Teachers Cannot Give Up!

You guys! 24 more school days left till summer! 24 DAYS!

      I look back to this time last year when I was arriving home from Saipan about to graduate from college and I compare that person to who I am now after finishing my first year of teaching. I almost don't recognize the person I am now. I have had so many different events and obstacles happen to me in this past year that it is almost insane to think of how I even survived.
     I was preparing a lesson for my students to reflect on their past year as 6th graders and having them figure out what was their most important lesson that they learned. As I prepare the lesson, of course I am also thinking about what I have learned in my time as their teacher. My biggest lesson that I will always be thankful learning with my year of teaching is that teachers can't give up. I'm serious. We literally have no option! Have YOU ever tried to call in a sub last minute and create sub plans for them? Well, let me just tell you....if you have the flu and throwing up...it is still WAY easier to go in and teach then to call in a sub and create sub plans for them to follow.  :)
     In all seriousness, though. This year has had its challenges. It has had its ups, but also had some major downs to it. I see some different reasons why God brought me to Cashiers for this year and I truly believe the biggest reason is that He wanted to break me down. Break down my habits and idols and truly bring me to my knees where all I had left was to look up into His face and figure out who I really was.
     With all that said, there were so many times I woke up from a long, hard night and all I wanted to do was call in sick. I wanted to go back to bed and not face the day. As a teacher though, putting the "Sub Woes" aside,  I could never bring myself to be SO selfish to call in a sub just because I had a "hard" night. I would always imagine myself in front of my students, "I'm sorry guys, Ms. Dews is calling in a sub today because to be honest, I had a really hard day and night and I just don't feel like teaching today." Could you imagine their thoughts and sadness when they could most definitely match my hardship if not top it with the struggles that my students go through daily? To hear that the person that tells them every day to never give up and follow their dreams decided to not show up because of a bad day? What would that teach my students?
     So you see, no matter how hard I wanted to give up, I couldn't. I couldn't give up because of the 40 little faces that count on me to show up with a smile on my face and guide them through the day to becoming a better person for their future.

     Unfortunately, it took teaching for me to fully understand the concept of not giving up. It took 40 little physical faces that I saw daily to remind me that no matter what happens in life and no matter what type of night you had, you must keep going. Why? Because this is Gods calling for your life. God has placed us where we are supposed to be right in that moment and the devil wants to us give up on life and not follow through with what God has in store for us. Maybe not everyone is as lucky as me to have the constant reminder of not giving up; or in reality, the fact that teachers literally cannot give up...even if they tried. But I'm here to say that YOU cannot give up either. I'm not sure who is reading this, what you do, where you are, but I do know that God has placed you there for a reason and if that is the case, then man, someone is counting on you to show up in life! Someone is out there that needs you. I know life gets hard and life has a way of knocking you down, but please, don't let the devil have the pleasure of knowing that he won a victory over you. Get back up and keep going. Keep showing up in your life and be present for the people that need you to show up. This life isn't just about us. This life is about the big picture and how we all help each other to fit in the picture. So remember, next time you are tired, lonely, want to go back to bed, don't give up...remember, it's not about you. It's not about me. It's about the big picture of life.