After being interviewed by the school administration, the prospective teacher said:'Let me see if I've got this right.
You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning...
You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride...
You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job...
You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the final exams. 'You also want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents in English, Spanish or any other language, by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card...
You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps...
You want me to do all this and then you tell me .... I CAN'T PRAY?'...
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)
16 comments:
Awesome and MUCH NEEDED post, Sonya!!
Thank you for always coming along side to pray.
Big hugs,
andrea
Great post.Should be written on posters allover the world.
We used to start and finish the school day with a psalm and a prayer my 7 first years in school. Every school in Norway did the same. Even when I was a substitute teacher in 1968, that was the right thing to do.
Now it's forbidden. Neutral is the slogan.
Like you have so wonderfully described, neutral does not exist, neither is it wanted.
I can over, early in the morning the embrace you and thank you for the precious gift, the biography and so very much alive book about your father, Armin Gesswein.
I have been reading for two nights now, I need quiet to read a book where every word is important.
I feel blessed, inspired and privileged.
I have written a small thank you over on my blog.
I wonder, what can I find to send you?
Would you be interested in books about ancient Norwegian history or newer books about the emigration to America,or Norwegian nature????
P.S: The chapter about how your parents met, is so filled with love. I find that extraordinary when it comes to biographies about Christian leaders.Then your parents were definitely not average personalities either.
Sonja,
This is so very true. My daughter teaches 4th grade at a local school here. I don't know about anywhere else but I can tell you there is prayer that goes on in her classroom...by her anyway!
The government can do and say whatever they want, but as long as there are a few christians left in public schools they will NEVER be able to remove prayer from schools. Oh maybe they can take away audiable prayers, but not prayers of the heart!
My daughter will enjoy reading this and I'll have to have her stop by,
Blessings,
Debra
Wow, I was not expecting that ending! THIS IS SUPER Sonja! What a testimony. Thanks for sharing! Blessings.
Amen....I pray for those teachers as I walk past the school in our neighborhood. I am also going into the at risk schools to help with one child...but when I step in, NO ONE can keep me from praying for all of them. What a blessing that I can pray...and on government grounds!!!! I can't wait!!!!
Wow! Poignant! Thanks for sharing this!
Unfortunately, this is so true.
I remember when I was in school
we started the day with prayer,
memorized Scripture, said the
pledge to the flag and talked
freely about God. Our country
is in such a state of agony
and people wonder why. When
we leave out the very One Who
has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing and all
we will ever need in life,
this is what happens.
What a GREAT post...I called my daughter who is newly qualified to be a teacher and can't find a job, sigh, so she is substitute for two different districts, and read this to her. How she enjoyed it. But she said some very similiar things that the others did. She said, "Oh mom I pray in my heart for those kids everytime I step into a classroom. They can't every stop us from that. Good things prayers don't have to be audible to be heard by Him" It really is such a shame what has happened to our schools. And I don't even want to get started on their salaries. The pay for a substitute is just a crime, and the size of the classrooms has become ridiculous. She lives in New Mexico btw. This is a subject I can get pretty worked up over, can you tell? haha It is on my prayer list everyday. Thanks for writing about this much need topic. HUGS, Debbie
True that! They should put up a sign like that in every teacher's room. And parents. And grandparents. Lord help us if we ever stop praying!
Have a blessed weekend, Sonja!
Such truth!
amen! i am so thankful that many of my kids'
teachers knew how to pray and were allowed
to do that whenever they needed to.
great post, as usual!
and, no hugging my husband!! :)
oh boy!..i just came over from felisol's and what a great post i have read!
it is all too true what you have written here.
canadian schools are in the same dilemma sonja.
in fact they kicked the bible and prayer out of their schools and are even now taking the word god out of the national anthem.
they no longer sing, "god keep our land glorious and free".
it is a sad state of affairs that unless our children are attending sunday school or hearing god's word in the home, then they will never know who god really is!
ah! that felisol wants to know what she can give to you for the priceless gift that you have sent her...well the bestest that she can ever give to you sonja is her friendship.
that girl on the far side of the sea is a rare treasure to me and you will find her a rare treasure to YOU!....love terry
What an important point Sonja! Since I just received my substitute teaching license, the public classroom will be new for me. I'm glad I will just be the substitute because that's quite a responsibility. However, I can pray before I go into the classroom and when I leave I can pray for the children and school.
I remember when my niece Brittney who lives locally was in elementary school, I joined a group of moms and aunts who got together weekly to pray for the school, teachers and individual students. It was wonderful! The school may ban praying but they cannot stop us from praying.
Love you,
Debbie
This is a wonderful post, Sonja. It should be put in newspapers as an open letter to the White House and published in posters.
I hope you can find a way to circulate this, it is so powerful!
Praise God your schoolteachers can be praying on the inside. That is a personal freedom that no one can ever take away!
Love
Lidj
A stunning reminder! And to think I actually taught for a few years. Have mercy. No wonder I quit.
peace~elaine
If you want to pray, go teach in a Christian school
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