Being Influencers in Our Home | In Due Season Volume 1.21

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I admit that this year, as I read endless headlines in praise of teachers, I felt a little resentful. Before you think I am a terrible human, I will remind you that I am very much made of flesh and blood. As such I am subject to frustration and disappointment as often as I am to joy and elation. I work very hard for my family and probably like you, without much recognition. Not many children thank you for making them productive members of the human race; not before they enter it full force themselves. I know I didn’t. I’m still calling my Mother to tell her I’m sorry on a weekly basis. I am pretty sure it’s the standard Mother/Daughter contract.

Ingratitude and strife can wear you down. For me my tank ran out somewhere in the middle of hearing about professional assistant’s week, Teacher’s week and Nurse’s week (and Mother’s DAY). Feeling unappreciated, I was getting ready to put on a good pout. But, I happened upon an article about a rural teacher. I read about the lengths she went to make sure her kids had their needs met in her classroom. I read about the expenses she scrambled to cover out of her own pocket. I saw pictures of her classroom and the extent that she tried to reach out to all the different learning styles. I read, and I was humbled. I read and my heart was reset, like a badly healing bone. I was not in this place in life for a bouquet and a coffee mug. Like that teacher, I was here to inspire and lead my children. We are here for so much more than we can see from today.

I am so grateful for the position that I am in. Can you step into this place as well? We are blessed to be a part of our children’s education, even when it’s overwhelming. Not unlike any other teacher, we all have likes and dislikes. We all get a little crazy come late May. As I read about this precious teacher’s love for her class, I was inspired.

Isn’t that what great teachers are? Inspirers. Leaders. Influencers. I was reminded again of the power influencers have over the people near them. Her example of faithfulness and joy made me want to strive a little harder.

Find the influencers for change, for learning, for hope and grace in God’s truth. Surround yourself with them and strive to be an influencer in everything you do.

Remembering those that inspired you is a great way to be continually pushed forward. Praise is a poor motivator for leadership, but knowing you are striving toward a prize that is eternal should give us hope in our trials. In due season there is a harvest we will obtain and that is a prize worthy of all our striving and stumbling along the way.