Lessons from Preschool

I had the privilege of subbing in third grade at our church school yesterday and this teacher's heart was in Heaven.  It had been a rough previous day in the "career" aspect of things as I wallowed in self pity, struggling with contentment over my current job position.  My husband was wonderful [as always] and listened to me while offering calming thoughts, and doing what needed to be done first...prayed.  Amazing how bringing things to the Lord can relieve so much.

Side Note: May I just throw in there how thankful I am that God created the most close relationship to be between a man and a woman?  My emotions and thoughts, as a female, run wild sometimes. The mister offers such sound and calming thoughts.  On the flip side, there are times it helps the mister to get a feminine (aka: more emotional/sentimental) perspective on things.

So back to the post.

I was nervous about yesterday's subbing, but the Lord proved true to His character, and made his response clear to our crying hearts from the previous night.  I had a wonderful day and it was a refreshment to my heart to see I do have a passion to teach.  Right now I am not teaching, but I do still believe He has me in preschool for a reason.

Do. Not. Get. Me. Wrong.  I love my preschoolers, enjoy working with them, and am beyond thankful for God's provision with a job.  I do believe the Lord has me here this reason, and therefore the Lord is working in my heart to make it content.

Despite what it may seem, this post is about preschool (not third grade).  In my pathetic questioning of "why God am I working in preschool when you know my heart is to teach, not just babysit?", God has slowly been revealing to me an important lesson I needed refreshed...

OBEDIENCE

It hit me a few weeks ago how often I say to my preschoolers something along the lines of "You are sitting here in time out because you disobeyed when I told you to [insert situation here].  When you disobey, I cannot reward you and allow you to continue to play".  Obviously there is more to this conversation, but we are constantly stressing to our students how crucial it is that they obey.  This is very hard for them at this age, as they have a very self focused perspective developmentally.

I may be several years older then them, but this was a lesson I needed a reminder of.  Just as I take obedience very seriously with my students and am trying to train them to (1) do what they are told, (2) when they are told (3) with the right heart attitude (thanks Mom and Dad for committing this to my memory), God takes it even more seriously with me obeying Him.

This may seem juvenile, but this was eye opening to me.  I don't think I would have learned this lesson as bold had I been in an older elementary grade.

I needed the preschoolers and my time with them to teach me this.