Changes Part I: End of School

So much is changing in my areas of focus right now. It has been an amazing 1.5 weeks of non-stop action. Simultaneously, this week, I concluded my second school year, my time of service at Vietnamese Alliance Church, and also began Project Destiny. With all of this overlapping and giving me less "down" time, I've found it more necessary than ever to depend on the Lord to shield (for now) from my own emotions that might distract me and to give me strength in faithfully doing everything that I have committed to do.

Finally, it seems things are settling down. It gives me a chance to reflect on all that has passed. On Wednesday, we promoted the 8th graders-- my first 7th grade class from last year. As I stayed up to finish our Retrospective Video, I was amazed at how much that had grown and changed from the last year. Many of them are leaving for Exam Schools and I will miss them. This is probably one of the worst parts of being a public school teacher-- losing your students to another school. While corporately, it would be a great thing for our school if those kids stayed, I know that I should be happy for them because they are getting a better opportunity for themselves. I was so proud, particularly of three students who spoke at the commencement ceremony. They have certainly come a long way.

School ended on Friday, and it was a mad rush to get my grades in! I think there are still many things that I dislike about myself as a teacher. They are not so much "skills" that I should have, but rather character issues that I had assumed God would have worked out of me by now. I believe that the same qualities that make a good person also are the traits that make a good teacher-- integrity, love (as defined in 1 Corinthians 13), consistency, reflectiveness... I actually think I have most of these pretty set, except for the second one-- love.

"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends." (NRSV, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

Look at all the characteristics in bold that make up love. Those are the things I am lacking in. It grieves me greatly to read this passage... God, forgive me and make me a better-- more Christ-like-- teacher next year, I pray.