Monday
It was a period of "Who's on First?" in my eighth grade English class. I was reviewing how to identify the subject and verb of a sentence. I had just told the students that in an interrogative sentence, words in a verb phrase are often separated. Rachel asked, "What does 'interrogative' mean?"

I answered, "Question."

Rachel asked again, "What does 'interrogative' mean?"

Again, I responded, "Question."

At this point, many of the students in the class became aware of the accidental by-play and began to laugh. Then Rachel and I caught on and laughed with them.

(Thank you, Lord, for the moments of humor in teaching that lighten my day.)


Tuesday
Patrick has very serious health problems and is quite small for an eighth grader. It seems to me the biggest thing about him is his smile. When he enters the classroom, he smiles, and I smile back. One day when I had much on my mind and forgot to smile when he came in, he said, "Smile, God loves you." He loves to entertain the class with funny comments.

Thinking of him and other students with like problems, I want my lessons to be meaningful
for the present, as well as the future, and to maintain an atmosphere of caring and kindness so that my students will know they are more important to me than the subject we study.

(Lord, let Your love shine through me.)


Wednesday
"Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way." So sang Mac Davis some years ago. It's true that we of the teaching profession can, on occasion, be "know-it-alls." Yet, we shouldn't have too much difficulty being humble. Our students are more than eager to point out any mistakes we make.

Once again, I got my lesson in humility. As my homeroom students were examining their new school yearbooks. Jamar said to me, "You sure do take a good picture." I preened a little because I had thought my picture this year was pretty good, myself. Then he showed me the page with the snapshot of him I had taken early in the year.

"See?" he said.

(Heavenly Father, help me to be filled with a Christlike humility.)


Thursday
I saw it on my way to school today splashed in large letters on the big rock in front of the school: Jennifer loves Nick 4ever. This made me think of the whole concept of adolescent romance. 'Forever, in terms of teen-age love, can be as brief as one day; however, what young love lacks in longevity, it makes up for in intensity. It's like lightning bolts strike these young victims, and they sizzle. The next thing you know, that stupendous love has fizzled and is no more.

(Lord, may my love for You be deeper every day, never fizzling.)


Friday
(Thank you, dear Father, for Friday!)