The Lord of the ReadINGS

I am a teacher. I get paid to do this job! During the summer I spend a majority of my time thinking....am I doing what God wants me to do. If not, then I need to figure out what it is I'm meant to do and start working toward doing that.

The first week back for me has been challenging. This is a serious understatement! Wow, they sure do give alot of stuff for us to process.......

Last Friday when I started this blog, my mind was very overwhelmed to say the least! I ended up cleaning my house top to bottom because I knew that was something I could get done and not have to think about.

But...the story wasn't complete yet......I have a story to tell...

I am a reading teacher. I really wanted to have a theme for my room this year. Well, Friday evening some how or another the idea of the Lord of the ReadINGS came to mind. Of course, doubt crept in and I was seriously NOT going to do this theme when I went to bed Friday night.

Saturday morning I woke up and prayed, "God, I feel overwhelmed with everything. If you want me to do a theme in my room you'll just make it happen. Give me the mind to organize my thoughts and get things together for this school year."

God most gloriously came threw for me yet again! What an awesome God! I love God.

My small group area is called, "The Fellowship", My whole group area is called, "The Shire" because that is where the hobbits started out on their journey. I have a "Two Towers Word Study" area for vocabulary. A "Rivendell Reader" area for independent reading.

AND THE BEST PART.......

I read a book called Waking the Dead by John Elderedge a couple of weeks ago. He talked about mythic characters and how the movies we love have a deep rooting "wanting" within us to be one of the characters. I had a character in mind of who I WANT to be but didn't share it with anyone.

Daniel and myself were traveling to Marianna a week ago and I asked him, "If I was a character out of one of the movies that I love who do you see me as?" He said, Galadriel from Lord of the Rings. I started to cry.....why?......because that is who I want to be and that is the character that I had in my mind a couple of days ago as I was drifting off to sleep and talking to God. So it was so cool to know that God had a hand in my desire to be her. Daniel already sees me as her but, of course, I doubt my ability to be her.

Now you ask, what is so special about her and why would I want to be her. Those of you that know me know that I like to fix things and/or people. I'm an analyzer. Well, Galadriel to me is a woman that has discernment, she sees what people need and she gives them the tools to get through the hard times of their journey. She was also a strong woman that was able to overcome the temptation presented to her to hold Godly power.

At the beginning of the summer I decided that this next school year prayer would be (based on Solomon's prayer) Dear God, please give me the wisdom, knowledge and understanding to love and teach your children, my students.

I believe that as Galadriel in the themed classroom titled" The Lord of the ReadINGS that God will give me the discernment (what the students need) and the resources (the tools they need) to grow as individuals and as readers this year. I know that I can't go with my students when they take state mandated tests but just like Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings I can give them the tools they need to get there with God's direction.

Reading is a critical area at the High School, as always, but the pressure is on because we didn't test as well. It can get very overwhelming thinking about the responsibility placed on me this year.

I really want God to carry me through this school year. I want to give him the glory. I pray that God will use me to teach his children and show me how I can love them the way He loves me.

Living Loved,

Elizabeth