My experience is one of stepping out of hopelessness into Heaven’s Hope-Filled perspective as an educator. And this all happened because someone saw my potential and invested in my growth as a Kingdom Educator. Then I had to respond to believe the truth about my identity and my “assignment” from the King to the world of education.
I began to see myself as more than a teacher trying to swim upstream just trying to scale the stack of papers to grade, district mandates to fulfill, and the test scores to compare with last year. I went to work each day knowing I was called to “this” and I took ownership of my role by setting the atmosphere of my classroom, praying for signs wonders and miracles to break out, and to actively ask Friend Holy Spirit for His higher ways while I planned, and sought upgrades for my classroom management program. I grabbed an empowered vision for impact at my school. I now believed I was a part of a team of Believers around the globe walking in Kingdom Identity– believing I was empowered by the Holy Spirit and that waw anything was possible if I believed (Mark 9:23).
And you know what? My middle school and elementary colleagues started noticing the shift. They came to me asking what was different in my classroom. Of course they did, right?!
When we take on our true identities we become different people on the inside and it eventually bleeds outside of us– so that we speak differently, behave differently… we teach differently. Our kids begin to achieve more…
And that’s when my colleagues started asking, “Why will so and so work for you and not for me?” My answer: I was tuning into the Father’s voice to hear what He was seeing in my students and I was calling it out. I was calling out their purpose and destiny– the skills, talents, and abilities that my students already had because the Great Designer made them that way! But this was NOT a palatable answer for my public school.
These questions led me to birth of my first book: “Speaking Words of Life in Your Classroom.” It’s a short and sweet guide to show teachers how to help kids see who they are designed to be based on their true identity, reinforced through simple activities, and purposeful classroom management that calls them up higher into the designs they were fashioned within their mother’s womb. I believe now more than ever, it’s key that we as Kingdom Believers step into our rightful role of calling out the gold in our students (speaking out what God asays about them). I think all of us are aware of the aggressive war on identity, but we can counteract the lies by helping our students begin to recognize their gifts, talents, skills, abilities they were born with to be change-agents themselves. And this is where, I believe, the apathy lifts and students’ fervor for learning increases. It’s in this atmosphere where the behaviors shift, the learning successes emerge, and the test scores sky rocket.
You’re invited to make the shift, too, but it will take intentionality of investing in YOUR own growth. I recommend grabbing hold of these new patterns (which you can also grab hold of as you walk through my self-paced course: From Burnout to Burning Bright)
- Record truth declarations based on scripture to speak over yourself each morning before work. Grab your FREE copy of my Daily Truth Declarations for Kingdom Educators to get you started.
- Make space to hear God’s voice and press into His Word for yourself, then your students and colleagues. Know that you are the change-agent, the atmosphere shifter, and what you’re dwelling on in your mind and heart makes all the difference so make it habit to declare truth over yourself. And and take every thought captive.
- Invite the Holy Spirit to invade your classroom with His peace, joy, and love. Anoint the desks and chairs to prepare the room for your students to encounter the King.
- Expect that your prayers will make a difference and celebrate the little victories by giving praise to God!
- Respond when God directes you to say or do something.
- Recognize that your words create worlds for yourself and your students to weigh carefully how you speak and what you speak. Teach your students to do the same. (Grab a hold of Speaking Words of Life in Your Classroom for daily declarations for your students in public school, and other classroom activities that instill Kingdom principles.
As you set aside time to intentionally invest in YOURSELF you will become more and more aware of how Friend Holy Spirit wants to leak out of you to speak life over your students. Don’t be surprised when crazy testimonies break out! Here are a couple of testimonies to stir your faith and expectation that God is on the move and He’s excited to partner with you in your classroom:
- One of my students gave his heart to Jesus during a S.S. lesson about the 3 major world religions!!
- I learned to use the power of honor with my homosexual principal and I won her favor over a period of three years to show case my low readers for an evening of Reader’s Theater and a special guest speaker who taught their parents some Kingdom strategies to use in their homes with their youth. It was very empowering.
If you’re ready to get started, but need some extra encouragement and guidance through personalized coaching, please reach out! I’d be happy to create a specialized coaching package to help accelerate your journey of teaching-connected with God in your classroom. It makes all the difference.