New Every Morning

His mercies are new every morning. Seriously. They really are. Kind of crazy when we take that for granted. I know I do. A lot. In my profession I really can't afford to keep taking it for granted. I need (desperately) His mercies to be new every morning. In fact, I often believe the verse should read that His mercies are new every second. Not that I am trying to change the Holy Bible...

Being a teacher can be exhausting. There are a lot of demands, a lot of hopes, a lot of idealistic expectations, a lot of people looking up to you to lead. I come home a lot of days with mixed feelings of frustration, hope, redemption and shock when it comes to my students. I used to always think, "Whew! Thank goodness His mercies are new every morning for THEM!"

However, I am starting to realize a few things. As I look back over my day I note some things that I am ashamed as a teacher that I committed.
1) I decided sleep was more important than time with God this morning.
2) I told a student to wait to talk to me while I finished an activity I didn't need until Friday.
3) I rolled my eyes at a student's comment.
4) The amount of unending smart comments that rolled through my head all day were ridiculous.
5) I told a student we would look at a video he wanted to show me at another time knowing that I was hoping he would forget.
6) I handled classroom management without prayer or petition most of the time and took matters into my own hands. (this NEVER works out right)
7) I got frustrated with a house parent and took it out on my students.

These might seem minor to you. But they are the building blocks of something bigger. Some days my list is shorter. Some days my list is longer. It is not my goal to keep up with the length of the list. It is my goal to ask for forgiveness. To ask for a way to be more like Christ. To ask for guidance and strength. I strive to remember that He gives new mercies every day. And I am soooo thankful for that.