Overcomer

Teaching in the trenches ain’t for the weary, folks. Last week about took me out, but the Lord showed me some powerful truths while at church tonight, so this post is devoted to sharing some sermon notes I took down in an effort to be a help and encouragement to some of you who may be weary in the battle as well.

I say “battle” because that’s what we’re in these days- a battle to do what’s right and to stand for right even when others aren’t. For believers, we know our foundation and authority is based on the word of God, which is where our help is found. Sure enough, that blessed Book is what helped my heart tonight through the preaching the Lord laid on my pastor’s heart at Ingleside Baptist Church in Landrum, SC.

To give you a glimpse into my week, it started off pretty smooth. We didn’t go to school on Monday due to President’s Day, so I was able to sleep in which always makes for a good start at least. It wasn’t long before the littles started bickering and then plans to visit my Nana at her home were derailed due to them not taking their scheduled naps. I had guilt about not visiting her because Carlen had been sick with the flu the previous week, and I know she gets lonely in her house by herself. Joseph got home, and after deciding to eat at the Cracker Barrel, he nearly had a coronary when he got the bill. Eating out as a family of five isn’t conducive to staying in our budget, so we had a conversation about trying to cut back food costs if we want to meet our long-term goal of getting a pool. That conversation didn’t bother me the slightest; I love a good challenge and decided I was going to prep and cook to feed our family for the next week for less than $125. Joseph said it was impossible, but my Ingles receipt showed otherwise as the total came to $121. Yay! I have plans to share menus with my shopping lists and tips & tricks on social media for free just to help those who are also looking to cut costs, so stay tuned.

The next day, Carlen and I returned to school and it was just one thing after another getting back into the swing of things. Students were all over the place that day- even though they’d had a 4-day weekend due to a teacher workday on Friday and holiday on Monday, they were dysregulated, and behaviors were wild. My first block, for instance- one kid comes in tardy at least 20 mins. late most days, another has 504 accommodations due to ADHD and randomly blurts out and makes inappropriate noises among other things, 4-5 students regularly “need to” visit the restroom each morning and stay gone for 15 mins. or more just to return wondering what they missed, another has an IEP and is prone to sleep, one student is hardly ever at school due to suspensions so when he is present, he’s clueless, and at least 5 students will fail because they refuse to turn in work or make an effort. This is how I start my day every day.

On Wednesday we started getting snow flurries after lunch, so all activities after school were cancelled. Thursday was OK, but Friday…y’all, Friday was a doozy. I can’t go into too much detail on here out of respect for my students and their privacy but here’s the gist:

I had to take a student who had received what appeared to be a suicide note from a classmate to administration to report it. This was after I spent 15 mins. walking around trying to find someone just to find out they were all in a meeting, and then once the administrator stepped away from the meeting, I was made to feel like I had interrupted something important. I don’t do well when I feel like I’m being a burden to someone, but I knew I had to advocate for the student in crisis, and I was firm. That administrator later thanked me, but it was frustrating having to jump through hoops just to get assistance. This was all done while I had another class waiting on me.
Another student came to my room after DSS came to the school to question her about a sibling who had also written a suicide note. She was understandably upset and not in a good state to return to class which was what she was told to do, so she came to me during my planning period.
Parent contacts were made for three students that day. Every single one pushed back. One parent acted like I just made up a participation grade and wanted to know about every missing assignment even though she had indicated at the beginning of the year that she regularly checked Power School, our online grading platform. Another parent kept emailing me about his child’s behavior and grades even though I had scheduled tutoring for him and had been in contact the previous week to try to get him on track, but he never showed up. The other parent questioned my recap of an incident involving his child and another student. Wouldn’t you just know that his little darling had misconstrued what actually happened (even though I had reached out beforehand to avoid that very thing)?

There’s more that happened last week, but those 3 things on one day made me question my purpose and calling to the point that I came home and started looking for other employment opportunities online- a classic fight or flight response. Tonight, however, as soon as we were instructed to turn to the book of Ephesians, and I read the verse in Ch. 6 verse 13, the Lord spoke to me and told me to stay and press on which was later confirmed in the sermon.

"Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

We were then reminded that the devil is scheming now more than ever and trying to disrupt what the Lord is doing in our lives. It’s no accident that after the success of last week’s Hope Week and the positive feedback I had received from so many, that the enemy of my soul did his best to snatch all of it away and leave me defeated and feeling hopeless. Just like that- everything that I had worked so hard for seemed like it was crumbling around me.

On Friday when the student came to me sobbing about what was going on with her brother, I sat her down and talked to her a good bit about what we could control in that moment since so much seemingly felt out of control. I emailed her teacher letting him know that she was with me at the moment, I found her an adult coloring book stashed away in my closet so she could just color and try to calm down, I gave her a treat from my lunch tote since she hadn’t eaten, and I played worship music because I knew she was also a believer (I made sure to ask her permission, too). I share these things so you’ll know that while I may not have answers to the big questions in my role as a teacher in a public school, what I can do is meet my students where they are and try to create a safe space for them. However, I also recognized my role and place and that she needed help beyond what I could offer, so once she calmed down, I texted my principal asking him for help. Shortly thereafter, a counselor appeared who took her to an office and got her settled enough to go to lunch and finish out her day. One of the songs I chose to play while she was in my room was Overcomer by Mandisa which has always been my jam since I heard it more than a decade ago and is my go-to when I need to be reminded of some things such as:

Everybody's been down
Hit the bottom, hit the ground
Ooh, you're not alone
Just take a breath, don't forget
Hang on to His promises
He wants You to know

You're an overcomer
Stay in the fight ‘til the final round
You're not going under
‘Cause God is holding you right now
You might be down for a moment
Feeling like it's hopeless
That's when He reminds You
That you're an overcomer
You're an overcomer

We were reminded in tonight’s sermon that in order to overcome, we have to have on the full armor of God as outlined in Ephesians 6. For those of you not familiar with this passage, the armor of God is an illustration in the Bible that reminds Christians about the reality of spiritual battle and describes the protection available to them. Each piece of armor has a distinct purpose and means of defense against temptation and evil. In order to withstand against the powers of darkness and wiles of the devil, Christians must be armed and ready with the following:

Having our loins gird about with truth (God’s Word): Everything is rooted here.
Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace: We need to be ready to move close to God who is the One who provides a peace that passes all understanding and rids us from worries and anxieties.
Shield of faith: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).
Helmet of salvation: Our battles are largely fought in our minds. We must surrender our thoughts to God when they don’t line up with Scripture.
Sword of the Spirit: This is defined as the Word of God.

Our pastor then posed the question, “What is the missing piece of armor for the believer?” I looked over at Joseph and quickly whispered “the back” as it made sense that the devil shoots us from behind. However, I was wrong. The reason the back wasn’t addressed in this passage Paul wrote in reference to Roman soldiers as he made an application for Christians was because they weren’t ever expected to turn around and retreat which would have made their backs vulnerable to an enemy. They were prepared and expected to press forward until the victory was won.

To get the correct answer to his question about the missing piece of armor, we had to go back to the book of 1 Samuel in Ch. 17 which detailed the familiar story of David and Goliath. What Goliath had on as part of his armor included not only a helmet of brass and coat of mail, but also something referred to as “greaves of brass” which were basically like shin guards to protect his legs. Why didn’t Paul include these as part of his illustration in Ephesians? After all, if something happens to your legs, then your walk is naturally affected. The reason is this- Christians don’t need their shins protected when they’re on their knees in prayer.

All of our failures in life stem from our failure to pray.

The way to defeat the enemy and to get the victory is through prayer, friends. When we pray, we not only have direct access to God the Father through Jesus His Son and the Holy Spirit, but we have peace and assurance that God hears us and is actively working on our behalf even when we can’t see. We’re told to cast all our cares on Him, because He cares for us. He loves us and wants to hear from us- the little, the big…all of it.

Our lives are so busy with distractions and worries that keep us from pursuing Him. Let this be a reminder for us to go to our Heavenly Father and ask Him to help us. May our pride be subdued as we recognize we can’t do this- and by this I mean life- without our Saviour’s help and guidance. We aren’t meant to figure it out on our own as we rely on our own strength. We’re so weak, so HUMAN, so easily bothered, deterred, and defeated. We need to pray and rely on the Lord.

As you pray, please remember to pray for your child’s teachers, too. We’re not OK, but we will be if we can hold tight to these truths. With God’s help and your prayers, we’re gonna make it.

This is me at my desk punching the devil in the face. NOT TODAY, SATAN. NOT TODAY.