Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him [her].

(Matthew 14:31)
Jesus Walking on the Paper (Part II)
Ellen Gates, a third year first grade teacher at Scarborough Elementary in Freeport,
Texas attended a summer conference sponsored by a Christian educators group. During a
prolonged quiet time alone with Jesus at this conference, He personally spoke to her about
needing to take her eyes off the waves of required paperwork and to keep them on Him and to
hold his hand. (See devotional Jesus Walking on the Paper Part I.)
During this time alone with the Lord He gave her three objectives for the year.
1) Take my word to work. 2) Let it guide you. 3) Persevere because the children, parents
and staff need YOU! He gave Ellen a portion of a scripture to pray for herself throughout the school year from the book of
Matthew, Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him [her] He gave Ellen, not a scripture but a line from an old
gospel song to continually pray for the school, Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
After that summer conference, Ellen purchased a new Bible and brought it to school in order to fulfill the first objective
God had given her. She bought a New Living Translation Bible because the old King James Version her parents had always
insisted she use was difficult for her to understand. She bought an attractive colorful cover for her new Bible which reminded her
of Josephs coat of many colors which was her favorite story in the Bible. Her first two years in education reminded her in some
ways of Josephs time of being thrown in a hole and abandoned by his brothers.
Ellen kept this new Bible on her desk on top of her paperwork and beneath her open lesson plan book which she
referred to constantly throughout the day. The Bible of many colors reminded her that God had all her paperwork covered and
that her plans and career were founded on Gods word and calling, not school, district, state, or federal mandates and laws.
The Bible on top of the mass of papers on her desk reminded her of a floating buoy which shows boats the location of
the channel or deepest part of the river or bay. Every time she saw the Bible Ellen smiled and it reminded her of who was really
in charge of her, the classroom, school and her profession. It reminded her every day that God was in control.
At the Christian educators summer conference the presenter had shared the legality of teachers having personal Bibles
on their desks in public schools and encouraged educators to put personal meaningful photos and God mementos on their desk
as well so the Bible would be legally construed as a personal belonging instead of something required or endorsed by the district.
Ellen kept two small framed pictures on her desk, one of her family and the other of her class. She had purchased a small
wooden toy fishing boat with a sail on it at a flea market that she kept on her desk to remind her of her summer meeting with God.
She also found a ceramic right hand that she kept on her desk to remind her that Jesus was giving her a hand and that she was
to give students, parents, and staff a helping hand when they were drowning just as Jesus had helped her.
To fulfil the second objective God gave her, Ellen brought the journal that she had received at the summer conference to
school. In it was the personal message God had given her and her banner scripture and what she was to pray for her school
throughout the year. At random times throughout the first twelve weeks of school she would write letters to God and return letters
she believed He was speaking to her. The journal was being filled with praises as well as problems Ellen brought to God.
The first thing Ellen did when she entered her class each morning was to pray for herself and the school using what God
had given her at the summer conference. Then she opened the Bible and read one verse a day that she wrote in her journal and
tried to memorize and apply. The Lord led her to read the book of Ephesians that has approximately 150 verses. She learned it
was written by Paul to encourage the people of Ephesus while he was spending two years in prison. She realized if Paul could
thrive and encourage others while in prison, she could do the same while in education. Each single verse was like a super
vitamin pill that helped her become spiritually strong and focused, which is what she had lacked her first two years.
As she praised God for the many good things in education and first cast all her cares on Him when issues arose, she
found she had the third objective, perseverance, already covered. She found all the paperwork was getting done on time with
little anxiety compared to the previous two years. She discovered there is smooth sailing when she focused on Him. She learned
His yoke is truly easy and His burden light.
Ellen believed that if Jesus was going to give her a grade the first twelve weeks of the school year that it would be a B+
with the comments, Most improved student this grading period! Keep up the God work!
.

Prayer: Jesus, give us the courage to bring your word to work and to focus and spiritually stand upon it.
Reflection: Do I have a personal Bible to encourage me and help me focus at school? Why or why not?
Getting Real: Bring a personal Bible to school. Keep it on top of all your paperwork. Set your lesson plans on it. Feed upon it.
CLASSROOM LIGHTHOUSE SERIES: Love Ladders Love Matters (For info or prayer contact ceaihouston@sbcglobal.net.) WEEK 13

Photo Prayer by graur razvan ionut at freedigitalphotos.net