Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God's world by mistake!
It is 3:10 AM on an early Saturday morning in September. Please note, I said Saturday. Those of you who are my teacher friends know how sacred Saturday morning sleep is, especially in the beginning weeks of September! Yet I am in my recliner typing on my iPad.
That is because this is often where I find God. Not necessarily this physical location; rather right as I wake up from a dream.
This dream was a particularly bizarre dream involving taking a group of my high school peers, many of whom I haven't seen in 30 years, to Sunday morning church service back at the little K Street church I grew up in. The K Street Church of God Apostolic Faith. I was supposed to speak about the connection between Common Core State Standards research and God at this morning service with one of my dearest childhood friends, Shari, a classmate and a teacher.
All I could focus on was how much the church had changed! It was no longer a unassuming little white, wood framed building on the corner of K Street where you sat up straight in the pew beside your grandmother during the 2 hour sermon. It was a very large, very loud, concert- like atmosphere that spilled out the doors to the surrounding neighborhood.
In my dream, I was so preoccupied with how I was going to find God in the CCSS article I was presenting that I couldn't enjoy the circus atmosphere that ensued. Right after my classmates and I had filed in the front and found pews in the chaotic crowded atmosphere, I began listening to conversations around me. People were sipping coffee and talking about Life.
Then I began glancing around. Not only was my ex-husband and his new wife in the audience with his entire family, so were all my family, past and present, and childhood Sunday school friends. Some of my own children were there and grown but I was holding one of my boys, still a baby in this dream. Then of course, as I mentioned earlier, my high school peers from 30 years ago were "in the house".
It was at that moment the doors flew open and water balloons came flying in, breaking and baptizing all those people they landed near. I jumped up to peer out the door. What in the world was going on? Teenagers began running outside to join the Youth Pastor and his team in the water balloon battle. Several of my classmates ran out to join as well. What kind of crazy way was this to start the church service?
Wait!! What?? A dream about K street church, tons of people from my past, and a water balloon fight?? Yes, yes, this is the stuff of my dreams.
That is when the rock concert began and my childhood friend and I headed up to the stage to sing before our speech. My sister leapt up and was balancing on top of the front pew playing an electric guitar, my former classmates were going wild, microphones were shoved into our hands, and we were singing and dancing all over the stage!
OK, got the crazy picture in your head? Sometimes it scares me what I find in my brain at night. But that is another story for another day.
This morning, as in many other mornings, I found God in my dreams. As I stepped up on the raucous stage to speak about the article in , it all fell together like a puzzle in my mind. My purpose was not to share the content the article in my presentation, my purpose was to share how I find God embedded in everyday activities: to share how i find GOD in everyday life like reading, dreaming, conversations with co- workers and students i serve, Pinterest, Facebook. . . .
Facebook! That is it! That is where I "see" all of these people from my past on a daily basis! Not my ex- husband mind you. But occasionally news about his life pops up on one of our grown children's posts.
I no longer find God on Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, or Wednesday evenings in that little K street church, or for that matter, in any traditional physical church location at a designated time or service. I find God in everyday life.
-A Pinterest post with a newborn baby posed on top of a Bible with the scripture, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139: 13-14
PRECIOUS!! I re-pin it to my board in order to share the scripture with my Pinterest followers. I find God there.
-my Facebook "top story" thread where classmates and friends share life's joys and concerns; sometimes celebrating the birth of a new baby, a promotion a work, the marriage of their grown child. But sometimes referring to the loss they are experiencing through serious illnesses, a life-threatening battle with cancer, the loss of a spouse, child, co-worker, parent or friend. I offer a kind word or lift up a prayer for their family. I find God there.
- a conversation over lunch break at my instructional coach meeting when a colleague shares how they are struggling with their child going off to college, with their child's defiant teenage behavior, with a group of stressed co-workers, or the illness of their aging parent. I share hope that they will make it through and "this too shall pass" because I have experienced those moments in life too. I find God there.
- at the beauty shop when my hairdresser confides in me (and the rest of the shop) that she is about to throw in the towel on her marriage. I have "been there and done that". TWICE. I'm a slow learner and haven't always chose to listen to God. I can offer encouragement and suggest professional help. I find God there.
-in my office after a meeting when a teacher hangs back to talk about personal issues. I can offer a listening ear and use my cognitive coaching questioning skills to enable them to find possible solutions within themselves. I find God there.
-in my everyday check-in, check-out session with the 5th grader i am assigned to mentor. He is on a behavior plan and even though many days our session is brief - just enough time to add up his daily behavior points and visit with him about his choices that day. I find God there.
- in the patience and restraint I dig deep to find in a planning meeting with a group of disgruntled, overworked, stressed teachers. I find God there.
- in the research article I am reading about teacher autonomy and pedagogy. Certain words or phrases resonant with me as I pause to comprehend and reflect on past/ present life. I find God there.
- in a memory from my childhood education which began in my mother's lap reading or watching as she played the piano, in my backyard sandbox, in grandmother's kitchen and grandfather's garden. I find God there.
- in the common core curriculum when I take a step back and marvel at all that God has created. No! I do not believe that gotcreated the common core state standards or No Child Left Behind or Title 1 or the IDEA law. Rather, I marvel at all the people throughout history who devoted their lives to education and making our world a better place through education. either through research and writing, preparing future educators at the university level, legislation, parenting, educators who devote their careers to children from infancy to high school adolescence and everything in between, leading professional development, choosing to be in administration, inventing the latest educational app, etc. I find God there.
This is where I find God and where I have the opportunity to show God's love to others. I believe THAT is my purpose. The reason God knit me together in my mother's womb. To share the message that it doesn't matter where you find God in your everyday life; it just matters that you find him!
Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God's world by mistake!
