After completing my first week of teaching in the Adventist school context, there are several things that I have noticed which has changed about my life. First, I never thought of myself as a morning person, because I remember whenever I had to go to school or church as a kid, I always wished that I had more time to press the snooze button (or just tell my mom, "5 more minutes!"). But I noticed something different about me this week, in that I began sensing this feeling of anticipation towards waking up in the morning; spending time with Jesus, and making or getting breakfast before I have to get to work. This actually made me think a lot, because I was really curious as to what was creating such a positive change in me. Second, it's safe to say that years before I went to seminary, I had this desire to serve God through ministry, but particularly in the area of school chaplaincy. I was once told by a wise preacher named, Keith Gray, that school chaplaincy (he was talking about college) was analogous to the NBA draft. In other words, not a large percentage of pastors often get the opportunity to serve in that field of work. While it did cause me to think that my chances probably weren't high (as a young college student) to achieve that, it certainly became one of my goals. Because in my mind, if you choose to allow yourself to be consumed by one thing, eventually that which you desire will become reality. Thirdly, when I saw the title Chaplain under my name this past week, it made me realize that the One who prepares you for the work He has called you to, will open the right door at the right time for you to walk right through. In the process of becoming who I am today, I've become more aware of what I don't do, rather than what I do on this journey of being transformed in the likeness of Jesus. The One who prepares you for the work He has called you to, will open the right door at the right time for you to walk right through. Before I let you go, I'd like to share with you something that happened to me during our school's overnight Get-acquainted camping trip. It was only the second day of school and since there aren't a ton of students, we took everyone camping to start the school year on a positive note. I barely knew them since I was new, so this opportunity was gold to me. Throughout the course of the day, when spending time with the class who I am a sponsor of, and just letting the students see the side of me when I "put my hair down," I felt so many walls that would've taken weeks or months to break being broken in a matter of hours. The moment I became aware of that, it was as if God was trying to tell me that I needed to trust and rely on Him more throughout this new chapter in my life, because He was entrusting me with so much.
2 Comments
Tim Mitchell
8/30/2016 05:58:55 pm
Love the trasformation. It's like having a baby, isn't it?!
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Andy
8/31/2016 10:51:28 pm
Don't think I know what it's like to have baby, but if it's anything like teaching, then it must feel flippin' great! ;)
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AuthorAndrew S. Lee, MDiv Archives
June 2017
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