My Inspiration---Ezra!

II Chronicles 36 & Ezra 1

After reading chapter 1 in Ezra, I decided to go back and read the last chapter of the previous book, II Chronicles, in order to better understand what was happening in Ezra. I know just reading the last chapter of one book and the first chapter of another book can't possible allow me to understand everything that is going on, but it did make me think, pray, and seek God to understand His Word once again. What I have gathered so far is that God did everything to try and get his people to listen to him, to once again put their faith in him and follow his word, but they would not, they just continued on the path of ultimate destruction. You know the path, the one where you don't listen to the leading of the Lord and then everything just falls apart. King after king came and went in Jerusalem, but none stood for God and they all continued to do evil. The Word tells us that The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people,until there was no remedy (II Chronicles 36:15-16). Then came Cyrus, king of Persia. Cyrus' heart was stirred and he proclaimed that the house of God in Jerusalem would be restored. King Cyrus called upon all the people of God to come and help him fulfill this task of the Lord. His proclamation came directly from God and through it God was able to stir the hearts of others to join Cyrus.

So I have to wonder what time we are in right now. We all know that history repeats itself and I do wonder how close we are to being like those people who wouldn't listen to God. You see, it wasn't everyone who did not listen and believe, but it was the leaders who did not. We know that there were Godly people who seemed to be oppressed until Cyrus came on the scene. How many leaders do we have around the world who are listening to the perfect wisdom of our God? It can be very scary when we think about the answer to that question, but we have to look a little deeper. We have to look within ourselves and ask 'am I doing everything that God has called me to do?' We have to be seeking and receiving wisdom from God ourselves before we can share Godly wisdom with anyone. What if God has called us to be the change in this world? What if it is you? What if it is me? We can 't always just wonder, we have to seek Him with all that we have and if it turns out it is you or I then we will be ready when God asks us to go. Either way, everyday should be a day of preparation for the service of the Lord.


On a side note, I want to congratulate two wonderful friends, Zeb & Lacy, on the birth of their beautiful son, Ezra Ben. I was inspired to read the book of Ezra after meeting this little guy and I am so glad I did. Love you guys and I pray that your lives are filled with all the blessings that can only come from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
　

Accountability?

 I am so appalled at our ‘Government Shutdown’.  Really?  We can just shut things down when we can’t agree with each other?  We can shut things down because we don’t like how things are going?  Now I do not know everything there is to know about politics or running a government, but I do know a little bit about working hard even when things seem impossible.   

As a school administrator I do not always agree with all the other administrators in our district and I certainly do not always agree with the state and federal mandates that we have to comply with, however, I am accountable to 520 souls, that we call students, and whether I agree or not with others in education I cannot just shut down my school, nor would I want to.  As a public school we face requirements that are almost impossible to attain, yet we never give up, we never shut down, we keep going, we keep trying, we keep pushing and striving for something more.   

Government officials are also accountable, they are accountable to us, the citizens of this great country that put them in office, but unlike me and many, many others, they do not have to face the people they are accountable to every day.  They do not see the people that are unable to purchase much needed medication, or put off a procedure because of the cost, or struggle just to balance everything, they do not look into the eyes of those that do not receive one dime in government assistance, but work every day in order to make ends meet.  That is the difference between them and me---I see the faces of my students daily, I know their struggles, their successes, their hurts, and their joys.  I feel the pain of students when I have to tell them they will not receive their high school diploma because they missed passing the state test by one point, a test mandated by the government.  I look into the eyes of those I am accountable for and I want to make it better for them, I want them to be successful, I want to do everything in my power to provide them the best education possible because I know that education is the key to success and that knowledge is something that no one can ever take from them.  And now, I am finding myself having to explain to my students why our government has decided to ‘shutdown’---how do you explain that?  How do I tell students that you never quit, you always keep going even when things get difficult, when our government is demonstrating the opposite of what I am saying?  I show them by not giving up on them; I show them by working hard every day, not for me, but for them.  I want every student at my school to believe that if you work hard you can do anything you want, regardless of what the world, including our own government, shows them!

 

At times I have questioned if I am doing what I was called to do, today I realized I am.  Simply talking to 3 of my students today about their future reminded me of why I do what I do.  These moments make all the long days and nights worth it.  I will never get rich as a public school administrator, but that is not the reason I chose this profession, I chose it because I wanted to make a difference and I pray that I am doing that.  I pray that I can look into the eyes of my students’ everyday and they know that the eyes looking back at them comes from someone that cares for them and about them!