1 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:10,040 It captures my imagination around the future and the new 2 00:00:10,040 --> 00:00:12,840 heavens and the new earth that's going to be so different from 3 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:15,960 what I could ever envision in some really amazing ways. 4 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:22,000 There's also just this idea of that God has so much more for us 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:23,160 than what we're comfortable with. 6 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:28,960 Hey everyone and welcome back to the Grace Church Podcast. 7 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:32,040 I'm your host Whitney Manus here with my Co host Scott Mazingo. 8 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:33,480 Good morning, Scott. Hey, Whitney. 9 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:35,880 Good morning and happy summer. Happy summer. 10 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:39,280 We are well into the summer season at this point, which 11 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:43,040 means school is out of session and our teachers are getting a 12 00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:46,520 well deserved break. And one such teacher is our dear 13 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:49,800 friend Sarah Bailey who is joining us in the studio today. 14 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,760 Thanks for being here, Sarah. Hey, Whitney Scott, thanks for 15 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:53,600 having me. Hey, Sarah. 16 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:57,920 Hi, Scott. Once Upon a time we all got to 17 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:01,080 work together on staff when Sarah was our lead writer, but 18 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:04,280 she's recently returned to her first career of teaching. 19 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,440 So Sarah, will you give us just a little self intro and kind of 20 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:13,160 just remap your career path? Thus far, yeah, absolutely. 21 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:17,760 So I grew up in the Upstate, went to school here, went to 22 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,280 Southside Christian School, went to Bob Jones, and then got my 23 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:23,560 start in teaching at North Greenville University. 24 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:25,560 Taught some of our staff members along the way. 25 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:29,160 Hit hit me up for stories about like pain later. 26 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:33,720 There you go. And so I just discovered a love 27 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:36,120 for teaching. Was not the career path I had 28 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,080 planned on, but had amazing coworkers up there who really 29 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:45,840 developed me a love for the classroom and also, yeah, just a 30 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:47,880 great students, great relationships there. 31 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:49,880 What was your major in? In college English. 32 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:52,720 So I had. I thought I was going to be a 33 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,400 writer and write the next Great American novel, but apparently 34 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:57,480 that's really hard to do. You start off to that. 35 00:01:57,480 --> 00:01:59,120 There's still plenty of time. There's still time. 36 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:03,280 So yeah, watch out for that. And so then taught there for 37 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,400 over 10 years. And then when my husband and I 38 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,280 got married and had our first child, it was just time to take 39 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:12,520 a step back from that career. And that's when I came on staff 40 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:15,120 at Grace with some amazing Co workers. 41 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:17,680 Got hired during COVID. That was fun. 42 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,080 We both did. Remember the Zoom interviews? 43 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:23,320 That was that was a fun time. What a time. 44 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:25,200 Yeah. So that was great. 45 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:31,120 Did that for five years and then in the fall of 24, I just felt 46 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,280 the Lord calling me back. It was super clear. 47 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:36,800 Part of it was my oldest was entering kindergarten. 48 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:39,480 So we're back in kind of the world of school. 49 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:42,560 And part of it was just God speaking to me. 50 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:44,840 It was actually during, I don't know if you remember, we did the 51 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:48,920 series on Jonah and there was a huge emphasis in that series. 52 00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:51,880 Like if you feel like God's calling you to move, just go for 53 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,040 it. And I remember sitting there in 54 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:56,800 the worship service, I'm like, I think, I think this is it. 55 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:02,120 I think I need to go for it, talk to my husband and I knew 56 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:06,320 that God had called me to be in our local school system. 57 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:10,160 I can't even tell you, but that was just very clear to me that 58 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:13,960 that's where he wanted me to be, which was different than where I 59 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:18,000 had grown up in a very Christian School context. 60 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:21,720 And the pieces just fell into place and the Lord's very 61 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:24,960 gracious. And so I are we're in Sprint 62 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:27,760 work county. We live right kind of on that 63 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,960 Greer Spartanburg line. And so I have just finished my 64 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,760 first year teaching at Burns High School and it was great. 65 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,000 It was a great experience. Yeah, and we love to hear you 66 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:39,480 talk about that a little bit more. 67 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,000 Both of my parents have worked in public education for a 68 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,800 collective 60 years. So we've bonded over that and 69 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,080 very grateful for teachers. That's where I got my breakfast 70 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:52,960 going up. So, but before we get into that, 71 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,240 will you tell us just real quick which campus you're at and just 72 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,360 a little bit about your family, serving roles at church, all 73 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:00,480 that kind of stuff? Yes. 74 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:05,760 So we go to the Greer campus and my husband and I, Stewart, we 75 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,680 actually met at church. We were at Pelham for years and 76 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:13,440 then we physically moved to Lyman and so which is just 77 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:16,600 really close to downtown Greer. And so now we've been at Greer 78 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:18,839 for three years and we love it. It's been great. 79 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:25,160 We have two kids, 7:00 and 4:00, So we're in that really fun 80 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:29,680 season of parenting where it's just the high energy, but we've 81 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:31,760 we've really enjoyed it. I agree. 82 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:33,920 We've served in a few different capacities. 83 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:36,760 One of our passions is serving in divorce care. 84 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,800 We both had previous marriages and that was a huge ministry to 85 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:45,280 us at Grace Church. And so we've LED those care 86 00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:49,400 groups over the years. And right now though, we are 87 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:51,200 serving on the Connect team, which has been something a 88 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,000 little different and fun for us. And I'm also serving on our 89 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:59,120 Central Women's Ministry team, just helping, you know, plan 90 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,600 studies and events. And that has been really neat 91 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:04,600 for me. I hadn't done that before and 92 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:08,400 have really just enjoyed getting to know the women at Greer and 93 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:12,360 be able to serve them in that way and yeah, it's been great. 94 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:15,920 Yeah, that's awesome. Can you put a little flesh on 95 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:20,280 this idea of calling? Like when you're sitting and 96 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:25,840 you're listening to teaching and you feel like God is speaking to 97 00:05:25,840 --> 00:05:30,120 you right through his word, Like is that, you know, conviction, 98 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:35,200 conscious prayer thoughts, Like how Like, how are you processing 99 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:37,600 this idea of calling? What does that? 100 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:39,520 Do you hear a voice out of the ceiling? 101 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:44,240 I wish it were that easy. I it's very hard to explain 102 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:49,400 other than it is just a sticky thought that takes root. 103 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:52,840 Not, you know, sometimes you have a thought that's fleeting 104 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:57,000 and it goes. But for me, it was something 105 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:01,120 that just was sticky and latched on over the course of weeks. 106 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:06,560 And when you pray about it and you're in the word and it just 107 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:12,400 feels like, and it's not a feelings based decision there. 108 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,080 And I know sometimes it's very hard for us to distinguish 109 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:19,080 between my feelings versus the prompting of the Spirit. 110 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:21,040 Yeah, exactly. And that I think is where we 111 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:23,320 lean into scripture and into community. 112 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:27,320 And that was something I did. I it was a decision that I 113 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,800 talked about with my spouse, obviously, and to make sure that 114 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:34,560 we were aligned on that. And even our community group at 115 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:39,320 the time we were in a I believe I re engaged great, but it 116 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:45,840 functioned as our our group of people and just processing that 117 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:49,000 in community. And as I was reading the words 118 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:55,960 as we were studying Jonah and it was calling is a strong word, is 119 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:57,960 a ministry related word for a lot of people. 120 00:06:57,960 --> 00:06:59,680 But for me it was just obedience. 121 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,960 I think this is what God wants me to do and I'm going to take a 122 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:06,720 step in that direction. And it was very simple. 123 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:09,760 Yeah, no, thank you for that 'cause I just want it. 124 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:11,680 It doesn't need to be a ministry related work. 125 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:16,080 I think that there's a sense of stewardship around that. 126 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:20,360 So meaning, who am I? How has God created me? 127 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:22,480 What are my gifts? What are my experience? 128 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:26,040 What kind of yearning, what kind of longing do I have right now? 129 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,760 But but I like the way you say it was it was sticky and it took 130 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:32,520 root. And so if something takes root, 131 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:33,960 if it's healthy, it begins to grow. 132 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,360 And so I'm assuming that through these conversations, the idea 133 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:41,040 just grows. And what I what I think about is 134 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:47,920 if I let something grow versus try to control it, then that's 135 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:51,360 when I can feel assured that maybe God's the 1 causing, you 136 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:54,400 know, the growth and that. So that's great. 137 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:56,800 Yeah. So this this lands you, this 138 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:01,800 calling kind of lands you in a sophomore high school English 139 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:03,240 class. Is that is that where we were 140 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:03,520 at? Now it? 141 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:04,520 Did it? Did. 142 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:06,520 Yeah, yeah. So tell us a little bit more 143 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:11,080 about about that life. So it was going from teaching. 144 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:14,800 So at North Greenville I taught freshman composition and to then 145 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:19,480 teaching in Spartanburg County, which is a really diverse mix of 146 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:23,640 students, 10th grade English. It was an adjustment and 147 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:27,440 something I kind of fought against this a little bit 148 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:32,280 because I was going from a very comfortable place where 149 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:34,840 everything was very predictable and I knew what to expect and I 150 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:40,440 felt very competent to a place where I was not competent and I 151 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:45,640 was insecure and I had to ask for help a lot and I did not 152 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,280 feel confident. It was unpredictable. 15 year 153 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:52,760 olds are unpredictable and but there was so much joy in that 154 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:56,840 and I knew that the Lord was going to use it to humble me and 155 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:00,200 He did for sure. But there are so many good 156 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,400 things about it. I'll talk about kind of 157 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:04,840 challenges and joys and amazingly they go together. 158 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,880 One of the big challenges that I did not experience before my 159 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:14,320 teaching career was having a wide array of ability in one 160 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:18,560 classroom. So in the same classroom, I 161 00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:22,360 could have a student who is very advanced, probably could have 162 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,160 been in an honors class but just chose not to. 163 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:28,800 And on the other hand, I have a student who has only spoken 164 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,040 English for a few years and is still learning the language and 165 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,720 intelligent, capable, but has that limitation. 166 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:40,520 You can also have a student with a learning disability that you 167 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:44,880 need to accommodate for. So just having to deal with this 168 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:51,000 wide array of ability and try to help each student when you have 169 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:54,440 25 in a room can be really challenging. 170 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:58,200 And it that was a huge learning curve for me to help all of them 171 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:01,880 and to also have like, a cohesive curriculum and learning 172 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:02,960 experience for everyone. Yeah. 173 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:04,360 And how many classes are you teaching? 174 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:08,480 So we're on a block schedule so I have three classes so not an 175 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,680 overwhelming at about 75 students the same prep for. 176 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:14,200 Each. Yeah, which that was a blessing 177 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:14,440 for. Me. 178 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:16,840 Not every teacher. Gets that, but I got the same 179 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:20,840 prep, so that was awesome. So that was hard, but one of my 180 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:23,680 favorite things. And as I mentioned before, I 181 00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:29,120 grew up in a very kind of sheltered, white, homogeneous 182 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:36,280 context, very Christian. And our context at Burns is so 183 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:39,400 diverse. I could have four to five 184 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:44,080 different languages in the room. We have a Hispanic immigrant 185 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:47,440 population, students from Colombia and Venezuela and Cuba 186 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:51,800 and so many different places. We also have a big influx of 187 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:58,080 Russian and Ukrainian students. And it was such a joy for me to 188 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:02,160 learn about their cultures. And because 15 year olds have no 189 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:05,920 filter, they ask each other all these crazy questions. 190 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:10,320 So, you know, like a 15 year old rural kids sitting there, you 191 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,400 know, wearing his Carhartt is going to ask the Ukrainian kids. 192 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:14,880 So like, wait, why did you move here? 193 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:17,560 Did you flee the war? And you know, questions that 194 00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:20,520 adults would not be comfortable to ask because we have some 195 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,520 decorum and some tact, but the 15 year old does not feel that. 196 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:29,200 And so I got to overhear so many just stories and where these 197 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:31,520 kids are from and the challenges they faced. 198 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:35,720 And to me, that was such a work that the Lord did in my heart to 199 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:41,000 open my eyes to people who are different from me, who come from 200 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:43,720 a different context. And there was such value in 201 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:48,040 that. And I think it strips away my 202 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:54,160 comfort and my often self-righteous view of how I 203 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:58,080 think the world should be. And even if it is has this kind 204 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:01,080 of Christian veneer on it, I think this is how things should 205 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:03,760 be. But you, you may not know the 206 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:07,320 whole story. And so there was, it really 207 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:11,120 sparked more and more curiosity in me about all of my students. 208 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:15,240 And so that was just such a joy to learn from that and to see it 209 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:17,440 play out in my classroom, that kind of diversity and. 210 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:21,920 Would you have the opportunity just have a lots of individual 211 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:23,280 conversations with your students? 212 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:25,920 Yeah, sometimes the language barrier was hard. 213 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:27,880 You know, we're sitting there on Google Translate. 214 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:32,640 Really, you're in, you're in the English classroom in Spartanburg 215 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:34,120 County and you're using Google Translation. 216 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:39,000 Absolutely, absolutely. And but you know, they learned 217 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:42,560 so fast. So we, we did have lots of good 218 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:45,600 conversations. And, you know, sometimes it's 219 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:48,880 around silly stuff like tell me about the music you like and 220 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:51,320 tell me about, you know, the sports. 221 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:54,240 You, you know, I learned a lot about soccer that I didn't know 222 00:12:54,240 --> 00:13:00,800 before and things like that. What are you thinking related to 223 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:03,040 like God thoughts during this time? 224 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:08,280 Like you're going in and you're seeing this diversity, you're 225 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:13,320 seeing really image bearers, right, that look very different 226 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:15,600 than what you're used to and look very different from one 227 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:18,160 another. How do you connect that to your 228 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:20,440 faith? That's a great question. 229 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:26,200 It captures my imagination around the future and the new 230 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:28,960 heavens and the new earth that's going to be so different from 231 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:32,160 what I could ever envision in some really amazing ways. 232 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:36,680 And so there's that. There's also just this idea of 233 00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:40,760 that God has so much more for us than what we're comfortable 234 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,800 with. And there is value in me 235 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:47,640 learning from other people, even if the conversation is not about 236 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:50,600 God. And I do have the opportunity as 237 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:52,880 a teacher, yes, in the public school system. 238 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:54,880 I can't stand up there and preach the gospel. 239 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:58,000 I've some limitations, but I'll, I'll tell you a little story. 240 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:04,200 So English too, has a state testing exam called the end of 241 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:06,880 course exam. So if you have kids in high 242 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:08,840 school, you know what this is and that it's a big deal and 243 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:12,040 it's a 20% of your grade. And there's a lot of pressure 244 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:15,160 because your school's rating depends on the EOC and there's 245 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,760 all this stuff. But when we kind of enter our 246 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:24,000 final, you know, test prep coming up to that, I have family 247 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:28,160 meeting with them and I look at all of their eyeballs and I tell 248 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,360 them, I want you to know that you are a valuable human being 249 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:32,960 apart from any test score you make. 250 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:35,680 And you can see in their eyes, some of them have never heard 251 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:37,800 that before. They have never had a teacher 252 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,360 look at them and say, I care about you apart from your test 253 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,440 scores. And you have value because of 254 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:45,840 who you are. I'm about to make Whitney cry, 255 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:48,320 because you are. Say you're you're. 256 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:52,320 I mean, that's a gospel truth. It is and so you there are ways 257 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:57,600 to embed truths about humanity with them without an explicit 258 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:00,440 teaching of a gospel. And that creates a safe space in 259 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:03,880 your classroom and it creates a space where some of these kids 260 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:08,800 who may not have another safe adult in their lives will come. 261 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,320 And I would, I saw the evidence of that, that they would, they 262 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,520 would come by before school or they would come by after school 263 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:18,160 just to, you know, say hey, or whatever. 264 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:20,680 So. And it, it does make me 265 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:22,960 emotional. I've just gotten the opportunity 266 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:26,640 to serve in different schools over the past few years and I 267 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:29,200 have sat and done the same thing with my students. 268 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:33,360 And it really, especially as they get closer to high school 269 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:40,040 and get closer to the end, they lose motivation if they lose 270 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:44,840 self-confidence. And so if they've just struggled 271 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:48,320 at some point in a certain subject or, you know, if they 272 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,760 are trying to learn a second language and then trying to do 273 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,680 all of these things, the lies are just so loud. 274 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:57,200 They're like, I'm just, and I've had kids look at me like I'm 275 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,000 just stupid or I just can't do this. 276 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:03,320 And I think especially in our culture, we do elevate the grade 277 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:07,120 so high and it is such an important reminder for all of 278 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:09,480 us. And this even does connect on a 279 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:13,640 faith level that, hey, the grade is not the point. 280 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:16,520 Like if we take that into our personal relationship with 281 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:20,240 Christ, we get so focused on am I doing the right things? 282 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:23,520 Am I obeying? And am I reading my Bible 283 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:25,600 correctly and are my prayers right? 284 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,400 And is my language right? And the grade is not the point. 285 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:33,200 The question is like, are you learning and are you growing and 286 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:37,680 your identity is not tied to your performance and this one 287 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:42,160 letter, that's not who you are. You're valuable because someone 288 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:44,680 else has looked at you and said that you are valuable and you're 289 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:47,400 important. And so you are really reflecting 290 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,840 Christ for them in that moment. And even though they don't know 291 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:54,000 it, even though they they have no context for maybe the gospel 292 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,080 or God, but like you are seeing them the way that the Father 293 00:16:57,080 --> 00:16:59,840 sees them. And that's so powerful. 294 00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:02,000 So I'll spend the next 30 minutes talking about that. 295 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:04,680 But. So when you're, you're getting 296 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:09,000 ready, getting dressed, getting in the car, driving to work, I 297 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:11,560 mean, not easy, not easy labor, right? 298 00:17:12,079 --> 00:17:14,599 And we can come back to some of the challenges here in just a 299 00:17:14,599 --> 00:17:17,119 second. But what is your, what is your 300 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:18,920 prayer? What is your mindset? 301 00:17:19,079 --> 00:17:23,599 What type of scriptures are are motivating you for this this 302 00:17:23,599 --> 00:17:25,440 Kingdom work that you're going into every day? 303 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:30,200 So kind of my passage for the year that I really latched onto 304 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:34,280 in August is from James One about asking for wisdom. 305 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:37,480 Because anyone listening to this, if you've ever been a 306 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:40,200 teacher, you know, a teacher has to make 100 decisions in a day. 307 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:44,440 And it could be as simple as, you know, this kids asking for a 308 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:46,440 second bathroom pass. Does he really need to go to the 309 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:48,040 bathroom or is he just trying to get out of class? 310 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:51,360 It could just be something little and minute, but you 311 00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:56,240 stack, you know, fifty of those on top of each other, then it it 312 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:59,840 is exhausting and then you have weightier decisions you're 313 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:05,440 making. And so I just really tried to 314 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:10,120 connect my soul to the idea that the source of wisdom is God. 315 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:13,600 I am tend to be very self-sufficient. 316 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:19,200 I am prone that way. I am prone to be everyone, to 317 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:22,800 view me as someone who is competent and able. 318 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:29,080 And so if I can get my first thought to be around, wisdom 319 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,520 comes from God. It does not come from within me. 320 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:35,440 It comes from without. And even, as you know, 321 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:37,800 especially those first days of school, I would try to walk 322 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:41,360 around my class, my classroom and pray, pray over desks. 323 00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:43,000 And God give me wisdom with this child. 324 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:44,760 God give me wisdom with this child. 325 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:47,640 What? What do they need that I can 326 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:52,400 provide that will point them to you, whether it's a safe place 327 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,480 or just teaching them to be a critical thinker, teaching them 328 00:18:55,480 --> 00:19:00,320 to communicate better, all those things that English teachers do. 329 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:05,600 So, yeah, I think just this idea, and God is generous and he 330 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:08,160 gives it. He's not a stingy source. 331 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:11,240 He's a generous source of wisdom, as it says in James. 332 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:15,640 And also the other part of that passage that the idea of 333 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:21,160 listening before we speak, that was a big one for me because in 334 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:26,320 those decisions, it's very easy to make a snap judgement, no, 335 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:28,400 this is what we're doing. No, you can't do that. 336 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:32,400 Instead of saying, well, tell me why, Tell me more, tell me more 337 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:35,600 about that request, Tell me what's going on and try to 338 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:38,680 listen and understand a full story before you make a 339 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:40,640 decision. So. 340 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:43,800 And most of us are making, I mean, a lot of decisions in a 341 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,840 day. But for a teacher, I mean, it is 342 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:49,920 thousands and, you know, and then you go home and you do it 343 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:53,400 with your kids too, you know, And so I imagine it's easy to 344 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:56,040 get burned out on a lot of that. But yeah, to. 345 00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,680 Listening to this and you're just thinking what, what should 346 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:02,600 I be reading this summer? I mean, I think James is a great 347 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:05,640 is a great read. I think James chapter one, I'll 348 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,520 save you a larger commentary, but I'm so glad you brought that 349 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:10,000 up. It's just something that went 350 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:14,000 and I've been discussing recently because I like what you 351 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,960 said about, you know, wisdom is in God. 352 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:21,120 But then in verse 6, verse 5 says if you need wisdom, ask our 353 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:24,560 generous God. But six when you ask him, be 354 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:26,840 sure that your faith is in him alone. 355 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:32,040 And I think we treat God as an add on or we, we got a guy when 356 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:35,680 we're not quite sure. He's either like a, a, a second 357 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:39,520 check, a safety or we're like, well, I don't really know what 358 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:40,880 to do here. This is bigger than me. 359 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:43,960 So I need you. And, and really James one talks 360 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:46,200 about that. It's it's, he calls that divided 361 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:48,240 loyalty. He says you're a very unsettled 362 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:52,400 soul if you do that. And, and basically that, that 363 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:54,800 God's not in that, you know, because you're divided and 364 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:58,800 you're unstable, unsettled. And so I think people here, 365 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:01,600 yeah, I mean, God is wisdom. He's an additional source of 366 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,360 wisdom. It's like, no, go back and read 367 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:06,880 verse 6 when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God 368 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,640 alone. That's that's the hard part. 369 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,080 It is that's that's interesting that you bring that up because 370 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:17,000 so Stuart and I have been doing reading through scripture this 371 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:21,760 year at Greer and it's been great it to reading the Old and 372 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:25,360 the New Testament at the same time in the large volume kind of 373 00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:28,760 daunting, but something especially in the Old Testament 374 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:30,840 stories. Genesis is my favorite book. 375 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:35,120 But reading them again, reading through Genesis and Exodus and 376 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:39,120 all, you know, the kings and such, so much scripture in such 377 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:42,800 a short time. This idea that God wants all of 378 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,920 you. He is not satisfied to be an add 379 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,200 on, as you said. And that I think connects with 380 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:53,120 this idea of you are all in with him. 381 00:21:53,120 --> 00:21:57,920 And he has a way of peeling back those layers with all those Old 382 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:00,840 Testament characters of like, yes, you said you're with me. 383 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:02,880 You said you're faithful, but what about this? 384 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:05,520 But what about this part of your life? 385 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,400 And that's something God's really been convicting me with 386 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:13,560 is, you know, am I viewing church and God and Christianity 387 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:16,400 is just kind of this separate compartmentalized thing? 388 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:21,280 Or is it something that I am fully hinging everything on 389 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,480 that? So which and you know, we all 390 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:26,400 know you live long enough and hard things happen and you find 391 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:28,840 out am I really committed or am I not? 392 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:32,600 And I think for me, I mean, it's so easy to like ask for wisdom. 393 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:35,880 And I think the other, the thing that I'm really rooted in is 394 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:37,440 just myself. I'm like, I'm going to ask for 395 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:39,480 wisdom and then I'm going to show up and do whatever I wanted 396 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:39,960 to do. I'm going. 397 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,480 To run it by my logic, filter here for a minute, Yeah. 398 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:44,920 Does this make sense? And then if mine doesn't work, 399 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,440 then God's kind of my backup. And, and that's great. 400 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:49,040 But I love the way that you're talking about like that. 401 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:52,000 You're creating space for prayer and you're creating space to 402 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:54,880 listen and to receive in your mornings. 403 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:57,920 And like God, would you, would you speak to me before I have a 404 00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:01,440 chance to speak to myself, you know, and let your, your wisdom 405 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,000 supersede me. Yeah, and don't get the 406 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,200 Sometimes it is a prayer of desperation before the bell 407 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,120 rings. It is not always a deep long. 408 00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:11,920 Sometimes it's every desk and then sometimes it's like the 409 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:13,480 whole room. Take it all in once. 410 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:17,960 Yes, yes. So this idea I this idea of the 411 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:20,920 new heavens and new earth being like your 10th grade classroom, 412 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:23,560 I think that's very fascinating. Let's go back to that. 413 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:24,800 Yeah. Tell us a little bit more. 414 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,560 Just just kind of walk us through some of the daily 415 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:31,520 challenges. I know that we have listeners 416 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:34,760 that may have young kids, they're their kids may be long 417 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:38,320 out of high school, but like just give us a little sense of 418 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,880 empathy and compassion for our our teenagers. 419 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:47,480 So here is the amazing thing about 15 year olds is they are 420 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:49,800 starting to grapple with some of the big. 421 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,960 Hard. Truths in life in a very raw and 422 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,960 unfiltered way. So you get all their full 423 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:59,840 thoughts and they're very confident that they have amazing 424 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:01,720 solutions to all the the problems. 425 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:05,840 So one of my favorite units to teach is we do an argument unit 426 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,480 towards the end of the year. 15 year olds love to argue and we 427 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:13,080 talk a lot about research and evidence and how you make a good 428 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:19,360 argument and they get so invested in their topic. 429 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:24,440 And again, one of the things I love about a high school 430 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:29,360 classroom is the energy of it. You sit with a group of adults 431 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:33,160 on a Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM, ain't much energy. 432 00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:36,320 But if you're in a high school classroom at 2:00 PM on a 433 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:38,200 Friday, there's a lot. Yes. 434 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:42,880 And if you can channel that into them thinking about big ideas 435 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,720 and like, well, what is the solution to some of the big 436 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:50,280 problems of like war and poverty? 437 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:54,800 Like, how do we fix, you know, people are dying of starvation 438 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,040 in this other country? What what's the solution? 439 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:00,280 We have lots of food here. Look at our, you know what I'm 440 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:03,200 saying? And they will, they care. 441 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:05,520 They do, they want to figure it out. 442 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:07,840 They want to show that all the adults that are in charge are 443 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:11,240 doing a terrible job and they have much better ideas. 444 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:13,880 And so I love that. I love that journey. 445 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:15,520 And then they say I rage bait them. 446 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:18,040 But to play devil's advocate and be like, what about this? 447 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:19,560 What about this? Have you thought about this? 448 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,800 And they're like, you know, Miss Bailey, and they get frustrated. 449 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:27,080 But just showing them there's not always a simple solution to 450 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:29,040 things. Rage baiting Bailey. 451 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:31,560 I know. Well, you get a quick definition 452 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,360 just for anyone who's not familiar with rage baiting. 453 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:36,200 Just making someone mad on purpose. 454 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:38,120 They do. They do that to me all. 455 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:41,040 The time, Yeah, Yeah. I've learned a whole new 456 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:44,000 language this semester as well. That's another episode. 457 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:47,520 When you said, I think you said this offline, but you said that 458 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:51,000 they're just compelling humans. Tell us a little bit more about 459 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,120 what does compelling humans look like in the 10th grade 460 00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:59,280 classroom. So they are 15 year olds, 461 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:04,520 they're opportunity seekers and they want to have fun. 462 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:10,080 They want to explore new things, new ideas. 463 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:13,880 And there's just joy in that. Like, you know, if we have a 464 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:17,440 little time at the end of class, they're like, let's play a game. 465 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:19,960 Or if they want to play hacky sack, y'all, hacky sack is bad, 466 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:23,600 is bad from the 90s in social. I'm like. 467 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:24,920 Your phone in touch grass, you know. 468 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:26,480 Yes. So I'm like, yeah, go for it, 469 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:28,480 you know, move the dust around and play hacky sack. 470 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:29,880 We got 10 minutes at the end of class. 471 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:35,040 And again, that is something that just is not true of the 472 00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:38,680 adult world. No one is looking to have 10 473 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:43,400 minutes of joy just in each other's company or just silly 474 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:46,400 things that, you know, like, oh, listen to this song. 475 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:48,440 Oh, have you heard this one? And listen to each other. 476 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:49,920 'S music, so they don't just want to sit on their. 477 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:50,960 Phones. No, they don't. 478 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:53,600 OK, sometimes they do. I mean, they would prefer that 479 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:56,680 to doing their homework, but they don't. 480 00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:58,200 Just they want to enjoy each other. 481 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:00,440 Yeah, that's great. I love that and that that idea 482 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:03,480 of enjoyment, enjoyment one another, creativity, all that. 483 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:06,240 That's awesome. I would love for you to talk 484 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:12,480 just a little bit to, I mean, you are a working mom and just, 485 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:15,200 yeah, what has that been like? Just as your, I mean, that's a 486 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:17,720 lot of responsibility. You've got kids at work, you've 487 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:19,480 got kids at home. What does that kind of look 488 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:21,240 like? And what has God taught you just 489 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:23,400 as you're trying to steward all of that well? 490 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:28,480 So that is a really challenging thing and I knew that was 491 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,080 another taking this job. I knew it would be a lot more 492 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,280 demanding than when I was on staff at Grace. 493 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,880 I worked fewer hours. I have flexibility, I could work 494 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:44,160 from home and I knew I was going to miss those comforts that also 495 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:46,480 benefited my children, my biological children. 496 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:53,800 And there are also there are days when I come home and I am 497 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,760 wiped. And it does impact my biological 498 00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:01,320 children. And I have had to learn to just 499 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:05,760 give that to the Lord of part of my serving in this season. 500 00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:11,800 Part of my work for him in this season goes beyond my immediate 501 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:15,200 family. And I think that's OK. 502 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:19,880 I think the Bible is really clear that God calls us to 503 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:24,360 deplete ourselves for others, not just for the people you care 504 00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:26,960 about. And I do, you know, obviously 505 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:29,320 it's it's working great for our family in other ways. 506 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:30,800 Like when there were snow days, guess what? 507 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:32,800 I was off on the same day as my kids were right? 508 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:36,560 And that was amazing. But it's very easy, I think, for 509 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:40,080 moms to feel guilty when they are depleted at work or just 510 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:47,000 because they have to work. But I think that being always 511 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:51,320 there for your kids is not the highest thing to seek for as a 512 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:53,120 parent. I think the highest thing to 513 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:55,200 seek for as a parent is to show them the gospel. 514 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:59,000 And part of me illustrating the gospel for my children is 515 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,880 showing them that I'm willing to sacrifice myself for the good of 516 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:07,040 someone else. And and I try to be open with 517 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:09,840 them in an age appropriate way. They're young. 518 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:12,680 But my, you know, my son, he's in, he just finished first 519 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:13,600 grade. He knows. 520 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:16,200 And we have talked sometimes about like, Hey, is your 521 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:20,280 teacher, how was she today? Does she seem tired and you 522 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:23,320 know, and things like that. And it's, it's open the door for 523 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:28,120 some great conversations for and even, you know, tell me about 524 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:30,040 your friends who don't speak English in your class. 525 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,160 And I have a little more knowledge of what he's he's 526 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:39,520 experiencing in his school. So it has been a lesson for my 527 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:45,880 heart and just releasing them to the Lord in a way that and not 528 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,440 caring guilt for my lacking, which at the end of the day is 529 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:50,800 pride. Yeah. 530 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,320 So no, I think that's helpful. And we're certainly not going to 531 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:57,400 like the parenting is not more important than the work and the 532 00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:59,240 work is not more important than the parenting. 533 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:01,440 And there's sacrifice on both sides. 534 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:04,000 Like sometimes your students get a little bit less for your kids 535 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:05,920 and. Well, and I think it goes back 536 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:08,440 to this idea of calling, you know, which is where, where I 537 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:12,840 wanted to, to, to start just because I think that that can 538 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:16,840 become a spiritualized word that never gets defined and never 539 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:20,680 gets challenged. But I think to, to break it down 540 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:23,920 into, you know, what is, what does it look like to be a good 541 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:27,680 steward of my life, of my season, of my experience, of my 542 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:32,040 skills? What does it look like to have 543 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:34,920 constant evaluation and conversation with God around 544 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:39,720 these things and others? And you mentioned earlier that 545 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:44,080 changing careers now is not the stigma that it used to be. 546 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:48,600 So we've got people coming in and out of work, seasons of 547 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:51,600 different careers. And I feel like all of that is 548 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:53,240 just that healthy. If it's done well. 549 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:57,960 It's a healthy wrestling with what does it look like to be a 550 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:02,360 Kingdom maker, you know? And we were, you know, I'm going 551 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:04,360 back to that new heavens and new earth idea, 'cause I'm 552 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:06,360 captivated by that. I thought about that. 553 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:11,760 But just like on earth as it is in heaven, right And so yes, 554 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:16,960 physical family, but spiritual family and those that are far 555 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:19,240 from him that are being brought into the Kingdom when it what 556 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,680 does it look like to do that. And I think that if any of these 557 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:31,040 thoughts from just a an average, you know, Lyman family career 558 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:35,680 tender going into the public school system just stimulate 559 00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:39,400 some thoughts for you, then we will have use this time wisely 560 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:41,520 hope. So yeah, thank God. 561 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:44,680 God needs all those callings and that's why he gives them. 562 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:47,280 You know, that's cool. Well, as we kind of wrap up, I 563 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:51,760 mean, I would just love to hear like kind of practically just 564 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,480 let's talk about some books. It is the summer. 565 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:57,600 So we've given you guys some book wrecks in the past as you 566 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:00,560 have a little bit more time to do some fun reading. 567 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:04,040 And I mean, there is no better source than a teacher who is 568 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:07,400 giving great book Rex to her students all the time. 569 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:09,520 So you've got some books here next to you. 570 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:12,360 Will you just tell us a little bit about those and any more 571 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:14,920 insight into your class and some of your favorite units and 572 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:17,080 things you get to teach? OK, so the. 573 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:19,760 Books I bought as recommendations are not ones 574 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:25,080 that I would teach in the classroom per SE, but so these 575 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:26,360 are books that I just thought of. 576 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:29,440 Like what are my top three books over the past couple years that 577 00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:34,080 I've really enjoyed and have just really compelling stories 578 00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:38,360 and stories. And so the first one is called 579 00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:43,720 Ordinary Grace by William Kent Kruger and it is a coming of age 580 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:47,160 story. Think To Kill a Mockingbird, but 581 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:51,880 it is in set in Minnesota in 1960 and it is told from the 582 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:56,720 story of a 13 year old boy who is a preacher's son and all 583 00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:58,840 kinds of drama happens in this small town. 584 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:02,440 All right, it's a little bit of a murder mystery, but it's just 585 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:05,760 really beautifully written. And it is, again, kind of that 586 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:13,200 idea of what does it mean for a young boy to grow into manhood? 587 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:19,840 And he's wrestling with the issues of the age of the 60s, 588 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:23,200 issues of race issues, you know, things that were going on. 589 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:25,440 And it's just really, well, it's very thought provoking. 590 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,840 And because he is a preacher's son, there is some really 591 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:33,040 interesting truths in there about God and how he perceives 592 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:35,880 God. And he talks about the awful 593 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:37,800 grace of God. It's really fascinating. 594 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:40,240 And just to be clear, I think you're using coming of age a 595 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:42,680 little different than some language. 596 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:46,440 Like if a Broadway show talks about coming of age, then 597 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:48,720 there's typically a ton of sexuality and that kind. 598 00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:50,600 Of stuff, yes, yes, this is a little different. 599 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:52,800 Again, think Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird. 600 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:55,040 Got it. You know, like, yes, growing up 601 00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:59,320 into adulthood. Like Scout is being exposed to 602 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:01,440 kind of some more difficult areas. 603 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:03,160 It's kind of where your students are, too. 604 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:05,040 Like you were saying, like they're starting to think about 605 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,960 big ideas for the first time. And like you know, what do I do 606 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:09,320 with all that? Yeah, if you're going to the 607 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:12,880 Peace Center and it says it's a coming of age story, this is not 608 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:14,320 to kill them. That's not what they're. 609 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:17,440 Talking about OK in the literary sense. 610 00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:22,120 In literary sense, another one, and this is it's either your cup 611 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:25,360 of tea or it's not. So this is a Greek mythology. 612 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:29,960 It's called Circe, Circe by Madeline Miller, and it tells 613 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:36,000 the story of AI. Don't even know how to describe 614 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,840 her. The protagonist was born of the 615 00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:43,400 gods, but she is not quite like them and she's not accepted by 616 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:48,000 them. And it basically tells her 617 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:49,520 story. And of course, because it's 618 00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:53,440 mythology and it's, you know, like the they live immortally. 619 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:58,320 So it spans eons and centuries and how she actually becomes 620 00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:02,680 captivated by humans and she. Like a Little Mermaid, a little. 621 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:06,080 Bit falls in love with what it means to be human even though 622 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:11,360 they are weak and powerless and fragile all those things. 623 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:15,600 It's really fascinating. So I will, you know, PSA, it's 624 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:18,640 Greek mythology, so there's some racy parts in it, but. 625 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:21,760 Circe, Circe by I. Always say it's Circe. 626 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:22,840 Circe, thank you. Yeah. 627 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:27,040 It's hard to, but that was very. Yeah, you're an English teacher. 628 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:31,120 You can correct me. Whoever has a great degree, send 629 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:34,080 us an e-mail. If you liked that, so I again, 630 00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:36,600 like if there is a inner nerd in you that was like, oh, the 631 00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:40,000 mythology, that was kind of fascinating, Then pick this up. 632 00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:41,800 It'll it'll provoke some thoughts for you. 633 00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:44,440 And then my last one is definitely an English teacher 634 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,360 nerd recommendation. And so this is the book. 635 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:51,200 It's entitled James by Percival Everett, and it is a retelling 636 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:56,400 of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, the slave in 637 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:59,720 the story. And so it definitely will make 638 00:35:59,720 --> 00:36:02,080 you think. And what was an adventure tale 639 00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:05,360 for Huck becomes a survival tale for Jim. 640 00:36:06,240 --> 00:36:08,720 And what's also really interesting, the author Percival 641 00:36:08,720 --> 00:36:12,240 Everett, I haven't studied him a ton, but it does seem so Mark 642 00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:16,560 Twain single Clemens who wrote Huckleberry Finn was very anti 643 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:18,840 religious, super clear in all his work. 644 00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:23,000 He did a lot of satire on religion and this is the same. 645 00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:26,800 It's fascinating though, but there is a lot of really 646 00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:30,240 interesting truths for us to consider in this one. 647 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:32,600 I even I marked can I read a little? 648 00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:35,160 Bit please. I marked one part that I was 649 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:37,200 like, oh, I can read this. I'm not going to try and do the 650 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:40,360 dialect though because that would just be. 651 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:44,200 So this is where Huck and Jim are talking. 652 00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:47,680 You know, they've just come through this one predicament. 653 00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:53,800 And there were people who were basically, they were con men and 654 00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:57,000 they got caught. And Huck and Jim observed this. 655 00:36:57,200 --> 00:36:59,160 Huck's like, what do you think's going to happen to them? 656 00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:01,400 And Jim says, well, maybe they pay a fine, maybe they get 657 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:02,560 tarred and feathered. I don't know. 658 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:05,160 And Huck says, oh, that seems awful. 659 00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:08,400 And then Jim says, I suppose it do, but they was stealing from 660 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:11,640 them folk telling lies like they was. 661 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:15,440 They were never no pirates. And then Huck says, yeah, but 662 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:18,320 then people liked it. Jim, did you see their faces? 663 00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:21,920 They had to know them was lies, but they wanted to believe. 664 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:25,720 What do you make of that? And then Jim says, folks be 665 00:37:25,720 --> 00:37:28,560 funny like that. They takes the lies they want 666 00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:32,880 and throws away the truth. That scares them, and that's an 667 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:34,720 interesting truth to think about. 668 00:37:34,720 --> 00:37:38,160 How we? We all have lies we want to 669 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:41,680 believe and truth that is scary to us that we shove away. 670 00:37:41,680 --> 00:37:47,560 So this again, it's just all stories have valuable truths 671 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:50,000 about humanity in them, even when they're written by non 672 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:52,920 believers. And so that's why I'm a huge fan 673 00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:57,800 of just avid reading, read what's being published recently, 674 00:37:57,800 --> 00:37:59,560 read from the thinkers of our age. 675 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:00,680 This. First of all, Everett is a 676 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:03,240 Pulitzer Prize winner. So that means he's saying things 677 00:38:03,240 --> 00:38:06,520 that people are thinking about. And so there's a lot of value in 678 00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:11,600 reading the stories. Bailey be rage baiting, getting 679 00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:14,800 us to think hard truths and I think what thank you. 680 00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:16,920 That's so great. And I think what we would love 681 00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:21,080 to say is summer is a good time for reading. 682 00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:23,920 There's never a bad time for reading, but summer it is an 683 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:26,400 especially good time to grow your imagination. 684 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:28,960 Think big thoughts, put down your phone. 685 00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:33,600 Certainly social media, like we live in a great age of media 686 00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:37,360 where there's tons to watch and lots of digital content to 687 00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:40,040 consume, but there's just nothing like holding the book 688 00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:44,760 and just letting you go to a different place. 689 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:48,120 Yeah, use your summer hours wisely. 690 00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:51,720 Yeah, and if y'all are nerds, Sarah and I are going to stick 691 00:38:51,720 --> 00:38:54,560 around, but we're going to drop a little bonus episode and we're 692 00:38:54,560 --> 00:38:56,560 just going to talk about books a little bit more because that 693 00:38:56,560 --> 00:39:00,560 would be a super long episode. But just for those who really 694 00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:04,080 love it, we'll do that. Sarah, we are so grateful just 695 00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:07,480 that you're here and you chatted with us and we're thankful for 696 00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:09,880 our teachers. Y'all just be praying for our 697 00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:12,320 teachers. Give them a gift, tell them how 698 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:15,640 much you appreciate them. And yeah, ask them what God is 699 00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:18,480 teaching them, just as you would for anybody in their career. 700 00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:22,440 But they get to interact with the public in a really neat way. 701 00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:25,880 They get to observe like who we've all been at one point in 702 00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:28,840 our lives at a very interesting and strange part. 703 00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:32,200 So they understand human behavior in a cool way. 704 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:35,480 And I told Sarah when she transitioned off staff to go be 705 00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:37,960 a teacher, but she is the teacher I would have loved to 706 00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:40,560 have. And I did love my English 707 00:39:40,560 --> 00:39:43,080 teachers. And I still remember the books 708 00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:45,600 that we read. And they really did shape a lot 709 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:48,480 of the ways that I think about the world, but also about God 710 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:51,040 and his Kingdom and what he's doing in the world. 711 00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:53,680 So this has been cool. Thanks for being here. 712 00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:55,960 Thanks for having me. Love catching up with you guys. 713 00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:58,080 We'll see you guys. Next time on the Grace Church 714 00:39:58,080 --> 00:39:58,640 Podcast.