Teacher’s Prayer
Lord, let me be just what they need.
If they need someone to trust, let me be trustworthy.
If they need sympathy, let me sympathize.
If they need love (and they do need love),
let me love in full measure
Let me not anger easily, Lord but let me be just.
Permit my justice to be tempered in your mercy.
When I stand before them, Lord, let me look strong and
good and honest and loving.
And let me be as strong and good and honest
and loving as I look to them.
Help me council the anxious, crack the covering of the shy.
Temper the rambunctious with a gentle attitude.
Permit me to teach only the truth.
Help me inspire them so that learning will not cease at the
classroom door.
Let the lessons they learn make their lives fruitful
and happy.
And, Lord let me bring them to you.
Teach them through me to love You.
Finally, permit me to learn the lessons they teach.
Amen
Beginning a new school year is always stressful and full of emotions. I am anxious thinking about all that lies before me. I am apprehensive about getting to know 22 new stories and lives...getting to know them deeply as readers, writers, mathematicians and MOST importantly as little humans. Learning what makes them tick. What makes them smile. What makes them nervous. And what makes them feel like the only person in the world (if only for a quick moment once in a while). I always reflect on years before and think "there's no way it can be better..." and then there are moments that immediately change my mind.
As I begin my fourth year teaching, I could reflect for days on how much I've learned. I could reflect on the lives that have come into my path, and the way those little lives have changed mine for good. But right now...tonight...as I prolong a restless night of tossing and turning in my bed with anxious thoughts, I want to stop and pray for them. Help me be what they need, Lord. And help them see your goodness as you work through me. The prayer above is what my heart desires, and I pray for you to qualify me for the task that lies before me. Help this year be filled with laughter, smiles, and lots of learning. And help me be open to the opportunities to learn and grow into a stronger teacher and person because of what they bring into my life. Amen.
