"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith" (I Timothy 4:7)

Every year in June, the feelings of inadequacy resurface.  Ending the school year can bring excitement, but also the feelings of inadequacy.  Most of us feel like we have given everything we have to give, yet still feel unsatisfied when the school year ends.  So maybe the real meaning of finishing well is deeper.  Did we ask God to help us do our best everyday? Did we look to Him for strength and wisdom? Did we grow closer to Him this year? Did we actively seek out ways to become less self-centered and more giving to our children?  If so, why doesn't that make us feel successful? Why don't we have that feeling of satisfaction from a job well done?  

 
After fruitlessly mulling over the question for awhile, I finally gave it over to the Lord and let Him show me the answer. And He did, Sunday morning in church we were singing about the depth of God's love toward us, and I realized that from God's perspective, our success as parents/teachers is all about our love walk. It is not about test scores, and it's not even about what our children learn academically. From an eternal perspective, teaching our kids to identify a numerator and denominator is frankly irrelevant. 

Finishing the year well is about this:  Did we disciple our children? Did we show them love, and teach them how to be loving? Did our passion for life shine through, and did we encourage our children to follow their God-given passions? Did we set our children on the paths they should go and instill in them the desire to grow and become more than who they currently are? Did we model AND teach them perseverance, patience, kindness, and self-control? Did we keep sight of the ultimate prize, which is eternal? 

I've noticed that when my focus is on the eternal purpose, the academic goals fall naturally into place. The student achievement levels we see on paper can never be the true measure of finishing well.  So it's not about US at all, it's not about how well we did OUR job. God has a greater plan, of which we are only a small part. Our performance is not quantifiable by anyone in this physical plane. How easily we lose sight of that when we're made to feel that our job and our worth is based on test scores.  What freedom we have in Christ!  We can't measure our success or worth, or figure out where we stand with Him. He is our identity and our source. We can...

"Be confident of this, that He who has begun a good work in [us], will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

- Taken from my June edition of Words Of Encouragement

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