It's Not Just a Job

I started my new job this past Monday. The high school where I am working has about 2500 students. The freshman are in their own wing and, except for lunchtimes when they venture into the main part of the school to get to the cafeteria, they essentially have their own  school. 

Grades 10-12 have over 600 students per grade level. That is a lot of kids. I am secretary to the principal who works with the 10th - 12th grade kids with last names starting with A-G. There is also a counselor on the A-G team. Then, there is the H-Q team…and of course, the R-Z team. By dividing the student body that way, rather than by grades, the kids stay with the same principal…and team…throughout their last three years of high school. A  good arrangement, I think.

Image found here

For part of today, I worked on putting stickers into each kid’s cumulative file. On the stickers was printed their grades for the 2013-14 school year. I started with the upcoming seniors today. I’ll get the upcoming sophomores and juniors tomorrow. 

As I place the sticker in each file, I glanced over the grade stickers from previous years and took note of what each student’s grades had been like over time as compared to the past year. It was a small thing, but this gave me a snapshot into their lives. With this little piece of the puzzle, I prayed for each student as I handled their file.

• When I saw the straight-A student with the bright, smiling face, I prayed for God to bless her in her hard work and to let her know that her worth wasn’t just in her good grades, but she is precious to God.

• Then I saw the boy who used to get really good grades, but they had really slipped for some reason two years ago. This past year, they came back up again. For that student, I prayed that he would persevere, and keep moving in the right direction.

• Another student might be consistently in the middle of the road academically. For that student, I might pray that he or she would not settle for doing less that their best.

• Then, there might be a student who, for whatever reason, had apparently given up. Grades used to be OK, but the bottom had dropped out this past year. My heart broke for students like that, and my prayer for them was that God would reach them…and that He would use me in some way to show that student that he or she is loved.

 So many student. So many situations. So many ways to pray.

Yes, it’s a secular job…but it is still a ministry. 

May God find me faithful.