You Can't Sink This Sub!

It has been six months since I have been back in the United States. I've submitted employment applications to many different places. I had a decent amount of work at Hobby Lobby during the Christmas season. Of course, once the Christmas season was over, my work hours dropped off sharply because...well...not as many people shop at Hobby Lobby when Christmas decorating is not a major activity.

New Work 
After several weeks with very little income, God opened up the opportunity for employment as a substitute teacher in several school systems in the area. 

This looks like a fun book. You can find it here

My first day of subbing fell on Valentine's Day. I subbed for a tenth grade social studies teacher, and I have to admit that greeted the students with a bit of nervousness. After all, it has been something like twenty-seven years since I have been in a high school classroom in the United States. Numerous people talk about "kids these days". You know what I mean. The saying "sink the sub" has been around for quite some time, and I wondered how hard the students would try to "sink" me.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the tenth graders to be generally very respectful and a pleasure to work with. Of course, the teacher had left lesson plans that were very easy to follow. The classes practically ran themselves, so I had it easy, but it was a very good re-entry experience into the classroom.

Since that first day, I have had work almost every day. I thought it might take awhile before I started getting jobs, but it seems that I will not have trouble getting as much work as I can handle. In fact, my schedule is full through the first two weeks of March.

As for tomorrow and Friday, I will be back at the high school teaching Social Studies again, but for a different teacher this time. I am looking forward to it this time. God is providing the work, and I am trusting Him that this class, like the other one, will not be out to "sink the sub". If they are into "sub-sinking", though, I trust that Gd will make me "unsinkable".

I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

Counterfeit Gentleness

With its hard protective shell, coconut has an interesting parallel to gentleness.
By the way, you don't want to park your car under a tree that looks like this.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23)

I have a confession to make. When I started this series about the Fruit of the Spirit, I made a list of the various fruit and what I saw as their counterfeits. From the very beginning, I was anxious to get to this one because it is something I feel very strongly about. Now, it is time to write about it. I still feel strongly, but I have been faced today with a difficult situation to which this post applies. As I write, I will be speaking as much to myself as anyone else.