“Overstuffed”
Dear Teacher,
Last weekend, my daughters and I celebrated the glorious autumn weather by making scarecrows. The whole process felt fall-ish: The raking leaves into piles, my little girls jumping in them, digging through the fall/winter clothing bin to find scarecrow clothes -- all of it! Childhood memories flooded my mind and I was excited to make some with my kids.
The steps were simple:
Stuff leaves into grocery sacks and tie off into little bundles.
Stuff bundles into the arms, legs, and body of the scarecrow.
Erect scarecrow to stand strong and proud.
However, the afternoon activity soon elicited tears from my youngest. She was overwhelmed with the stuffing. There were too many bags to fill and her tolerance capacity was low. Moreover, every time she tried to erect her scarecrow, he tipped over with the heaviness of the weight. Despite my attempts to drive a stake into the ground, model "stuffing" skills, and step her through the process one-by-one, she still fled the yard with crying and frustration.
After reassessing (and in efforts to salvage an afternoon gone wrong), I tried a new approach. I discarded my man-made stake idea, and instead leaned them up against the house structure, where they finally stood strong and proud. We also eliminated the overstuff that was dropping to the ground, and instead found scarecrow-sized balance.
And you, teacher, there in your classroom, may be experiencing similar overwhelm. With too much in your responsibility and to-dos, you may be overwhelmed with the stuffing. With too many things to do, your tolerance capacity may be low, leaving your frustrated. With all that weight, it's no wonder it hasn't tipped you over with heaviness!
So, you have to do some discarding to do. Assess and eliminate your man-made structures of routine and "shoulds." Eliminate an overstuffed life of classroom clutter, schedule clutter, and mind clutter. Instead, lean against our firm structure: Christ. As Matthew 7:24-29 says, "When we build on a firm foundation of Christ, we can withstand whatever comes our way. A foundation based on God produces steadfast faith and life."
Un-stuffing my schedule,
Mindy Salyers
Christian School Counselor