Thoughts on school starting again

This is the 2nd year in a row that I haven't been crazy busy getting my classroom together for a new school year, and I'm finding that I miss it in some ways. I miss those first day jitters (did you know teachers get as nervous as students??), seeing those little tan faces and sweet smiles, brand new clothes and shoes, new workbooks, pencils that still have the erasers and aren't chewed up, markers with the right colored tops on them, crayons that are neatly arranged in the box instead of strewn all over their school box, the excitement of everything being fresh and new. A chance to start over with a brand new bunch of children who God put me in charge of for the next year. A chance to make sure I pray for them each by name, to bless their families in any way I can, to do a better job teaching this or that, etc. There is something about that newness, that freshness, that put an extra spring in my step each August.

I guess I'm feeling the same way in my spiritual life as well. For a little while now I have felt as though I've been "going through the motions"instead of having that dynamic faith that I encountered when I first became a Christian, and then when I went through the divorce a few years ago. I've gotten comfortable on my "couch." But with everything surrounding IT, I have been awakened. I have seen that the abundant life Christ talked about is possible. I have seen God showing up in people's lives who've never thought about Him before. I have been humbled. Am I perfect?? Certainly, certainly not. No where close. There are areas of my life I haven't completely given over to him, mostly out of pride. I hope to grow and ask God to change me to be more like Him in all aspects of my life. My prayer is to be the "aroma of Christ" to everyone I encounter. I know that there are times when I am FAR from that...in fact, I am downright stinky! I am well aware of my own tendencies toward sin, hypocriticalness (is that a word?), and selfishness. But I AM a work in progress...and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am a new creation in Christ--the old has gone, the new has come.

As I was getting ready to turn in tonight, I saw that a fellow blogger had posted this: http://tarynhopes4.blogspot.com/2009/08/more-than-conquerors.html?showComment=1250649607714#c551825287552508927 and it couldn't be more right on. Thanks, Taryn.