Reflections for a new School year: Running the Marathon of Faith

Today didn't begin like the others. I didn't go to sleep last night in a blunder of excitement, anxiously anticipating the faces of new staff who would equally as anxiously greet me at our welcome breakfast the next day. There weren't last-minute presentations to prepare, or morning coffee to pick up on my way into work. There wasn't an alarm to set extra early. In fact, on this new COVID schedule, the alarm seems to ding a bit late. There is no flurry of activity, ensuring that technology is ready and that campus is pristine for the scavenger hunt we would conduct in our new teams. It's just my same old laptop. Coffee is brewed in my same old kitchen. The only excitement is the mutter of the dogs as the pool guy comes for his swift weekly visit and the neighbors pull their trashcans out to the curb.

What I am learning through this new normal, however, is that there is still magic in these quieter milestones, even though they don't seem as flashy as they once were. The word gimmicky actually (and shamefully) comes to mind. We used to really play up the pomp and circumstance to welcome our new teachers aboard. This typical morning on any year in the past could have been described as overcaffeinated, overembellished, a bit of a circus or even too much, too soon. We wanted to make such a good first impression that we often forgot what our primary purpose truly was. Just connect. Forget the food. (Everyone is too nervous to eat anyway.) No one wants to play handbook Jeopardy (or read a 40 page document of procedures to start their day). They just want to get to know who you are, what you stand for, and that you're going to be there for them every step of the way.

On my morning walk, I listened to our pastor's weekly 7:14 Devo, based on 2 Chronicles 7:14. This passage states, "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land," (NIV). No better way to start a Monday than by humbling myself and saying a little prayer for the new school year, right? As I was walking, I was even more pleasantly surprised by today's theme, running the marathon of faith. If that isn't a fitting theme for the kick off of the 2020-2021 school year, then I don't know what is. (You can, and should, listen to the full episode here.)

Throughout the podcast, a few themes rang true:

• We have to run the race of endurance by following the road markers laid out before us. For me, I immediately identified this with my new morning ritual, following Hal Elrod's structure from his book The Morning Miracle. (Y'all, please. Get. This. Book. It changed my life in no less than a hour. For reals.) Hal presents this morning ritual as the acronym S.A.V.E.R.S. If I can start the day meditating on God's word (Silence), boldly proclaiming my words of Affirmation, and Visualizing what I want my day to look like in order to meet my goals, then I can't start off half bad. If I follow through with Exercise, Reading something scripture-based or related to my own personal development, and then reflect on new learning through writing (Scribing), even better. This is the fuel I need to run the race with endurance while paying attention to what God really needs for me to hear today. 
• We have to run our own race. Don't get caught up in the comparison game. Your pace is your pace. What is God asking me to do? How is he calling me towards the good work that needs to be done today? We need to run the race set forth for us. It's okay if that looks different than our neighbors. It's okay if that looks different than it did last year.
• We have to run the right race, not the rat race. There is so much vying for our attention out there. What are other people doing? What decisions are other people making? What information is available to me today? Should I post that on social media or share that with a friend? Perhaps we would do better to look inward and upward rather than outward to what the world wants us to see. I think we would be better equipped to endure this marathon and the long miles ahead.
  

In closing, although this morning started in a non-traditional fashion, I think it might end up being the best new teacher welcome and orientation that we perhaps have ever done. We've cut out the clutter. We've quieted the noise. We have focused on the bare essentials: connection, resources, and building a foundation of hope. Did there ever truly need to be anything else? So, with that, I will sip my morning coffee, made with love and without haste, and open up my laptop in anticipation of all of the new faces about to sign on to our mid-morning welcome. With an open heart and a clear mind, we will kick of 2020-2021. And something tells me this may be the greatest school year yet.