This letter has been on my mind and heart for over a week now. Sadly, it seems that the first week of school every "spare moment" is consumed with lesson planning or preparing other items for the classroom. So, here I am, at the end of my first week with students. My mind and body are exhausted, but my heart is overflowing with the goodness of God. I'm still trying to digest all of the lessons from this week. Not lessons that I have taught, but lessons that God has been teaching me.

There is a country song (sorry all of you country haters) called I Saw God Today. The message of the song is really quite simple. The guy is talking about the birth of his child and how after that, everywhere he goes, he seems to be more keenly aware of God. The chorus of the song says:

I’ve been to church, I’ve read the book
I know He’s here but I don’t look
Near as often as I should … yeah I know I should
His fingerprints are everywhere
I just slowed down to stop and stare
Opened my eyes and man I swear
I saw God today.

As I was driving to work on the first day of “teacher work week,” I heard that song. On that day in particular, the line “I know He’s here but I don’t look near as often as I should…” really struck me. God began speaking to me about all of the way I tend to overlook Him on a daily basis, from the small things to the large things. With that notion in the back of my mind, I pulled into the parking lot at school.

Brand New School!

This year, God has blessed me by placing me at the brand new middle school that just opened up in Harrisonburg School division. It is a gorgeous school, full of a wonderful staff. So, all summer I was gearing up, wondering what it would be like to open a brand new school. What challenges await me? What adventures lie in the halls? Will I be able to adjust to the earlier school schedule?

Work week rolls around. The first day our new principal had scheduled a staff breakfast. We all gather together and he begins to make some announcements and goes through the formalities of thanking key people. After that, he asked the staff of 72 to join him in prayer, not just for the food but for a blessing over our new building. As he began praying over our school, I got chills.

I couldn’t help but stand amazed at the sight of 72 people, with their heads bowed, asking God to bless our school, our students, and our city. Later that day we had our building dedication. Many community members joined the staff and school board. Once again, a blessing was prayed over the building. I opened my eyes as the prayer was being said (gasp!) because I wanted to look around. What I saw, again, gave me chills…but this time it brought me to tears. I saw the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains with the sun shining down on them in the background. I saw a brand new school complex. But the most astounding sight was the crowd of a few hundred with their eyes closed (me excluded), heads bowed, and hands stretched toward the building as a local pastor prayed a blessing.

I have been in circles of many Christians, who claim prayer has been taken out of schools. I know as a teacher, I walk down the halls each morning praying for the kids. Prayer really hasn’t been completely taken out of schools! Too often I think people on the outside don’t know that these sorts of things are taking place on the inside. Public education has gotten a bad reputation, and that is somewhat understandable. However, take it from an insider…God is there. I’ve seen Him!

So, let me leave you with this, for it is another letter all together. What is it that you are doing in your daily life, in your work place, in your community, to help bring others to the place where they can say, “I saw God today?”