Dear Lord; Happy Wednesday Father!
This morning Father, the Malmstrom home was a flurry of activity. Jonathan and Aidan eagerly prepared for their first day of the new school year, and Shannon got herself ready for the first day in her new full-time position as a Para-Educator at the school as well. As we’ve discussed many times Lord, I’m very proud of my wife, and love seeing her so excited to take this step.
And with the vision of her smile drifting through my mind, my prayers this morning have been focused on Shannon and all the other educators that strive daily to prepare our children for the future. Teachers are truly special people Father, and I thank You for instilling that love and sense of commitment in their hearts.
With that thought on my heart Lord, I’d like to close today with a prayer I found this morning. It appears to originate from the United Church of Christ’s website, although I wasn’t able to track down a specific author. It’s entitled “A Prayer for Teachers”:
God of Love, Thank you for every teacher who notices a child’s special gift. Thank you for teachers who are listeners and gentle guides. Thank you for teachers who expect much and love enough to demand more. Thank you for the special teacher each one of us remembers.
God of Mercy, Sustain teachers who give everything they have and feel abandoned when society expects too much. Strengthen teachers who assume the blame for so many problems beyond their control. Help exhausted teachers rest.
God of Strength, Encourage teachers to care and inspire them to nourish. Motivate teachers to keep on learning for the fun of it and to make learning fun for children.
We wonder at teachers who know how to quiet a class of five-year-olds or help fourth grade girls be empathetic. We admire teachers who enjoy middle school writers, or teach physics or math or civics. We cannot even imagine how to help every single student achieve Adequate Yearly Progress. Bless the people who are expected to accomplish these miracles and who know how to comfort children when miracles don’t happen.
God of Justice, help our nation find a way to steward our vast wealth to support teachers in their special calling, wherever they teach and whatever the race or religion or gender or wealth of the children.
We pray these things in the name of our Great Teacher, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
~Phather Phil
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day. 
Our teachers are vastly unappreciated. Instead of building fancy new buildings, we should keep the ones we have and keep our teachers!!!
They are indeed Allison… There are a lot of places we could cut costs, but our educators shouldn’t be one of them.
Have a Blessed Day!
What a great prayer for our teachers, Phil. 🙂
Thank you Lisa! 🙂
Have a Blessed Day!
Wow, Love it. So many of our teachers go unappreciated. Well done.
They absolutely do Dy. Thank you!
Have a Blessed Day!
I taught for years as a paraprofessional and a teacher. Oh, how I wish someone had prayed this prayer for me! Absolutely inspiring and comforting, Phil.
I hope you wife and children have a blessed school year!
Well, thank you for your service to our children Martha, and for the comment! 🙂
Have a Blessed Day!
Happy new school year to you and your family, Phil! Let the fun begin 🙂
Thank you Eileen! It’s off to a good start so far!
Have a Blessed Day!
Great prayer! I pray that Shannon and your boys have a wonderful school year and not only learn and make friends but are able to reach someone for Christ.
Thank you so much Jenifer! 🙂
Have a Blessed Day!
This is great! I hope Shannon is enjoying a new role! It’s exciting but nerve racking all at the same time. I love this poem. Both my parents were high school teachers and I so appreciate educators!:)
She’s quite excited about the job Kelli, and I have no doubt she’ll do a fantastic job. (Ok, I might be a little biased.. 😉 )
Thank you!
Have a Blessed Day!
What a great prayer! Our teachers do hold a very important job in teaching and raising up our kids!
Thank you Ross, and welcome! I took a very quick look at your site, and I’ll be honest, I hadn’t heard of CRPS before that. I’m hoping to get a chance to read more about it this weekend.
Thanks again for your visit and your comment, and have a Blessed Day!
Wonderful prayer and one I had not read before. Yes, yes praying for our teachers and principals is essential. I know research shows over and over agin the powerful influence they have on a child’t life. So many memories we all have from our teachers early on. Good reminder, PHil!
It really touched me when I came across it Jean… Glad you enjoyed it as well. 🙂
Have a Blessed Day!
I think I may have to post this prayer in our workroom to share with my fellow teachers. Testing, AYPs and APIs, new standards, and budget cuts have a tendecy to discourage and drain those of us who teach. We can definitely use prayers for strength! But watching children learn brings wonderful joy that makes the stress worth it! Thanks for sharing this, Phil. I hope your wife a kids have a great year.
With everything they seem to have against them Tresa, it’s amazing that anyone would want to take up teaching in the first place. It absolutely takes a special kind of person, and I hold them (and you… 🙂 ) in the highest regard.
Have a Blessed Day!