Just Look Inside

It's NO secret (Victoria's or otherwise) that before every Tuesday NIGHT women's Bible study comes a TuesDAY, filled with speed bumps, potholes, construction sites, and various detours in the daily routines of life that do an oh-so-good job of alluring me away from the simple reminder to acknowledge that "this is the day the LORD has made; therefore, I will REJOICE and be GLAD in it."


Aaaand  it all started something like this...
Today was markedly a strange day for me, no doubt.

To start, when I woke up this morning, I had that “gut” feeling that I was going to be ill-prepared for the school day. [If you’re a teacher, you may very well know EXACTLY what feeling I’m talking about.] No amount of planning (or worrying) or effort on your own can ever fully prepare you for some of the things life hands you throughout the school day. [Thankfully, as Christians, we know it’s GOD who hands us each-and-every momentous event of our day…. And it’s only WITH Him and THROUGH Him we can accomplish all things.] However, even with all of that in my mind, I still had this feeling…..

Thankfully, not everything is always as it feels.

Once at school and after quickly proceeding through early morning devotions and a jumble of announcements-for-the-day, I tuned in to this morning’s faculty meeting long enough to hear my principal quote these words, “Nothing is normal anymore.” Though I knew he was referring (in context) to the regularly-scheduled events of the school days no longer being on track (because it is the last week of school for the kiddos), I readily took a light-hearted laughter to this statement and instantaneously made it my mantra-of-the-day…..

Thankfully, not everything is always as it sounds.

Shortly after leaving morning devotions, I walked back to my classroom to find a super small Victoria’s Secret bag on my desk. That’s right: I’m not making this stuff up, kids. As soon as I saw it (and after honestly wondering who in the WORLD was gifting me with lingerie), I quickly recalled my mantra-of-the-day, “Nothing is normal anymore.” Just then, my student popped his head in and had me open the “gift” he left on my desk…..

Thankfully, not everything is always as it appears (or is wrapped). (Whew!)

Mid-way through my morning, something started to go downhill. FAST. And by “something,” I mean the air quality in my classroom. For some reason, my room began to smell SUPER funky. And I couldn’t even put my finger on what it was (literally AND thankfully). Was it….throw-up? Dirty socks? Wet shoes? Rotten eggs? Non-deodorized fourth-graders? I had no clue, honestly. All I knew is this: IT WAS RANK. None of the students had said anything, and the smell was coming only from near my desk (ahem, where a student’s book bag was chilling out); so before lunch, I simply Febreezed the mess ‘outta my classroom and let it rest.

Thankfully (or maybe not-so-thankfully, in this case), not everything is always better-left-alone.

When I returned from lunchtime with all my kiddos in tow, the smell inside my classroom could’ve easily killed an entire village of people. Easily. In fact, I think it was well on its way to doing so, because as soon as we turned the corner IN THE HALLWAY, the smell attacked my class. (We couldn’t even go into the classroom until the source of it was disposed of.)….

Thankfully, some things should be searched out.

THEN, once all the dust had settled from the events of our CRAZY morning together, my students began working on a rather lengthy graphing (a.k.a. glorified-coloring) assignment, and I turned on some piano music (some old-school hymns, of course!... love them!) softly in the background to calm us all down a notch-‘er-two. And what hymn do you suppose came on in-that-moment?  This one: “It is well with my soul.” When I heard it, I simply smiled. I knew that God Himself, despite (and in the midst of!) all the craziness of the day, was present with me in my classroom today (just as He always is). However, that extra-special reminder this afternoon was helpful. :)

All of those non-essential details and sillyness of my day combine to give you (...Captain Planet!)... Just kidding. They combine (in my mind) to provide this serious reminder:

When something is not as it feels,
When something is not as it sounds,
When something is not as it appears,
When something is not better-left-alone,
When something should be searched out,
JUST LOOK INSIDE.
Check your soul.
Is it well there?
And if (AND ONLY IF) it is, pause long enough to REJOICE and be GLAD in THAT.