I believe in having crazy, wild, and absolutely
ridiculous - faith. Yes, I’ve been ridiculed for possessing this kind of faith,
but I’ve also reaped huge blessings from it as well. Hebrews 11:1 reads, “Now
faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Faith is the kind of thing where you prepare for things that haven’t manifested
just yet. Believers should grasp this but I’ve seen that many don’t, and this
is not okay. I’ve also watched sinners have unwavering faith, and have things
come together in their lives in incredible ways. To be honest, I used to feel
some type of way about that. I used to be like, God, are you kidding me? I’m saved, I live right. I pray, worship,
give, fast, and I’m faithful. How come they’re prospering over me like that? I
know that can be interpreted as judgmental, but when I would see unsaved folks
prospering over saved folks living for the Lord, sometimes, it left me
perplexed. Ultimately, I learned it’s none of my business how God decides to
bless someone else. What He does in someone else’s life, saved or unsaved, is
not my concern and whenever I start to feel some type of way, I try to shut it
down real quick. I don’t ever want to be mistaken for being a hater. Ever.
Anyways, when I started diving more into this faith thing, I recognized that as
I prayed and waited for different results, God was waiting on me and saying, I hear you, but where’s your faith? I
had faith but it needed to be refreshed. During this season of my life, I’ve
made some faith moves that were uncomfortable, scary, and didn’t guarantee the
results I’d hope for, but with each faith step forward, I noticed how God
rewarded my faith. The more I stepped, the more He showed up and delivered
beyond my expectations. Faith works, and radical faith really changes things. I’m not insisting that you go out and do
crazy things just because you want to
do them, (I have faith but I also believe in exercising wisdom) however, if you
sense that it’s time to activate your faith, do it. It can and will change your
life.
I’m a Black educator in my fifth year of teaching middle school English, and in my third as the 8th Grade English PLC (Professional Learning Community) Lead. And while I genuinely enjoy the purposeful work I get to do, seeing the growth of my scholars, and continuing to hone my skills in a content area I’ve loved since I was a little girl, I’ve had to confront some unpleasant experiences in this space. I’d been through much worse when I was an academic advisor at a Christian university. Racism, sexism, harassment, and workplace bullying were sadly norms in that environment. However, some of what I’ve experienced as a Black educator hasn’t been normal … It doesn’t seem normal to be the only Black educator in my department – in a predominantly Black school. One of my Black colleagues once said, “It should look like a Tyler Perry movie in here.” But it doesn’t. It didn’t feel normal being reprimanded in a meeting (during my second year of teaching) by an administrator who went in on...