It’s never a good idea to compare your life to
someone else’s or what they’ve got going on. See, I recognize that I serve a
“suddenly” God. Just because it took someone else this or that amount of time
to get where they are, be with who they’re with, or accomplish what they’ve
done, doesn’t mean it’ll take the same amount of time for me. And this is true
for us all. I can remember being frustrated during different seasons of my life
when my self-imposed “timelines” weren’t flowing as I hoped. I’d map out all these
different plans for myself and ask God to bless them, instead of praying
first and then getting some direction. Psalm 46:10 reads, “Be still, and know
that I am God.” I used to think that standing still was unproductive. I felt if I wasn’t constantly moving, things wouldn’t happen, until I finally slowed down and stood still. Since I’ve
gotten into the posture of doing this, I’ve watched as God put things together
in a way that required nothing of me except the obedience of stillness. When I
did this, he spoke clearly to me. The clarity that came with stillness was
amazing. Suddenly, a series of incredible blessings started coming my way, in
ways that blew my mind. While things like success, relationships, and
accomplishments don’t usually happen overnight, I’m recognizing that a lot of
what I thought would take awhile, won’t, with a “suddenly” God behind the
scenes. God orchestrates things in such a way that our human minds will never be able to figure out. He does
things on an entirely different level that always reminds me, he’s in charge. I
love that I serve a “suddenly” God. He‘s dope.
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...