When Rest Isn’t Yet

I knew I was in trouble yesterday about 10 minutes into class. Students are weather, and I could see they were a low pressure system.

Low: An area where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations.

They looked like I felt, except I get a paycheck for being enthusiastic about working on Spanish every day. We’re all tired. Tired of the routine of plowing forward into information. Tired of assignments and making sentences. Tired of sitting inside when the sun is finally turning the grass green.

A few weeks ago we made a booklet and titled it Dichoso. That means “happy” or “blessed” in Spanish. It’s our countdown to summer vacation, and every day the students are translating a verse from the Bible about what happiness really is.

But we haven’t translated a “Dichoso is the one who finally gets to summer” verse.

They haven’t translated a “hurray –get your kayaks down from storage because the work of the first year of teaching is done” verse.

They haven’t translated a “finals are over and your daughter is home” verse.

They haven’t translated “all the pain of loss is gone and only lemonade and laughter fills your days now” verse.

The truth I’m hoping they’ll slowly discover, and the truth I need for this morning, is that happiness isn’t for when the work is over and all the pain is gone. Happiness is for an April 29 –when we’re still a long month out from any kind of rest.

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.” (Psalm 84:5 NIV)

Happiness is finding strength when still traveling. 

The prayer I find myself praying in this low pressure system is, Father…

Sometimes that’s all I can get out –like my students slumped in chairs –a weak cry for help that doesn’t have the energy to make a whole sentence. And I wait on the Lord to renew my strength.