Dear Preschool Teacher…

Dear Preschool Teacher,

I just wanted to tell you on this Monday after Teacher Appreciation Week that you are amazing.

I know that sometimes you probably leave your classroom feeling like the only thing that got accomplished that day was someone sneezed directly in your face.

Most of your wardrobe is covered in paint.

And you spend a lot of time wiping noses and opening lunch containers.

But let me tell you something.  You are a blessing to those kids.

It might get a little noisy at times (okay, all the time). 🙂

It might feel busy and like you are constantly putting out the fires of little people learning to share and care for one another.

But the work you are doing is so valuable.

I don’t remember much from when I was 2 and 3 years old, and that thought sometimes discourages me because I teach 2 and 3 year olds.  Then I remember how teaching isn’t really about our students remembering every moment or even every single thing we said.

Teaching is about planting seeds.

Some of those seeds might grow and flourish right away.  Some might take more time to bloom.

But the seeds remain.

That tender way you handled his meltdown?  That planted a seed of love and grace.

That way you cleaned up the accident or rocked the student with the tummy bug while he waited for his parents to pick him up?  That planted seeds of kindness and comfort.

That silly book you read to them before nap time planted a seed of gladness.

That smile you had for her when she walked in your classroom planted a seed of confidence.

That fun lesson you prepared planted a seed of a love for learning.

Those new toys you picked out with certain kids’ passions in mind planted a seed of discovery.

That way you save toilet paper rolls for art projects and weren’t too OCD to let them play in shaving cream and rice bins plants seeds of creativity.

That way you go home thinking about your students and wake up thinking about them and want to do everything you can to be a blessing in their life and in the lives of their families…  Those are the seeds that ultimately teach a child’s heart about the unconditional, sacrificial, devoted love of our Savior.

Teaching is exciting and maddening.  There are days when I am in the hallway asking anyone I can find if it’s a full moon.  Then there are days when I rejoice at seeing a milestone met.  A toy shared.  A lightbulb moment.  A final diaper worn.

The other day one of my students came to school with a small cut-out star on which her mother had written something that she learned from being in my class.

Do you know what it said?

“Mrs. B. has taught me that God has a plan.”

When you hear a little seed growing like that it makes all the snot and diaper issues worth it.

I know you all don’t teach toddlers like me, but the principle is the same.  We teach because we get to be used by God to help a little person grow.

I don’t do this perfectly, but at the end of the day, I am fairly certain that all of my students know they are loved.  By Him and by me.

And that’s way more valuable to me than anything the alphabet has to offer. 🙂

So, dear Preschool teachers, God is using you.

And it’s not just to be someone’s tissue.

The hard work of discipling little ones is producing a harvest so magnificent you won’t even be able to fathom its beauty and bounty!

Carry on!

– Julie 🙂