Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and

with all
your strength. These commandments [instructions] that I give you today are to
be on your hearts. Impress them on your children Write them on the
doorframes of your houses [classrooms] and on your gates. (Deut. 6:5-9)
The Word at Work (Part III)
Barbara put her journal and pen in her backpack and got on her knees facing the ocean
and began to weep uncontrollably in wrenching waves of emotion. Waves of her salty tears fell into
the tide which was beginning to rise up around and under her. It was like the waves of her emotions
were crashing into the waves of the ocean of Gods love and the love of God was winning and
overwhelming her.
After there were no more tears, Barbara stood up dripping with salt water and finally completely healed from the wounds of her
past rejection and the hidden unforgiveness she had carried so long. The sun was now completely up and full in her face.
Barbara walked to a local restaurant for her one meal of the day and then returned to her hotel room and sat on her balcony
under an umbrella with her journal. Jesus began to download to her specific ideas for the new school year which rolled into her mind in
wave after wave. The following are her journal excerpts, the jobs she believed God gave her for the new school year:
1) Daily Secretly Pray Scriptures for Self and Students But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall
mount up with wings like eagles. (Isaiah 40:31) He who has begun a good work in you will complete it. (Philippians 1:6) Put these
scriptures in a *mezuzah and set them above the classroom doorpost so students, parents and staff will be walking under these
scriptures all year when they enter your room.
2) Find Two or More Teachers - Begin meeting and praying with them on a regular basis so you can agree in prayer for students,
parents and staff. Take time to REALLY listen to what is going on in their personal and professional lives when you meet.
3) Class Theme, Dcor, and Ambiance
a) Make posters of the class theme WAIT AND LISTEN AND YOU WILL RISE WITH WINGS OF EAGLES and put on both sides of
your front classroom door. Include eagles in flight photo. Make a screen saver with the same message. Recite this theme aloud in
unison each period with students. DO NOT PUT A SCRIPTURE REFERENCE ON IT. Truth speaks for itself.
b) Make and distribute 200 business cards with this quote and an eagle picture on it which includes your name and school email.
List your JUBILEE times (See #7 on next page.)
c) Make two large posters one of a left ear and one of a right ear. Post them on both sides of the smart board so it looks like it has
ears. Discuss with your students how I gave them two ears and one mouth so they could listen twice as much as they talk.
d) Use beach themed dcor umbrellas, cooler, beach balls, beach chairs, beach towels and blankets, old surf board, etc.
e) Incorporate nature music. Get a relaxation ambiance DVD with a beach scene and the sound of the waves washing up on the
beach. Have this running on the smart board when students come in each day or when independently working.
4) Build Unity and Have Fun - Get beach balls and have artistic students use permanent markers to draw an eagle on each one. For
seven minutes on Thursdays, see how long students can hit the ball and keep it from touching the ground without leaving their seats
with each person hitting the ball only one time in a row. Use a stop watch to time them. Reward the class with homemade cookies
when they can keep the ball up the entire seven minutes, then add an additional ball which must be kept up simultaneously. When that
is done for seven minutes, give them more cookies and keep adding balls. This should be a great team builder, fun, and stress reliever.
Post class records so they can see improvement in time and also for cross class competitions.
4) Wisdom - Research 100 famous quotes on the words waiting and listening. Have students write some of their own quotes.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday put a different famous or student quote on the dry erase board to start every class period and have
students copy it when they come in using legible handwriting. Facilitate a brief five minute discussion on the quote each day. Discuss
the grammar usage in each passage as well as its wisdom content and application. Include Bible quotes with the word listen and
wait in them as well as other multi-cultural quotes from other sources. On Thursday, review the three quotes of the week. The first
seven minutes of class on Friday, ask the students to write down the weeks quotes. Give extra credit for every quote written in
grammatically correct form. Those who dont participate are to write down three good things that happened to them during the week
also in correct grammatical form.

*mezuzah A practice of some in the Jewish faith is to attach scriptures to the doorframes of their homes in obedience to the
commandment given in Deuteronomy 6:5-9. The scriptures and box are called a mezuzah. Barbara adapted this practice by
purchasing a large magnetic hidden key box from a hardware store. Each year she would write down the theme scriptures God gave
her to pray for herself and school for the year. She attached the key box to the top of the metal doorframe of her classroom. Each day
she saw it, it reminded her that the key to success was hearing, obeying, and walking under Gods word.