teaching with the Spirit

I have  subbed for the full-time seminary teachers in the Salt Lake Valley for years.  I honestly love it but at times it gets stressful!

Imagine getting a call at 7 am asking you to teach a 86-minute class (3 times) beginning at 7:30 am.  Imagine further that some students are only there because their parents are forcing them and they resent it.  Now imagine that it is a generation used to fast-paced, non-stop entertainment (think iPods, smartphones, games, etc).  Further imagine that your lesson only works if you have the Spirit with you meaning you better be living righteously, not be having any contention in your family, having good feelings towards those drivers who cut you off while you were trying to make it there by 7:30.

If you can imagine all that, you can probably imagine how enticing subbing for regular school sounded.  Full-day pay is higher.  You just show up (no preparation).  You follow the teacher's lesson plan which is sometimes a video.  If you're like me and only do high school, you take roll, tell the students what to do and then read a book while they do it. Frequently it is classes the students have actually chosen to take AND, you never have to feel the pressure of helping your students have a spiritual experience.

So, I have gotten lazy.  For a little over a year now - I have mainly subbed in regular education (okay, I did do a long-term math sub job which upped the stress level since I was basically a regular teacher).  They keep me SO busy that I rarely am available to sub for seminary teachers.

I had almost forgotten how much I enjoyed it!

Luckily, I have had the opportunity to remember.  A teacher asked me to cover FOUR days for him.   Advance notice so I actually had a couple hours to prepare each lesson.   Enough days to get to know the students a bit.  Super lovable classes.  Spiritual experiences.  Students testifying and sharing heart-warming experiences.  A few days in Heaven. 

Now, it's back to several days teaching animal science and math.