In my first full-time teaching job, I was placed at a pretty rough school with an extremely rough class of 6th graders.
I grew to love those kids, but every day was an exercise in my patience, classroom management, crisis management, and attitude, to say the least!
I moved to a new school the following year, and these kids were a dream.
I remember coming home after the first day and telling my husband that this was going to be a much better year.
After the first week of school, my co-teacher, who I swapped the exact same kids with every day after lunch, sat down with me to debrief.
I sat there shocked as he went on and on about how rough these kids were!
He had been teaching at that exact same school for 10 years, and he said it was the worst group of kids he had ever had.
Our attitudes toward our two shared classes were almost completely shaped by the differing experiences we had prior to that moment.
In that moment, I realized that so much of our experience here on earth is about comparison.
Adam and Eve learned this lesson very early on.
In Moses 5:10-11, Adam said:
“Because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy…”
Eve said, “Were it not for our transgression… we never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption”.
As tempting as it can be to wish for smooth-sailing throughout life, with perfectly organized and balanced schedules, it can’t be so.
There’s a purpose for the busy seasons, for the chaos, for the trials and struggles.
We need both!
We need the rough times so that we can actually find the joy when the blessings flow.
“Opposition is an essential part of the divine plan for helping us grow, and in the midst of that process, we have God’s assurance that, in the long view of eternity, opposition will not be allowed to overcome us.” – President Oaks
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
