You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; you toss me about in the storm.

(Job 30:22)
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. (Job 38:1)
I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm. (Psalm 55:8)

The Storm
Sonya is an elementary music teacher at Applegate Elementary. She has a daughter Brittany who is a senior in high school
and believes her calling and gifting from the Lord is to become a fifth generation teacher. While visiting Texas A&M University at
College Station, Sonya and Brittany talked to the college of education recruiter there. He amazed them with one of the statistics he
shared. Research indicates that after the first five years of employment in education, 50% of all new teachers leave their chosen
profession. The Holy Spirit within Sonya immediately began grieving. There is a storm raging in education today.
Today a child can pass some state exams in the state of Texas by correctly answering 50% of the questions. If he or she can
guess at answers and get an average of one out of every four or five questions correct, that means he/she only needs to really know
and answer 25% to 30% of the questions to pass. There is a storm raging in education today today.
Texas Monthly magazine just did a feature piece on high stakes testing in Texas. Research indicated that teacher morale was
at its lowest point in 25 years in the state. There is a storm raging in education today.
Two CEAI Field Representatives recently visited twenty schools in three different school districts in the Houston area.
Everywhere they heard stories of the extreme stress so many educators are experiencing. Never have they seen so many educators
feeling so professionally burdened so early in the school year. There is a storm raging in education today.
As Rhonda, a CEAI field representative, sat in Starbucks talking to a burdened teacher, they both understood that more
testing, knowledge, programs, money and personnel were not the answer to calming the storm in public education or finding shelter
from it. They both knew the solution to this problem was God seeking Him first and following His principles in their professional lives.
Before these two educators left the crowded Starbucks they simply held hands and began to quietly pray for education. As
they prayed Rhonda had a vision of a story her mother had shared from her childhood. Rhondas mother was in church in a tiny
western Kansas town on Black Sunday, April 14, 1935, during the Great Depression. A large prolonged dust storm hit during the
morning church service. In order to get home, her father had to lead the family from tree to tree as they walked several blocks to their
home. Using one hand they put a wet handkerchief over their mouths so they would not breathe in the dust. With their other hand they
had a hold of the brother or sister in front of them. There were seven children in all. They could not see where they were going but they
could feel each others hands and they trusted their father who was leading. In this way the family made it home safely.
As they prayed Rhonda felt the Lord speaking to her heart saying, Tell the educators Rhonda, this is how they are going
to make it out of this huge professional dust [sin] storm that most, like those in the Emporers New Clothes, will not even
acknowledge. They need to let me, their heavenly Father, lead them from tree to tree. I have set trees of righteousness in their
professional lives to guide them. They must reach out and touch these trees, these people. With one hand they must cover
their mouths and stop murmuring, complaining and speaking judgment and condemnation over those responsible for these
storms. They must speak my truth and blessings, not curses into their lives. Murmuring, condemnation, and judgment are
just more blowing dust. With their other hand they must hold on to their brothers and sisters in Christ with whom they work
in the schools. They have to leave the shelter of the church to get home in their professional lives. They must trust me, their
Father, and the brothers and sisters in Christ with whom they work. Tell them, Cover your mouths and hold on. Cover your
mouths and hold on. Cover you mouths and hold on. If they will reach out and touch me through one another I will lead them
home.
.

Prayer: Lord, help us cover our mouths and hold on. Help us trust you and unite with the believers you have placed in your schools.
Reflections: Do I believe there is a storm raging in public education today? Am I in this storm? How can I help myself and/or others
who are in this storm? What was my worst storm year in my career and how did I get through it?
Getting Real: Cover your mouth. Stop murmuring or speaking words of judgment and condemnation regarding those above you in
authority. Speak the truth and encouragement. Let God lead you to a Christian co-worker. Simply hold hands and pray. Make this a
habit. Watch what God will do. He will lead you home to safety and protection from the storm.
CLASSROOM LIGHTHOUSE SERIES: Fields of Faith in Education (For info or prayer contact ceaihouston@sbcglobal.net.) WEEK 9
FIELDS OF FAITH PRAYER: Lord, build and establish these schools with Your wisdom. Through love and knowledge, fill the
students and staff members with rare and beautiful treasures. Help the educators in these schools cover their mouths and
hold on. Use the educators in these schools to feed your lambs and sheep, to transform wolves into sheep, and to lead youth
to their hope and future in You.

Baylor College of Medicine and University of Texas Houston Medical and Dental Schools (Houston Area Post-Secondary Schools)
Jackson Elementary and Long Elementary in Lamar CISD
All Public, Private, and Home Schools in the Crosby Independent School District Area
All Public, Private, and Home Schools in the States of Hawaii and Idaho
All Public, Private, and Home Schools in the Countries of Burundi, Cameroon, Cambodia, and
Canada.

Caroline Smith and CRU Campus Crusades for Christ

(CEAI-Houston Supported Ministry at the University of Arkansas)