Do you ever have one of those days where nothing goes right? Yesterday, from the moment I woke up, chaos ensued and trended into the work day. Mondays, am I right?
I took a moment to breathe, prayed for a bit, answered some emails, and prepared for my Monday class with students from the prep and basic (two different levels in the New Life Recovery Program) ladies. I missed a few weeks due to various reasons, so I wanted to reacquaint myself with the material. Also, I have never taught with both prep and basic together in class! We were on week 4 of lesson plans which I read through, prayed about, and prepared answers for.
When entering the Lydia House, I was greeted by a warm “You’re back!” which was good to hear. Even if they don’t realize, I missed seeing them every week. Doing life with these ladies is one of my favorite parts of my job.
We watch DVDs in class, and in order to watch these discs, I must have the remotes. Could you guess what happened next? I bet you can….
I cannot find these remotes ANYWHERE. I put three women on the hunt. Class starts at 9:30 and by 9:35 I cannot find them. My first time back in WEEKS, my first time with over half of the students in the room. This was not an ideal situation. Without remotes, there is no class, unless we started the dvds all over again. I felt out of control of the situation, not prepared, and quite frankly, a little frazzled (the events of the day were quickly piling up).
One of the women suggested, “We can just start over again. I don’t mind. And most of the ladies in here haven’t seen the material before week 4.”
It is normally not my policy to start from the beginning again (due to the way the course is set up), yet for some reason, this idea stuck. I felt it put on my heart that it was a good idea to start over. I didn’t look much into that heart feeling, I just wanted class to start!
After receiving the okay from the entire class to start at the beginning, I put in the dvd. The class was running behind, we did not get the chance to do introductions, but we watched the disc material. After the dvd portion of class, the floor opened up for discussion. We had a great talk, but unfortunately was not long enough.
I sat after class disappointed in myself. Reviewing how class could have gone smoother, how if the remotes were found, class could have gone on as it should have. Praying and asking God why class was so rocky on my first week back with all of these new ladies. I wanted to make a good impression, to show them I am on their team and I had no chance to do so!
God truly enjoys showing up in those moments and this was of no exception. I had a young lady leave after class and come back in. I apologized for how class went, that next week would be better. She looks at me and said it was okay.
I asked how she was doing and she said, “I’m not doing so great. Someone close to me just died. At first I was sad. Now i’m just really angry. So i’m glad we started the dvds over again.” (Did I mention this class is Anger Management!?)
We were able to have a conversation on the content of what was said on the dvd and talked about how it was applicable to her life in this moment. I asked her if we could pray together, and she said yes. So we were able to pray for her loved one together and what a beautiful moment of God’s goodness. I am so thankful for her and that moment!
Even in the utter chaos or when you don’t feel you are in control, I myself am still learning that God is in control. He knew a young lady in class needed to hear the message of disc 1 Anger Management over again. And without the remotes going missing, that would not have happened. He knew the needs of every lady in that class including mine. I am thankful for His reminder!
The takeaway? God’s got this.
Lauren Catlett
Communications Specialist