Do you like Post-Its? 

I should rephrase that to “Do you LOVE Post-Its?” Maybe I should rephrase that again to “Do you LOVE Post-Its as much as I do?” Seriously, I LOVE Post-Its. I think they are one of the greatest inventions ever. Yes, one of the greatest ever! Even better than the yellow Post-Its of my youth are the new Super Sticky Post-Its that you can re-stick many times taking it from work to home back to work and back to home and so on until yes, the sticky wears out. They are stupendous!

There is a glee of writing a list of tasks to do and then even more glee when you’ve completed those items and get to cross them off. I will admit to even writing things I had already completed on the list to get the joy of crossing that task off. It’s a thrill so many miss in this world.

As the school year ended in June, I used so many Post-Its, writing and grouping the personal and professional tasks I’d like to accomplish over summer and as an author, the ideas I’d like to pursue for another book, or in this case, a new blog. There were so many notes from reading books on pedagogy, grading, World History and wanting to do three or four different Bible studies, reading books by some of my favorite Christian authors to the ever exciting task of painting the baseboards at my house. 

Now in August, as my summer comes to an end and I head back to the classroom, I look at all the notes I’ve written realizing how much I was unable to accomplish or cross off my Post-Its this year. 

As June passed into July this summer, I was not crossing off many items on my Post-Its, not many at all. The last three years of teaching had taken its toll and finally caught up to me. From fires in town and a local school shooting in 2019, to COVID in 2020 and 2021, to teaching sophomore students who really were 8th graders when they were last on a school campus. There was a load to bear these past years. What I needed were not lists and tasks to accomplish, but time and rest to create a new normal in 2022. 

The Lord reminded me, here with one day left of summer, of Proverbs 16:9, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” I had my plans, but God rewrote my Post-Its and gave me this time to pray over these past years, to reflect on my walk with Him, and to spend the calm and quiet of summer with Him and His Word. 

All those Post-Its were not a waste, but were a way for the Lord to remind me of His place in my life, to settle my heart and draw me close to Him! I had my plans, but His were better!