Choices

I stood at the doorway staring at the girl. She was twice my size, both in height and weight. She wore a white sweatshirt that had stains on the sleeve. Her jeans hung low on her waist and her hair was pulled up with a ripped piece of fabric. The laces on her shoes were untied. Anger filled her eyes and I began to replay the scene of the last few minutes in my head as my eyes locked in on hers.

The day had been pretty uneventful for us...as uneventful as it can be working in a high school resource room for students with severe behavior and emotional issues. Anthony, Javon, and Terrell had all come in and actually had started on their Algebra. Chris lingered in slowly, but sat down in his seat and took out a novel he was slowly pluggin through.

It was when Davika entered that everything changed. She was in a mood and did not want to be told what to do. She lay her head on her book, closed her eyes and proceeded to try to fall asleep. On any given day, I may have let her slide, but today was day three of her tactics and today I decided to ask her to open her book so I could help her read about the Civil War.

That's when the war in my classroom began. The book had gone flying across the room and she stood up about to throw the chair. As I told her to calm down, Davika grabbed the closest thing in her reach....a yard stick. She now stood only a slight distance from me. The yardstick was raised in front of her. The look in her eye and the language from her mouth, told me she was not ready to be messed with today.

But you see...I had been trained....this was just another day with another student. And more than that, I loved this kid.

"Davika, you have a choice to make. You can either put down the yard stick and sit down, or I will call security and you will be charged with assault on a teacher.  You decide!"

You see, life is about choices. Every day we have choices to make.

Donut or yogurt?
Jeans or sweatpants?
Go for a walk or watch Oprah?
Take out or home cooked meal?
Speak kind words or speak ugliness.

Davika's behavior may seem unbelievable. It may seem absolutely wrong. But really, it is about a choice. Just like so many other choices in her day, at that moment, Davika had to decide.

Hit me with the yardstick, or sit back down?

There has been one choice that has been on my mind...the choice to BELIEVE! 

To believe in what God has promised.
To believe in the One He sent.
To believe when it seems nothing around us is pointing in the right direction!

Because...you see...we have to choose to believe. And our day is filled with instances where we can choose to believe or choose to show unbelief.

And, guess what?

Jesus spoke pretty harshly about our choice not to believe...

"The world's sin is unbelief in me."

John 16:9

He called it sin!  It is sin!  A deliberate act of rebellion against God! 

So today...let us choose to believe! When we don't understand God's plan. When we feel frustrated by the pace of the progress. When we don't see the final act. When we are tired and worn out. When nothing on this earth is giving us a reason to...WE WILL CHOOSE TO BELIEVE....because God has promised to honor that belief!

Because God has promised to provide!
Because God has promised to heal!
Because God has promised to sustain!
Because God has promised His plan is far better than mine!

Because God has promised!!!

So...what happened with Davika?  Well, that day...that day...she made the right choice. She put the stick down. She mumbled under her breath. And she walked to her desk.

And I sighed a huge sigh of relief!