Last night, I happened to be at school until 7:45 PM trying to plan for a substitute teacher. For those of you in the field of education, you understand my pain. Teaching seems to be one of the few professions where planning a whole day down to the very minute is necessary when absent. Unlike other occupations, we cannot disappear without first planning our day for our children. And let me tell you, though a teacher of four years, this process never gets easier. In my heart, I cannot leave unworthy plans for my students for one day. Because though it is just one day, it is still their day and their time and their hearts that should be growing even when I am not present. Call me crazy-but every day should be filled with magic. 

Sadly, meetings are a walk of life in the field of education and really in every occupation. And often times, as teachers, we are asked to listen, take notes and participate in someone else's philosophy. It almost feels like we are asked to put on someone else's jackets, jeans, shirt and jewelry (despite our clothing size and style) and walk around for a year or two to try it out. Picture yourself in shoes too small, jewelry too flashy for you, jackets way too big and jeans that need five belts to stay above your waistline. Then, picture yourself teaching a group of 22 students or more withing a single classroom. Your shoes give you blisters, your jeans fall down when you are trying to do the birthday "cha cha cha" song for one of your students and by the end of the day, your jacket is filled with chalk dust, paint, pencil marks an of course those delicious smelly markers. 

But the challenge is not to dwell on your blisters or your swollen toes or even your coat that is torn and ruined and seems to catch on the very delicate seams of life. And if one looks at the definition of Philosophy you'll find that it is a combination of wisdom, thought reasoning and knowledge to form an understanding of something. And I have to wonder why so many individuals find it necessary to encourage others to wear the clothes and the style of another when no single individual in this world has the same feet or the same shirt style or the same jewlery or even jacket. But as with all gifts, when you are given something by another, it is rude not to accept. Sometimes we find ourselves putting on the five belts, dusting off the chalk and enduring those blisters just to please those around us. 

Are those blisters worth it? Those jeans? And so lately I have been thinking about these clothes and the philosophies of others stuffing the pockets of my oversized jacket, and I have begun to create my style. Try cutting out the toes of your shoes and your feet will breathe easier. Try tying your jacket, cutting off the sleeves or rolling them up. Take those jeans in a bit and cut off the bottoms to give yourself room to move. Embrace the paint and the chalk and make it a masterpiece of thought and constructive creativity. We were not meant to wear the clothes or the soles of another. What we were meant to do is make sure our philosophy aligns with Him. For without Him, our soles become too tired for the journey. Sometimes we are asked to transform the pockets of another. Sometimes this takes courage. And your children will remind you best that pockets should be filled with dreams and ambitions, woven with rainbows and patched with blue skies for the day there are none. Sticking on the bottom because marbles can sometimes be heavy and of course patched with beautiful words reminding them that there are little problems and big problems and the little problems can always be transformed. Reminding you that-oversized clothes-this too is a little problem.