Core Scripture: “Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.” (Titus 3:1-2)

Message: You might be wondering why part II of Dare to Dream didn’t happen until today.  As a matter of fact, I just checked … it has been nearly a MONTH since I published part I.  That frustrates me.  I could come up with excuses, but they all sound lame.

Too tired from working at Amazon.  Too many chores.  Too many activities.  Not enough time or inspiration for that matter.  Or maybe I just put it on the back burner once again.  I need to at least give it some time today to write about it.  Maybe then it will become that much more real to me.

I know my dream of becoming a writer/speaker in education has been cultivated through the fallacies in education that I see in today’s world.  I see it headed in the wrong direction, and gosh darn it, I want to DO something about it!  I would only be one voice speaking out against issues that need to be addressed, but I wonder—would others join me if I started to try to make some changes? 

It is like the old mantra we have all heard … you never know unless you try.

What changes need to happen?  I am almost overwhelmed to try to list them all.  Friends, this is why I almost refuse to return to the classroom.  Because many of these things are getting worse.  And education is not what it was back when I was in school.  I don’t want to vent too long, but let’s just get to the core of what is wrong with education in a nutshell.

1. Students are over-tested.  It was beyond painful to me to see the number of former students who struggled through state testing through the months of March and April.  Even May.
2. Teachers are not taught what to do with testing data.  I remember getting the results and saying to myself, now what?  The tests changed so often that every time we got a new one, we had to relearn how to break down the results.
3. Faculty meetings and professional development were simply a check box type thing.  They didn’t help much, and although some were beneficial, it seemed more that the ones running it were only doing it because they were told they had to.  And there was little buy in from the teachers half-heartedly going through the motions to survive the day.
4. The topics of professional development were beginning to become extremely politically correct.  Lots of stuff about how teachers are being racist without knowing it and other things.  The truth is that society is offended so easily that education slides that way too. 
5. Teachers are walking on eggshells.  Students and parents can be offended over the smallest things, and that can lead to teachers losing their jobs.  I know this from personal experience.  And I am still deeply scarred from it.  Especially when my voice is not worth listening to.
6. Administrators are lacking a backbone.  They struggle with supporting teachers and take the side of the parents and students when conflict arises.  Parents have way too much pull on their side. 
7. There is a lack of respect that teachers need to have.  My teachers back in the day had that a heckuva lot more than today’s educators.  It is almost as if students can run the show, and if teachers come down on them too hard, the you-know-what hits the fan.
8. Students are lacking grit.  They need to learn how to persevere!  This new generation struggles so much with giving up, and they need to be taught how to solve problems without whining. 
9. Inspiration has been lost.  Teachers and students are aching for something more, but they don’t know where to find it.  Every now and again I would find inspiration to keep me going, but teacher burnout had officially drained me.
10. The negativity was draining me.  So many teacher friends were shaking their fists at different problems and doing NOTHING to try to help things.  Complain, complain, complain.  It brought me to tears during my last year in Olathe, and my friends loved me so much that we actually tried to do something about it. 

That is what I want to do.  I want to DO something!  I don’t want to sit back and allow education to fall down the tubes.  It feels like so many teachers are afraid to say something because they might get fired or laughed at or that nothing would change even if they tried. 

But if I took a stance.  If I tried to speak out against these issues with a heart that yearned to make a positive difference in education, I KNOW others would take up the fight with me.  It would by no means be easy, and there would be numerous obstacles along the way, but I care too much to see education die like this. 

Jesus cared.  He knew that what He was saying would ruffle a few feathers.  Especially with the Pharisees.  And I tell you what, when He was flipping over tables at the temple after His triumphant entry, that was the tipping point that lead to His death on the cross a week later. 

But man, what a sacrifice!  Was it worth it?  To save our souls?  He knew His voice would be offensive to the ring leaders, and His voice is still offensive today.  Even to me sometimes!  When my heart doesn’t want to forgive, He calls me out.  When my ego and pride want to spout off, He tells me to respond in love.  The point is Jesus spoke out, and His disciples carried His message to pass to generations to come. 

Pretty amazing.

This past week at Amazon, I was privileged to take my first class of new hires through their first week on the job.  It was the first time I put my teaching hat on since leaving education in late September of 2024.  I knew that Amazon’s day one of training was not the way I would have designed it, but I did what my bosses told me to do.  I played the videos.  I had the new hires complete their cartoon training on their devices.

And I watched them flounder through it, not seeming to give a care in the world about what was being taught.

Who could blame them!  I felt the same way when I watched those videos about a year ago.  My training meant nothing to me until I learned on the warehouse floor.  Four hours of videos?  Cartoons?  Nobody wants to learn this way.  One of my trainees was putting on his gloves midway through the cartoon training, and his question echoed in my already frustrated mind.

“How many more of these videos are there?”

He wasn’t being disrespectful.  The dude just wanted to get on the floor.  He wanted to pick!  He didn’t want to train on a device.  It was at that moment that I decided to take a stand.  I couldn’t remain quiet anymore.  I was going to write a letter to corporate Amazon politely requesting that they rethink their entire training process.

Will it change anything?  Who knows.  Probably not right away.  The thing is that if I didn’t speak out, I would be doing my company a disservice.  Much like my buddy Gabe and I were discussing last week.  We speak out because we care.  To remain quiet would just be sad and apathetic. 

This is where it gets difficult.  Talking about these issues would go nowhere if I approach my superiors disrespectfully.  Titus 3:1-2 explains this: “Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.”

Think about it.  Wouldn’t someone be more likely to listen to you if you approached them in this humble manner?  Or, as Proverbs 25:15 says it so succinctly, “A gentle word can get through to the hard-headed.”  It is all about the approach.

This dream to speak, write, encourage, and change education for the better may seem far off to me at times, but I wonder.  What if the right person saw my message here and decided to do something about it alongside me?  There is strength in numbers.  Fight the good fight.  Take up your sword in battle beside me.  I could use a few fellow warriors to help me get this right.

Challenge: What conversation have you been putting off?  Approach that person or group of people with humility, gentleness, and respect.  See what happens.

Bible study: Read Luke 19:1-10 and journal about or discuss the following questions …

1. How was Zaccheus seen by his people, being a tax collector?
2. When Jesus greeted him with love, how do you think that made Zaccheus feel?
3. What was the result of Jesus’ loving approach to Zaccheus?
4. How can we approach others with love the same way?

Just for fun: The best trick-or-treater we had on Friday was a little three-year-old girl dressed as a cat.  Her mom and dad walked her up our driveway where we gave her a glow bracelet, sticker, and package of goldfish.  I asked the little kitty if she could meow, and she smiled devilishly as if to say, “You mean I get to pretend I am a cat?!?!”  I mewed.  She mewed back.  I mewed twice, and she mimicked me to perfection.  This literally went on for two minutes.  Her parents, chuckling, slowly pulled her down the driveway, and the little cat was mewing the entire way.  It was beyond adorable.

Just for fun part II: My oldest son came by to trick-or-treat with the rest of his 9^th grade friends.  The five of them were the Saja Boys from the new hit movie, K Pop Demon Hunters, and my son had chosen to be Baby Saja.  They went ALL OUT!  Not only did each kid dress to perfection, emulating their assigned character, but they even choreographed a dance to the hit song “Soda Pop” and performed it on our driveway.  As much as I would love to post that video here, I am pretty sure my son would disown me if I did.  I may or may not be saving the video to show him on the day of his graduation.  Oh, how they mature through the years!

Prayer: Father, help us continue to not just dream about making our world a better place.  Guide us in DOING something about it.  Amen.