Manure Happens: Embracing the Mess
You know those “aha” moments? That point where your view on an issue suddenly becomes clear, changing the lens through which you view it? I remember when a profound “aha” moment happened for me as an educator.
During the early years of my teaching career, I took deep pride in my ability to control the environment in my classroom with diligent classroom management skills. I loved watching learning groups transition to independent practice with a minimum of disruption. Students sitting upright while dutifully reciting key information made me glow with pleasure. Uplifting responses from students as one of their own delivered a public presentation made me smile with satisfaction. I would mentally give myself a pat on the back for all the lovely moments I had orchestrated in my ecosystem.
There was a problem with this scenario. What about the times when it didn’t flow that way? What about when a student had a meltdown and cruelly spouted off at a peer in the middle of a group project? What about the laughter when someone didn’t know an answer, leading to humiliation and anger? What about when a student cheated and lied about it? Did that mean I failed? Shouldn’t everything have worked smoothly every time if I was doing a good job as facilitator of my ecosystem? It wasn’t fair that these students were making a dirty mess of my ecosystem rather than producing a flowering bouquet of mature beauty.
My “aha” moment came when I realized that my students were messy people, with messy lives, who make messy choices…and that is good! What if I viewed these impositions on my daily educational outcomes as opportunities to get in the mud with these kids and work toward something redemptive and beautiful? What if I considered it a privilege that God would choose to use me in this process?
My “aha” moment came when I realized that my students were messy people, with messy lives, who make messy choices…and that is good!
I remember digging up plants with my grandmother as she shared some of her lovely flowers for me to use in my own yard. She had such healthy, beautiful flowers. As she sent me home, she reminded me, “Make sure you add plenty of manure to the soil. And, if you get some time, create a compost pile from broken eggshells, old coffee grounds and leaf litter. Turn the debris regularly so it can break down into the most amazing soil for your plants”. Could broken eggshells be an example of broken relationships among your students? Could old coffee grounds be messed up choices to cheat and lie about a test? Could leaf litter be the cruel laughter of one student at another?
Ugly behavior, messed up choices, hurt feelings, all stirred together in a way that creates opportunity for beauty.
More importantly, what if we were the debris turners; the ones who stirred all the mess in such a way that it created nutrients to enrich the soil, leading to healthy plants? Isn’t that an amazing thought? Ugly behavior, messed up choices, hurt feelings, all stirred together in a way that creates opportunity for beauty. Isn’t that exactly what God does with us? And to realize that God allows us to be part of that process for others. Amazing.
How do you accomplish this?
Recognize that you are a facilitator, rather than the author. You have a responsibility to create a thriving ecosystem, but you don’t own the plants. You don’t get to choose who walks into your classroom each day. 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for the man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”. Pray without ceasing to see your students through the eyes of God.
Expect the unexpected. Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans of man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand”. Be spiritually prepared for the opportunities that will come your way. Keep your heart in a stance of readiness to share the Gospel.
Remember the journey is long. Philippians 1:6 says, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ’”. There will be flourishing fruit, it may just take a while.
Students may forget most of the phenomenal lessons you constructed for them. They may forget the room transformations and group projects that you poured your time and effort into. They will never forget the way you helped them turn eggshells into character, coffee grounds into grit, leaf litter into compassion, and manure into spiritual miracle-gro. Find the beauty in the mess that walks into your classroom ecosystem, and consider it all joy.
They will never forget the way you helped them turn eggshells into character, coffee grounds into grit, leaf litter into compassion, and manure into spiritual miracle-gro.
