Amy Scott's Thoughts

I am blessed to do what I love!

A lot of my summer focus at work has been preparing for my maternity leave in the fall. There are a lot of details to make sure are thought of and taken care of. I want Jeremy to be as prepared as possible for his sidekick, partner in crime and  administrative assistant to be gone. Part of this process has been finding someone to cover my Wednesday night class of girls for roughly 6-8 weeks. I love this class and I’m finding that even for 6-8 weeks, it’s hard for me to imagine missing that much of their lives and being away that long. However, I think it’s important to take a little time off right after having a baby…

I’m fairly certain that I have a plan in place for having the class covered, but I will be honest, it’s hard to get someone to commit to a weekly activity for 2 months. I started to think about why it’s so hard and while I came up with reasons, I still really don’t understand. The big picture started to come together for me as I thought this whole situation through. I have taught this 5th/6th grade class for 7 years. That means for 84 months, I been the teacher to this group on Wednesday nights. Every year we have a few Wednesdays off for holidays, but I’ve never taken a break – never taken a leave of absence – never a sabbatical. I think the most I’ve missed is 2-3 weeks in a row. For 84 months, I have been committed. I love this class and I will admit that I have deep ownership in it. It’s my favorite thing about ministry. The relationships that I build in that classroom extend way beyond those walls and those few years that I’m a “teacher” to those girls. I am blessed to be friends with many of the students I taught at the beginning.

I guess it’s a bit of a head scratcher for me why 2 months would seem daunting when I compare it to all the joy that 84+ months have given me. I’m not trying to brag or puff myself up as the super teacher. That is not the point. I just love this class so much. I can’t imagine giving it up. I can’t imagine not teaching these girls. I feel on mission and on call when I’m sharing about Jesus, God’s Word and what it means to be a Godly young lady. It’s just so important. They have good questions and they are struggling with hard stuff and these moments are precious and formative. The coolest thing is that God allows me to a part of their journey, even if just for a short while.

So yes, 2 months is a long time. I agree. Actually being out of the classroom that long will be hard on me. This class has been my “thing” for so long that it is taking some trust conversations between God and I. It’s never really been my class, it’s his. It’s not something great or special because of me. Someone else can and will do a great job with it. Letting go is hard, even if it’s for good reasons. Trusting that God will take  care of the girls while I am gone is a huge lesson for me and one I hope that I succeed at.

It just put things into perspective for me. When you love something, you give it 84 months of your life. You don’t quit, you don’t stop, you don’t look for something more glamorous or something that gives you more acclaim. I do it because I love those girls and because I love God and because I feel like I make him happy when I invest in these young ladies and that makes me happy. I would gladly serve another 84 months. It’s certainly has been time well spent!