Amanda Bugard leads a wonderful class of preschoolers. If you ever have the opportunity to jump in on one of her lessons, you won't regret it. This is her calling, by God and it shows in her everyday work!
I am a preschool teacher and the truth is, I am totally academically unqualified to work as a preschool teacher! But it is that lack of qualification to be in the position that God called me to be in that is a constant reminder to trust in His enabling and refining power! To know for sure that God will put one foot in front of the other each day I come in. To know that even the difficult days shape me and give me a kingdom-minded perspective. In the past year of being a preschool teacher, I have realized this job is as much about God teaching me through them as it is about God teaching them through me!
And it is only by His strength and vision that I can handle the emotionally-draining, heart-wrenching, mentally-overwhelming responsibility of fulltime childcare. The struggle of being empathetic, supportive, calm and level in the midst of outbursts and meltdowns. The pressure of leading by example; that unbearable weight of knowing that everything I say and do is helping to shape the hearts and minds of all these little ones, for better or for worse. The impact of seeing the results of broken homes, crime, drugs and alcoholism on the vulnerable and powerless. The realization that for some of them, I might be the only stable, consistent person in their life. That for some of them, I might be the only one who will ever talk to them about Jesus.
“At the end of the day, it’s those gloriously simple, spontaneous moments of just talking to a four-year-old about the love of Jesus that give me enough joy to conquer an entire month of difficult days!”
So why am I doing what I do? In short, to be able to experience a life that forces me to focus on Christ, that causes me to be constantly growing, and to see the outcome of His enabling power in spite of all my weaknesses. To have endless opportunity to share the Love that he lavishes on me with others, to be used as a vessel in helping to shape the lives of kids who might not otherwise know their Savior, and to be a part of something bigger than myself and beyond myself.