I'm Over Here Throwing Away Dryer Lint

Whew! It’s been a long time since I wrote a blog post. Maybe you’re thinking, “Shannon Cook. Wasn’t she a writer?” If you’re new here, let me introduce myself. I’m a mom of four in my mid-forties who tries to filter life and parenting through the lens of the Bible. I was a high school teacher for long time and began writing when I decided to stay home with my kids. What felt like an unwelcome homework assignment -starting a blog to build platform, turned into something very special to me. I vowed to use my writing to encourage others to live a life of meaning and for about five years, I did that.

About a year ago, some things changed in my life. I got a call after the school year started. A school about 35 minutes away needed a theatre teacher. Since most of the local theatre teachers were already contracted for the year, they were asking me to leave my comfortable, “stay-at-home” life to get back into the classroom. My family and I laughed about it for a while, but this urge to say “yes” got the best of me. The process took a little longer than expected, so in my mind, I kind of moved on thinking, “remember that time when I thought about going back to teaching?” But the next thing I know, I was in a meeting with the principal.

I don’t really know how to describe my experience but to say it was a great adventure. I never thought much about continuing past my one year there. It was a bear of a commute and much of the burden of getting people out the door and to afternoon activities fell on my very busy husband. It was a lovely theatre department with amazing students, but it was also so steeped in tradition I felt it was impossible to leave much of a mark there. I proceeded, knowing my time in the school would be fleeting. My motto became “no season is wasted” and I looked for ways to connect with students and staff -to make the most of my time in the building. And, of course, God didn’t waste the season. He blessed me in ways I never thought possible in those few months.

One quick story. One student of mine didn’t really fit the mold of the others in this  upper-middle class school. He was perfectly kind to me, but if he hadn’t showed up one day and the kids said he was in prison, I would’t have been all that surprised. Over time, I felt his tough exterior falling away as he shared with me some of the struggles he had at home. One day, he and a friend stuck around after class to talk to me about Jesus. He wanted to go to church with his grandparents to honor them, but their church services were really long and he didn’t like going. He asked me how to find a church. It was a simple request and I was happy to help him identify what he’s looking for. All the while, I was thanking God for giving me the opportunity to share Him with a hurting kid I never would have crossed paths with previously.

Teaching full-time meant I had to put certain things on the back burner for the year. One of them was writing my blog. I wanted to continue with it, but all of my creativity was going to writing lesson plans. And when I sat down to write, I found myself distracted and void of ideas. In a lot of ways, going back to teaching after 10 years (almost to the day) felt like coming home. But stepping away from spending my days writing caused me to feel like I didn’t really know myself anymore. I shed so many tears contemplating this paradox, but I held onto the idea that this was a season and I felt God was walking me into it for some reason and I chose to trust Him.

I remember talking with a colleague who I was beginning to feel a closeness with. She shared that she was a Christian and it was so strange to me to have to say, “I am too,” because so much of my identity over the past few years had been as a Christian blogger and author. I couldn’t remember a time in recent memory where I had to tell someone I was a Christ follower. But God blessed those conversations -with her, other teachers, and even some students. I had used my computer to talk about Jesus for years, but God was taking me out of my comfort zone (and my yoga pants) into the classroom and, well, jeans. Schools have become much less dressy since the last time I taught. (Hallelujah!)

It truly took me most of the summer to process the year. And it took some time to get organized at home again. I remember reading a book years ago about a teacher who left most big household jobs for the summer including throwing away dryer lint! She literally had a pile of lint that collected all school year until summer when she had the extra margin to remove it. I can’t remember anything else about that book beyond that one scene, but it stuck with me. That’s an extreme example, but there are a lot of things that get put aside when you’re running a mile a minute for months at a time.

All this to say, “I’m back!” I’m looking forward to writing more, doing more school visits for my book, planning school visits for my daughter, who’s also an author. I’m also looking forward to building stronger community and reconnecting with my family in ways I couldn’t before. I’m so thankful for the journey God has taken me on in the past year. I wouldn’t trade it, but I’m also happy to be back home. If you’re looking for some encouragement in your inbox weekly, I hope you’ll subscribe. See you next week.

Blessings,

Shannon