Being in control

So often times I have come in contact with people that I have to always be in control of  everything. It has to be their way or they get upset. Life is not all about having it your way. You need to think about others as well. Sometimes being in control of it all hurts others. 

I worked with a teacher once that had to have everything their way. I can remember one time when our schedule was changed she freaked out. Got upset about it. This teacher got upset at anytime the schedule would get changed. I don't think that she liked change at all. 

I went to a church once were this one couple in the church was basically let to be in charge of everything. If something went wrong or something happened to upset their order of things they would get upset. I can remember once that some of the ladies in church decided to have a good by lunch for the pastor who was leaving their church. They didn't consult the couple and boy did they get mad. The lunch was canceled because the couple really didn't like the pastor. 

My advice to people like this is to get over it. You don't have to be in control of everything. Someone once told me that if a person has to be in control of everything then they are covering something up. A person needs to start by getting control of their lives before they start to control others. 

If you have to have control of everything then people will start to resent you. You will lose friends and people will not want to be around you. 

My opinion is that the only person that really should be in control is God. If he is not in control of things then there is something wrong. God has to be in control for things to work.  

I have noticed that a lot of people that want to be in control don't have God in their lives. They push him away. They even push people away that believe in God. That is just wrong. They need to let God in before it is too late. They will self destruct without him.

So if you are one that has to have total control I urge you to take a step back. Evaluate the situation. Get control of your life and then let God take control of the rest. Things will be better that way.

Structure vs. Control

Have you ever wondered why some teachers have great classes and others maybe should reconsider their profession? It all stems down to the idea of structure vs control. Structure is about having a schedule, a routine, and making a great learning environment. It also has to do with the placement of furniture and how discipline is handled. Sometimes teachers can go beyond this and make it about being in complete control.

Complete control is when a teacher has to tell the students how to do exactly everything that they do. For example in a Preschool Classroom the teacher tells the students what they have to do at each center during center time. When the students don't follow the teacher's directions the teacher ends up getting very upset and loosing control.

A teacher that has to be in complete control of the classroom looses sight of what matters and that is teaching the students. It turns into all about them. They get very upset when things don't go their way. They get upset when their order is disrupted. These teachers refuse to take help from others. When they get into trouble they are apt to blame others for the problems.

A Preschool Teacher had the nature to have to be in control of everything and everyone. He planned the day of herself, each of his students, and his aide down to the very second. At Center Time he gave assignments of what to do at each center. He even made the students sign in to each center by putting up sticks on signs. At inside recess time he made the students sign into the centers with sticks. He was so obsessed with being in control that he  wrote down everything that the aide was to do at every second of the day.

This continued to happen for awhile until parents got concerned that they not receiving their children academic work each day. Parents called the school to complain about the fact that it seemed that the teacher was more concerned about  doing art work than doing academic work. An investigation was done and it was decided that things in the room would have to change. This teacher got very upset because what they had decided was going to happen suddenly had to change without their control.

The teacher took it out on the aide. In the end it cost the teacher their job. You see the teacher had lost focus. They were so fixated on being in control of things that they forgot what their job was. They forgot to teach. They were more concerned with control than they were anything else.

Having classroom structure is one thing, but when it becomes a need to be in control then it is out of hand. No teacher should have to control everything that goes on in their classroom every second of the day.

If a teacher has to control every second of the day in their classroom then they need help. They need also to find another line of work.

So please if you go into the teaching profession please make sure you know the difference between structure and control before it is too late.

All Saints' Day

Traditionally in the church year the day after Halloween is called All Saints' Day. It is a day to remember those that have gone before us to live in Heaven. A friend of mine told me that at her church they read the names of those that passed in the during the past year and then ring the church bell for each name. I like that idea.

This morning I got to thinking about people in my life that have passed who I would consider saints on earth during their lives. My Mom was one of those people. She had a good heart. She was always helping someone. She taught me the importance of the power of prayer.

Then there was my Aunt Virginia. She always said to never give up in prayer. She would pray often for those that she knew who needed to get saved until they did. I was one of those such people. She was such a loving person.

I could think of others too who lived a life of a saint on earth. All have had an impact on my life. They have in some way shaped me into the Christian that I am today.

Who has shaped your Christian walk? Think about them on this All Saints' Day and thank God for them.