Some of my biggest life-lessons have come as a result of working for a few years with Special Ed pre-schoolers. As a 48 year old with a full-time job, a published author and a mother of 3 almost-grown children, that’s saying something. The “something” that it says is that at my core, I still need the simplicity of pre-school principles in order to address my emotional, relational and spiritual challenges. If I ever master the basics, Iâll be sure to let you know.
So, without further ado, I bring you another entry of âEverything I Need to know I Learned in Special-Ed Preschoolâ.
I tell you what, itâs been about 4 years since I worked at that school and I can still picture their adorable faces and hear their tiny voices in my head. One life-skill we worked very intentionally to teach them is the importance of making good choices. We regularly said to them, about a thousand times in a 2 hour time frame, âMake good choicesâ and accompanied that instruction with a smile and symbolic âthumbs upâ.
It occasionally made a difference, but it also took tattling to a whole different level. I distinctly remember a little boy finding me during play time and proudly informing me that so-and-so had made a âbad choiceâ, accompanied with a symbolic âthumbs downâ gesture. Bless his precious pre-school heartâŚ
This weekend, out of the blue (or maybe not so much, since I was thinking not-loving thoughts about and being extra critical of myself), I had a revolutionary thought. Remember the days (sadly, a fad that has waned a bit) when people wore WWJD? bracelets and put said stickers on their cars? It is an acronym for âWhat Would Jesus Do?â. And regardless of what you believe about him in a spiritual/salvation sense, I think most of us can agree that if we could indeed model our life and love patterns after Jesus, we would be pretty darn pleasant people. So, back to my revolutionary thought: maybe it would be a better practice to ask myself WWJT — âWhat Would Jesus Think?â because my brain has a hard time deciding what exactly Jesus would do. Would he really work-out or tan or spend $5 on a coffee drink or kill time by wandering through Target? Itâs a confusing question for me (like I said, I learn a lot from pre-schoolers so that should make perfect sense to you) — but what I am fairly certain I can answer âyesâ or ânoâ to is about what kind of thoughts I allow myself to entertain. Itâs one thing for a thought to come through my mind, but whether I choose to let it in again or ruminate on it should depend on my answer to that question.
In other words, or in pre-school lingo, that means I have to “make good thought-choicesâ. Not that I am in the clear entirely about my not-so-nice thoughts about others, but I have found that my most destructive and anti-like-Jesus thinking is more about my thoughts about myself.
In fact, even when my negative thoughts start off being about others, they usually circle back around to me (the EGO is a powerful monster). When I have jealous or covetous thoughts about another person’s success at work or their material possessions, the root of those thoughts goes back to me feeling like somehow I have failed or donât measure up. My thoughts quickly beat and batter myself over my perceived failure. I have a hundred more examples, but I think you get my point.
But most of all, it is worth posing the “WWJT? Question” to all the self-thoughts that cycle through my head minute by minute. I think part of the reason this idea was triggered in me this weekend was because I sang at church. I regularly doubt myself and my talents, comparing them to others who seem to be more confident and blessed with more natural vocal abilities. Thatâs when it occurred to me that these were not thoughts that I believe Jesus would have about himself.
I canât imagine that Jesus would tell himself that he stunk at what he was doing or that he wasnât as good as that person so he might as well quit. I donât believe he would complain about the body God had blessed him with or whine because his Father didnât answer his prayers the way he expected him to or in the time slot he felt would work best for everyone.
And hereâs a good one, I donât believe Jesus would worry in his mind about what his employer or co-workers think of him. He would do his best and forget the rest. What they thought of him ultimately had no bearing on his calling.
I donât even believe he would stress about what other people believe about him or if was who he said he was, knowing that they are in the hands of God himself who desires that each person should have an intimate relationship with Him. He just focused on loving God and loving people. He probably didnât spend time obsessing about his problems, telling himself that things usually turn out bad for him so why bother expecting God to show up. Pretty sure he didnât have thoughts like I often do: âIâm so stupid-lazy-forgetful-insensitive-worthlessâ. And this haunting thought that I am not enough (not spiritual enough, not thin enough, not smart enough, not tidy enough, not attentive enough, not serving enough, etc.) is not something I imagine he would entertain.
If I can learn to catch myself quickly, as all my thoughts creep in, and ask myself WWJT?, I just might be able to finally give myself a break. Maybe I can relax and trust God for my well-being, my affirmation and my identity. Maybe I can learn from Jesusâ way of thinking, how to think kinder, gentler thoughts about myself and my world.
What do ya think? Time for another kind of bracelet? WWJT? đ¤
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