Teaching is not a glamor job. People do not go into teaching to make money. Most people go into teaching because they want to make a difference. They want to touch the future. They want their lives to matter. They feel called.
That, in and of itself, is a noble thing, but too often this call is torpedoed by reality, change, and bureaucracy. Of late, societal pressures of COVID-19, political astigmatism, a strained economy, mental health crises, and even gun violence have piled on more stress so that a career that begins with an honorable calling sometimes sinks into mediocrity, even survival.
Many workers are hopeless, who, having endured cuts after cuts, are doing much more with much less. Left to our own devices, one can endure for only so long, for when hope gets dimmer and dimmer and the negative keeps choking the good, it’s hard to arrive fresh and unburdened each morning to face our charges.
The Christian faith is supposed to be practiced beyond Sunday worship, but often Sunday peace and joy are pushed aside and bullied by the anxiety and stress that is so prevalent in workplaces today. Called and Equipped was born of a need that was inspired by long, frustrating, and harried days as a teacher navigating the rough seas of public school while trying to maintain some semblance of a faithful Christian in practice.
