"Miss Christa, he hit me!!"

My boss is amazing.

I’m back working over Christmas break at the preschool where I spent the summer. It’s such a neat job. I’m in with 12 little three-year-olds and we just play all day long. We go outside, we make crafts, we have naptime and snacktime, we play with play-dough and somehow get it EVERYWHERE, we read stories, we watch Clifford and Veggietales, and we just hang out. Little kids are so loving, and they laugh all day long.

And yet,
My job is hard. No one likes to be told what to do, and little kids are no exception. It takes a whole lot of energy to go each day and be the one in authority, to be the one who punishes, to be the one who says, “No, we don’t treat our friends that way,” to be the administrator of justice when those little human beings come running up to me saying, “Miss Christa, he hit me!” or “Miss Christa, she took my toy!” except I didn’t actually see what happened, to be the one who insists they pick up after themselves when it’s ten times easier to just reach down and do it myself. It’s like ten thousand little battles that I go and fight every day trying to show my kids that I’m in charge and they’re going to do what I say.

Those kids certainly don’t like to be disciplined. But the strange thing is that their parents don’t like that either. For some reason, a large number of my little kid’s parents think their children are perfect. PERFECT. If they hear that I put their child in time-out, they flip out and think there must be something wrong with ME.

And then they call my boss and complain. And this happened recently. One “my child is perfect” parent called in and said some things that weren’t very nice. Now my boss is very discerning and she’s spent the past 3 decades of her life dealing with children and their parents, and after checking out the situation, she realized there wasn’t any truth to what the parent was saying.

But I felt like crap.

I go to work each day and love those little kids and try and teach them the difference between right and wrong, and how they can treat their friends, except it’s like NOBODY wants me to. I went to my boss and told her I didn’t think I was right for this job, and how I felt inadequate, and now this parent has made me feel really bad, and I’m trying to do right by these kids, but that it would be so much easier to give up.
But she
literally took my hand
and said I was wrong.
I’m behind you, Christa. I believe in you. I know this job is hard at times, but you can’t give up. I know you’re not perfect, but I watched you this summer with those kids, and I see how much you love them, I see how they run to you when you walk though the classroom door. Trust me, if I didn’t think that you were 100% right for this job, then you wouldn’t be here.

That makes me feel so much better. It doesn’t make anything easier, but knowing that my boss is my number one fan makes me feel stronger. As long as I’m doing what’s right, I shouldn’t be afraid of her, I should be excited that she’s on my side and she’ll stand up for me.

Suddenly I realized that’s a lot like how God is.

God isn’t a crazy lunatic boss who’s hovering over me with a checklist waiting to jump on my back the moment I mess up. He’s not a taskmaster who gives me more than I can handle so that I’ll fail. God is on MY side. He supports me. He wants to see me do well. As long as I’m doing what’s right, I shouldn’t be afraid of what he’ll do to me, I should be excited about what he’ll do for me.

Being a true radical Christian is hard. It’s not mainstream. It’s not what most people expect. It’s not always what’s easy. It’s this job I have where I’m called to reach out and be a friend to people, to sacrifice my time and interests to help others, to exhibit mercy and grace when I would rather just tell people how annoyed I am with them, to bite my tongue when I want to say something nasty about someone, to speak up about things even when it’s awkward and people won’t think I’m cool.

When the world is discouraging and disappointing, God
figuratively takes my hand
and tells me that it’s going to be okay.
I’m behind you, Christa. I believe in you. I know this job is hard. People are going to call and say mean things about you. People are going to hurt you. Life is going to seem really messed up. But you can’t give up. I want to see you succeed, I want the best for you. I’m not out to get you. I’m on your side. Keep trying, and I’ll be with you.

God is my number one fan. And that's enough for me.