By Melissa McLaughlin

Dear God,

Please fill me.

Fill me with the joy of learning again.

Fill me with the wonder of new questions.

Fill me with enthusiasm for accomplishments large and small.

Fill me with patience, finding new ways to explain once more.

Fill me with love for each precious child, each miracle of life standing before me.

Fill me with energy to meet each day fully alive.

 

Fill me, oh God.

For without You, I will just be

another number on a data sheet,

empty words in a big room,

ideas lying dead with no heart,

the babbling voice of Charlie Brown’s teacher,

thoughts evaporating in the morning mist, long gone before the day is done.

 

Fill me so I can be more, more than just me.

Fill me so I can give and give and give again.

Fill me with Your heart, oh God.

 

For without You, there is not enough of me.

Without You there is

not enough love,

not enough grace,

not enough patience,

not enough passion,

not enough hope,

not enough strength.

 

So, fill me, oh God, fill me.

Fill me with Your soul, Your breath, Your Spirit, Your love.

Fill me, so I can teach again.

 

Photo © Melissa McLaughlin

Additional Resources

Prayer for Teachers by Crosswalk

Teacher Self Care Tips

Hidden There – Poem By Melissa McLaughlin