It's All Good

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Today was report-card day in our school. It's a day all the students look forward to, even if for the most part they know what their individual grades are. This being the first report card of the year also brings with it a kind of mixed review with those who have great grades wondering if they can keep up the pace for the rest of the year, and those who have less than acceptable grades wondering what they need to do to do better.

Being directly involved with some of our kids I know where they stand as far as grades are concerned. I can tell by the look on some of their faces that they feel badly about what they've done so far. Those who feel comfortable with me come to let me know how they feel, and I console or congratulate them the best I can. However, I feel being honest with them at this point in the year works best; so I get honest.

I tell those who are doing well to keep up the good work, and when it seems like things are getting difficult, remember that there are many people who want them to succeed. I warn them there will be times when they want to quit, when it all gets overwhelming, and those are the moments to know, without a doubt, we are all here to get them through it.

With those students who didn't fare well I have really one thing to say: "We tried to tell you what you needed to do in order to pass." I tell them the things we guided them towards, the things which we suggested, the things which we said were the keys to succeed in the classroom are the things they really should have done in the last quarter. But, and I emphasize the "but", going forward we want them to know that the choices they make have to better and, also emphasizing the "and", going forward they need to understand that we are all here to help them succeed.

Sometimes in our life we forget that there are people who tried to help us, people who told us that the path we're on may not be the best one for our life's journey. It's only when we feel as though our lives are on a downward spiral that we seek these people out. maybe we do so to see if they still can help, maybe we do so because we want to know if they will gloat. Whatever the reason, we seek them out because somewhere deep inside we know they were right, and we hope they are still willing to get us through the darkness.

Paul answered God's call to tell people what he absolutely knew was the truth. Paul tried to help people understand that it's through the unity of all people under one love that together, together, we help each other find the peaceful joy Jesus Christ came to show us. That's a good message to share.