In God We Trust

By Crystal Drake

In 2018, the Florida legislature passed a law that requires all public schools to display our national motto.  I recently visited a high school that has complied and posted the picture on my social media.  So far, I have received 225 positive responses and 14 shares.  This blog is a response to the popularity of that post.  (225 means viral in my little world!) 

This motto may not be posted on our schools (yet), but trusting God has always been in the forefront of American schools.  Even when schools were directed to stop having institutionalized morning prayers – parents, students, maintenance staff, custodial staff, teachers’ aides, substitutes, lunchroom workers, counselors, secretaries, teachers, and administrators were all still praying on public school campuses.  Kids were praying in the lunchroom before eating, students were reading their Bibles during mandatory silent reading times, students were studying the Bible during school sponsored Fellowship of Christian Athletes meetings or during World History classes, taking school buses to FCA events where prayer is freely demonstrated on public school campuses through football camps to abstinence education. Students have been taking public school buses to secular movie theaters to watch Christian movies. Teachers have walked the rows in their classrooms and prayed over the environment and stopped at certain desks where their most challenging students sat and offered up specific prayers for that child.  I even know teachers who have lead students to Christ during lunch.  I know teachers who give up their free lunch period, weeknights and weekends to hold FCA meetings and answer questions that students are afraid to ask their parents. And I’m talking about public schools!

Please, don’t dismay because you haven’t seen these words in your kids’ school yet – those of us in education, have ALWAYS had trust in God, otherwise, it would be almost impossible to even make it through one week.  We have known that ‘with God all things are possible’ (Matthew 19:26).  That’s why we are still in there fighting for children, even the ones that make us want to pull our hair out!  I can’t wait for my own district to officially post those words on the walls of our schools, but it’s really a declaration to those on the outside, because those of us in the trenches have always known its truth.

I want to give you some ideas of how you can help.  1 – If you are against abortion, find some young preteen girls and boys to minister to through an abstinence program.  Support it financially or give a presentation about your life and the mistakes you made.  Don’t just say abortion is horrific – do something tangible to keep young girls from getting pregnant in the first place.  Your local FCA chapter supports these programs.  2 – If you think school violence is on the rise (and if you don’t, you haven’t been watching the news), volunteer to work on improving the mental health services in your area.  I recently learned that the shooter in Parkland, FL had been referred to mental health services at the age of three!  There are many hurting children walking the halls of our schools every day that need help and encouragement.  Try mentoring one.  3 – Work on federal and state legislation that reprimands schools for disciplining students with disabilities, which makes schools reluctant to punish inappropriate behavior or remove students who may be a danger to themselves or others.  4 – Work on legislation that makes identifying a student as a bully, result in a mountain of paperwork for administrators, which results in overworked, stressed out people, being reluctant to identify them.  5 – Pray for everyone in education from D.C. down to the local schools to realize how vitally important their role is in improving our education system.  You’d better believe ‘In God We Trust!”

What I Learned from a 14 Year Old This Week

My friend received an email from her son’s middle school teacher this week.  This was part of the message:  …I wanted to thank you for raising such a nice young man and let you know of your son’s admirable behavior yesterday.  A student in class was very loudly disrespectful to me and your son spoke up and told that boy, “Don’t talk to her like that.”  The email went on to say that the other students took their attention away from the disrespectful student and noticed more that her son had had the courage to be an ‘upstander’.

As I read the words of the email, I was proud and ashamed all at once.  I was super proud of my friend’s child because he’s an amazing young man, but at the same time, I was ashamed of myself.  Many situations ran through my mind of times when I had simply sat by and not addressed inappropriate behavior.  Of course, as a classroom teacher, I had certainly done so.  But when it comes to my peers and my family, I have often pretended I just didn’t see or hear, or simply walked away not knowing how to respond, just trying to keep the peace. So I asked myself, “Why didn’t you speak up?”  My answer was, I was fearful that I might lose a friend, or push someone’s buttons and send them into a rage, or lose a relationship with someone that I loved deeply and possibly run them out of my life forever.  When I realized that the root of those decisions was fear, I recognized that I had been deceived into believing that peace was more important than truth.  No decision made out of fear, unless it’s something ridiculous, like skydiving or riding a bull, should be made because of fear.  I hate fear and all that it represents.  I know where it comes from and I absolutely agree with the song lyrics by Zach Williams that so perfectly “calls out” fear by saying, “Fear is a Liar!”  It’s a great song, by the way.

1 John 4:18 says, “Perfect love casts out all fear”.  If we sincerely love people, we need to stand up to them when we see them doing wrong.  Maybe we shouldn’t do it at the exact moment, but later on, in private…in love.  We don’t genuinely love people if we don’t want to help them grow.  2 Timothy 1:7 states, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”  Many years ago, I was an instructional aide at an elementary school.  One day, one of the teachers I worked with, made a first grade student cry.  The student ran over to me and grabbed me around the legs sobbing, desperately seeking my help.  I was heartbroken for the child, because from my perspective, the teacher was the one with the inappropriate behavior.  I went back to the teacher several days later (that’s how long it took me to muster up the courage to have a conversation that I knew wasn’t going to go well). I  privately let her know that I didn’t approve of how she treated the child.  Needless to say, she very quickly put me in my place by reminding me that I worked under her supervision and had no right to question anything she said or did in HER classroom.  The years went by, I became a teacher, and we would occasionally bump into each other; we usually both tried to avoid one another.  But eventually, after many more years went by, we were able to produce small talk with one another again, and I think she forgave me for getting ‘out of my lane’.  I forgave her when I went through menopause and playfully (??) choked my own teacher’s aide one day in class instead of a student (sorry Carolyn)!  I guess maybe I was out of line.  But, I can truthfully say, I have never regretted that confrontation.  I knew in my heart that it was the right thing to do and that maybe, as awkward as it was, that conversation might save another child from mistreatment.  However, after that incident, for many years, I was reluctant to confront others because I knew what it could do to a relationship.  But today, I am inspired, by a kid named Gabe, who by the way isn’t exactly perfect.  His mom just texted me that she had to scream at him three times to get out of bed this morning.  Come on mom, being a voice against evil is exhausting work…but, it’s the crystal clear choice

Washing Machines Should Be Inside the House!

“Help! Help! Let me out!” I screamed, as the sweat began to pour down my face.  Anger was slowly rising in me like a pot of boiling water.  We lived in a ‘tiny house’ before ‘tiny houses’ were cool!  So, my husband built a nice little shed in the back yard as a laundry room/tool shed, and I spent lots of time walking back and forth doing laundry.

One hot summer day, I was moving clothes from the washer to the dryer and putting in a new load of clothes.  My husband came in the shed, got something and left.  He, my daughter and new grandbaby were in the house.  When I finished and started back to the house, I pushed on the door and it wouldn’t open.  I pushed again – nothing.  As I looked through the crack I could see that my husband had bolted the door shut on the outside.  He absent-mindedly forgot that I was inside…or so he said!  I began banging on the door and screaming, but no one came to my rescue.  After several minutes of screaming and knocking, I realized they couldn’t hear me, so I sat down and waited.  I thought that after a few minutes they would miss me and come to check.  Didn’t happen!  So finally, after what seemed like hours in the hot shed, I began to panic, thinking I’d be stuck there the rest of my life!  I looked around for a tool.  I found a circular saw and figured out how to turn it on.  I tried to cut a hole through the door near the bolt so I could reach my hand through and free myself.  But, the saw kept jerking like a jackhammer and knocking me backward every time I tried to put the blade against the plywood door.  I was finally able to cut a line about 4 inches long, but realized that my plan of creating the hole in the door was hopeless.  I sat down again and I was really getting mad by this point.  Inside, my daughter said to my husband, “Mom must be building something or hanging a shelf out in the shed, I hear the saw!” Finally, I heard a dog barking, someone was walking down the road in front of the house and our dogs were going crazy.  My husband stepped outside to yell at the dogs and I seized the moment to bang on the door and yell again.  A few seconds later, he sheepishly unlatched the door and…needless to say, I went crazy on him!!!  Yep, I was angry.

James 1:19-20 says this:  “Understand this, my beloved brethren, Let every man be quick to hear (a ready listener), slow to speak, slow to take offense and to get angry, For man’s anger does not promote the righteousness God (wishes and requires).”  As professing Christians, unrestrained anger is a bad reflection on God.  It makes us appear weak and lacking self-control.  The scriptures about anger must be embedded in our minds and ready to be applied at a moment’s notice…like when you’re locked in your shed and it’s 110 degrees! Scripture isn’t just a bunch of wise words written a long time ago.  It actually contains supernatural power when it is APPLIED in our lives.  Knowing the words isn’t enough, memorizing isn’t enough, it’s actually applying the words to our everyday situations that makes them powerful.  The crystal clear choice was to control my anger and laugh about my husband’s patterned behavior to lock the door when he left the shed and to choose to believe it was an “accident”.

Granted, there are times when anger is justified, as Jesus himself displayed anger when the temple was being used as a marketplace and when people were just being hard headed.  There are also times when we are being mentally or physically abused, when anger is justified.  It’s okay to defend yourself or others against abuse, but not in anger.  If your response to mistreatment is given in anger, you take the spotlight off of the original wrong and the attention shifts to your wrong response.  When anger is your ‘go to’, people withdraw from you.  The proverbial ‘walking on eggshells’ becomes a reality in your home. Make a decision today that the next time circumstances activate anger in you, you are waiting for its arrival with these words in hand, “Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end” Proverbs 29:11.  Don’t be a fool, but put a stackable washer/dryer combo in a closet inside your house just in case!

Don’t Let Your Children Run Away!

Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi on Pexels.com

“I’m going to run away,” I cried!

“Go ahead, I’ll help you pack your bags,” she responded.

Those words still echo in my soul sometimes.  As an adult, I understand now that they were meant as sarcasm…I think!  But as a child, they hit me like a bullet going straight through a little girl’s heart.  I was a child who lived with my grandparents most of my life beginning at one month old, but off and on, when I was in 4th – 7th grade, I did part of that time with my mom.

There was always a sense of not being wanted that loomed around me like a dark cloud.  If I misbehaved at one home, I was told, “Well, you can just go back and live with your grandparents if you don’t like my rules.” Or “We’ll send you back to your mother if you don’t behave.”  So I learned how to be a ‘good girl’ so that I would be allowed to stay. 

“The tongue has the power of life and death…”(Proverbs 18:21).  If we don’t believe that words have power, we are going to hurt others and be hurt numerous times in our lives; so many people sling powerful words around like a loaded shotgun shooting holes in the walls without even realizing all the damage they are causing.  I’m certain I’ve been guilty of this myself.  When hurtful words come at us like fiery darts, we’d better put up our shields. If not, we’ll be walking around injured for decades, without even realizing that there were some painful words that we internalized that created that still touchy scar. 

Be careful how you talk to others, especially children.  Let them know that they are important and that even if you are aggravated with their behavior – you love and care for them as a human being and that they are not only wanted, but cherished.  There are many words I spoke to my children that I wish I could rescind, thank goodness for God’s grace that has covered so many of my mistakes.

However, we can learn to apply the scripture that says, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” (Genesis 50:20).  So, years later when my own children shouted, “I’m going to run away!”  I gently replied, “Please don’t do that, I don’t want you to leave.”  That was one battle the enemy lost when he tried to engage me again.  I didn’t repeat the generational “pack your bags” line.  No…I drew a line in the sand and ended that curse and so can you.  Take what the enemy has hurt you with and turn it around and use it against him in Jesus’ name!  In education, we call that using a non-example!

Mother-In-Laws!


I figured that title would pull in some new readers.  It’s a slippery slope to talk about the “in laws” isn’t it?  I think all of us want the approval of our mothers-in-law.  You know, it IS their ‘baby girl’ princess or ‘perfect in every way’ baby boy that you’ve stolen!

Before I even begin, let me give a disclaimer, I love my mother-in-law.  If it weren’t for her, I would have never made almost 40 years of marriage.  She talked me off the ledge and out of divorce court multiple times in the early days of my wedded bliss and for that, I am forever thankful.  However, she doesn’t own a computer, so I know that she’ll never read this, unless one of you throw me under the bus.  And then there’s the fact that I AM a mother-in-law myself and I’m certain there have been times that I’ve said the wrong words.  So Erin (she reads my blogs) and Tuyl, please forgive me for my past and future mistakes.  I love you both and couldn’t be prouder of who my children chose to marry.  You are both amazing parents and spouses to my ‘perfect in every way’ boy and my ‘baby girl’ princess!

Now that that’s out of the way, I feel compelled to share my latest revelation that occurred because of a can of turnip greens!  God sometimes shows up with lessons in the strangest places.  For over 40 years, I have tried to gain the approval of my mother-in-law and yesterday it finally hit me like a brick…I don’t need it!  And truthfully, she probably doesn’t even realize that I’ve been desperately longing to hear her say that she is proud of me, of my marriage, of my children, or of our accomplishments.  In fact, in her defense, she has spoken words of approval over the years, but they were never enough to fill my obviously empty tank, that was probably caused by a childhood of not feeling wanted.  I’m throwing away that tank today and I’m taking her off the hook!  I have the approval of the Creator of the universe – why do I need the approval of another sojourner?

Some people have so much emotional pain and baggage of their own, that they can’t even recognize the needs of those around them.  They are empty themselves, yet we expect them to fill our needs.  So what do we do with these ‘toxic’ people in our lives?  We work with them, they’re our neighbors, or maybe even family members.  Do we simply give a cold shoulder and ignore or avoid them?  Do we put up our guard when we have to be around them and resolve that no matter what they say or do, we WILL NOT allow it to hurt us or get under our skin…yet again?  I’ve tried these tactics and others and they never seem to work.  So I asked myself the obvious cliché’  – what would Jesus do?  I remembered that Jesus called Peter (his dear friend) Satan and then told him to get behind him that he was a stumbling block. This shows me that even those who follow Jesus can be the mouthpiece of our enemy.  So, I’ve decided to try something new.  When I get around anyone who brings out the worst in me:  anger, a sense of rejection, guilt, depression, judgment, etc., I am going to laugh.  I’ve realized that I am allowing them to control me and steal my joy.  I have become their puppet; you and I need to cut those strings and quit dancing for them.  Ecclesiastes 3:4 says, “There is a time to laugh” – I think this is a perfect time to laugh at Satan and the old approval addicted me. 

We are called to love one another, not to constantly seek their approval.  We must hold on to our joy and peace at all cost, because that joy drives us to the next step in the journey and plan that God has for our lives.  So love your mother-in-law or your own mother or your neighbor or your boss, but NEVER allow anyone to take your focus off of Jesus.  So the next time someone else’s words hit a raw place in your soul like, “These aren’t the kind of turnip greens I wanted!” – try laughing at the failed attempt to steal your peace.  “She is clothed with strength and dignity and she laughs without fear of the future” (Proverbs 31:25). 

Get Up & Defend Your Home!

“Get up, get up, defend your home; the Redcoats are coming!”  These are the famous words of Paul Revere and Thomas Dawes as they rode through the colonies warning the Minutemen of the incoming British soldiers.  It’s also the words my grandfather, who took me in at one month old, and raised me in his home, spoke daily.  I woke to these words and the smell of bacon frying every morning.  It was an endearing phrase to me, as they came from the wise old man who seldom spoke.  In fact, it’s one of the few things I can remember him saying to me.  (I’ll share the other one sometime in the future).  Anyway, back to the ranch, I decided to pass the tradition to my own two children.  So every morning I woke them with, “Get up, get up, defend your home; the Redcoats are coming!”  One morning, my sleepy eyed son groggily asked, “Mom, who are the Raincoats?”  Needless to say, a short history lesson followed and the seed was planted that eventually lead me to become a high school history teacher.

This morning, February 9, 2019, I woke up and spoke these words to myself (not aloud, of course).  But nevertheless, I thought of them as an inner motivation to get myself out of my cozy bed.  The scripture that came to me was the one about the roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.  I looked it up for accuracy:  “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”  (1 Peter 5:8).  In my analogy, the Redcoats are the adversary, although I love the British people today, prior to the American Revolution, they were not so cherished by many of our colonial ancestors. 

As Christians, if we think that our enemies will simply leave us alone – we are sadly mistaken.  Once we begin trying to become more intimate with God and live the lives we were created to live – there is resistance, distraction, fear… the roaring lion.  We must realize that we are called to defend our territory:  our minds, our health, our homes, our children, our friends, our communities, our governments, and ultimately our world.  Yet, this epic battle begins in our actions and homes on a daily basis.  When thoughts of fear or disappointment or rejection begin to invade our peaceful minds – we must defend ourselves.  When our health is threatened, or our friends are facing difficulties, or our children or grandchildren are faltering – we must take action. The Bible teaches us that our weapons aren’t guns or spears or the muskets used by the Minutemen.  The scripture puts it this way:  “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:14-18).  To simplify this – we must live our lives based on the truths we find in the Word, we must realize that we aren’t perfect, but Jesus was, and He covers our imperfections.  We must believe that God’s love is more powerful than evil – that requires faith.  We must willingly give God entry into our lives, not just once at an altar, but daily.  Then, we must use the Word as our guideline as we deal with the daily issues in our lives – relationships, health, wealth, and entertainment…everything! 

So my dear friends, “Get up, get up, defend your home; the Redcoats are coming!”  But remember the rest of the story of the American Revolution, the underdogs won!  And because of their willingness to fight against the giants in the world at that time – you and I are Americans.  In the words of Lin Manuel Miranda, “Rise up, rise up, it’s time to take a shot.”

Tidy Up Your Thoughts

I have currently been mesmerized by the Marie Kondo phenomenon.  She’s written books and even has a Netflix show on organizing your home.  However, her process includes an unusual way of getting one’s home ‘tidy’, not necessarily clean, but tidy.  Everything in your home must be analyzed and then either given or thrown away OR kept and stored so that its owner can truly appreciate the item.   She recommends starting with clothing; students are instructed to place ALL of their clothes in a huge pile on the bed or floor.  She says one needs to see the sheer volume of their possessions before beginning to decide which items to keep.  Kondo describes the procedure by telling her students to hold the item and ask if it brings joy.  Is there a thrill as the item is touched, is it truly loved, does it spark  joy?  If the answer is yes, the item must be kept and a special home for the item must be created.  If, however, there are no positive feelings associated with the item, it must go immediately.

As I contemplated this process, I thought about our minds, our thought lives and emotions, and I began to compare them to the items in our homes.  I wondered if the same strategies could be used to declutter our thinking patterns and emotions.  “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report;  if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”  Philippians 4:8

Imagine this scenario…begin by taking all of your thoughts and putting them on the table in front of you so that you can see the sheer volume of thoughts and emotions you own – both the positive and negative.  For example, the jealousy you feel when someone else gets something you desperately want and you cover it up with a smile that is so insincere you feel like a contortionist.  The envy of seeing other people succeed while you don’t seem to be making any progress.  The insecurity you feel when someone belittles you or your ideas and you want to slither out under the rug quickly and quietly.  The guilt you experience when you remember something from your past that always seems to be lurking in the back corner of your mind waiting on its chance to jump to the forefront.  The frustration you feel rising within you, like water coming to a boil on the stove, when your customer service experience makes you feel as if you’re an imposition instead of a paying consumer.  But don’t forget to put the good thoughts on the table too, like the joy you feel when a child embraces you and you feel so accepted.  The pure joy that overwhelms you when your family sits down together to eat and talk and laugh, as if nothing else is going on in the world that deserves your attention in those moments.  The satisfaction you feel when you finally reach a goal you worked hard to achieve and you realize the sacrifices were worth the reward.  The love you feel for a beloved spouse who knows all your flaws, yet still chooses to be with you.  Now…once they are all out on the table, pick each one up and hold it in your hands.  Ask yourself, “Does this thought or feeling bring me joy?”  If so, fold it neatly and store it vertically in your mind so that you can quickly find it when needed, Marie Kondo style. If not, say goodbye, knowing that you received some satisfaction from that feeling somewhere in your past, but now you’ve grown and you realize you don’t need that with you anymore.  

This is the process we all need to go through so that we can focus on what our Creator intended, before we allowed too many ‘things’ to crowd our minds.  We are loved and accepted and we need not dwell on thoughts that don’t bring us joy.  Thank you Marie Kondo, for not only helping me get my house tidied up, but for reminding me that if I keep only those thoughts and feelings that align with the Word of God and get rid of the others, I will be full of real joy.  The unspeakable joy that only Jesus Christ can bring.