“You were assigned this mountain to prove it could be moved.”

It was a motivational sticker found at the bottom of a goodie bag given out to seniors. While my son may not have given it a second look, I thought about that sticker a lot.

This year, I’ve been assigned a mountain. I’ve always had students with challenges, but this year, I’ve been given an exceptional class. I have more behavioral, emotional, and educational needs than ever before. To say that teaching has been a challenge lately, would be the understatement of the year. I’ve been assigned a mountain, and I must prove it can be moved. I didn’t ask for this mountain, but here we are.

And the mountain will undoubtedly move. This mountain is not made of sand, and on some days, it feels like moving a mountain of concrete. Success may not look exactly the same as in years’ past, but the mountain will move nonetheless - inch by inch. The worst thing to have happen is for me to lose faith. To feel defeated or to let my students feel defeated. Learning will happen, and it will happen with certainty.

I know it’s just a sticker, but it’s taken on a new meaning- not just at school but in life as well. Faith in myself and in others is the whole point. Faith that we can do hard things and we can encourage each other too. Faith that in a world completely gone mad, we can choose to be kind and do the work right in front of us. The mountain is huge and it seems insurmountable at times. Courage is the machine that will move the earth.

What is the mountain you’ve been assigned? How will you move it?

Holy One,

Help us to remember that faith is the point. Faith that together, we can move mountains.

Amen

Kelly is a teacher, mom, wife, daughter, sister, and friend. Doing the best she can.