life is too short

i am noticing a difference between 4th grade girls and 5th grade girls.  all are dramatic, but my little 5th grade darlings are the true DRAMA QUEENS (oh, this is what i am in for with two girls, lord help me).  each day presents itself with new drama.  i could seriously write a book on all of the problems and solutions i have encountered over the past 8 months of teaching 5th grade (or even the past 12 years of teaching).  usually the girls are being mean to another girl and that girl is upset and wants them to like her again, etc, etc.  in the latest case my little mary* {*all names have been changed to protect the innocent:) ha ha-i am so funny} anyway, mary has had trouble with girls thinking she is too bossy and not friendly.  they decided (apparently collectively) that they didn't want to be her friend anymore.

distraught, i sat her down and had a "heart-to-heart" with her. i told her that these problems happen often, and don't stop, even when you become an adult.  i also shared with her that she first needed to take a deep look at herself to determine if the things the girls were saying may be true, even if only a little bit, and if so, could, and would, she be willing to change.  she quickly refuted that with a resounding NO.  ok, next bit of advice, moving right along.  after some other fabulous advice, i lastly shared that life was too short to spend time with people that didn't like you or may like you one day and then not the next day.  she needed to find some friends that would like her for who she was.  she agreed and went along her mary way. 

the next day she informed me that she had changed her outlook on it and had decided to hang out with other girls and had found some that liked her for who she was (her exact words-too cute).  i was so proud of her...and even felt pretty good that i had helped solve one of life's big problems (at least in the mind of a 5th grade girl). 

then i got to thinking that life really is too short to spend time on friends (or mainly things) that are not god glorifying.  the bible states, "whatever things are true, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things" (colossians 4:8).  why do we waste time on things that don't glorify god or help our christian walk?  even small, and what i consider to be easy, things, like the words that come out of our mouths, the clothes we put on, the movies we watch.  not to mention the fact that these are all areas that non-believers are watching for in us.  we may not want to admit it, but they are..watching...and wondering.  so, next time you run into a problem, remember, the words of the wise teacher...life is too short.  make the most of the time god has given us on earth and do things that glorify and please HIM.  too bad i couldn't have shared that with mary...