Wisdom from Fledgelings

I'm really struggling with one of my 7th grade choirs this semester. In a class of about 25, I can't get anyone to open their mouth and sing. And I've tried EVERY tactic, every angle of attack possible--being gentle and kind, being silly and jumping on chairs, laughing, being serious, scaring it out of them, bringing the 8th graders in to sing with them and convince them choir is "cool", talking about why they are in this class...and dozens more. Seriously.

Anyway, a few weeks ago it was a hopeless class period where they were not putting forth any effort. So instead of getting angry and lecturing them, I just had them get out a piece of paper and answer the following questions:

1. Tell me about something in you life that was hard to do, but you did it anyway. Was it worth it? Why or why not? What did it take to accomplish it?
2. Why do you think you can do hard things? What does it take to do hard things? Why is it worth it?

I was impressed with several responses, but this one just spoke with wisdom beyond her years, and I wanted to share it with ya'll:

"Life wasn't made to be easy, God didn't intend us to get through things without a struggle. Physically and mentally our bodies were made to do hard things and to get them. Yet, in the end it's all worth it. To start off, I can do hard things because very rarely I don't strive to succeed. Most people have that quality like me, when they don't take no for an answer and they always need to overcome the hard tasks. Which is exactly what it takes to aquire those hard tasks. If your mind is always to it and your head is held high anyone can achieve anything. In the end it's always worth it because we feel accomplished and it motivates us to do even more hard things."

Wow. How does a 7th grader KNOW that kind of stuff?!

This is why, in spite of the punks my kids can be, I love my job.