They Taught Me

opus Dei

I have a bulletin board in my classroom that says WOW!  WOW stands for “words of the week.”  The first WOW words of the school year were opus Dei which is Latin for “work of God.”

The middle lovelies and I had some great discussion about the ways we could strive every day to do opus Dei.  After the discussion the kids were to copy the words into a personal prayer journal.  I asked them to reflect on those words and pray for some inspiration about how they could spend the school year doing the work of God.  I did not expect the amazing responses they had to those powerful Latin words.  I told them they had a lot to teach us all about doing the work of God and I got permission to share some of their responses.

The question was, “How can I do opus Dei?” Here’s what they taught me…

*I have to have less fear and more trust.

*I need to pray for the strength to help others even if they can’t help me back.

*I’ve got to be less selfish or I can never do opus Dei!

*I need to be brave enough to tell others I love Jesus.

*I need to pay attention to what I’m praying and not just say a bunch of words.

*I need to stop talking and start listening.  I have to turn off the TV and take out the ear buds and be quiet so I can hear God speak to me.

* I have to live the laws God gave us.

*I have to do little things for God and for others.

*I have to act like I believe God is my Father and remember to show his love to other people.

*I have to tell His story.

*I want to get to know God’s plan so I know what he wants me to do and I can only know that plan through prayer.

*When I closed my eyes to think about all this I saw lot of hearts, I think that means I’m supposed to love more, that’s my opus Dei.

I was impressed!  These are the thoughts of 11 and 12 year olds and they were amazing.  The thing that really struck me was how clearly they realized that doing the work of God is up to each of us.  They didn’t see it as a job for adults or folks who work for the church; they knew it started with them.  They taught the teacher for sure!

A Seed To Plant: Write the words opus Dei somewhere in plain sight.  Each time you see those words, ask God what work you can do to honor him.  When you ponder your actions, behaviors and attitudes ask yourself, will this allow me to do opus Dei?

Blessings on your day!

Copyright 2014, Sheri Wohlfert