Learn Multiple Times

           A wise friend that gets me and my anxious self said something that really stuck with me in most areas of my life. I ran out of gas in my car one day and I was blessed that she was near by. She saw my car and texted me to see if I needed help. I did need help to get to a gas station and get more gas. I could have walked but I would have had to cross a main highway. Mind you this is the first time I have ran out of gas in my car. I told my friend this and that is when she said what stuck in my mind. She said, "Sometimes you have to learn the hard way, even of that way is learning multiple of times." This should be my quote for this year or for my life, really. 
         I never thought of life that way but it's true. With me, working with children, it's so true with them too. I think about how many times I had to mess up or forgot or relearn things. We have to be shown by God multiple of times to get it. I can see a  lot of my places in life that God had to show me more then once. That is why he is the God of 2nd, 3rd, 4th chances. Some of us, like me, are just too stubborn to get the first or second time.
        I got think of 4 times on my different jobs. God taught me a lot of different and new things at each job. There were even times where God had to remind me of things I already knew. Going between different ages of children and kids, I have to be reminded of a lot of things. I have had 4 different jobs and each job does their own thing. It is hard to learn new things every time because it gets you confused at times and wondering if they do this or that because the other places did. I also don't tell each job about my experiences in the childcare field. I probably should but it really never comes up so I have to learn the same things over and over because people think I am new with children.
          I mean there is always things you can learn and relearn but it can also get boring at the same time depending on what it is and how it is put. I will say that I am learning how to look and listen for the things that I do not know and let the old things I do know either touch me in a different way or don't let it bother me at all. It is also fun to learn what other bosses and supervisors put things. When they have different personalities, they will explain things differently and some will get me and some will just not get me. I have had types of personalities in bosses. I have learned that the best ones are the ones that get you and are more like you. 
          Being a teacher I learn multiple of times too. From the children and myself. I also learn a lot about myself when I think of me from the children's point of view. With every child, you have to learn about them one at a time. They each have their own personality and we have to learn about them and what they like. We have to learn how to treat them because no child is the same, even if they act the same. Then I think about how I can change myself better for the children. I think about what I could I change for the next day. What we could do the next day. I think about the crafts, the classroom, and how I can better connect with the children. I also pray for some of the children if they really need it. I will also say that the children can say things that blow my mind and sometimes even make me think when I get home.

          Redirecting my life to God 2 different times. I remember when I directed my life to Christ the very first time. I was about 8 or 10 years old in the summer moved when moved to central MO. It was the first time that I gave my life to God. I knew it was the right thing to do because I was born and raised in a Christian family. My parents taught me all I needed to know. I even remember my parents teaching me the 10 commandments. Then there was the second time that I gave my life to God. I gave my life to Christ the second time when I was at a youth conference during my high school years. It was the summer before my senior year of high school.

           I remember the conference was about Christ's Love for us and that is when I really understood His Love for us. I also learned it because of what went on with me and my friends the year before. There was a lot of confusion with a friend that I had and how I should treat her. I remember going up the last night during the worship service and giving my life to Christ. I never got baptized right after that though. Then it was about a year or 2 ago that I did get baptized at the church that I am going to now. I finally did that put because everything about His Love was coming to an understanding.
         You could also learn multiple times in many relationships and/or the same one but I am not going to go into details on that because I haven't actually been in any at all. Anyways, you might be asking, "How many times does it take?" Personally, I don't think you can put a number on how many times you could learn one thing over and over. We are human and we forget a lot but we have an AMAZING and LOVING God that knows that and never holds it against us. He will keep reminding us when we are just too stubborn or won't listen at all or both.