Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. Exodus 23:30, NIV

Sylvia is a reading facilitator at a nationally recognized Blue Ribbon, primarily Hispanic, inner-city school. Her days are filled with co-teaching in several primary grades and serving dyslexic and struggling readers individually and in small groups at all grade levels (K-5) throughout the day. She serves around 70 to 90 different children each week with a schedule that changes weekly as students are added and removed from her roster amidst the many required tests taken by all the different grade levels at different times. She also coaches and mentors new or struggling reading teachers.

At a recent faculty meeting, the teachers at Sylvia’s school were asked to think of one word that summarized their focus or goal for the remainder of the school year. The Lord gave Sylvia the word, “elephant,” reminding her of the old saying, “The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.”

Even though her job can be very overwhelming at times, Sylvia knows she is not to focus on the many foreboding and forbidding tasks her job entails. Instead, God wants her to focus on the present and the next step He instructs her to take each day.

Exodus 23:30 serves as a daily reminder for Sylvia that as she works with each child and each teacher “little by little” she is helping them reach their Promised Land, which is academic excellence in an environment of shared love and respect.

Do you get to work each day and see an elephant in your classroom (office) or do you see the bite(s) you are to consume that day? I want to encourage you today to take one bite at a time, little by little, and help others to do the same.

Lord, thank you for helping us focus on the bites on our plate and not the elephants in our classes and offices. Amen.

Copyright Don Clark.

Don is a member and a retired elementary special education teacher. He recently retired from his role as the Houston area director for Christian Educators.