If You Live off a Man's Compliments, You'll Die from His Criticism

Many people who are reading this will already know, but during this time of year, teachers and administration are overwhelmed. I know you can be overwhelmed and I know you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed? I think you can in Europe. (10 Things I Hate ABout You has some pretty deep quotes.) Anyway, I don't take criticism lightly, unfortunately. It drives me crazy when I don't get something right. Doesn't everybody like when things just go smoothly? Unfortunatley, that's not how life works, and I have first hand experience with that pretty much every day. When does a week of lessons run perfectly? NEVER. You veteran teachers out there are an exception. Sympathize with me, please. An example is as follows. I had a first grade class a few days ago. 16 first graders in one room + antsy students due to rainy weather + a teacher who doesn't know their native language + not trained to teach small children + first year teacher + scissors = inevitable chaos. They were simply supposed to cut out these squares with pictures of words they had learned over the past few weeks. To one child, the scissors were meant for his hair. Yes, he gave himself a hair cut from the most accessable place to his small fingers. His bangs were a little more jagged now. I didn't even know he did it until class was almost over. Fortunately, after talking to his form teacher, I found that his parents were used to thier child doing these sorts of things in the classroom.

I should be able to control what is going on when students are in my classroom. Eh, I'm not going to lie, sometimes I don't. It MaKEs Me FRusTraTeD. I've talked to other teachers who have these same kids during the week for advice. They told me....sometimes you can't do anything. NOOOOO! That can't be the answer. I must have perfection! Okay, I'm kidding. But I find myself in an odd place. I've found that my particular workplace atmosphere recieves neither compliment nor criticism. Too many compliments aren't so great because anyone can tell when they aren't really genuine. Criticism isn't always bad, but too much of it is discouraging. But, the lack of either is confusing to me. I've become my own critic and oddly enough (I'm not crazy I promise) I give myself compliments in my head. Ex: Wow, Audrey that didn't work at all. You've got to find something different to do. OR Hey, that worked pretty well. Nice idea...Does that sound crazy? I hope I'm not the only one who does that. So, I did some reading on criticism and came up with this:

Proverbs 15:1-2 A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

Proverbs 13:18 Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is honored.

Thanks Proverbs. I found these verses helpful in figuring out how to balance the criticism I give myself or even the criticism I give to students. I came accross one more verse that really summed up what I should be focusing on.

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Last week, Sam and I made a trip to Budapest to meet, along with the other MCN missionaries in Hungary, the bishop of our area in Hungary. I was a little worried, not knowing what to expect. Did they have some criticism for me? I shouldn't have worried. We had a great meeting, as far as meetings go. Bishop Thomas was kind, intelligent and down to earth. We talked about our experiences with the schools so far, how it could be improved, and the potential of the future. If you can believe it, I wished the meeting was longer because the camaraderie was pleasant and I missed the other missionaries. We had to part ways too soon, but I was taken to a beautiful spot in Budapest to take in a lovely view of the city where the Matthias Church was also located. It is the second largest church in Buda and the seventh largest church of the medieval Hungarian Kingdom. It's been rebuilt several times. I would encourage anyone to read about the church's history. It is so interesting, but I can't tell you about it now.

The holidays are coming, which makes me very

excited, but also a little sad that I won't be at home. Fortunately we will have plenty to do and to enjoy here. A youth Christmas program is in the works and I now have the pleasure of playing violin on Sunday mornings at Emmaus. I know Thanksgiving isn't here yet, but Hungarians don't celebrate that holiday for obvious reasons. The Christmas songs are playing in the mall, the pine trees are being decorated and I even bought some Christmas lights to decorate our little abode.

I might see if I can watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade somehow. I'll actually be traveling to Ukraine, visiting a friend. That will be in my next post! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!