Just be Yeast.
After being stopped in the street and praised for 36 years of SEND teaching, Lynn wrestles with pride, burnout, and what it really means to serve God's Kingdom quietly as "yeast" rather than as a hero — and a new season ahead with Included by Grace.
A Moment in Keswick
When I was in Keswick in the summer, I was ‘recognised’ in the busy market street by none other than the Mayor of Keswick. She called out my name and showered me with praise, thanking me for helping her in her teaching career and for the training I had done at the special school she worked at. She told my daughter and her husband how amazing I was, and we took a selfie to celebrate the moment.
Bittersweet
This was not because of the Kingdom work I do, but for the specialist teacher job I have. It was lovely and lifted me up, but also bittersweet as I am in the process of retiring from 36 years of working in SEND education. I am exhausted and burned out, tired of the system I have pushed against all these years, feeling it has defeated me in the end. I was feeling that I had failed in so many ways. In 36 years, I would have done some good, but I have also made mistakes and totally failed to make my voice heard to the people who make decisions in government. I have rejoiced and cried (a lot) at the plight of the children with SEND that I have tried to fight for and not always succeeded. So many of them are still struggling. I have cried to for the teachers who try so hard in a system that is pressuring them to breaking point. But I have also spoken at national conferences, am writing my 6th book and have supported 100s of children over the years.
Not for the Praise of People
Paul warns us not to live for the praise of people, but also to encourage one another. The boost that I had done some good for someone was important and welcome. I know the Bible tells me is that I cannot live to gain that praise. Why? Because Jesus is the one who should be noticed in my life. He is the one who deserves the glory. And whilst I have been able to serve people through my faith whilst working in education, it is so sad that I cannot mention Jesus by name very often. I have loved working with Church schools when I can do that, but did you know that the church is not allowed by law to run specialist schools? (There is one, in Manchester run by the Catholic church, and that is set up as a charity. My own diocese is looking at doing the same.)
“He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” Matthew 13:33
We Are Not World-Changers
This is not about that though. It’s about being yeast. This is a one sentence parable, sandwiched between longer and better explained parables. They are all talking about the Kingdom of God. I listened to this podcast by Jubilee+ last week,
and in the midst of my sadness of not being able to change the system and a lot of anger at the lies and attacks on the autistic and ADHD community in the media; this podcast reminded me that the war is not mine to fight. We seem to think (probably quite arrogantly) that we are born for greatness. We will be the ones to rise up and change the world. And in churches this is often perpetuated by the way we lift up the ‘great Christians’ of the present and of history. We create heroes and worship them and their achievements. But God’s Kingdom is made up of ordinary people, being given gifts as the Holy Spirit determines, and being charged to live as a community in ‘oneness’. This is not about individualism, but community. Many of our communities are small, but this parable tells us that a little yeast can be worked through to make a huge amount of change to the large amount of flour. It does it steadily, giving the yeast time to do its work, and what results can provide life giving food to many.
Learning to Rest
I am in a season of transition and know that letting go of one thing, especially if it is very emotional, is tough. That’s why God offers us rest. And if, like me you have an ADHD diagnosis, then you may find rest is one of the most difficult practices to learn in your life. (that has just sparked an idea to write a blog about why rest is so tricky for ADHDers!)
Ordinary Yeast, Extraordinary Kingdom
But all believers are yeast. It’s not about if we are seen on social media, have a big following or get asked to speak at big events. God is working beyond all this. He works the yeast through the day-by-day interactions, the relationships and the kindness we give each other and those who don’t know Jesus yet. We are community and there are those right now who are not in our communities because they have additional needs or disabilities. There is work to do in our churches to show them how to make them fully belong to our communities.
What's Next
I am in waiting but I know my next season is under the banner of Included by Grace. I will be working more with churches and people with additional needs in a specifically Jesus based way. I know there are other people doing this already, and I look forward to being in that community with them, raising up those who are given less honour in the body, and giving people with additional needs their own voice in building the church.
But first… rest, restoration and healing time. There are some ‘I / Me’ things I need to let go of so Jesus can be first. But you can still take a look at the resources and links I have on this website and do get in touch to share what your community is doing to become more accessible and inclusive. There's more to come :-)
This blog is not written by AI but by Lynn - really!
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