Resigned to Restore.

Recently, I shared via Facebook that I was experiencing a difficult time after officially resigning from my full-time assignment as a school district administrator.? Honestly, the feeling was and still is grief. I took the leap of faith and followed God with full-time entrepreneurship.? My role was to oversee discipline in a way that will foster equitable opportunities for each child to thrive.? Without compromising my integrity, there were circumstances beyond my control that prevented this role from coming to full fruition.? My role?? District Coordinator of Restorative Justice and Restorative Practices.? Long title with even longer hours of commitment.??

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In hindsight, I was able to make significant, positive changes in the lives of those I encountered to help them fully understand Restorative Justice by modeling the way.? Students and their families received top-notch services to provide them with the basic necessities to meet their daily needs.? My posture and tone were superb!? The resources provided were conducive to meeting their individual and family needs because I ensured to create and maintain a healthy relationship.? Every experience I have had in my life prepared me for a time such as this.? We need people who are will-equipped, built to walk in the trenches and the board rooms!?

I am pretty sure you can imagine my guilt when it came to the final decision to walk away from the educational system that I had to realize historically and persistently perpetuates trauma, violence, and rage! My work - my calling is to dismantle and disrupt the broken systems that continue to alienate the marginalized - disenfranchised? - ostracized to retraumatize the people God places on my journey to total restoration.? The impact of unaddressed Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) due to lack of social-emotional learning to meet their overall behavioral, cognitive, and emotional well-being further suggests a cycle of generational trauma.

Let me ask you this, have you ever had to walk away from a role you knew would be beneficial to the people you serve, but realized the only way to best serve the people is from the outside in???

As much as I loved the way I moved in and out of the hallways, it was too taxing on my mental and spiritual well-being!? The grief I am experiencing is due to questioning:

1. Did I stay too long??
2. Did I not stay long enough??
3. Do I look like a perpetrator by leaving the students and families I loved to serve?
4. Will this tarnish my image??
5. Most importantly, am I willing to trust God??

To sum up, the answer to all five questions is that the assignment was complete.? God told me six years ago that I will no longer work, but rather, be on assignment.? When the assignment is complete, it is my time to exit gracefully.? If I stay longer than the expiration date of the assignment, I do myself and the people I was assigned to serve a disservice.? Therefore, when it is all said and done, I am willing to trust God.

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