About the Book

Book: It’s a Good Day to Be a Teacher: 52 Devotions to Equip and Encourage Educators

Author: Gretchen Huesmann

Genre: Devotional

Release Date: Febuary 25, 2025

Refresh and Refocus Your Teaching Heart

Today’s educators face unprecedented challenges in and out of the classroom. Teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators, and special education teams need more than a few words of encouragement and a pat on the back.

Divided into four terms—fall, winter, spring, and summer—It’s a Good Day to Be a Teacher targets the trials and joys educators encounter year-round. The weekly devotions provide:

• Spiritual insights and inspiration
• Courage to continue the calling
• Practical steps for application
• Additional suggestions for deeper study

Teachers who use the tools of God’s Word and prayer will be encouraged and empowered as they witness God at work in their students, classrooms, and schools. This book helps educators teach from a place of purpose and peace and provides hope and strength to teach another day.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Gretchen Huesmann comes from a long line of educators, including both parents and grandparents. Her three-decade teaching career, in private and public schools, spanned seven states. Today, Gretchen enjoys mentoring and encouraging educators, ministry workers, and women’s groups. She is also a tutor and substitute teacher. An award-winning author, Gretchen is a member of Word Weavers International and serves as president of the Pensacola chapter. Her e-book, Teachers’ Prayer Companion: Prayer Guides for Education Teams, can be found at GretchenHuesmann.com. Gretchen and her pastor husband have raised four children, three of whom are teachers. Their empty nest sits near the gulf shores of north-west Florida.

 

More from Gretchen

Before I wrote the devotional for teachers, the focus of my writing had been for children. As a semiretired teacher and empty-nester, I’d hoped to fulfill my dream of writing picture books by investing in webinars, workshops, and resources to hone my craft. Then I was called back into teaching.

Three years and a pandemic separated my time in the classroom. The discrepancies in children’s abilities and behaviors appalled me. I experienced firsthand the added pressures I’d heard from colleagues. Three of my adult children, also teachers, shared similar struggles. Now I faced those challenges, too, so I sought the Bible for help and support.

Looking back over my teaching career, spanning more than thirty years in and out of the classroom, I discovered God was with me through every challenge. I wrote out a few of my experiences and applied Bible verses to those scenarios, uncovering valuable lessons.

As I compiled the devotions, common subjects emerged, such as staff relationships, pupil concerns, and dealing with parents. Yet, when I organized the book, I felt uneasy emphasizing the negative issues. Laying out three quarters of the printed devotions on my dining table, I prayed over the topics and asked God to reveal the structure that would attract and encourage educators. The answer was revealed as I recognized a progression through the school year, thus determining the structure of the book: Fall Term, Winter Term, Spring Term, and Summer Term. Each section includes relevant topics for the school year, including the all-important recovery during the summer season.

I hope teachers, administrators, and special educators will be not only encouraged by the devotions geared especially for them but also empowered to teach another day.

Author Interview

• Are you a one project at a time author or do you have multiple projects going at once?

My writing consists of articles and devotions for adults, and fiction and nonfiction for children. Additionally, I plan speaking engagements and create presentations. All this has me juggling many projects simultaneously. A careful work schedule is a must to accomplish each task and avoid missing deadlines.

• How has your life experience helped in your writing journey?

Although the Bible is my only source of truth, I have experienced many life-lessons at home, at school, and even in the garden. The world is our classroom. With a biblical foundation, we can receive His messages of love and learning beyond four walls. I created my blog in 2015 for that very reason. They combine the “aha-moments” in life with God’s Word to offer insight and inspiration.

• Where do you find your greatest inspiration?

I love working outdoors. There is something about being in nature, among the birds, flowers, on the beach, or in the woods which stimulates contemplative thought and reflection. I carry my Bible and journal with me for those moments when practical application comes to mind and jot down my thoughts before they are forgotten. Those entries often become a new devotion or blog. And occasionally, they are Holy Spirit messages just for me.

• Do you remember the first book you read? What sort of impact did it make on you?

To be honest, the first book I remember was read to me by my mom. Are You My Mother by P.D. Eastman became a favorite nap-time book for me, and later for my own children. Although endearing as well as enduring, the book itself remains secondary to the memory of cuddling, rhythmic voice, and sense of security produced by most picture book encounters.

• What do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?

I use several methods for productivity: a wipe-off board with a list of short and long-term projects, my computer calendar which I color-code with scheduled writing, and a daily to-do list. I wish I could say, “I need a tidy space, free of clutter.” And although there is truth to that statement, I am currently surrounded by papers needing to be sorted and tossed. Sometimes tasks and deadlines overrule, urging me to ignore the chaos.

Blog Stops

Its Mama Safe, September 4

Barb Howe, September 4

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, September 5

Simple Harvest Reads, September 6 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, September 7

Texas Book-aholic, September 8

She Lives To Read, September 9

Artistic Nobody, September 10 (Author Interview)

Mary Hake, September 10

Blossoms and Blessings, September 11

Guild Master, September 12 (Author Interview)

Cover Lover Book Review, September 13

Fiction Book Lover, September 14 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 15

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, September 16

For the Love of Literature, September 17 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Gretchen is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54291