One of the things on my "to do" list yesterday that actually got done (the baby was having one of those days...) was to deliver my daughter's math curriculum to her school.

Yes, it is strange to be able to select and purchase your child's math, even in a charter school. It's also proof that we probably won't ever be able to use the words, "free" and "appropriate" in the same sentence in regards to her education.

It's also wonderful to be able to select and purchase my child's math curriculum...and I couldn't be more grateful for my daughter's teacher. This woman, as a charter school teacher, is getting paid next to nothing, but here she was, two weeks before school starts, paying for childcare for her own children so that she could be in her classroom, cleaning, organizing, and preparing for next year. AND she goes the extra mile to design an independent study for my child, so that I don't have to drive her over to the prep school every day.

She deserves more than my thanks and appreciation--she deserves a decent living wage.

It hit me that the professions that contribute the most to our society by means of nurturing and caring for the human spirit (teaching, the pastorate, nursing, homemaking....), and by providing structure and protection to our society (soldiering, police, fire and emergency personnel...) are the least financially valued and compensated in our society.

It's a shame.

So, at least from this little corner of the world, thank you to all of you who, according to Colossians 3, work with all of your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men. You will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward.

You are not forgotten. You are appreciated and prayed for.

And maybe, just maybe, someday our society will put its money where its mouth is.