A Faith-Based Version of Social and Emotional Learning?
God’s Word has the power to heal even the deepest parts of us—our hearts, our minds, and our emotions
As I began my journey to create a faith-based SEL curriculum, I realized that true healing begins when we root ourselves in God’s truth, not just in worldly solutions. In the midst of my personal struggles, including dealing with sleep apnea, I felt God’s call to step out in faith and create something that brings emotional healing through His Word.
A faith-based version of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is the conviction, the dream, the mandate. Four years ago a Christian Educator asked me to add Bible verses to an SEL curriculum. When I dug deep into SEL’s formation, principles, philosophy and funding (visit CASEL.org for details) it was crystal clear that SEL is built on a humanistic foundation and mission hidden behind attractive competencies such as Emotional Intelligence. Feeling the weight of a stewardship from God to teach His Word, I had to politely decline adding scripture to a humanist foundation even though it angered someone I respected and marked me as uncooperative. I felt the pain of not just being misunderstood but the pain of seeing an opportunity to bring clarity back to kids and youth missed by those who are called to such a purpose. As I watched my daughter’s Christian friends struggle with their sexual identities, I started to slowly realize, I couldn’t let rejection or misunderstanding hold back God’s directive. I felt the call to be a part of spiritually awakening our kids and restoring them to a sense of awe for their creator. But truth be told I was having trouble waking myself after a ten year struggle with severe sleep apnea.
January 2025 brought new hope as my surgery to implant the Inspire Battery for treatment of Sleep Apnea was moved up from January 20th to January 13th, my first miracle of the new year. A couple days before surgery God gave me the scripture Genesis 26:12a ““And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundred fold.” I thought the scripture meant that I would bounce back from surgery and write a Christian SEL curriculum by next January. But how? When I came home from the hospital with two, two-inch scars on my chest and neck looking like I had been in a fight, knowing that the newly implanted battery could not be turned on for at least a month, the reality hit me. I couldn’t even recover quickly from a surgery, how was I going to write a relevant curriculum by next January! Fighting off depression, sitting in my recovery chair perusing social media I saw an advertisement for Full Sail University listing a master’s degree in Instructional Design and Technology! I remembered that my father had a great respect for Full Sail knowing of their cutting edge technological instruction and media relevance. When I spoke to the recruiter he mentioned getting to do an elective cornerstone project and then he said it is a two year degree program they condense into twelve months! When he said twelve months I was overwhelmed by the Spirit, I instantly knew what that scripture was confirming: twelve months of schooling and graduating with the cornerstone of the assignment God is calling me to complete. This second miracle of acceptance to Full Sail to pursue a Master’s in Instructional Design and Technology was followed by God’s third miracle of financial funding.
But in the burning glow of these miracles, the reality of a grueling school schedule and writing of a curriculum set-in. I felt as if I were Moses standing before a burning bush. I gave God my best arguments. “But God when I was seven I was diagnosed with dyslexia”. But God, “church leadership brought in a big name youth minister supporting him in a hostile takeover of the kids ministry I faithfully oversaw for seven years”. But God, “that Christian school leader was mad at me when I wanted to reset a secular curriculum on your Word and what about being misunderstood?”
God said, “What about the time your father took you to the Jesus 1980 rally when you were twelve years old and I called you to children’s ministry while you watched a skit in the Kid’s tent on Motives, 'why we do the things we do and who we do them for'? What about when you were in high school and your father made you watch Dr. D. James Kennedy on TV and you learned about Secular Humanism? How about the time I called you from a teaching job and asked you to sell all of your self made bulletin boards, content and purchased teaching aids in a garage sale? Remember the brand new principal I sent to you that bought all of your supplies to start Waco Christian Academy? Did you realize that those seeds planted were for the crop I want to grow through you now?" How could I say no any longer?
On February 1, 2025 I started AweStruck Intelligence LLC. with a mission to “AweWaken kids to their Intelligent Designer, His transformative Word and His Empowering Spirit so they can live in His Glorious Plan”. In plain English, I started writing the outline to my cornerstone project, a Biblical alternative to Social and Emotional Learning: “AweWakened and eMPowered Living” or AMP. Taking these steps of faith is exhilarating and honestly, quite scary. I chose to step out in faith knowing God is with me and inviting and coveting your prayers and support.
