A free guide to help educators stay grounded in tension
Schools and classrooms carry a lot of tension. In difficult moments, it’s easy to become reactive, shut down, overextend yourself, or avoid hard conversations altogether.
But there is a way to stay grounded in the heat of tension, to respond with love, remain connected, and act with greater clarity.
Staying Grounded for Educators is a free guide that offers simple practices to help teachers and school leaders notice your patterns, reconnect with God’s presence, and choose a more faithful response in tension.
Demanding work requires daily renewal
For those carrying a lot of responsibility at work — whether it’s emotional weight, constant pressure, or the needs of others — it’s easy to become exhausted. The Tired Leader’s Daily Calm Journal is a five-day guided journal designed to help you:
- Understand the stress and pressure shaping your reactions
- Discern what’s yours to carry and what you need to release
- Return to God’s presence with greater peace, clarity, and awareness
Each day includes a brief Scripture reflection, prayer, emotional check-in, and guided prompts for praise, lament, and renewal.
Understanding relational triangles in the workplace
If you’re an educator or school administrator, you’ve likely experienced how quickly stress and tension can shape staff relationships, communication, and the overall health of a school community.
This 4-part Practicing Hope podcast series explores the hidden relational dynamics that often drive workplace conflict — especially the familiar roles of victim, accuser, and rescuer that teams can fall into under pressure. As you listen, you’ll be invited to reflect on your own patterns, recognize unhealthy dynamics more clearly, and discover more grounded ways of responding to tension and conflict.
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Why You Keep Getting Pulled in: Understanding Relational Triangles
In this hope-filled episode of Leading in Practice, hosts Tanner Smith and Chase Rashad Stancle explore the hidden dynamics of relational triangles. They share stories from pastoral life, practical strategies to “flatten the triangle,” and ways to discern when you’re moving toward connection or just lowering discomfort. -
Stop Saving Everyone (Even if You’re Good At It)
Have you ever felt the pressure to fix everyone else’s problems? In Part 2 of our Relational Triangles series, hosts Tanner Smith and Chase Rashad Stancle — joined by Sarah Johnson — unpack the “hero/rescuer” role of the Drama Triangle: why anxious systems reward over-functioning and how to shift from rescuer to coach with simple, wise questions.
Help your school community become more like Christ in conflict
Leading faithfully feels increasingly complex.
Christian school leaders and educators are navigating staff pressures, difficult parent relationships, cultural and political differences, and the everyday challenges of forming students well. Our workshops help faculty, staff, and leadership teams learn to love like Christ as they navigate conflict and challenges together.
Some of our most requested workshops include:
- Cultivating Resilience — helping educators remain calm, clear, and connected under pressure.
- Beholding — discovering hope and faithful next steps in difficult relationships.
- One Anothering — cultivating curiosity and love across political differences.
Whether you’re planning professional development, a faculty retreat, or supporting your school through a difficult season, we’d love to help you discern what would serve your community best.
Hope for leading through tension
Subscribe to our newsletter, Hope in Your Inbox, for encouragement, practices, prayers, and honest reflections to help you navigate staff dynamics, difficult conversations, and the relational pressures that shape school communities with wisdom, compassion, and hope.