I am loved

Today my class surprised me with this "Jar of Joy." It made me cry! This is one of the nicest gifts I have EVER received as a teacher, and I will treasure it forever! You can read the letter that came in the jar below to see what this was all about. It was a bittersweet day, and I journaled more about it on my school blog. Many thanks to my lovely t.a, Elba, to my coworker/pal, Casey who just happens to be one of my "parents," and to the kids and their families for my BEAUTIFUL gift!!!

Love Is...

Today a first grade teacher came to tell me a story. One that made me cry.

She has one of my kids from last year, O, who has for some reason stolen a piece of my heart. I LOVE that kid!!! Today she had them write about what love is. He apparently couldn't think of anything to write about. That is sad in so many ways to me. She reminded him that I loved him. She said that he wrote, "Love is Mrs. Thomas." & put a kiss there.

O, I do love you, and I always will, so much more than you'll ever know.

And to my teacher pal who shared this story with me, I love you too and thank you for sharing O with me and letting me know I'm still important to him. You're wonderful!!!!

100th Day Lesson for the Teacher

Today was the 100th day of school, which might not seem like much to most people, but when you're a Kinderkid of Fabulous 1st grader, it's a big deal! We've been learning about this special # and counting the days of school each day and, well lots of stuff. Today is a FUN day, one of my favorite! You can see lots of photos from today on my "teacher" blog. :)

I was feeling silly and took this photo of me in my 100th day hat that we all made this morning.

Today was a lot of fun for us all. In the midst of all my fun learning & 100th Day activities I had planned for my kids, though there was a BIG, HUGE, GIGANTIC lesson for this teacher from the Teacher. And, yes, I paid attention to the "Teacher" as He showed me something in my "reader."

There have been some "issues" with getting my employer to verify my employment. I could write a whole entry on this mess, but it's better if I don't. :) I won't go into it all here. It doesn't really matter. I'll just say that Rob & I have been more than a little stressed, aggravated, irritated, MADDDDDDDD, and frustrated beyond words. It was going to mess up our closing, and I was concerned that the bank might not look favorably on the whole situation. It was finally resolved this morning, thank God, late but at least done!!!

Anyway, today at lunch, I sit down to read my Bible- didn't get to last week at lunch like I've been doing each day because my t.a. was out of town. I open up to where I left off, and what do my eyes see 1st thing? Luke 12: 22... The passage about not worrying. The part about life being more than food or clothes. The words that tell that God feeds the birds and clothes the flowers, and how we're so much more important to him than the ravens and lilies... The part that tells me to seek His kingdom and "these things" will be given to me. OH MY GOODNESS WOW I am sitting in my classroom doing His work, seeking His kingdom, so "these" things will be given to me.... These things might even include a silly house, dummy! :) Then I kept reading about where my treasure is...

The thing is, it's not like I've never read these words before, heard them in church, even pondered them. I know this scripture and what it means. I just needed that gentle reminder from the One who could do it best.

So, even in my public school classroom in the middle of the day, God can show up to remind me of something I needed to know right at that moment. I mean, really, I needed to be reminded of that lesson right then. It's amazing that God could give someone centuries ago these words to write down, and then hundreds upon hundreds of years later, He could use those words, show them to some not-too-bright teacher at the exact moment in time that she was needing a gentle word of encouragement. And just like God, it wasn't scolding. He wasn't disappointed in me or frustrated with me. He was just saying, "Hey kiddo, I've got this one. Don't worry about it. It will be okay."

God, thanks! Thanks for taking care of the need we had with the house loan. Thanks for a husband who can weather this one with me, for a marriage that can take a few unpleasant moments and go on, for a momma & pop who pray for us, for a momma that I can call when I need to, for a friend that I could call this morning when I was so upset. But most of all, thanks for Your word that was there today to gently (without any guilt at all) remind me that You are in control.

Thanks for today's 100th day lesson. It has to be at least the 100th time You've tried to teach me this one, huh? Maybe I've got it this time. Here's to hoping for Your sake I got it. :) I've got to be one of your more difficult students. ;)

Night God!