sweetest email ever!

I have never received an email from a student before. I had a 2nd grader who tried to email me yesterday but didn't know quite how to do it. We talked today about it; he had been visiting my class website and was so excited to see my photos and learn more about his crazy teacher.

He is one of the most thoughtful children I have known. I could tell you lots of stories. He hugs me EVERY day and then gives me another hug and says (every day, seriously) "Mrs. Thomas, please hug Barbara/Matthew and tell them 'goodbye' for me." Every day. When the 2nd graders left for their trip the other day, he came running back after they'd left with Barbara to hug me one more time and told me, "Mrs. Thomas, please tell the 1st graders I will miss them and I said, 'Have a nice day.'"

Today, I told my children very, very briefly today that I would be having surgery and would miss a day next week. I tried to keep it low key and very positive. I don't want to scare them. I came home today to find this email from my young friend.

"hey mrs thomas i will missyou are you goning to be oka i dont want to stay with mrs huks ar you goning to come back ar you gon fill bether dont for get to sent something back as soon as you can beybey or rith now"

Oh, God, THANK YOU for helping me to survive last year. Thank you for letting me love those kids last year who needed me to love them and be in their corner. And thank you for giving me this group this year and such loving, thoughtful children. Thank you for helping me to learn and grow from a hard place, and then blessing me with a joyous, peace-filled year so far to help me heal and regain my "groove."

And God, THANK YOU more than I can say for the wonderful results from one of my "last year" friends on her benchmarks this week. Maybe You helped me make a real difference after all. I am loved. You are showing me that. This week another teacher came to me to tell me that every kid she has asked said I was their favorite teacher. Wow! That stunned me!!!!

And then one of my kids this week asked me, "Mrs. Thomas, why do all the kids know you and hug you and shout at you?" THANK YOU God, for loving me through all these children, and more importantly letting me love them for You.

Blessings

I think I've shared this before, but I am really being reminded of this lesson in the last few months.

19 years

I should be asleep, but before I finally crash I wanted to write this down as a small prayer between God and me.

Thank you God for being there - always.

Even in the darkest times. You really are.

When it doesn't seem You are there. You really are.

Even when one can't sense Your presence. You really are.

When life hits you so hard it takes your breath away. You really are.

When you think you can't survive or go on another moment. You really are.

When no one is on your side and the world seems to be set against you. You really are.

And someday, down the road, you can see things more clearly. You realize that God was there through it all. And you're oh so humbled and grateful.

And, God after 19 years with a child I almost didn't get to have, I'm still humbled and grateful for every moment of every day of every one of these last 19 years. Thank you for my "gift of God," Matthew Lane Thomas, born 10/20/1992.

But most of all, God, thank You for being there 19 years ago when life fell apart and got really hard, and for all the other hard times in our lives (there have been more than a few, God, and You know them all and have been there for them all) that You were really there and I just couldn't see You. Thank You for not giving up on me then, or now. Let me never forget You and Your faithfulness. Let me be just a little more like You each day.