I Love My Job

    This weekend, I had the opportunity to spend the day at an EdCamp, which is a teacher's workshop. I got to go with my good friend Sarah who I taught at Heartland with. It was fun to spend the day together and I'm now a few credits closer to renewing my teaching license. I don't plan to return to full time teaching, but Luke and I agreed that keeping my license current was a wise idea should I ever want/need to sub.

Sarah and myself....A fun day together. 

    Being gone for an entire Saturday, meant that I left Buirlen home with Luke. That is the first time that I have been away from Buirlen for that long. We all survived, but I came home with these thoughts, "I like being a stay at home mom!"
    Every once and awhile, someone will ask me if I miss teaching. And honestly, I loved being a teacher. I loved going to school and having a classroom of kids. It was fun and energizing. I worked with a wonderful group of women and the community was just great. So yes, I look back at my time teaching with very fond memories, but I LOVE being a stay at home mama and have no desire to change my current vocation. I love being home and taking care of my kid and my house and my husband. And honestly, the thought of not being with my kid for the better part of every day doesn't sound fun to me at all.
 

Well, I hope this finds you having a most lovely Monday. A new week is here and It's February now, which means my heart is dreaming of Spring. 

"I didn't loose myself when I became a mother, I found myself." ~Unknown

The Circle of Goodness

      Yesterday I had parent teacher conferences. So, I typed up the kids' report cards, pulled a couple chairs up to my desk and settled in for a day of chatting with parents. And it was a wonderful day. I work at a small school so I only had 8 conferences and I knew most of the parents.
       Afterwards as I was thinking back over the day and things parents had said, I realized that parent teacher conferences are as much for me as they are for the parents. I shared with parents their child's grades and how they were doing in my classroom and they shared back words of encouragement for me.
       When a parent brought me a cup of tea because she thought of me while she was picking up her own Caribou on the way to the conference, I felt loved.
       When a parent came in a told me that they appreciate me and that I truly am having an impact on their kid, it reminded me of what an important job I have.
      When a parent came in for their conference and afterwards asks me how I was doing and if there is anything in my life I would like prayer for, not school stuff just my life stuff, I felt blessed and cared about.
       So it's a circle. I shared and they shared right back. And that is how life should be, a circle of goodness. Happy Friday. 
     

"If you are a leader, you should never forget that everyone needs encouragement. And everyone who receives it - young or old, successful or less-than-successful, unknown or famous - is changed by it."

~John C. Maxwell

Teaching

       I'm a teacher and I absolutely love my job.  The funny thing is that all growing up I adamantly said that I was NOT ever going to be a teacher. That was what my sister wanted to be and I didn't think I was cut out for it. I believe I even said I would rather be tortured than ever become a teacher.  
       My mindset started to change when I was 19. I had decided to go on a 5 month mission trip to Namibia, Africa through Africa Inland Mission. I was told that I would be living in a small town and working at the preschool in the poorest district. And so I went.  I'm pretty sure I didn't really accomplish much as far as teaching those kids, but I think that God was teaching me something because my mind was starting to change. I started to think that maybe I might actually want to teach. When I got back to the States I was still thinking that way. I figured it was probably direction from God since it was such a drastic, 180 degree, change from what I had always thought. So, I decided to pursue it.
      Now, Spring is here and I am finishing up my second year of teaching. I readily respond to the name "Mrs. Williams," I put together bulletin boards, referee arguments, give pep talks about getting through math and read lots of books. I love it and I get excited about it. God is good. Happy Friday.

"One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure." ~William Feather

I Must Be Old

        So apparently I'm ancient. Or at least in the minds of my students. Earlier this year we went on a field trip and I used my car to help transport kids. One of my students climbed into my 1992 Honda Civic and promptly asked if this was an old fashioned car. Then there have been times when we were discussing age and another student guesstimated that I must be in my forties seeing as I was as tall as his mom. Then, my personal favorite happened today. We were reading a chapter book aloud and the author phrased something in such a way that the kids were kind of confused. One of the students asked me when the book had been written. I flipped to the copyright page and told him that the book was published in 1986. Well that cleared things up for him because he promptly stated that the author must have been using some sort of old English. I laughed a lot. Happy Monday.

"The most wasted of all days is the one without laughter." ~E.E. Cummings