A Small Piece of the Puzzle Falls Into Place

Tonight we had our parent/teacher conferences at CMS.  I always enjoy getting to spend time talking to some of the teachers that I don't get to see very much.  During a lull in the stream of concerned parents, one of my co-workers told me about a testimony that another co-worker's son had given at church.  She said he had mentioned Mallory in his testimony.

This young man had been a very close friend of Mal's since they were five years old!!  I have tons of pictures of them together in kindergarten.  When "P" was ten, he invited Mal to his birthday party.  Of course, she went.  There were 13 boys and Mal there! And when all the boys stayed the night, he just couldn't understand why Mal couldn't stay!!  As they got older, they didn't run in the same circles, but I know that P was always very important to Mal.

High school put them in completely different worlds.  Mal was caught up in socialization and being in the middle of everything.  P, unfortunately, went down a bit of a rocky path.  But, even though they didn't hang out anymore, they were always there for each other, if needed.  The last day before Christmas break of Mal's junior year, she was in a pretty destructive fender-bender in the high school parking lot.  By the time I got there, P had already taken care of her.  He saw the crash, called the towing company, found her insurance card in the glove box, and calmed Mal down.  He took such good care of her and the situation.

I don't know how often they saw and talked to each other for the last couple of years of Mal's life.  But, I do know that P had a rough time dealing with the loss of his life-long friend.  He drew a beautiful picture and left it at the cemetary.  I would see him every once in a while and was always so concerned that he wouldn't get his life straightened out.

So, tonight when I heard that he has totally turned himself around and is on fire for God, I couldn't help myself; the tears began to fall.  Apparently (I haven't read it for myself) he confessed that he had a hard time dealing with the understanding that God would take Mallory home at such a young age.  He saw her as someone doing God's work, while he was doing anything but that.  He just didn't see the reasoning.  But, as someone whose faith has matured in the past three years, I believe that Mal had done God's work in a very short period of time.  P's new faith is evident of that!!  If losing Mal had ANYTHING to do with saving P, it makes my heart swell.  And I know how she must be smiling!!

Someone had me read the poem about a tapestry.  In this poem, it compares our view from Earth as the underneath of a tapestry; full of knots, loose strings, and a mess!!  God sees the tapestry from heaven; looking down on the top, where it is beautiful and perfect.  What an amazing metaphor!!

I am so thankful that God lets me find an errant puzzle piece from time to time.  But, believe me, this puzzle has an infinite amount of pieces!!  I'll never know the complete picture until I stand in heaven next to the throne.  Until, then, I am hanging tight to my faith.  And I'm also praying earnestly for P!!  I pray that his fire for God burns long and bright....


Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I set you apart!”

Is This 23 or 24 Years? If I Have Lost Track, Retirement Must Be Close!

Tonight was Central Middle School's Open House.  I can still remember how nervous I was for my first year of teaching!!  How did my poor students survive me?  So, I was trying to remember just how many of these nights I have completed.  I'm stuck:  is it 23 or 24?  I'm 99% sure it's 23.  Thank goodness I teach English and not math.

I remember hearing veteran teachers talking about which year would be their last.  They would talk about traveling to Jeff City to meet with someone who would help them determine the best time for retirement.  I always thought to myself, "I don't need to pay attention to this.  That is SO far away."  Now, I'm the one that is initiating those conversations.

I had the best surprise tonight.  My classroom had become pretty crowded.  I was handing out the syllabus and talking to the parents.  A family of five approached me.  I handed them the paper and just kept right on talking.  I noticed the dad had his ballcap pulled down rather low.  The mom had the sweetest face and I was primarily talking to her.  When I got a closer look, I realized the dad was a student that I had in the third grade, during my second year of teaching!!  I know that teachers are not supposed to have favorites.  And as far as how my students are treated in class, I really feel that I don't give uneven amounts of  instructional attention to any students.  But, this guy won my heart when he was eight years old.  He just had the neatest personality.  He was so well-rounded, and strived to do his best in everything.  Joey had run across him in the work place a few years back and told me that Paul had said to tell me hi. 

The face that smiled at me tonight was the same face of that eight year old all those years ago.  He gave me a big hug and told his kids that I had been his favorite teacher.  Seeing a former student who is "all grown up" with a family of his own gave me the kick-start I needed to start yet another school year!!  More and more I run into former students who are now raising families and holding down steady jobs.  And I'm always so proud of them. 

So, yet another math problem:  how many students have I taught throughout my years?  Well, give me a minute......14 years of elementary school (14x25) and eight years of middle school 8(6 hours x 25 students).  1550 kids?????  Can that be right?  (somebody check my math!!) That's a pretty daunting thought.  That's like the size of a small town!!!  So, if I make it the full thirty years, that gives me a grand total of 2750 students that I have taught.  How many of those did I screw up???  Hopefully, none, but you just never know!!

I can honestly say I love my job.  It definitely never gets boring.  And I teach with some of the most caring people in the world.  Every single staff member is a Christian.  It makes such a huge difference!!!  I can safely say this will be the place of my retirement.  I never dread going into work and the adults have just as much fun as the kids!!  And I'm happy to say that once again, our students achieved the highest test scores of any school in our Mineral Area Conference.  Happy Staff = Student Success.  That's one equation I know I got right!!

So, I think I've figured it out now.  This Thursday will mark my 23rd first day of school as a teacher.  I still get excited for it.  I'm still looking for new ways to improve upon my teaching.  And even more importantly, I love picking out my "first day of school" outfit!!

Deuteronomy 15:10 NIV

Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

Love/Hate Relationship with Snow Days

I cannot believe it has been so long since my last post!!  That's what happens when school starts.....life becomes crazy!!  There are so many things that I want to blog about, but right now all I can think about is SNOW!!  We are in the middle of non-stop snow days.  This year, I have found a few cons to these days at home.

 

  Don't get me wrong ~~ there are still tons of great things about them.  Like...being able to sit and read while I have coffee in the morning, actually cooking real-live meals (which forces me to keep my kitchen clean), laundry is always caught up, and most of the time I have my hair in a ponytail and my favorite sweats on!

 

 On the negative side, I have been forced to go two days without a fountain diet Pepsi from Conoco.  For those that know me well, they will be very impressed I lasted that long!!  But, I've discovered that too much down-time is not such a good thing for me anymore.  I've found that I am getting way too much rest and don't sleep well at night.  If I don't stay up until 1 or 2 a.m., then I lay awake, missing Mal and Dad.  Therefore, I have to stay up watching late-night TV.  I'm amazed, even with 1,000 channels, there are many times when there is NOTHING on TV.  Thank goodness for TiVo!  I can record many, many episodes of "Say Yes to the Dress" anytime I want.  (That show is extremely addictive!)  I will also watch hours and hours of ANTM, Chopped, Cupcake Wars, and Top Chef.

 

  I've developed a pretty ugly coping mechanism also ~~ beware feint of heart ~~ when I get lonesome for my girl, I tear the skin off around my fingernails.  I hate it!!  Joey and Luke are really good about telling me when I'm doing it, and trying to get me to stop!  This has been on-going for many months.  I know it could be much worse, but I'm tired of wearing Band-Aids constantly!! Soooo.....I've started knitting and crocheting like a mad woman!  I know that makes me sound really old and sad, but at least I have not collected dozens of cats.  And I really don't think that will be an issue because I'm not a big fan of felines!! At all!!  So, anyway, I've been making all kinds of yarn-y things.  My great-niece, Kate, now has her own blankie.  Her big brother Eli decided he probably wouldn't share his.  I've also started crocheting the sock caps with the earflaps.  I'm almost finished with my first one, and I have to say, it's pretty cute.  I fear that I will turn into the old, moth-ball scented aunt that everyone dreads visiting!!  That seems to be the stigma with knitting and crocheting.  I'm going to do my best to prove that wrong!!  I'm also getting ready to make Kate some crochet beanies with ribbon running through them.  Her momma, my lovely Staci, would never tell me if these handmade gifts are hideous.  She tolerates my therapy with a very big heart!! 

 

 So, tomorrow will be my fourth consecutive snow day.  We've had nine total (I think).  Luke's basketball games have also been canceled, so I haven't had those to distract me.  But, I keep plugging along.  And praying along.  I keep thinking that God will send us our first foster child any day.  I really thought we would get him/her on January 26th, the day that marked two years without Mal.  Didn't happen.  God must think that I will need this "little distraction" even more on a different day.  We're just waiting on the state to give it's stamp of approval.  Could be any day now.  I know when we get this addition to our family, that I won't have time to mess up my fingers!!  That will be a blessing. 

 

 I WAS able to venture out today!!  I went to Wal-Mart (whoo hoo) and got a fountain soda!!  The world seemed to be right again! We're off school again tomorrow, so I'll be making hats like crazy!! My nine-year-old niece told me that she would LOVE to have one!  She doesn't know any better yet!  I'll go ahead and post a pic of the one that I'm almost finished with.  I have to get the second ear flap done, and add a bit more to it, but I think you'll get the idea.   So, if anyone actually WANTS something made with love, I'm your girl!  What makes me seem like a lonely, old woman, is actually keeping my blood pressure down, and soothing my soul!!  But, even more importantly, when I catch myself starting to digress, I am going to try to remember this verse.  God is the best way to cope with any worries!!

 
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

Above:  Kate's blanket.  I started this as soon as Staci told us she was pregnant.  I wish I would have waited so I could make it more "girly"!!

Above:  This picture shows the cap from the side.  It looks a little messy because I have more to add.  The ear flap will come down longer with a pom pom on the end.