A teacher's love

I'm not really a teacher.....yet.  That starts in the fall.  I feel like a teacher, though, having worked at Kids Central for the last year.  I aided, subbed and helped around......and fell in love with the children.  I found myself excited when it was one of their birthdays, or when one lost a tooth....I worried when one was sick for too many days, when one couldn't understand something being taught.....I also wanted to spank a couple of them a time or two!

The teachers from Connecticut and more recently in Oklahoma, are called heroes for shielding and protecting their students, and rightly so.  I do believe most teachers would do the same.  Spending 6-8 hours a day with the same children....eventually they become almost like your own.  I heartily applaud and admire the teachers who thought quickly and did what they thought best to protect their students.  I weep for the ones who lost their lives and for the ones who had to see their little ones hurt or killed.

One day this past year, the fire alarms went off at our school.  My heart about burst through my chest, as the only thing I could think of was the children and getting them out.  I panicked that someone might be in the bathroom and be scared or trapped.  It wasn't really heroic, just instinctive.....the same as if it would have been in my own home.  I knew that I would do anything to keep those kids safe.

I have shed many tears for the people of Conn. and OK in the past few months, thinking of those little ones, but also about what if that would have been the children I love.  I can hardly stand to think about it.

There were also two days this year when two male convicts escaped our local jail and were on the loose, considered armed and dangerous.  Not having any idea where they were or how desperate they might be, all the schools were on "lockdown" and the teachers personally walked each student out to his/her car during pick-up time.  Not only would I have done anything to protect the students I was with, but was deeply grateful to the teachers of my own children for being overly cautious during that time.

It's easy to criticize teachers.  It's easy to think they could do better or wish they weren't as strict or whatever.  The teachers of younger children are mother figures for them and have many opportunities every day to encourage, comfort and bring a smile to the kids' faces.  During the school year, they spend as much or more waking hours with our children then we, the parents do.

They also just might be the ones who save the lives of our children one day.  Let's pray for them daily and take every chance to thank them that we get!

On turning 40

How does one describe the feeling of turning 40??  I still feel like I'm 25 inside, but the gray hairs, slower metabolism and growing children remind me that, yep, it's true....I'm really 40!  The fact that my life is half over, if I live a good, long life, that is, is sobering.

Have I spent my 40 years pointing people to Jesus?  Have I made Him happy?  How can I make the next 40 years much better than the first?  These are some of the questions I have been pondering....

I remember when my own mother turned 40.  She cried.  I'll admit, I shed a few tears as well, but not because I'm sad to be 40, but grateful, expectant and humbled.  I believe God has me on this Earth for a specific purpose and I am grateful He still wants to use me.

I am a goal setter and turning 40, for me, is a great time to set some new ones.....the top five are:
slow down and experience the moment
 understand my husband more deeply and love him in the way he understands best
 stop worrying so much, especially about things out of my control 
love and like my kids with every ounce of strength I have while they are still under my influence
 get into the best shape of my life  

My children asked me how I felt on my birthday.  I told them "happy and blessed"......"and a little bit old!"