Fun in First

A new year!!  This year is full of changes; a new grade level, a new room and a new team to work with.  In the midst of all the change, I was excited to see all the familiar kinder faces at Meet the Teacher moving up with me to 1st grade.  A few were worried they were having to repeat kindergarten when they saw they got me as their teacher!!  :)  As I have transitioned over the out pouring of love has been great.  The ladies that make up the first grade team are all so caring and thoughtful and have welcomed me warmly.  Change is rarely easy, especially when I felt as if I was leaving something so good with my kinder crew, but the Lord has blessed me with another great group of women to work alongside.

As Meet the Teacher came and went, I met so many parents who are entrusting their child to me to love and nurture and educate.  It's a huge job and to most the career as teacher is someone who is just suppose to teach the curriculum, but there is so much more to it than that.  These little lives will one day lead and change this world, for better or worse.  I get the pleasure of making an imprint on them for 9 short months and using the voice and heart God gave me to direct them towards love; for themselves and authority and peers and even enemies.  Every teacher has curriculum a mile high that must be taught daily, but you better believe there is a lot more going on in that classroom than just subject lessons, and that is what keeps most teachers up at night.  All the planning and preparing and praying...it's for those relationships, those deep connections with the one or two that need it so badly, those teachable moments that take you away from the lesson plan and to a place where they are learning far more than you thought possible.  Those are the moments that keep you going!   Every child comes from a different place, but the need for love and acceptance and safety remains constant across the board.  So here we go...year #5...may the Lord use me to change the world, one child at a time!