heart of JOY

In 1.5 school days I lose the title first year teacher.

In 100+ days my 15 kids have taught me a lot about life. I am forever grateful for the year I have experienced with these kids. I am thrilled even to say that I made it this far. In the days leading up to this last week of school, I never thought I would be emotional. BUT I think I wouldn't be giving glory where glory is due if I didn't look back on this year and praise the Lord for being my success.

I remember going into this year full of fear and wonder. Questioning my adequacy in front of 15 kids...but the beauty of the 15 kids that the Lord placed in my classroom is they love me for me. These kids have taught me what it means to love. Not that I loved them perfectly, or even very well some days, but they truly loved me each day and showed me what that really looks like.

Each teacher at Life Way assigns each of their kids a "character trait" that they lived up to throughout the year. This was definitely the hardest part of my job. I had to think back on this year and figure out what trait they exemplified through the year. Now that I have assigned them, I just have to present them and try to maintain my composure. So we'll see how that goes.

The Lord did SUCH great things this year. My heart is so full. So much joy fills me when I look back on this year. I have been blessed by this bunch.

Grace and Peace.

May?!

Unbelievable. It is May 1st. In honor of good ol' May Day, I'm blogging to give you a peak into the life of Clara for the past month and a half.

First of all, I can't believe that in 20 school days I will no longer have the title of "First Year Teacher." I have high hopes that losing the title will cut my doctor visits in half....but we'll just have to wait and see.

In the past month and a half I have:

• become plugged into an awesome group at Fellowship
• gone to the doctor twice
• gotten a shot and 2 different prescriptions
• given standardized tests (and skipped an entire section...thank you ear infection)
• laughed a lot with my kiddos
• helped coach a varsity softball team
• found a roommate for next year

I am so excited to see what these 20 days have in store for me. The Lord continues to prove daily how faithful He always is. Just because I am so weak, I welcome that little reminder.

I've really enjoyed the church I've found myself plugged in to. SUCH a great group of girls make up my community group, and I love soaking in the wisdom that is poured out each week. The Lord shows me His faithfulness in the sweet words He speaks through that group of people.

On Saturday evenings we're going through the book of James. LOVE THAT. Specifically, because James really challenges me to pray with expectancy, and challenges me with the importance of a prayerful life. (This is something I lose sight of...so it's nice to be drawn back into reality)  Chip, the pastor really challenged me with a pretty simplistic statement, but a huge challenge nonetheless..."What fault do we find in the Lord that we follow and fill our time with worthless idols?"...I think the wind was kicked out of me...mainly because this semester has been SO BUSY, I needed to hear that, to really level my thinking and re-evaluate the things I'm filling my time with.

When Chip asked this question he was referencing Jeremiah 2:5 where the Lord is asking the Israelites what he had done to provoke His people to leave Him and pursue gods that made them feel empty. The Israelites were totally disregarding the Lord- the Lord who redeemed them in the Exodus and preserved them while in the wilderness...the Lord protected them and they disregard it all in search of "the next best thing..."

I found myself sitting in my chair, almost in tears, frantically going through my day to day life re-evaluating the 24 hours I'm blessed with each day. Is the Lord honored? Just a thought, that will fill my thoughts this week. :)

So, yeah. I'm off to eat some strawberry pie and prepare for the trip to the state softball tournament in the morning. Here we go. :)

Grace.