Sick.

Tired. Grouchy. Sore. Weak. Mad. Back soon. Maybe.

Pronounced

I have seen a lot of things in my many years as a teacher. Many, many things. But today I saw something for the first time. I was sitting at my desk doing what teachers do while the kids enjoyed a few minutes of free time. And this is what I heard:

H: A., do you take him to be your wedding husband?
A: I do.
H: J., do you take her to be your wedding wife.
J: Umm, I guess so.
H: I now pronounce you married. You may kiss the bride.
(Upon which I peeked at the ceremony just in time to see the "bride" grab and kiss the "groom" on the cheek while he struggled to get away.)
H: Okay, now the baby can be born.

Oh. My. Goodness. It was the cutest thing I've seen all day. Who else in the whole world can say they attended a wedding ceremony (and birth) while teaching kindergarten?

10 Things Thursday

10 things about the story of Abraham--8 according to my K-2nd grade Bible students and 2 according to me. First is the acrostic created by the kids.

1. Abraham went...(wherever God told him)
2. Birth of Isaac
3. wRapped up Isaac (to place him on the alter)
4. Abraham took a trip
5. He loved Lot
6. Abram changed his name
7. Mom was old (as in Sarah was 90 when Isaac was born)(This one is my favorite!)

8. I am amazed by Abraham's faith. No wonder he is known for his faithful service to God. He walked with God and obeyed him even when it seemed impossibly hard.
9. I have always been fascinated with Sarah, too. What an amazing woman and wife she must have been to support her husband's God-led lifestyle. And to have a baby at 90! I know that lifespans were different in those days, but still...90!

10. I read this poem about Abraham and Isaac to my class during yesterday's lesson. In case you don't know this part of the story, God tells Abraham that he is to sacrifice his son Isaac. When he is sure that Abraham is really going to go through with it, he stops him...with the knife in mid-air. He assures Abraham that he's passed the test. God now knows that Abraham would not withhold anything, not even his son, from him. This poem is kind of funny in a "when are we going to get there" kind of way, but the last few lines are quite touching. Enjoy.

Where Are We Goin'?

"Where are we goin'?"

little Isaac asked his pop.

"Are ya gonna take me fishin'

or to the candy shop?"

"Why are you so silent?

Have you planned a big surprise?

Are you keepin' it a secret?

Should I cover up my eyes?"

"When will we get there?

How much longer till we stop?

Are we gonna climb that mountain?

Are we hikin' to the top?'

"What will we do there

when we finally reach the peak?

Say, Pop,

is that a teardrop

that is rollin' down your cheek?"

~Marty Nystrom
(from the book Don't Mess with Moses)

The kids knew the story. We talked about it for two days. And after I read the poem, one little boy raised his hand and said, "He's kind of annoying. I would have sacrificed him." Are you kidding me?! I couldn't make this stuff up.

That's Tough!

Julianna just ran to hide under my desk at school and hit her head on the underside hard enough to make a good "bang" sound. She didn't cry. She rarely does. When I asked her if she was okay she assured me that she was. Her little friend T., who is also 3, then said, "She's alright. She's tough as nails." Yes, T. Yes, she is.

It's Monday...

...that's it. Just "it's Monday."

It's Saturday...

...and I have nothing to do until 6:30 tonight. That means a whole day to do whatever we want. So here's what I've done. Dishes, cleaned out my school bags (yes, plural), read, made eggs, sausage, and toast for my family, read, played puppies with Jules, read, took a nap, ate a popsicle, wrote this post. It's been lovely so far and there are still a few hours left. I may just get finished with An Irish Country Doctor before the day is done. Hope you are enjoying your Saturday, too.

Wednesday WORD

For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. ~Matthew 12:34b

12

On this day 12 years ago my firstborn son made his appearance in the world. His birthday should have been the 9th. But he had other plans and hung in there until October 10th. October 10th is also the first day of elk hunting season. On the 9th 12 years ago, I called my dad who was getting ready to head to the woods, and told him he might want to stick around for a few more hours (which turned out to be a lot more hours). Finally, October 10th turned out to be Josh's birthday. Through the years the clashing of birthday/elk season has caused me to have to be creative in planning birthday celebrations so that Pappy could be there like Josh wanted. But this year it's not just Pappy who's hunting. Josh turns 12 today and that means he is able to big game hunt. Big game = elk. Elk = October 10th. Which all adds up to mean that I will not be hugging on my new 12 year old today. I may not even get to talk to him depending on cell service where they're hunting. I'm a little sad about that, but I knew the day was coming (and actually the same thing happened last year even though he was just "hunting" with Pappy and not with his own gun). So here's what we did. Friday night was his family birthday night. We usually go out to eat on birthdays, but Josh chose to have his night at home with homemade pizza (pepperoni, mushroom, and black olives), ice cream (Blue Bunny wedding cake flavored), movies (Transformers and X-Men First Class), and presents (a new camera*). He declared it a great night and I agree. If he's happy, I'm happy. And when he gets back we'll have a party with his friends, so plenty of birthday celebrating will occur. Just not on the actual birthday. Tonight, though, my dad will unwrap a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and stick a candle in it and hand Josh a card from me wishing him all the happiness in the world on his special day and every day to come. So 12 years ago, I spent this day exhausted and amazed and happier than I'd ever been before. And this year on this day I will look back on that day, all the days since, and all the days to come and know that the happy just keeps coming.


Happy Birthday, Josh! I love you more than words can say.

*So my friend Carrie had the great idea to get Josh a camera for his birthday when I told her I couldn't think of anything to get him. I did a little research online and then headed to Target. I prayed that God would let me find a great camera for a great price since price would play the biggest part in my decision. I asked the lady in the camera department what she suggested and she took me to the Kodak section. She pointed out a few cameras that she thought would be good and then showed me a clearance camera and told me that since it was the last one, she could give me 10% more off. That would make the camera $45. Then I looked a little closer at the the description card and discovered that the original price of the camera was $199.99. I asked her if that was the real original price and she said that it was. Well, that made the decision a lot easier. I walked out of the store with the camera (which happens to be a lot nicer than my point and shoot), a case, and a memory disk for under $70. Nice. Thank you, God, for answering even the smallest of my prayers.

10 Things Thursday

10 things you should take on a trip...according to my kindergarten through 2nd grade Bible class.

1. clothes
2. toothbrush and toothpaste
3. gps
4. binoculars
5. tent
6. refrigerator
7. brain and heart--said in all seriousness because "If you don't you would die."
8. guts--said in all silliness after the previous answer
9. batteries
10. map

This was a discussion leading up to the story of God sending Abram from Ur to Hebron. He left without knowing where he was going or how long he'd be gone. He just went because it's what God said to do. Good lesson for me to teach. God often says to me, too, "Just go. I'll fill you in on the details later." Guess I'd better get my brain and heart ready.

Quote of the Day

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug. ~Mark Twain

Help

As you might remember, our family sponsors two World Vision children. Lenah from Kenya and Vinicius from Brazil. Throughout the year we send them letters and cards and little gifts. I especially try to send something around their birthdays. The trick is, we can only send 6x9 inch envelopes. No big packages or boxes. Lenah just turned 9 in August. She's easy to shop for. Stickers, pencils, notepads, headbands, necklaces... There are tons of little things that would make a 9 year old little girl smile. And Vini's birthday is coming up in November. He will be turning 15. I have no idea what to send him. None at all. Any ideas?

Blessed Sunday

When the cutest little girl in the whole wide world says to me, "You're the best mommy ever,"...that's a blessing.