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| beautiful oregon. |
i have a love/hate relationship with volunteering at school. i love being in the school with my kids, getting to know the students and staff. i don't like filing Tuesday folder papers while the teachers sit and talk together. my time is valuable. my time is my most sacred commodity. Today was JUST what i love!! I went to Ellie's class and for one hour i taught them how to be more descriptive. We wrote thank you letters to their mothers. I had copied some calligraphy/fun fonts on a handout for them and on their final draft they used fancy handwriting. I brought Eve and Lily with me along with a cute home schooled girl from church. it was perfect. one hour, in the classroom, really doing what i love to do and leaving my small fingerprint. Next week we're painting canvas pictures of their mothers... and in January I get to come up with an art project that goes along with the immigration unit. i love it.
"Jack's afraid of something," Mary said.
"Jack's not afraid of anything, ever!" Laura contradicted.
"Laura, Laura," Ma said. "It isn't nice to contradict."
oh, i learn something every day from that saint of a Ma.
I have a friend who made an off-handed statement to me one day that she and her husband were fighting. Every time I see them I think they're fighting. I find myself analyzing their marriage interactions. Today, I wondered how many times I have made off-handed, casual statements to others about silly disagreements todd and i have? i wonder if weeks after i've said something people look at us and think we have a struggling marriage. i need to be more careful with my words.
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| can you find anna? she's singing at a retirement home. |
Drew is a teaser. Today Anna was having a hard day. She was the lunch helper and had to leave early for lunch. She didn't get to finish her worksheet, so she tried to finish it when she got back and missed her teacher explaining the next worksheet. And then her teacher went on to Math and she was still trying to finish her Social Studies-- which was about Texas, and she saw Lubbock on there. And, she felt homesick. So, she put her head on her desk and fake cried. (She really said that, I can't make this stuff up...) And then, Leah unplugged her vacuum when she was trying to get her jobs done... and THEN drew grabbed the cord and started teasing her... that was the final straw. (Oh, it is hard being a 4th grade perfectionist.) I had a chance to chat with drew. I explained that sometimes people are smoldering. Today, it was Anna. He had the choice to add fuel to the fire or water. It was an inspired analogy, I learned as I taught. And, I was grateful. For a cranky 4th grader, a teasey 6th grader, and an omniscient Father who whispers just what I need to know when I need to know it. God is good.{He who drinks of these waters shall never thirst...} I want to be like the Water more often.
i wrote this post about SURFING housework. My main idea was that sometimes changing housework from a duty to a passion inspires you to enjoy and not dread your work. This is a true principle. This week I have experimented with a new approach to laundry. A friend of mine, who is amazing, told me this is what she does. I have the kids bring up a basket with their dirty clothes in the morning. I throw a load or two in quickly before I start my day, and I send them downstairs with a basket of clean clothes after school. I feel like Superwoman!! Everything in my house is washed, dried, folded and PUT AWAY... laundry isn't mountainous, it's simple and neat. Laundry has become a daily background NOT a focus. Sometimes I wonder why it has taken me so long to learn these principles. I think it is because God knew I needed to struggle-- in the struggling to find order in my home I have learned empathy. I have learned to cherish true principles of order. When you're drowning, try surfing, you may find that you really, really like it.
i hope you are too!
thanks for listening to my rambles.
have a great weekend.
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