Being Reminded of My Role

Every morning when I pray, I ask God to help me be a positive role model for my students.

Either He decided to tell me "No" today, or I didn't heed His hints.

In addition to my duties as an English teacher, I am also the yearbook advisor. Although considered an extracurricular class, my staff will be the first to tell you that it's very stressful due to the deadline dates. There have been times when we've been at school until 8:00 P.M.; but personally, I think the class is great in teaching time management. Unfortunatley for the students, this time of the year is most stressful, and I have zero tolerance for excuses. Although I get frustrated, I have to remind myself that there's an appropriate way to show my frustrations.

Today I forgot.

Already being exasperated with one particular student, every comment that was made by this person was, in my opinion, negative. Finally, after another comment, I snapped, "****, you are so negative! Everything you say is negative!"

"No, I'm not," this person meekly replied. "Not everything."

"Yes, Everything!" I insisted.

Needless to say the rest of the period was rather quiet.

A few minutes later as I was standing in the hallway talking with some teachers, this student came to me and asked if s/he could talk to me.

Towards the end of our discussion, the person told me that I had hurt his/her feelings and got teary-eyed. I hugged the person and aplogized; h/she said, "That's all right," and I said, "No, it's never all right if you're crying."

What a sucker-punch to the gut. I know I am demanding, and I will push my students to the breaking point - but that's it - TO the breaking point; I don't ever want to break them.

I came back to my room and read my cousins blog about a friend of hers who is a W.O.W. (woman of the Word). Yesh, I wasn't one today - more like a harlot...

Then looking around my room at my posters, there are three specificaly glaring at me, but the one about Success makes me do a double-take. Success doesn't just start with believing in oneself; it also starts with others believing in you. I lost sight of that today.

So, I'll take the words of my other posters to heart:

The only real mistake is the one from which you don't learn

You must be the change you wish to see in the world

You can always be a better person today than the one you were yesterday

Yes, indeed!

Easter Traditions

My church, Trinity United Methodist Church, located in Durand, Georgia, is a quaint country church full of history and tradition. We have a small congregation, but we don't get lost in the numbers, and everybody knows everybody. I think I've been searching for this church my entire life.
One of our Easter traditions is our cross. Every Easter morning, we members bring spring flowers and decorate the cross with them. Honoring Christ and His gift to us, we stand around it. It's so beautiful; the picture doesn't do it justice.
After everyone has had a chance to go home for dinner, we return for the children's Easter egg hunt and light refreshments. There's more adults than children, but we don't mind; we are a family, and we're making our own memories and will one day be surprised when all these little ones are grown, too.

One of my neighbors has an saying, done in needlepoint, that was given to his wife many years ago. His wife has been dead several years, but he still has this needlepoint hanging in his den. I heard it again today, and I thought how fitting for those words to be said today - a reminder of how our lives can be because of Christ.

May you always find Peace in living,

Joy in giving,

And Love in each new day.

A good motto to live by, don't you think?

On another note, my husband is good friends with an elderly gentleman who manages his son's farm. In addition, he also raises chickens and sells his organic eggs. Today I decided to have an egg-salad sandwich for lunch and took out four eggs. I didn't pay that much attention to them until after I had boiled them. I had eggs dyed by nature - blue, brown, green, and creamy white! What a marvelous treat!

Mission Accomplished!

Taking practically the entire morning/afternoon, I tackled three closets and a wall-storage unit and came out victorious! Sometimes it was a struggle; clothes called out to me, "Give me one more year and see if you change your mind!" If that plea didn't work, they tried, "But I used to be a favorite!" I also had some, "You never gave me a chance; you didn't like me from the start!" And then there was the infamous, "You know how fashions come back in style! Throw me away today, and you'll be buying one just like me tomorrow!" I persevered, piece by piece, and now my space isn't stuffed to the gills. I can close drawers easier and slide clothes on the rod smoother.

Cleaning out closets is like cleaning out one's mind. We have to take inventory and see what's important. Once we begin, we realize how much of what's important to us is getting smothered by the insignificant. Oh, at one time our worries/concerns were important, and we want to keep a hold of them - just in case. But they build, and when we look, we just see clutter.

So we clean out, we let go, we trust in God.

On the Road Again

Unlike Willie Nelson, I can wait to get on the road again. One would never know how much I hate driving, especially since I'm always behind the wheel. It seems ever since I moved to Texas (1982), I've always lived in places where I had to drive to get anywhere - my job, the grocery store, the movies, the mall, my hair stylist...So whenever I visit relatives, I feel as if I've "gone to town" because everything is much closer. I remember when I visited my cousin in Long Beach, California; it was so neat to walk outside the door and then walk downtown and visit the shops.

However, I don't want to live in that hustle and bustle, that easy access. All I have to do is drive Interstate 85 through Atlanta to remind me of the down-side of living in the city.