Morning!

Morning living in the spring is one of my favorite times in the entire year.  I love living at the top of a building the sits on the top of a hill in a very hillly Stillwater.  The sunrise is great.  So is my coffee. 


I just finished writing grading comments this morning (the younger procrastinator in me lives on, despite the structured life of Miss Christians at school) and even though I woke up VERY early to get this done, I have loved my time of solitude.  Middle school in the spring is also very FRESH - new love in the hallways (that's why we have hall duty), FRESH attitudes (yay, 8th grade - last week a kid begged me not to give him detention - yeah right), and FRESH ideas about life.  Close friends have heard me talk about the unique stress of this year.  They've heard my snarky Jessica ramblings, and they've been gracious. 


I am choosing gratitude in this new season of spring, and it's really shocking and comforting and beautiful to stop and look around and see what gratitude does to the inside of you.  Jenna was actually the one to put it in front of me again.  She did it in a very gentle way, in a very inspiring e-mail.  It was hands down, the best e-mail I have received so far in 2011.  It was full of Jenna perspective and a 'Hey, catch this, do something about your perspective' kind of an e-mail.  She said it in the best possible way.  Thank you, little sister.  You're one of my favorite people in the entire world AND we happen to be sisters.


So, I told God I wanted to be more grateful about the things He's given me.  And I began to see God again.   



I'm seeing God's grace in the smallest things in the day, which seems to be what God likes to do to His surprised people.  I've been so fatigued and mindless about teaching this year, and this has freaked me out.  I love reflective teaching.  The world expands in the classroom when I click into this.  And this year it's been tough to be a teacher who is mindful.  There is so much coming at me with the overload and the mix of change we're all experiencing.


  And yet.


The kids are hilarious, and God is reminding me that even when they're classically 13, I'm someone who has committed to being with them at the part in their journey called 'middle school'.  And even when I get tired and balk at this, God keeps reminding me that I should be there, because somehow things keep working.  And clicking.  I pray for favor at my job and blessing in the classroom, and then God opens people up, and I feel grateful.  


This happened yesterday, mostly through laughing with them.  The world is a funny place, and they are quick to laugh.  I showed them 'This Week in Photos' from MSNBC's Photoblog.  And when it got to the pictures of International Pillow Fight Day, everyone was laughing.  And of course asking if we could do this too.  (Bubbles inside?  Yes.  Pillow fights?  No.  Come on, kids.)  The people in Hong Kong were REALLY into it.  It was very nice to see a global community by way of pillow fighting.  It, for a time, evened out the civil wars, genocide, dictators, and mass poverty they usually see.  At least from the comfort of a classroom in Stillwater. 


What I am grateful for today.....


- Laughing with my students (because they are being who they truly are as people - this is when the best stuff happens)
- Early, early morning with coffee, God, and my mix on Grooveshark.com called 'Spring'
- Grace that is sufficient
- Kindred spirit friends
- Arrested Development quotes with Abby
- Conversations with Jenna
- Fresh air through the open windows
- Renewed perspective
AND
- The fact that God is reminding me of who I am again (where did I go for a while?)


It's time for school.