It's the night before the last day of school for David and Sarah. As I finished packaging up "Thank you" gifts for their teachers with accompanying notes, I was again reminded of what a blessing my children's teachers have been over the years, both here and in Oklahoma. When we moved here, we made a decision to transition our kids not only from one state to another but from private school to public school. We were a little nervous not knowing what the schools were like here or even what it was like to go to public school in the 2000s since James and Jason had been in private school. We have not regretted the decision. Almost every year I have had a sense of sadness over moving to a new teacher because we have grown so attached to the one we have. Tonight was no different as I wrote the teacher notes. It's especially hard with Sarah's teachers because I know there's no hope of having that teacher again since she's the youngest. Sarah has had ALL the same teachers as David with the exception of Kindergarten.
This year she had Mrs. Heffernan. We appreciate her energy and the fact that she likes to have fun. She also appreciates art and has drawn out the creative side of Sarah this year. It has been fun to hear Sarah tell stories about Mrs. Heffernan and write songs for and about her. Everyone loves that Mrs. Heffernan has a great sense of humor. What a great year it has been for Sarah!!!
David had Mrs. Hilliard. We also LOVE her. At his conference at the beginning of the year, she was teary talking about how much she loved David and loved how he loves Jesus and loves other people. As Brent and I sat and listened to her we both got choked up. It was so incredible to hear his teacher appreciating this part of his character. She was a great motivator for David. He worked hard to please her and met his goal of being on honor roll. We saw a significant change in his work ethic both last year and this year, and I thank his teachers for this.
We've had so many other teachers in our lives who I could list, but I fear leaving someone out accidentally. Teachers work so hard and they give so much to so many children. I don't know how they do it. I know I couldn't. Thank you to all the teachers out there who have influenced me and my children.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Chris
Many years ago I was blessed with an incredible internship that led to a career I never expected, but more importantly to friends I never imagined. One of those friends is Chris.
Because of all my moves when I was a child, I really didn't have many lifelong friends. I have one friend from high school, who means the world to me, but who I have not seen in 19 years. I have many classmates who I am able to have regular contact with on Facebook, which is awesome!!! And there are a few people out there who I knew as a young child, but not many. Brent, on the other hand, only moved a couple times in his life, and he has friends from his childhood who he has regular contact with often. When we were in our early married years, I found myself jealous of his friendships. It was totally wrong of me, but a reality. I felt cheated out of something in my childhood!
I have gotten over it, but a couple weeks ago I had a new revelation. Our friends, the Luton's, came to visit. I met Chris my first day at DHS in May of 1994, and I thought she was awesome!!! I wanted to learn to be a social worker just like her. She is a couple years older and had experience that I did not have. We became friends quickly and I grew to like her as a friend, not just as a mentor in my job, and over time our husbands got to know each other and then her oldest son and Jason became friends. And we both had our youngest two children close to the same time as each other, which was fun. I miss their family so often, but when they were here, I really remembered just how much I miss them, and it was truly awesome to see all of our kids all grown up enjoying each other. One night Chris and I went for a walk, and during that time, I realized that now that I'm over 40, I do have friends who I have known for at least half of my life, who really know me and with whom I share fun memories, memories even more significant than those I would have with friends from childhood . . . exciting, happy times, incredibly difficult times, and just funny stories. It was great to reminisce and talk about how we have changed and what our future dreams are. I am so thankful for the people God has put in my life, specifically tonight for Chris, Robert, Jake, Evie, and Henry. I often talk about the strange way I fell upon my career, which I think has already been posted, but in thinking about that, it had not occurred to me how God provided me with such an amazing friend (and actually there are other people from DHS that have impacted my life in significant ways) through the stumbling upon of my internship. What a blessing!!!
Because of all my moves when I was a child, I really didn't have many lifelong friends. I have one friend from high school, who means the world to me, but who I have not seen in 19 years. I have many classmates who I am able to have regular contact with on Facebook, which is awesome!!! And there are a few people out there who I knew as a young child, but not many. Brent, on the other hand, only moved a couple times in his life, and he has friends from his childhood who he has regular contact with often. When we were in our early married years, I found myself jealous of his friendships. It was totally wrong of me, but a reality. I felt cheated out of something in my childhood!
I have gotten over it, but a couple weeks ago I had a new revelation. Our friends, the Luton's, came to visit. I met Chris my first day at DHS in May of 1994, and I thought she was awesome!!! I wanted to learn to be a social worker just like her. She is a couple years older and had experience that I did not have. We became friends quickly and I grew to like her as a friend, not just as a mentor in my job, and over time our husbands got to know each other and then her oldest son and Jason became friends. And we both had our youngest two children close to the same time as each other, which was fun. I miss their family so often, but when they were here, I really remembered just how much I miss them, and it was truly awesome to see all of our kids all grown up enjoying each other. One night Chris and I went for a walk, and during that time, I realized that now that I'm over 40, I do have friends who I have known for at least half of my life, who really know me and with whom I share fun memories, memories even more significant than those I would have with friends from childhood . . . exciting, happy times, incredibly difficult times, and just funny stories. It was great to reminisce and talk about how we have changed and what our future dreams are. I am so thankful for the people God has put in my life, specifically tonight for Chris, Robert, Jake, Evie, and Henry. I often talk about the strange way I fell upon my career, which I think has already been posted, but in thinking about that, it had not occurred to me how God provided me with such an amazing friend (and actually there are other people from DHS that have impacted my life in significant ways) through the stumbling upon of my internship. What a blessing!!!
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