“God created, God created, night and day. Night and day, that was the on the first day, that was on the first day. It was good. It was good” to the tune of Frere Jacques song. We’ve been learning about Creation in kindergarten, and it’s interesting to me because that has currently carried over into my music classes. I’m teaching 5-8th grade music this year, and my main focus to start off the school year is studying what the Bible says about music. Hmm....if God created ALL of creation to proclaim His glory, how great our responsibility to glorify Him must be! I’ve started a hymn study with my music classes. Did you know that Charles Wesley is credited with writing the most hymns? He wrote over 8,800 hymns in his lifetime. That’s a lot of hymns!! Anyways, it’s been a good study for me too....hopefully, my students will learn to enjoy it also.
Soccer, soccer, soccer! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the team is out on the field after school practicing. Our older boys are really enjoying the opportunity to be a part of the team, and they’ve learned a lot! Garett has been playing in the goalie position. He has his size going for him, but he just needs to increase his aggression towards the ball. If you know anything about Garett, aggression is not part of his personality! Chandler plays mid-center, and Wyatt is playing right wing. They work hard in practice every time, and I’ve enjoyed helping out with the practices as well. It’s exercise, and that is good for me too!
We had our second game of the season yesterday, and we lost. Sadness! We played very well the first half, but kinda became tired and fatigued in the second half. The final score was 1-6. While it was disappointing to lose, a lot of lessons can be learned. It’s interesting to note that the same players that were blaming each other in practice for bad passes, mess ups, etc, were the same ones in the game -still blame shifting! Edification! That is a big word that we are trying to teach the team. I will say that I am very, very thankful for the boys soccer coach. A dad from our school stepped up into the coaching role, when he realized that we wouldn’t be able to have a team unless someone coached. His own children are too young to play, but yet he is willing to coach the team. I was not impressed with the coach of the other team we played yesterday. All of my boys made the comment on the way home, that they were very thankful that their coach didn’t act like that. You know what? I’d 1000 times rather have a coach for my boys that might not be the worlds best coach but is willing to invest in their lives and point them to Jesus than to have a coach that knows all the rules of the game but is not a good example! The truth of the matter is that actions and words do matter! So, all that to say that Roger and I are very thankful for the man that has stepped into the role of being the head coach for the team this year.
Last week, Roger and I got away for a quick date! Whew! I didn’t even know we knew that word! It’s been at least since March that we’ve been able to get away for a lunch together. Roger had a long time friend that was visiting in the Down East area of Maine. Roger and I were able to sneak up to see Kyle and his girlfriend. Roger flew the plane, we landed in Bar Harbor, met our friends, had a quick late lunch, and then Roger had to be back with the airplane. It was a fast and quick afternoon, but we were thrilled to get away. I’m thankful for my friend, Hannah, who took my tribe after school to her house for the afternoon. Roger and I had originally hoped to leave around noon, but it was closer to two pm before we were headed to Bar Harbor. It was a beautiful day for a flight, and we had a great time together. Roger and I were able to get coffee and take a walk together before we needed to pick up the kids, and it was just a much needed afternoon together.
School....it’s another thing we do these days! Every single day I pray for Gods protection on our school, our church, the property, the families, and the students. We’ve needed prayer all of our lives, but this year it is especially important to keep praying for Gods protection. It’s a miracle that we are actually able to go to school, and several schools in our states are doing various stages of remote learning, scattered days in school, some have opened and then shut, and the level of fear and panic is high! Please pray with us for God’s protection, Divine wisdom, and direction and discernment. He is worthy of our praise, honor and glory! He is so faithful!
We are wrapping up week number four of school, and I am really enjoying teaching kindergarten. I’ll be the first to admit that rainy days are not my favorite, but we haven’t had too many of those! I love seeing the faces of my students in the mornings, and they've been very fun to work with this year. I want to teach them to read, but also to love learning. They have a lot of years of school ahead of them, and I want to help them enjoy learning. I’d also appreciate your prayers for me as I teach them to read and write, but also teach them about God and His Word.
Life is not all roses. Ha! If you’ve read my blog for very long, you’ll pick up the fact that I share ups and downs in our lives. We’ve been battling with difficult life experiences with one of our children. School has been hard for him this year, not academically per se, but just school experiences. This particular child told me last Saturday that he hated school (we don’t use the word hate in our family, so that In and of itself speaks volumes). He told me that he didn’t think it mattered if he obeyed and why would he want to because generally it’s not the well behaved kids that get the attention! Well, after I picked up my jaw from off the floor, we had a discussion. At first we were both upset and it was a go-no where conversation. But once I started listening to what he was saying, reading his facial expressions, and filling in the spots between the lines, we were able to move forward. We had a long discussion about character, integrity, and matters of the heart. He told me that he knew that he wanted some recognition for doing the right thing, but deep down he knew that he needed to do right no matter what other choices others were making. YES! Character is doing the right thing regardless of who’s watching or if you’ll get a “pat on the back”. Integrity is being honest even when no one is looking or even expecting you to show integrity. It was a long, messy, teary, emotional conversation, but we both came away loving each other and desiring to communicate better with each other. I’m sure there will be other conversations along the way, but I’ll never regret the moments spent with my children praying over difficult situations with them. This particular child seems to always find himself in a classroom where there are other children that rub him the wrong way. I wanted him to have an easy year...I wanted an easy year. But the truth of the matter is that God is going to do great and mighty things through this child when he is submitted to God’s will. Gods refining fire is not just something that happens to experienced Christians. God is working in the hearts and lives of our children also. I don’t always like the ways that God chooses, but I do know that God love our children even more than we do.
Our governor extended us into another state of emergency. Honestly, it’s so ludicrous, but what do I know?! It’s only our seventh one! Yes, the 7th one! At some point in time, regardless of whether you’re a democratic or a republican you have to ask yourself...is this about money- perhaps federal funds? And maybe not about the needs of the American people? Many, many Maine businesses have gone under in the last few months, and the sad part is that they won’t be replaced by other small businesses. The economic hardship that is on our state is evident all around us. For the first time in 19 years, our school won’t be holding its annual fundraising auction. We just simply can’t go asking businesses for donations for our auction when so many of them are barely getting by! So, if you know anyone who wants to donate a sum of money to a wonderful Christian school, just let me know!
God has been so faithful to us, our family and the school. We can’t see the big picture, but I know that to be in the center of Gods will today, we will just do the next right thing. We will continue to be faithful, endeavor to have real and deep conversations with those around us, love people, and stay focused on our Heavenly Father.
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