The Final Countdown

The countdown has begun. Wow! School is winding down for the year. It's zooming by and before we know it, there will be end of the year parties, award chapel, the "cleaning out of the desk" ritual and then those last good-byes.

I won't lie. There are those years where you may have had a student or two that have....well, let's just say....tried your patience. You thank the Lord for them and all their special qualities; but also thank God that now someone else gets to enjoy those special qualities.

On the other hand, there are all those special times during the year with your students that you look back on and cherish. The times when you really saw them "get something" you were teaching, or the lesson you didn't realize they were going to enjoy so much or learn so much from, the chapels and special programs.

At the end of the year, I can't help but start planning for the next. I think about the things I want to do again next year and how I can make it better next time. I also make mental notes of the things that did not work and strike those off my to-do list. I always have a bucketful of new ideas I want to try out. A teacher's mind never stops turning!!

In the midst of all this end of the year hullabaloo, I have to remind myself that there won't be a next year for me. This is it. Maybe not forever; but at least for the near future. That near future may be one year or ten! I just don't know. I can make plans; but only God can order my steps.

I'm more than excited about being home with Lily and my new little one. But, there will be things I miss. Having that lesson you worked so hard on turn out better than you imagined, laughing and talking with my co-workers, who have become so much like family, and (to be really honest) all those Starbucks I get at holidays throughout the year!! Seriously, Christmas is going to come around and I'll be asking Andy where are the Starbucks giftcards are!!

All that to say, I'm very hopeful and determined to enjoy the season of life God has me in. Whatever it may be. So while I'm counting down to summer and saying good-bye to lesson plans and grading papers (no love lost there!), I'm counting up to the new adventure God has for me. Which does include lots of diapers and sleepless nights. But there is so much more and that's what I'm excited to see.