Butterflies, Pickles, and Light Blue

     Let me set the scene. After a cloudy, windy day, we were blessed with a beautiful day with full sunshine and temperatures that seemed to be trying to warm every cold thing. My six dear students were playing kickball and I was sitting on the bleachers checking penmanship. A breeze ruffled the evergreen tree row by the diamond. The laughter of the children floated across the way and I was suddenly overwhelmed with an immense feeling of gratitude. I felt the  “overwhelming sunshine flowing into this heart of mine” . God has blessed us with more than we even deserve. He has given us life, health, family, friends, a church where we feel safe, and most of all, He has given us prayer, our direct connection to Him through His Son. One of my co-teachers recently said, “I couldn’t teach school if it wasn’t for prayer.” I couldn’t agree more. This job has taught me the power in answered prayers and how interested God is in all the little things. How often I have brought my...

    “Hey, we should all go on a trip together for spring break.”     “We should go to Belize!”     “That would be so much fun!”     “You all should come after school and we can get things booked.”     And so one sunny day after school, the youth girls of United Center showed up and we planned an unforgettable spring break. We booked our tickets out of Kansas City to Belize City and reserved a resort for six days. It so happened that sadly my co-teachers were not able to make the journey with us; so it was only four girls that piled into that Chevy Trailblazer the morning of March 1 and trekked the three hours to KC at four in the morning. Airport parking, shuttling to the airport, a little Messenger coffee, landing in Dallas/Fort Worth, transferring to our gate, boarding for BZE, landing in Belize, going through customs, receiving our luggage, getting a taxi to the water taxi, and the two hour boat ride with the warm sun shining on the c...

    Sometimes the best thing to do after a church service is to meet a friend at “the corner”, zoom to Freddy’s, where you will inevitably meet another youth group, sit in a booth with large baskets of fries and concretes of course, and discuss life and laugh so hard that the other youth group stares at you a little oddly. It is refreshing. Trust me, I’ve done it. :))     Does anyone else like to “parking lot rot”? This term was recently introduced to me and I have never more fully agreed. Get yourself some food or a drink and sit in a parking lot to read, scroll, or journal and have a little “parking lot rot”!     With a suddenness, a beautiful warm front encompassed this area. The sun shone in all its glory, basking the land with its 65 degree rays. The teachers sat in the sunlight in their short sleeves and watched the children happily playing tag. One pleasant Sunday afternoon, my cos and I got ourselves some Subway for lunch and had a picnic at Co...

    “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise: Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.” Psalm 100:4      The children crowd around one desk, coloring with the beloved Sharpies. They chatter excitedly and put the marker lids on their fingers for fingernails. The topic of conversation today is how the identical twins switched jackets and everyone got them confused. Sadly, their teacher did as well which was not amusing to the one twin.      “Miss Miller! Miss Miller! Look! It’s snowing!” The picture out of the window looks slightly blurry due to the white blur floating down from the sky. The weather has not been very January, but in recently days  has suddenly turned sharply colder. The snow coats make an appearance once again. It was feeling quite springlike, but now there is talk of snow, ice, and skating.       During a game of Monopoly: “I am absolutely the richest dude in town!”   ...

    It seems as though I have recently caught a lot of inspiration through songs. Though the melodies are beautiful, the words speak louder at times. They often touch that cord inside so perfectly and complete the thought that God does speak through singing. Maybe you can receive the inspiration I was gifted as well.      -When there is a slightly rough patch in life and when it seems like there is no sunlight to be seen, a song of inspiration lifts the fog that lays so thick. It is simply a song that is led in church that seems to resonate so deeply.  “It’s the power to love. The power to reach out to someone in need. It’s the power to love. The power to conquer a world full of greed. There is no equal on earth below or above. He has the power to love.”      - The children titter excitedly when the music teacher displays the song one Monday morning. He blows the pitch and excited voices ring out with the volume and gusto of youth. It is a Su...

      It is a rather drippy Friday afternoon. Both of my coteachers excitedly rush around in their classroom and soon we are giving hugs and two Civics are zooming away. It was only right after how many weekends I have been gone that they get to also attend friend’s weddings away. I was quite thrilled at the prospect of “baching it”! That evening, I recruit a friend so I don’t have to walk into LT ball by myself. It feels rather odd to not have my constant companions with me. I have never went to an away volley game by myself. The evening is entirely fun. It feels rather odd to simply get home and go to bed without sitting in the living room to chatter about something or other. The following Saturday, I get an astonishing amount of things done. The Christmas gifts get wrapped. The Christmas decoration projects come together. The house gets a cleaning. The evening is an enjoyable evening with close friends. It is decided that supper will be at a rather fancy restaurant. Th...

    “Let’s go play in the leaves!” I sit on the sidewalk and check penmanship pages while my darling students make leaf piles and throw leaves in the air and in general get leaves everywhere. My heart is full as I listen to their happy chatter and laughter and the sun shines in all its autumn beauty. The chaff blows across the way from the newly combined field. The children had been enamored with the youth boy in the combine and had shouted and shrieked in excitement.      I forgot how much fun it was to color with markers. The 2nd and 3rd graders at Sugar Creek School are highly invested in coloring with markers. Their pictures are very brilliant and the walls of our classroom look like a mirage of colors. I like the chaos of the pictures even if it is not aesthetically pleasing, and besides who said classrooms were supposed to be aesthetically pleasing anyway. They’re kids!      While around a fire, strawberries with marshmallow cream melted sli...

    During Science class, the third graders were going over the seven continents. Since the student was struggling, the teacher asked what she thought was an easy question. “What country do a lot of missionaries go to?” The student pondered it for a bit. “Antarctica?” Teacher tried her very best to hold in her giggles.      Report cards. The thought of them scared me deeply. After dismissing at noon on Wednesday, the Sugar Creek trio headed to Wichita. Chick-fil-A was the first order of business. After consuming chicken, we headed to our favorite coffee shop, Coffee Daze. We sat on the high bar by the window. The sun was streaming in the large glass panes and the prayers were prayed and soon we were busily filling out report cards. I don’t know how you could ever fill out report cards without the One on high guiding the hand. I am thankful for a Friend like Him.      “Miss Miller, what kind of waffles does a witch eat?” said Student 1.  ...