The Fullness of Joy.
Our most recent topic of conversation among the 2nd and 3rd graders at Sugar Creek is the play day. They reminisce over last year and they mention quite often how they wish I would have been there. “But you’ll be here this year, right?” Yes, it does seem that Miss Miller will be at the play day this year. It would be a little odd if she skipped out on that. :)
“My desk is having an avalanche.” A second grader with a messy desk.
School devotions one Monday morning was about fear. The song sung after was “Warrior.” The children seem to love that song. “I am a warrior in an army that will never know defeat. I am a warrior. I am a warrior. All Heaven’s angels fight beside me. We are never in retreat. I am a warrior. I am a warrior. And I fight all night and I fight all day. With the promises of God keep the enemy at bay and the battle’s raging strong and the day has been so long. I am tired. I am weary. But I’m a warrior in an army that will never know retreat…”
The morning of Wednesday, April 15 dawned with blue skies and calm(ish) breezes and temperatures of upper 70s. It was finally the field trip. The eager children kept each other entertained all the hour to the zoo. Wristbands were procured and we split off into little groups. It felt like we had brought the zoo to the zoo as one mom said. We seen so many fun animals. The talking parrot was a highlight and getting to hold the food in your hand as the lemur scurried across on your lap. The children were kept highly entertained by an enormous playground much to the relief of tired mothers. Have you ever petted a penguin? Imagine putting Vaseline on a coarse haired dog. That’s similar to how it felt. It is safe to say that it was a group of very tired mothers, kids, and teachers after that day, but oh what a joy it was!
Some facts about eating Jolly Ranchers: as one little tike said, “You have to wiggle it around in your mouth until it gets smaller!”
Hail storms are a Kansas norm, but they are quite the phenomenon to an Ohio girl. On Sunday, the skies split open and down poured the hail. The SCS teachers were on their way to lunch plans, but they made a speedy U-turn and parked safely in the garage. The Civic sustained no hail damage although it sounded as though the windshield was going to break! We have a two car garage and three vehicles so two girls dashed through the hail to move the picnic tables while the third girl drove Louise to safety. We stood on the porch like midwestern dads and watched the “snow” pile up and listened to the overflowing gutters. Entirely fascinating if you can view the spectacle from safety.
A Christian Endeavor service entitled Joy in the Journey was had one Sunday evening in April. There were so many impressive things in that service. Here are few things that really stood out.
- The words to a song:“There’s a happy feeling happens when I’m kneeling. It’s when the Savior takes control. Way down in my spirit where I need to feel it. It’s making sunshine in my soul!”
- The definition of JOY OF THE LORD is steady, God-centered confidence.
- From a verse in Psalm: In Thy presence is fullness of joy.
- “In God, our joy is made full.”
- The words to another song: “For there’s so many reasons to live my life for You.”
- “Happy are the people whose god is the Lord.”
- And a scripture reference: everything beautiful in His time.
“And oh what peace that I have found wherever I may be; for all my ways are known to You. Hallelujah! They are known to You.” CityAlight’s “All My Ways Are Known to You”
“And I’ll throw my life into Your will alone; for I’ll trust Your guiding light to lead me home. A new song I can sing, “Lord, how great Thou art”; rejoicing with peace in my heart.” CJ Koehn and Kailyn Koehn’s “Into Your Will”
“I hear a family gather round the table, in from the outdoors, up from rocking the cradle. The laughing children, the tiny baby’s coo. So much happiness, can this really all be true? I thank You, Father, for giving me this moment, this bit of Eden, this tiny part of heaven. So now I pray, help me keep this feeling, this bit of Eden and all my sins forgiven.” Kyle Barkman’s “This Bit of Eden”