Spring is here!

Spring has finally come. The anticipation of riotous blooms and green grass makes my heart go pitter-patter. I can't wait! The daffodils have come out already, and now the first trees are starting to bloom. Our little trees in the front yard are getting their first buds. The kids are running outside without their jackets. This is a great time for some visitors! (Hint, hint --- Zs!)

So what happened Saturday? We got some snow. Not a lot, but enough to cover patches of land and cool things down again. One day we're wearing sandals and the next day we're in flip flops. This is life in Georgia.

I continue to work as a sub. It's getting a little easier now that I'm learning school schedules and ways to keep kids on their toes. Most days are great. One seventh grader told me that I reminded her of a principal she once had.

"Um, thanks," I replied.

"She was strict, but nice," she said with a sweet smile and I thought that it was quite possibly the nicest compliment I'd gotten in a long time. That's what I'm going for! Strict, but nice.

I learned after a few weeks that bathroom breaks are the bane of a substitute's existence. Most classes start of like this:

"May I go to the bathroom?"

"No, you'll need to wait until the end of class."

"But I have to go REALLY bad!"

"No, sorry."

"No? You mean it?"

"Yep. Take a seat."

Next student only seconds later, "Mrs. J., I need to go to the bathroom."

"No, sorry."

"But my teacher always lets me go during class!"

"No, sorry. Go on and take a seat."

It usually takes about three or four students with exploding bladders for word to get around that the sub is not going to let anyone escape from class, but there's always one person who hasn't clued in that comes to ask, and ALWAYS one of the previous people of exploding bladders does not hear properly and thinks I have allowed someone to go to the bathroom when they were not allowed.

"I told that person that they couldn't go either," I say to the complaining student.

"Good, because if you had let them go to the bathroom, I'd be seriously angry at you right now . . . "

I'm nothing if not consistent. I can't tell you how many times I've had this exact round of conversation in various forms with sometimes quite colorful language.

As for getting teacher certification, I've recently thought about another option in which I can really use my BA in psychology. I've always wanted to go into family counseling, but had planned for it when the kids were out of the house. However, now that I'm working, I'd like to continue pursuing psychology now. However, the major draw behind getting teacher certification in the first place was being able to be home with my kids during school breaks. So I'm looking into becoming a guidance counselor or school psychologist. It may be that teacher certification works into guidance counselor. I don't know what the options are yet. These are all new thoughts.

We had some very exciting happenings on Friday night when I took the kids to a magic show at our church. Kristofer invited one of his friends from the neighborhood. This is a 16 year-old boy, smart, worldly wise, and searching in some pretty scary places. We'd been praying for him for two solid years, and that night he committed his life to Jesus. Kristofer was beaming from ear to ear, Keri Lynn and I were looking at each other with tears welling up in our eyes. I felt completely and utterly humble that the Lord would allow us to see this great happening, to play a part in it even. So, please pray for James, that he'll understand the simple truths of Christianity and grow into what God wants Him to be.

Watching a young man turn his heart to God forced me to look at my own behavior in our neighborhood and how I'm missing out on a lot of interaction with those who are unsaved because I'm too busy, too tired, too apathetic or too wrapped up in my own problems. Lord, let me see like You see. Don't let me waste an opportunity!