Not so first day of school

After almost 3 years of hibernating, I’m back and there is MUCH to catch up on- another day... for now this angel mama is just sharing her heart in the moment.
Today I headed into school for my “not so first” day of school.  13 years of grade school, 5.5 years of college, and 3 years as the teacher leave me no stranger to ALL the nerves of the first day of school.
Only this year is incredibly different... this should have been my year to be THAT parent.  You know- proudly posting all the photos of your perfectly dressed kindergarten student ready to begin a bold new adventure.  But I’m not. And no one accurately prepared me for the FLOOD OF EMOTIONS that would arrive as this day approached.
I was so caught off guard- it just kind of snuck up that the day is here.  And I had nothing!
In the past, I’ve done things to set myself up for success on days that I know might be hard.  We did a trip to Hershey Park on TJ’s due date...  A trip to the zoo, balloons, or cake on an angelversary... Gifts from our angel that first Christmas and an ornament on the tree each year... I try to have something to put some happy when I know my heart will especially be hurting.
And. I. Failed. To put some happy in place for the first day of school.
Last night I went to bed in tears.  My baby should be “all grown up”, there will be no pictures- just like all the other missing pictures from these past 5 years- and to top it off I did nothing to prepare.
Life has been busy- TJ’s very busy sister has kept me on my toes.  I am setting up a classroom for the short-term subbing job I’m currently working. Matt is working extra hard to support our family since I have become a stay at home mom (minus that 3 week position)...
In those tears- crying to God to comfort my hurting heart- I started searching, praying for SOMETHING... cue the frantic search- googling for verses, randomly clicking in the Bible app and praying for a verse to speak to me... nothing was fitting what my heart needed but I got myself under control and resorted to setting the alarm and attempting sleep.
Just when I gave up- God stepped in.  I remembered an email for an early morning prayer meeting and also an article I had shared on Facebook a few days prior... with a plan, I drifted off to sleep as I prayed for strength to make it through the day.
The alarm clock rudely woke me a little earlier than normal so I could head to the meeting.  The toddler was full of extra snuggles as we loaded into the car and set out for our day. A quick stop at the babysitter, and then I headed to school.  Looking for a pick me up, I switched to the local Christian Radio station and heard words that have soothed my heart time and time again:

I squeezed into a circle of teachers who had gathered to pray for the school year- the students, the staff, the parents.  Before we headed back to our classrooms to kick the new year, I shared that article with the group.  1 Corinthians 13 for teachers  A new twist on some of my favorite verses and a refreshing reminder minutes before the bell rang.
Then they arrived- and the day got busy.  For a brief moment I shared my heavy heart with a friend- shed a few tears and appreciated the hug she offered as we rushed to the next task.
And God showed up!  In a room of 400ish 7th graders, I saw faces of students from a long term sub job years ago, and then there was L.  L is the son of a teacher friend.  (We taught across the hall from each other and kept each other sane when elementary school had it's moments.)  I took a seat next to him and snapped a selfie to share with his mom.  Not quite the 1st day of Kindergarten picture I was missing, but a moment captured with a genuine smile.

The day was busy.  I didn't have time to think about what was missing.  Until 5th period.  We had some extra time and played a getting to know you game.  When asked how many siblings you have, one student expressed confusing because he had a brother who had died.  Immediately those around him came to the consensus that this student needed to count his brother because "he still lives in your heart"- words of a 7th grade boy.  Even in all the 7th grade awkwardness- wow.  A few questions later, I had a the opportunity to speak privately with the student and express my condolences for the loss of his brother.  And again God showed up.  This student shared that he never knew his brother because he died when he was born, and he shrugged.  I reinforced what the classmate had said earlier, that he's still a brother and I was sorry for his loss.  This student continued to share with me that this brother was named Tyler.

Hold. The. Phone.  Yeah.  And just like that, the heartache was replaced with some warm fuzzy...

Thank you God for that sweet moment.

The rest of the day was just busy.  Nothing remarkable just a busy first day of school.

God knew I what I needed even when I hadn't prepared for it.  Friendly faces, busy doing what I love, and just enough reminders that my angel was all ready for his first day of school!

I had it all wrong

Last week I talked about what kind of leader I wanted to be as I prepared for the Jcrew winter retreat... Which by the way Avalanche was awesome and will be getting its own post in the very near future!  

It's been a whirlwind of a week around our house.  I returned from avalanche, caught up on sleep, we had Clara spayed and her pearly whites got a cleaning, I've been on dog care duty (we managed to survive without a cone!), I worked a bit, Matt worked a lot, and then good things happened. ( more on that at a later date- no it's not a pregnancy announcement.)

This week is the wind down from the "high" of avalanche.  

You see- I'm not so convinced that the weekend was 100% for the kids.  I sure took a lot out of it!  

I've been following the #lcbcavalanche14 feed and today I saw a picture on Instagram from a leader who took some time to journal about the experience.  

(Insert a wave a guilt for not being as awesome about that.). The comment under the picture mirrored my thoughts about it not being all for the kids.  I didn't think much of it at the time...

But now... It's 12:45am... I teach in the morning... And my mind is alive...

I thought about my recent post... Thought about what my avalanche post would say... Started to evaluate what kind of leader I was... And then it hit me... The big 'ole smack upside the head that God has to give me once in a while...

I was so focused on what type of leader I wanted to be... I never stopped to listen to what type of a leader God wanted me to be.  Sure I prayed that God would make me a good leader.  That I would be a positive influence on the girls... What I should have been praying is for God to guide me to be the leader the girls needed me to be.  I should have been seeking God's guidance instead of making it into something I wanted.

And just to ensure that sleep would evade me for a good portion of the night... I realized that this should apply to ALL areas of my life.  To truly trust God, to really listen to Him- I need to be seeking his guidance in everything.  Not praying for or seeking what I want, but seeking God's will.   

Yea about that... Who needs sleep?!?

I am happy to say that I don't think I completely dropped the ball on being an awesome leader.  I think I did an all right job.  We had a lot of fun, I wasn't too mean or a wallflower, there were no lives to be saved... It was good.  If I had to grade myself: I'd have an average score.  Which means there's room for improvement... Because I want to be a great leader- and that will happen with some help from the man upstairs!