The Note

This past week I got a note from 2 of my old students. They collaborated during recess and came up with this together and one of them gave it to me after school. It meant so much to me to know that they still miss & love me. HOW SWEET & SPECIAL!!!

Growing up in a public school, I never felt loved by my teachers. There were some who were nicer than others, but I don’t ever remember them telling us they loved us. How sad is that? So… I made it a goal in my classroom that my students will always know I love them and more importantly that God loves them. I get to tell them freely everyday that God loves them so much that He sent His Son to die for their sins so they can go to heaven.

As I think of the note I was given, I think of another note that God has given to the world. God’s Word, the Bible, is His personal love letter to us. In It, the pages are filled with His promises, His mercy, His compassion, His sacrifice, and His love is written all over it. Through It, we can find comfort, help in time of need, answers to life’s problems, and victory over temptations. When we read His Word…God speaks to us!!! He shows us His will, how to avoid wrong decisions, and the blessings that come from trusting Him and obeying what He says.

“Blessed Bible, sacred treasure
Precious Book of all the best
There is Comfort never failing
And a calm abiding rest.”

“Read with reverence, and commit it,
Verse by verse, and day by day
It’s the Word that God has spoken
And it shall not pass away.”

The Pumpkin Patch

FIELD TRIPS~ Now I have to admit that I don’t particularly love field trips, but it's a blast for my students so….away we go. This Friday, my Kindergarten class went to the “Pumpkin Patch” with the 1st & 2nd graders. The Pumpkin Patch is in quotes because it’s actually a carnival with a side of pumpkins. The kids got to jump on unlimited jump houses and obstacle courses, go on a hay ride, walk through a hay maze, and pick a pumpkin on the way out. What fun, huh? Well… not so much for the parent chaperones, who sat crowding around the only amount of shade available. Needless to say, I felt so sorry for them~ it was definitely hot. As I took pictures of the kids, I passed out some tracts to the workers. One lady named Christine said that she really needed to get back into church and would try to come. I saw another man looking through the tract I gave him as I walked away.

The highlight of our trip for me was when it was my class’s turn to go on the hay ride. Because the Pumpkin Patch is located near a mini outdoor mall, our hay ride on concrete passed through little shops and restaurants with outdoor eating areas. Not the normal type of hay ride you’d imagine, but still lots of fun. My students were so excited and waved at everyone they saw. They even wanted to sing songs. So… we waved and sang Jesus loves me, the B-I-B-L-E, & more. What really blessed my heart was when they would wave and say “Jesus Loves You!” to those who were passing by. It was so adorable!!! They thought of this on their very own. I didn’t tell them to say a word. They have such a love for God that they weren’t even ashamed to proclaim it. It was also a testimony to the unsaved workers who were driving and riding with us. If only we as adults would be so bold.

Singing His Praises

“I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.” Psalm 86:12

The Lord is excellent, wonderful, my strength, and my song. He knows my deepest thoughts, my heart, and He loves me with a love that never fails even when I fail Him. He is so GOOD and He takes the time to think about me, one who is unworthy of anything good. Praise the Lord for His mercy and His compassion! As I reflect back on this week, here are some praises that I want to thank the Lord for:

1. My mom went to the doctor because she was having some chest pains and numbing in her arm. All of her tests have not come back yet, but she was prescribed some medicine and given tips to help her prevent a heart attack & stroke. I am very thankful that she went to the doctor before it was too late, and that everything seems to be okay so far. Please continue to pray for her! Another praise...The Lord’s been blessing like He always does, and she’s been getting a lot more tips at work even though business is really slow!

My beautiful mom- Can you believe she is over 60 years old?

2. My class gets out at noon, but I get to stay until the end of the school day, which I love because some of my former students come and visit me. So...I put a bowl of candy by my classroom door and at dismissal here they come. It can get crowded at times, and I know that it’s surprising, but sometimes they don’t even want the candy, they just come to say hi. Isn’t that just the sweetest? Well on Thursday, one of my girls from last year came and asked me if I could do her a favor and pray for her mom because she was out of town. At the time, I was talking to a parent from last year and told her of course I would, but instead of leaving the classroom to find her dad she just stayed there. So in the meanwhile, I continue talking to some kids and parents who have also come to visit. Her dad then comes in with her two other sisters, waits a little while, and then asks her, “Did you ask her?” and she says, “I’m waiting.” Then, she comes up to me with the sweetest voice and says, “Can you please pray for my mom with me.....right now?” It was so cute! I felt so bad because all that time she was waiting to ask me to pray with her right then. So in the midst of kids coming in and out of my classroom, all the noise and believe me it was NOISY, and kids playing, we bow down on our knees and I pray for her mom. It truly blessed my heart that she would ask me to pray with her. I just love working in a Christian school!

3. Just one more…. I was given a new kitchen for my classroom by a friend and former parent. Her daughter is now in 2nd grade. Wow, am I getting old! It is SUPER nice! My students saw it on Friday morning and were in awe. They loved it, even the boys wanted in on the action. Just last year I remember walking through Sam’s Club seeing a kitchen and so wishing I could afford to buy one for my class. Then, a couple of weeks later, I was given a small kitchen. And now… I have 2!

My old kitchen, which which was an answer to prayer.

My new kitchen, which is an special extra blessing.

Thank you for reading this blog and for all your encouraging comments. Have a great week serving the Lord!

Falling in Love with Fall

Did I mention that I love fall? I love the smells! I love pumpkin flavored deserts and pumpkin spice fraps from Starbucks! I love the change in weather and wearing a jacket! And....I love Old Fashioned Sunday at church! By the way, you have to check out the beautiful Praline Pumpkin Cake made by Starr at http://cookingwiththepreacherswife.blogspot.com/. The recipe is included. Doesn't it look delicious?
Well, here are my fall bulletin boards:

This is my favorite board because it is the witnessing scarecrow.

Do you see the tract in his hand?

We love thanking God for His blessings!

This is my second favorite and takes the longest to do because of all the leaves,
which I got at Walmart a couple of years ago in the floral section.

My students are great blessings and love to be helpers.

Our back door- where we head out into the cool fall weather for recess.

Have a wonderful day!

BLESSINGS FROM ABOVE

I thought I would share a few of my blessings from this past weekend. First of all, because money was a little tight this paycheck and I had to do some traveling, I wasn’t able to pay my portion of the cell phone bill (I share a plan w/ my mom). I explained the situation to my mom and she was very understanding. Moms are so awesome! They still help us out when we’re in a bind even when we’re adults and live in another state. I just love her! By the way, I feel terrible about it all because this doesn’t usually happen. I told her I would pay her as soon as I can. So in the meanwhile, I prayed extra that God would provide for her. And guess what? God never fails! God is good, ALL THE TIME! She called me on Friday and told me that she had received $43 in tips that day. I owed her $40, which God just provided for, plus He gave her an extra $3. What a blessing!

And of course the blessings continue… Today at church in the 8 & 9's Sunday School Class I help in, I got the opportunity to lead a little boy to the Lord. He came on the church bus for the first time last week and he was one of the ones chosen to be a part of the soda game we played. He seemed to enjoy class and I was so happy to see him come again. After the lesson, during today’s invitation, he raised his hand! It was so exciting to share the Gospel with him and to hear him pray to accept Jesus as his Savior! I thank God for the bus ministry. It’s because of the faithful bus workers that kids have an opportunity to go to church, hear the Gospel, and be saved.

Something to Laugh About

This past week, a student's parent came up to me smiling and told me the conversation she overheard her daughter telling a friend. We have been talking in class about obeying and when we obey, we do want God wants us to do, but when we disobey, we are listening to what the devil wants us to do. This is what she told her friend: "When we sin, we are listening to the devil and we're being like the devil, SO...then we'll have to sit on a tack all day!" I laughed because I knew she got the tack idea from that verse in a Sunday School song , "If the devil doesn't like it, he can sit on a tack." The joys of teaching!

My Classroom

It’s that time again when seasons change and so do my bulletin boards. Sometimes I dread changing them out because of all the work involved and the fact that I can be a perfectionist. At the same time, it is also exciting to change the room around and my students love it. I was able to get some good ideas when I went to a conference at Pensacola Christian College a few years ago. So… I thought that I would post some pictures of my classroom bulletin boards and maybe they might be a small help to someone else looking for ideas for their classroom. As soon as I finish decorating for fall, I’ll post those too.

My Welcome Board

We learn vowels first, and we sing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"

using vowel sounds instead of animal sounds.

Fun with Numbers

An extra white board that I usually decorate. It is also magnetic, which is great. I can just put magnetic tape on the back of whatever I put on this board so that I can move things around easily.

I also like to decorate our back door so my students have something to look at when they line up to go out to recess. This door is metal and magnetic tape can also be used. I love magnetic tape!

Kids Say the Cutest Things

Sunglasses have become the big thing in my Kindergarten classroom. When we go to recess, a couple of my students have to put on their cool (Cars, Batman, Princess) sunglasses or they just won’t be able to play at recess. I asked one of my girls if she had any sunglasses, and she replied, “Before I became a Christian, I had Hannah Montana sunglasses, BUT… I threw them away.” This is coming from a 5 year old. It made me smile and it blessed my heart because she knows that when you get saved, no matter how old you are, there is a difference in your life.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” II Corinthians 5:17

“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Ephesians 4:24

“Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” I Peter 1:16