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Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Stayin' on the SUNSy side of life :)

So, for the past month, I've been keeping a daily record of my daily blessings. It started with making a quick list of the ways I had seen the Lord's hand in my life that day....which soon turned into a "Tender Mercies" list, and then finally a daily gratitude list. It honestly has made such a huge difference on my outlook on life, and level of happiness. Not that I wasn't happy before...but now I feel "Joy in the Journey"--it's just a more refined feeling of sweetness :) I've started to see my day as many different moments where lessons are learned, triumph gained, or divine intervention recognized. Recognizing & remembering those moments has become the favorite part of my day--I literally get a huge grin on my face as I jump into bed with my little notebook at the end of the day :)
Take today for example! Due to an extended shift with after-school kids I don't know, Wednesdays are my most dreaded days. My only consolation is that most other assistants have to work the program 5 days a week, and I only have to do it once! (I don't think it'd be so bad if it were with my own kids, but they stick me with the youngest age group for 2 hours a week...meaning I can't remember any of their names, and they can't remember me well enough to know what they can and can't get away with. I guess it makes me miss my own kids though :)

Back to the story, so WED's are usually days of endurance...but today, it was pretty cool! I started with a 15 minute story on the US Constitution. My team-teacher is from Mexico, so she prefers me to teach the American History, and I love it!! It's interesting to see what parts of the story different kids remember, or what strikes their interest. And the highlight of any teacher's day: a few kids asked me to meet one-on-one with them to discuss the topics further! How cool is that?? In fact, during "reading time", 3 of them approached me with a question, and we ended up in this great history/world current events/politics discussion for about half an hour. They wanted to know what Impeachment means, and who's been impeached (talk about the liberal media's influence on these 11 year olds--they had no clue Bill Clinton had been impeached, nor for what, but figured George W. had, and of course, that Obama is the new God on earth. I had a few guiding words and questions to try and help objectify their minds a bit!!).

I ended my day with my kids (in after-school, my usual torture hour), showing me how to find square roots. I don't remember at all, so it was interesting to re-learn, but even more entertaining for me to see them get so excited about it.
I could go on and on about these kids, but I'll leave it for my gratitude journal & team teacher (another huge blessing: someone who loves talking about these kids with me eveyday!). They are amazing, and I am completely falling in love with them! I am so grateful I followed the feeling to quit the mundane job I had, take the financial sucker-punch that followed, and take this job. It has enriched my life 10-fold!
Scramblin' up some 7 AM eggs after the class sleepover. I look tired, but this is a genuine happy-to-be-here smile! :) Other exciting news: I went to my first Suns Basketball game!! Yep, after 2 years of waiting for a ticket to magically appear, the opportunity finally knocked! A text mid-Monday came asking if anyone wanted the spare ticket, and with the adrenalin rush of trying to be the winning caller of a radio station, I quickly staked my claim! It was funny, because just the night before, someone was asking me if I'd made it to game yet, and I happened to be carrying my phone when the text came in--something I never do. The game was good and the company great, making my first Suns game a memorable success!! Thanks Yale!
It's hump-day, I'm fighting a cold, and still absolutely loving my life :) How sweet is that? It just keeps making me smile!!

1 comment:

Heidi Meadows said...

Thank you for sharing your positive attitude. It reminds me that I have so many things to be grateful for, even when my life doesn't seem to be going the way I want it to. Keep smiling! :)