In my opinion, February is the most difficult month of the year in the South for educators and students alike. January is freezing, but we at least have a good chance of snow to look forward to. But those snow chances have usually dwindled by the time February comes along. Here in Tennessee, February is just a cold, dreary month, where the rain keeps you cooped up inside. Let me tell you, a month of indoor recess is enough to drive any rational person to the brink of insanity. Cabin fever, colds, and excess energy abound. And patience? What is that, again?
But here we are today, the last Friday of the longest-shortest month of the year. The sun is out and high in the sky and buttercups are peaking their golden heads out of the cold ground. As spring draws nearer, the cloud of the seasonal blues begins to lift from around my head and my heart feels lighter.
Here we are today, bumping along in a school bus headed back to school after a science museum field trip. On the way, I listened as my second graders giggled and discussed what they hoped to learn today and mooed at the cows we passed in fields. Now all I hear is silence and the occasional snore as my exhausted little darlings snooze on our trip home.
I've been on many, many school field trips during my years in the classroom and I normally despise the noisy bus ride. But the thought just struck me: I am incredibly fortunate to be a part of these children's lives. I realize that I complain too much about my job. All of the red tape and bureaucracy of the educational system. All of the data meetings and rigorous planning. All of the exhausted evenings and stacks of paperwork. All of the noise.
But none of this matters.
The children, my babies are the only things that matter.
I get to wake up every morning and pour knowledge into theses little sponges and watch wonder fill their eyes. I get to take them a little ways on a lifelong journey of learning. Every time I look into their faces, I get a glimpse of the face of God. Every time I hear their laughter, I get a foretaste of heaven. What other job, what other CALLING provides these joyous opportunities?
Today, I am #grateful for field trips and loud bus rides. I am #grateful for laughter and mooing children. But I am #evenmoregrateful that God chose me to be a small piece of these kids' lives.