First week of 5:45 mornings done! And it went surprisingly well, I think I could get used to this whole teacher thing. J But I am glad to have weekends! Today I went wedding dress shopping with my friend Jenae, who got engaged over Christmas break. She is going to make an absolutely beautiful bride. She entertained us girls as she tried on white dress after white dress; some in which she would never even think of wearing. There was one though, that her heart was so attached to. She had looked at it before and even after trying on several other dresses when she put on this one she just felt right. And it was right. Sometimes I have to remind myself that very soon we will be in a completely new phase of life. Listening to Jenae dream about her wedding made it all the more real for me. Life is so funny. We wait and wait to one day grown up, and then without even realizing that we are crossing over, we do. It happens just like that. And after it happens there is no going back.

You who are moving into the college years this is the time you are crossing over, whether you realize it or not. And it’s not something that should scare us, or that we should run away from. It’s something that should make us appreciate the end of one ride and the beginning of another one. Decide carefully what you want the end of this ride to look like and make it be what you want it to. Don’t let it catch you off guard.

Today was my first day of teaching! That’s right after three years of you hearing about all my education classes that have been preparing me for this very day, the time is finally here. Goodness gracious it feels so surreal. I am in Mrs. Pickard’s Kindergarten class at Chattanooga Valley Elementary. I honestly had no idea what to expect. I was coming from a fifth grade classroom, so a bunch of kids who just couldn’t seem to stay still if their life depended on it seemed a little overwhelming to me. I have to say that although I wasn’t wrong about the little kids with the wiggles and jiggles, I also had no idea that I would meet some of the funniest individuals I have ever met in my entire life. That’s right, these five year olds are much funnier then any comedian I have ever seen. I can’t explain how much they can brighten up someone’s day simply by being him or her. They have no idea what they’re saying or doing is absolutely hilarious, they just do things so matter of factly. For example, Mrs. Pickard had just finished reading a book on Martin Luther King Jr. when one of the students raised her hand and asked, “So where is he now?” Mrs. Pickard said with remorse, “Well, he died…he was shot.” The student didn’t miss a beat before snapping his finger and exclaiming, “Awww, shucks!” Yes it definitely brightened my day.

It also seems that I may have been right about how overwhelming it can be to control such a group of kids. I still can not wrap my head around how to get these students to stay still long enough for me to get through my lesson. I have to say even with how overwhelming it is, I am siked to start lesson planning for my class. I will start taking over Calendar tomorrow and then Phonics and Science on Tuesday after Martin Luther King’s Birthday.

Breaks always seem to come at the perfect time and give you just what you need. Christmas break was so nice: it was filled with relaxation, time with family, and preparing my self for this last semester at Covenant. As ready as I was to come back and get started with this final semester there was a part of me that didn’t want to. I knew that once the semester started there wasn’t any stopping it. It was going to fly by, and before I knew it I was going to be standing at the end of my four years here at Covenant wishing I had just one more year.

I went to lunch with my friend Olivia and we talked about our last semester and what it was going to hold and what we wanted it to look like. I talked about how I knew it was going to be a hard semester and that I wished it would just go by fast, she stopped me though and reminded me of something very important. She told me that this is where God has us right now. He is not finished with the purpose in which he brought us to Covenant. Therefore, we can’t give up yet. This is our mission field still. We still need to invest, love, and enjoy where he has put us and the people he has put around us.

And so I go into this final semester with mix feelings. I take a deep breath. I know it’s going to be a roller coaster, but I’m going to enjoy the ride while it lasts. I have a feeling that these blogs are going to be filled with just as many things God teaches me as they were my first semester I was here. He’s not finished yet.