Pray the Hardest, when it is the hardest to pray

😮‍💨 PEOPLE SAY SCHOOLS RUN ON FUNDING. THEY DON'T. THEY RUN ON TEACHERS WHO KEEP THE WHOLE THING FROM FALLING APART. That's the line missing from every school budget. When something isn't funded... It doesn't magically disappear. It lands on a teacher. Not enough classroom supplies? A teacher buys them. Not enough staff? A teacher covers another class. Someone calls out? A teacher loses their planning period. A student is in crisis? A teacher figures it out. Technology doesn't work? A teacher finds another way. A program gets cut? A teacher fills the gap. Another responsibility gets added? A teacher squeezes it into a day that was already full. It's amazing what schools can "afford"... When they know teachers will quietly make up the difference. Not because they have to. Because they care too much about the kids to let them go without. That's the part people misunderstand. Teachers aren't keeping the system running because the system is worki...

I have the idea of writing a devo book with the things that I have learned in the 20 years with children. I can put a little story of what I have learned, reflections, prayers, and a Bible verse that goes with that story/lesson. I have taught in so many different settings with children and because of that I have learned so much in my 20 years. I have some titles for it like: 20 years with Children: Lessons from Little Hearts, Little Moments, Lasting Lessons, 20 years of watching children grow, or Through the eyes of a preschool teacher. I also already have some lessons ideas: the power of encouragement, the joy of watching a child finally get it, children taught me to forgive quickly, children taught me to find the joy in the simple things, every child has a unique path, sometimes the best thing we can give a child is our time and presence, and children teach us to slow down. This can be the main idea: every child is a different kind of flower and all together, make this world a beauti...

I was going to write an entry about the peace that I felt this Summer but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it would be fun to describe it in a poem since I haven't wrote a poem in awhile. It is a prefect topic for one and I think it would also be easier because I wouldn't go on and on about it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Summer of Peace   Summer of Peace.  What does that feel like? If you would have asked me  That two Summers ago  I would have been like, "I have no idea" but Now I do. Summer of Peace is It is where you might  Start to worry if you  Are going to have a  Hard and busy Summer. It is where you just Have hope that things Will get better after Things calm down.  But Guess What? Summer of Peace is A Summer where you  Don't have to worry  About a thing.  It is a summer where You can get rid of that  Fear that you have  Held on for what feels  L...

I wrote about the reason we went to Eucador. This entery is about the other side of this adventure. The side when we actually toured the country and learned about it and its people more. The side that we spent a whole day and a half exploring. The Sunday that we were there we went to church in the town that we were staying in and that we were helping out. The pastor of that church was the pastor that was trying to get the gospel told in the mountains and we were helping him get that started. We were one of the 1st few groups of people there, if not the 1st, to help him. We went to the church to see what it was all about. It was a pretty building inside made of all wood and had plastic chairs to seat in. You would have no idea that it was a church from the outside because it looked pretty small. I think it was one of the few churches even in the city because we stayed right by a really big Catholic church on the square and it was a very fancy one inside. Anyways, after church, we went...

My mission trip to Eucador was different but in a good way. It was a new experience for me which is always good and I knew it would be because it was a new country and there was a new goal for the mission trip. One goal that I never thought I would be apart of or want to go do but it was fun and very meaningful. First, it was the airports that we had to go to. Of course, XNA wasn't that bad but we had to be there so early and got back so late. The 2nd airport was the one in Miami, FL. It was nice and big with a lot of things to do but when you have to stay there 8 hours both ways it does kind of get boring and tiring. Second, it was in the mountains which I love and the weather was a lot cooler then Mexico or Guatamala. It was Fall like weather on the other side of the line.The mountains were so pretty. I always say that pictures could not do the justice that we saw on the trip. I will say that alitude sickness is not something to mess with espically if you are going to go up pas...