Ready or Not...Here They Come!

At 7:50 tomorrow morning I will have 20 little 6 and 7 year old rascals pouring into my classroom dying to tell me about all the things they have done these last two weeks. Am I ready? Well, we'll see. :) The funny thing about me is that I love to teach, but I hugely look forward to the day that I can stay home. Thankfully, God provides me with blessings each day that validate His purpose for my life right now which is teaching.

I'm sure you've heard of the show Kids Say the Darndest Things. One of the fun things about teaching first grade is being able to hear first hand some of these "darndest things" without holding a remote in my hand. Here's just a few of the things I have heard so far this year:

"She sure writes fast, how does she do that"
"Well, you know grown-ups. Teachers and all kinds of grown-ups can write fast."
"Yeah, but we can beat them in a race"

"I have a peeing affection!"

"My neck is stuffy." (Said by a little boy with a frog in his throat)

"He's going to be so handsome." (Said by a little day-dreamer about my dad before he came to do story time.)

"Angels fly. God floats. He doesn't need wings."

"Miss Lowery, Hannah said an 's' word."
"Can you whisper it in my ear?"
In a whisper voice, "Miss Lowery, Hannah said an 's' word."

"Am I getting smart?" (said by a little boy after spending 15 minutes working very hard on addition!)

"How do you spell 'gig'?"
"Tyler, why do you need to spell 'gig'?"
"Because I giggle when I watch TV."

"I prayed for you last night, Miss Lowery."

What a blessing these little munchkins can be! Don't get me wrong, there are days that I come home and wonder how I'll ever go back and face them again. The amazing thing is that it seems like everytime that I become overwhelmed one of them will say something that reminds me why I do this. This is what I love about teaching first grade: I learn as much from them as they hopefully learn from me. And, I'm sure there will be many more profound and hysterical things coming out of their little mouths in the next several months.

So, am I ready? Yes. Will the next five months come with challenges and exhaustions? I would be surprised if it didn't. Will God give me the strength to get through it? Absolutely!!! Will He continue to provide blessings along the way? Probably more than I could ask or imagine. I pray that God will use me to touch their precious lives.

"He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 'Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me'." Matt. 9: 36-37