Resolution

It's a brand new year and this will be my first post in 2008. For some reason I've had trouble trying to pull all my thoughts together for a post. Material to write about shouldn't be a problem. 2007 was a rough year on our family, but in the end we came out of it wonderfully blessed.

For more than half of last year my baby sister was in the hospital fighting a mysterious illness. As if her bone disease and connective tissue disease were not enough she up and got tetanus, or what the doctors thought was tetanus for six months. It turned out to be a tumor on her thymus causing her to have horrible spasms that kept her hospitalized and even caused her to be put into a coma. When they finally figured out what the problem really was they didn't give us a lot of hope that she would survive the illness, the surgery and the treatment after surgery. But God is GOOD and she came through the surgery with flying colors and ended up avoiding chemo totally. This was all God and His answer to hundreds and hundreds of prayers.

Still, even with such a wonderful story to share I couldn't decide what to write about in my first post of the year. I was torn between Shanna's story, or sharing how wonderful Christmas was, or about our lovely trip to visit good friends for New Year's Eve, or maybe even sharing my New Year's Resolutions.

Finally, after starting and stopping numerous posts, I decided to take the easy way out and simply post a few pictures that Lauren took throughout the year and by doing so, avoid writing anything at all. That's when I came across this picture:

I took this picture a few weeks back when stopping by to check on some of my students and their family. Six people lived in this house...four children and two adults. It's hard to see in this picture how very tiny this house is or that several of the windows are broken out and covered only in cardboard and tape. We (some teachers at my school) made sure the children had a good Christmas with bikes and toys and clothes. The family ended up moving out of our district over the holiday and I know I will worry about the children for a long, long time.

Even though the boys are gone, I am thankful that I still have this picture. It serves as a reminder of what many of my students face each morning when they wake up. Some don't have electricity. Others do not have water. Many of them worry about food for their next meal and having warm clothes to wear.

I am thankful, so very, very thankful that God allows me to be a part of these precious lives day after day. I pray that I am a blessing to them and that I touch their lives in a positive way. God loves each of the children I teach even more than I do (and that is saying a lot) and seeing this picture somehow rekindled my desire to be the very best teacher I can be.

So there you have it. That is my resolution and my prayer for 2008...to be the best teacher I can possibly be and to let God's love overflow onto the children I am so very blessed to teach.

Edit: Please ignore the bird poodunkle/tinkle (not sure which it is) in the picture. Apparently it fell just as I snapped the picture. The bird obviously wanted it's 'stuff' to be famous. Well, now you've done it bird, a whole six and a half people will forever remember seeing your poodunkle/tinkle. Congratulations.