Teacher/Student conferences

I wish I could attend a parent/teacher conference and have a teacher tell me how our boys are doing. It is probably the one thing I struggle with missing out on because we homeschool. Well, maybe that and all the great awards kids are presented with at the end of the year. Because I'm pretty sure it would be a fun conference and I'm also fairly certain my boys would earn at least a couple awards. It is difficult because if I talk about what I see in them as their teacher, I may sound like I'm bragging as their mom. Plus, it would be nice to have someone confirm that we are on the right track--even though I think we are most days. Thankfully, I have an incredibly supportive and encouraging husband as well as family and friends that assure me I am not ruining them. ;)  

Due to these feelings, I decided to do a teacher/student conference. Here is what I will tell each of my students as we wrap up the year:

Michael - You are a great kid who is growing into a godly, young man. I see you searching for what God wants in your life and challenging yourself to live up to His call. You are a perfectionist and have learned a lot this year about accepting less than perfect from yourself, learning from it and then moving on. You are kind and compassionate with a quick smile. You love helping and loving on younger kids--even your younger brother. You are responsible and a leader who leads by example and can be trusted to follow the rules. You also have a strong sense of justice and it bothers you greatly to see something that is not fair--whether it has to do with you or not. I look forward to watching how God uses that in your life. You have risen to the challenge of 7th grade work....and it was challenging! You have learned how to study, how to learn independently and how to test well. You are joy to teach!

Jonathan - You are a great kid! You have a big and tender heart--for both people and animals. You are active and love to be with friends. In fact, you would choose to be outside with friends over just about anything else. But even though you longingly watched out the window to see who was playing outside while you had to do school, you worked hard and did your best until you were done each day. You make us laugh and keep me on my toes because I never know what type of "what if....." scenario you will present me with next. This year you have excelled in school. I was amazed at how quickly you picked up the math you were taught. And I loved to read whatever story your big imagination created. You are a joy to teach. I can't wait to see what God has in store for you!

The One-Year assignment

I wasn't prepared to be sad to leave Boston! All through last Fall I kept talking about how we were taking advantage of being here, but we wouldn't be sad to leave. I was wrong. I'm going to be sad. At least about a few things. But let's be honest, we all know I will not be sad to leave the roundabout!

A one-year assignment is different than any other type of assignment. We have never had to do one with kids. I know many of you have had more than your fair share of one-year assignments! And they are not easy, right?

A friend once told me she read an article that said it takes 12 months to develop close friendships. I remember crying, "I don't have that long!"

Even though I pride myself on being someone who jumps in quickly because I know we never have long, this time it either wasn't quickly enough or the time is just too short.

We found a church we love. It feels like home. But for me to feel like I am at home in a church, I have to have a little time to sink some roots down before I feel ready to invest my time in serving regularly. (So much for my pride of jumping in quickly, I guess!) Now that we have been there for 8 months, I was ready. I attended the training to help in Kids' Church and promptly realized I needed to tell the Kids' Church leadership that I have about 2 month to actually serve.

A group of parents started meeting to pray together once a month for our youth at church. I was so excited about it and have gone twice......only to realize I probably only have twice more to go.

So, the question becomes, "Do I keep investing? Or do I pull away?" The easy answer is pull away. It would be much less damaging to my heart. A good friend who has had multiple one-year assignments reminded me tonight that "it's worth it!"

What would Jesus ask of me? Since I have never seen a place in the Bible where He pulled away from anyone unless it was for short amounts of time to pray, I'm going to guess He would tell me to press in, to make the most of the time here, to invest in relationship because you never know how He will use them in my life or maybe even use me in theirs. Friendships are priceless--even when we may not see them again this side of heaven. I have left behind countless military and civilian friends as we have moved back and forth across the country. I remember them fondly and try to stay in touch with as many as possible. They were a stabilizing force in an otherwise unstable military lifestyle. And you know what, I still pray for them when I think of them. Maybe they pray for me, too. So then, what could possibly be wasted by investing with just under three months left? And what could be gained by giving up now? I mean, other than my heart that will ache a little more when we leave!

So, invest I will. To those of you that are here, just know there may be a few more tears shed because of the impact you made on my life in this short amount of time.

And to those who are in the midst of or facing a one-year assignment: Go for it! Jump in! Seize the time. It is fleeting and who of us ever knows how much time we really have? It's worth it!