Open Doors

School is in full swing now.
Two days teaching and it feels like it ought to be Friday already.........but not in August but maybe...... say September?

I was a little embarrassed that I have been passing out my little "thought for the day" to each student as they came through my door. I thought maybe the kids would think it was a little lame but I did it anyway. Today I decided that they might think it is sort of fun. After reading the thought today, one of the girls waved hers around announcing that she had heard this one before and this big ol' boy who had pushed past me while the others were crowded around me getting their "thought for the day", turned around and said, "hey, I didn't get one" like I was passing out candy and walked back to the front of the class to get it. My heart sang!

It has entered my mind that is it the personal touch that matters to these kids more than the actual words on that little slip of paper. I think they like the individual attention of one person reaching out their hand to place something in theirs as they are greeted one by one. I went around the room this afternoon looking for the little thoughts expecting to find 85 of them on the floor. I found a total of four in the room.

My thought for the day, "Teachers open doors, Students must go through it."

Make a Difference

In preparation for the beginning of school the teachers have seen a number of motivational and inspirational presentations. One of the inspirational slide shows I watched today was about a young bagger named Johnny. Johnny was born with Down Syndrome. After listening to a motivational speaker who told all of the grocery store employees to make a difference in people's lives Johnny did just that. Before long his line at the grocery store was three times longer than the other checkers. Why? Because he put his heart into his job. He and his dad spent each evening finding and creating inspirational quotes to give out to all of his customers.

You can watch the slideshow online (It is not creating a link here but I will post it in my links on the side.):
http://www.stservicemovie.com/

It touched my heart when I watched this. Of course, I did relate to Johnny and I do have a soft spot in my heart for those with Down Syndrome but I was so unexpectedly inspired by him that I spent my day looking for ways to make a difference in my students' lives.

Whether or not I will truly make a difference in anyone's life I have found a renewed sense of pleasure that I thought was gone for good doing an old job. I have put more thought in the preparations for my students and have spent many hours finding just the right things to do and say to them. Taking Johnny's lead I have found inspirational quotes for every day of the first semester, printed off enough for the first week, wrote a two or three line welcome to my 85 students to hand them as they enter my door. If a young bagger with Down Syndrome can transform a grocery store into a caring environment I can at least, try to make my art class a good learning environment.

The inspiration Johnny gives others reaches beyond the grocery store. Today it inspired teachers.

Back to School

August has really been flying by. Teachers are all back at school, organizing the rooms, doing lessons plans, putting up posters and getting their attitudes adjusted to meet the new students who will be coming into our classes on Monday morning.

We have gone through motivational speakers, safety meetings, sexual harassment videos (we are against it) and lots of lots of special ed instructions and other stuff. Hopefully we will soon make the necessary adjustments to getting up early and leaving for work.

It was fun while it lasted but we knew our summer would come to an end.

Six more years!
187 days times 6 minus the 6 days already completed for this year!

(New pics posted on the remodeling)

Right there on the page!

To the ladies in my Bible class and for those whose hearts are open to the word of God.

Just like I said, "I saw it right here on the upper right hand side of the page. I highlighted it"......and it sure was.....but not Ephesians try Romans....yup!

Romans 8:18 (paraphrased) All this suffering we go through here on earth is just not even worth considering when compared to the glory of what will be revealed to us. And if that is not enough then try II Corinthians 4:17-18 which echoes the same sentiment but even minimizes our worries by calling them "light and momentary troubles" and reminds us that the things we see here on earth are only temporary but those things we can not see are the things that will last for eternity.

I could add a lot of my words to this but why should I when the scripture says it so plainly. We just get so caught up with the things we can see, the here and now, today's desires.....

And the next thing to consider is the "quiet life" of I Thessalonians 4:11-12. Define quiet life scripturally.

Goodbye July, Hello August

Here we are on the verge of our last summer month. It seems the summer months fly by so quickly and then it is time for school again. With the early start of school and teachers starting earlier than the kids we will be back into a school routine before you know it.

July has been so busy with the remodeling, visiting friends and flying out to North Carolina that I have not been posting. So this will be a catch up on all the goings-on.

• Davis Duncan Winters, the baby you prayed over so long was born on July 22nd. Mom has preclamsia and high blood pressure and he was forced to come at 30-31 weeks and weighed in at 3 lbs 4 ozs. He is doing well but of course is still in the hospital until he is 4 or 5 lbs, I believe. Continue this family in your prayers because they continue to go through the stresses of a new baby, plus having a premature baby and Mom continues to have some health concerns. I am sure Linda will give us an update on their conditions as she sees fit.
  
• My daugther-in-law had a little scare in the middle of July which has made her slow down a little and take better care of herself but she and the baby are doing well. Keep her in your prayers, please.
  
• I flew for the first time in my life on the 17th of July flying out to Raleigh, North Carolina and then returned on the 24th. I got to sit between two of my grandsons who loved flying and have flown before. The take-off was thrilling, the snacks were fun and the landing was relieving. We had a layover in Orlando on the way there and in Nashville on the way back. It was more turbulent on the trip back and it made me a little nervous but I did not get sick!
• We got to go to Topsail Island in North Carolina and spent three days playing on the coast, finding shark teeth, playing in the surf. We stayed in Linda and Doug's RV, all nine of us. Two or three slept outside in a small tent to give us a little more space. I loved it and the kids all did, too.
  
• Enjoyed life in Raleigh, visiting with my sister, brother-in-law and their granddaughter in their nice clean home.
  
• I returned home to the dust of remodeling but soon became accustomed to it again.
  

I am adding a link on the right for a few of our July pics for any interested. The remodeling is better in person than in pictures so keep that in mind.

Sister Time

Just a quick blog before I run and go pack for my trip.
Dana commented on sister time in her response to my last blog and really sister time deserves more than I have time to blog right now but just wanted to blog one last time before leaving.

I am off soon to go to North Carolina. Quite an adventure for me. I have never been in that area but the real goal is to go on my annual summer trip to visit my sister. I can not tell you how often during the dismal school year I recall our times together and wish I could be there again. We do not have to do anything special at all and it is comforting. In fact, I often tell her I wish I were there at her house, curled up on her couch, drinking coffee and watching an old classic movie on TMC. I can imagine us as old, gray, widowed women living together like the two old aunts on Arsenic and Old Lace! (crazy ladies!)

This trip is not only a sister bonding time but also, a mother/Nana bonding time. And these are relationship that are truly wonderful relationships. I would have a hard time choosing where to go if I had to travel far to visit my children and grandchildren. I will be traveling with my daughter and her three sons. Her husband will join us on Wednesday. My sister will have her granddaughter. We will have a house-full. Pray for us.

I am expecting to have a wonderful time and I am sure I will have much to report when it is all over. We will spend the weekend on the coast in North Carolina, a new adventure for all of us travelers.

July Update

I think July is passing faster than June. I guess August will seem like a blink.
I have added updated pics today to show you what sort of mess we are living in. Surprisingly no one is complaining. Dust is covering everything.

I leave on Monday for my trip to visit my sister and will return on the 24th. Hope all will remain well. Pray for us on our trip that all will go well.

The Mark of Intelligence

While working in the kitchen with the television on in the family room I can hear but not see. The words are often taken out of context and are strange to my ears like things said in my art room by my students, "where do I put my head?".

It struck me as funny when the current commercial ended it's bit with "people are smart!" I can not tell you what the commercial was about or what accomplishment made the company so proud of the intelligence of man but in my mind I saw people from God's eyes telling ourselves how smart we are like a three year old so proud of themselves because they "ope'd de door" or some simple task to us.

Here is God, creator of the world, the universe, all those things we can not EVEN imagine and who does not mark time like man but rather is eternal and here is man, the product of His power proclaiming how intelligent we are.

It brings to mind a question a friend of mine asks when a student does something not quite so intelligent. "Do stupid people KNOW they are stupid."

As compared to an ape, I guess we are intelligent.......

Slideshow

Please, tell me if the slideshow slows down your download of the page. I am playing again. When someone told me they did not realize that the pictures on the right were an album of pictures if you click on it I decided to try the slideshow. But if it causes problems I will omit it.

Also, it will be a good experiment for shop website because I want to put a slideshow of the shop.....a tour of the shop.

Hope you have a good Sunday.....the start of a good week......oh, and a good month.

Guilt Driven

I started to write the "I hate family reunuions" blog but after writing awhile I realized how ugly I must sound to eveyone about not wanting to be with family. And how inconsistent that must sound when I know I have talked lovingly about my family. Most of us don't like family renunions but....we love our families, we love our friends....it is just the mandatory gathering of the family who seem like distant relatives and people we don't know that we object to.

I could make a long list of things I hate about family reunions and I'll bet if I asked you to add to my list you could find something to add to it.

• I hate meeting people who still call me Carla 36 years later.
• I hate eating strange concoctions made by someone cleaning out the refrigerator before the reunion.
• I hate getting stuck in the strange bathroom with latches that take a weight lifter to unlatch.
• I hate eating with those plastic utensils that are seemingly safe but nearly cut the end of your finger off when you try to take them out of the plastic envelope.
  

But I have discovered that all that hate of the family reunion is a bonding experience with those family members who felt guilty enough to go just to please the oldest member of the family who called us all to get us to go.