The little things

Today was a BIG day for me; I started a new, semi-permanent job! I'm a fifth grade co-teacher/assistant with another home-room teacher! We have a wonderful group of students (25 in all) and the school is a small and friendly, family-like, public elementary. With this new job, I'm just taking it a day at a time; the Lord's mercies are certainly new every day! I feel like I'm being pulled along, but hey, I guess that's better than being pushed!

Well, even though this is a big day, it is still the little things that held my attention. For starters, I loved teaching subject matter! Today I taught social studies; we talked about the stamp act and its effect on the people. Then, after school, I was waiting for the bell with a couple of my 5th graders. I noticed that their backpack straps were so lose that their bags hung down to their knees, so I asked them if their backpacks were comfortable or if they'd enjoy a better fit. I thought they would shove off my help and move on, but to my surprise they responded positively and asked me to teach them how to solve the issue! These kids are hungry; they're just longing for attention, for someone to care.

After school, I went to this event called "Running Club." It's a club for all elementary students that meets on Mondays. Students get together, stretch, talk about running and personal goals, then walk/run together. I went to represent "teachers" and to motivate the students. We have a running meet on Saturday that was the highlight of today's conversation. The club leader is the P.E. coach; I met him at the professional running group that I joined. It's amazing, he's run 150 marathon's in his lifetime! He's a role model to me through his inspiring students by organizing activities fit just for them. I find it providential that these people just happened in my life!

Then another, more personal situation stood out, this thing actually quite small. After running club I went out to do a quick errand before meeting a friend for an appointment. During the errand, I got held up. Instead of pushing time and all limits and ploughing through the errand to have it "be done" (while worrying the whole time as I'd be late for my appointment), I chose to do the right thing and gave up the errand to meet my friend on time. This is a breakthrough for me as I'm very good at pushing limits! The peace that came over me was amazing!

It's funny. Often when we reflect on our life, we measure change by the big events, yet in actuality we change by incriments, which makes change hard to see during the process. Little things really do matter...they can add up to form strength! One ant won't budge an elephant, but an army of ants is a different story!

I praise my God for his faithfulness in guiding my day. "And the God of second chance. picked me up and he made me dance!"