almost there.

I am nearing my final hours before I turn in my National Board Certification application (Take One! aka part 1 of 2). This application/portfolio has been consuming me for the past 2 months and this week, I will finally be shipping it off!

Tonight I am thankful for:

1. C.K., who has been a wonderful friend and cheerleader as she tirelessly read my drafts and made very insightful comments and suggestions

2. My husband, who has been keeping me well supplied with candy (my latest obsession: jellybeans!) and coffee, always served up with a smile! :)

3. Hope, hope, hope. Our God, who provides it all! I don't know how I'd be able to do anything without being able to see that glimmer of hope in all things. (Plus, I just love the word glimmer.)


[Also? I am thankful for Francine Rivers, for continuing to write books! I just reread her last book, written in 2003, and she publishes a new one just in time! I just ordered myself a celebratory gift - her latest, Her Mother's Hope - due to arrive on my doorstep on the postmark due date of my portfolio. Can't wait!!!]


Back to work...the final push! :)

Growth

I love watching kids grow. I remember when I first moved to Maryland, I made an instant bond with a little four-year-old named Rebekah. Last weekend, she celebrated her 8th birthday! As I told her, I have known her for half of her life! Amazing.

I just scoured my old xanga site to retrieve this photo from November 2006.

[Photo credit: Esther]

All grown up! Here she is, at age 8, with her BFF, Joy :)

Two and a half years ago, I remember excitedly rushing to the hospital to see Abe & Kisung's firstborn child, Samantha. Now she is the one running all over the place, talking up a storm and always surprising me with her wide vocabulary!

Here she is, one day old and already making friends with her buddy Nathanael Brown.

This was taken on Easter Sunday...a beautiful, sunshiney day!
I just can't get enough of this girl's infectious giggle! :)

[Photo credit: Augustine]

Watching kids grow up, in our church and in my school, makes me marvel at creation, and especially our Creator. It also challenges me to ask, Am I growing too? Some things will never change - like my shoe size, which has remained the same since 8th grade. But I never ever hope to see my faith or love for the Lord to stagnate.

⁶I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. ⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
-Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 3:6-7

The Bible.

When my students don't finish their work in the morning, they have to come into the classroom and finish during their recess time. Today, I was eating my lunch and reading a book when a few of my girls came in to work on their stories. One of them, in particular, took great interest in what I was doing:

L: Mrs. Park, what are you reading - the Bible?
MP: No, it's just a thick book. Do you read the Bible?
L: Yes.
MP: What do you like to read about in the Bible?
L: Jesus.
MP: What's your favorite part of the Bible?
L: Like, chapter 5...

She then proceeded to tell me a story about Jesus going to His friend's house because His friend was having a party and He wanted to go and somebody pushed Him and He fell down...


Hmm. Still trying to figure out whether this could be her paraphrased version of an account in the Bible (Wedding in Cana? Bleeding woman touching his cloak?) or just a story she made up as she went along. She is, after all, quite the creative (not to mention talkative!) one... :)

SPRING!!!

It is spring! (Well, kinda sorta...and officially, not.) But it was beautifully warm and sunny outside. What were the signs, you ask?

:: Everyone and their mother was out and about in the neighborhood today! Including my dear little neighbor, seven-year-old Rebekah and her Barbie scooter (which, as I discovered today, has a plastic holder in the front so Barbie herself can ride along!).

:: My car radio needs not to compete with the sound of heat blasting through the vents.

:: Goodbye, winter coat with fur lining, gloves, hat, scarves... (ok, ok, who am I kidding? I never say goodbye to my scarves...)

:: I aired out the entire house today! Opened windows, doors, everything! Nothing like a fresh March breeze to blow away all the germs that have been collecting over my "sickie" weekend. AHHH...

:: I have begun browsing through sandals and flip flops online...

:: Daydreaming about spring break has officially begun (especially as everyone around me is already ON spring break this week!)

Ahh, 'tis all good. Today is a special day, and I will enjoy it for what it is. :)


Thankful for:

-Anniversaries
-Laughing & praying with the youth kids
-Sisters - by blood and by blood of Christ
-My sweet kiddos who write me notes that make me feel like a million bucks
-Sour Patch Kids
-Blogs like this one that make me crack up....
-Beautiful songs that sing my heart like this and this

eleven!

I'm at school and I have only e l e v e n students today! oh my, how glorious. 11 out of 23 kids on a half day (due to expected snowfall)...what can you do? I'm really loving it! I get to set aside discipline and crowd-control and focus on enjoying each student and loving them.

Snow. How I love it! I can't wait for this huge storm we're expecting...I just love the feel of anticipation as it falls softly, blanketing the world with soft, clean, fluffiness. It makes everything beautiful. I was reading a Boundless article earlier this week about how snow is like God's forgiveness - even the Word speaks of making us "whiter than snow." I like that. I love that He is the One that makes all things beautiful (Eccl. 3:11).

chatting.

Today there is a layer of leftover snow on the ground; thus, we have indoor recess. A recess monitor is in the room, leaving me a minute to blog! :)

My kids are in love with puzzles. I have about 7 of them, but they never tire of them. Today, however, Becky came up to me before recess and asked, "Mrs. Park, instead of playing with puzzles, can I just sit at my desk?"

Puzzled (har har), I asked, "What do you want to do at your desk?"

To which she promptly answered, "Talk! ...with my best friends Diego L. and Jessica."

And talk they did. I figured it's a good chance for them to actually socialize and have fun, especially since they have strict lunchroom rules and usually don't get to talk freely then.

Conversation Topics (Overheard):
- iCarly (of course)

-Diego A., who moved to another school yesterday (well, more specifically, the stuff Diego A. left behind in his now-vacated desk...which they found great interest in)

-Other teachers in the school

-Religion. ("God is really big. He's like our Dad! (giggle giggle)")

what first graders are afraid of.

This is the result of a small group discussion I had with my reading group about the word "afraid":

- "shark!"
- "Chucky"
- "when someone takes me away"
- "strangers"
- "cheetah, cuz it's the fastest animal on earth"
- "dinosaur!"