Tuesday, March 1 was my first official day of retirement. I miss my students, but I am feeling better. I'm more rested and can do things at my leisure. I'm excited to see what God has in store for me now because He does have a plan for me. I trust Him and I know He will do great and mighty things through me if I will let Him. "'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.'" ~ Jeremiah 29:11.
Last week was so full. Thursday, the fantabulous gifted education specialists in Madison County had a retirement celebration for me. They showered me with gifts and tangled a C for me. (Zentangle art is a specific type of art that we learned at one of our gifted conferences. We started creating pieces with our students, and they love it.) I am going to miss collaborating with these ladies!
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| Tangled C |
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| Gift card tree |
Friday, the Monrovia faculty also sent me off in style with a retirement celebration. They honored me with gifts and lots of love. I know I probably didn't seem to appreciate it very much, but I've never been comfortable when a lot of attention is placed on me. However, I appreciated it IMMENSELY and will miss you all so much!
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| Neal, Rachel, me, Eva, and David with Mrs. Long photobombing :) |
Finally, many current and former parents and students celebrated with me after the faculty send-off. I was SO amazed at the number of people who came! Students and parents started arriving at about 4:15 and I didn't get home until around 7:00! They just kept coming! They all stood in line to speak to me. I took my time speaking to each student, and the rest waited patiently. I just can't get over how many came! They all wrote notes to me and put them in a scrapbook. Many brought other gifts as well. One mom even made a beautiful quilt for me. When I say my heart is full, I mean it. If anything, it's overflowing.
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The scrapbook
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| Just one of the many notes |
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| A student's tangle for me |
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| The quilt--a picture can't do it justice! |
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| A portion of the quilt |
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| Some flowers I received in my favorite color |
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| Former students--9th-12th grades |
Yes, this was MY celebration, but it could have been any teacher's who has given his or her time, love, and talents to the precious students under his or her tutelage. The media concentrates WAY too much time on teachers that have a negative impact on the lives of their students. Let me emphasize that this is usually NOT the case. We don't go into education so we can devote all of that time to something for which we don't have a passion. We simply don't get paid enough for that. Most people don't see the extra time and effort we put into all that we do. We take our work home with us and spend a lot of time working at home as well. Even when we aren't planning our lessons or writing curriculum (which we gifted specialists have to do), we are answering emails or praying over our students. We are passionate about education and love our students. They become OUR children. When they move on, we still wonder how they are doing and cherish letters and emails we receive from them when they let us know how life is treating them. I still wonder about students I had during my first year. I was teaching high school and these "children" would be in their mid to late 40s now!
For all that have been a part of my 22 years of teaching, whether students, parents, or teachers, I thank you. I thank you for helping me to develop into the person I am today. I thank you for sharing a portion of your lives with me. I thank you for allowing me to enter into your lives, even if for a brief moment in time, to share experiences with you. I am who I am because of the influence you have had on me. Each person who enters our lives shapes us in some way. I love and thank you all so very much. God has truly been good to me.
"For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven." ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1
The season of my life of being a public school teacher has come and gone. What does God have in store for me now? Only He knows, but it's going to be good.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, Who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17
"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them." ~ Romans 8:28
Amen and amen!!
