Teaching-first week

You gotta love teaching grade 4&5's. They make pretty pictures of their teachers! They listen (most of the time), and they look up to you. Today I finished my first week in the classroom as a practicum teacher. Wow! Feels good! This week I dealt with some new things like a young girl whose best friend's mom committed suicide and then her friend and her found the body. How to deal with that? I went home and cried. God, why? I don't understand this. Then I drew. A picture of a cross. Why? Children do not belong on a cross. Those words came so strong to me. We have to love our children through these hard things. I don't think God the Father wanted to His only Son Jesus, an innocent child, into a world full of death and sorrow and murder and rape, but He sent Him to be a light of love. The young girl in my class is going to overcome and make it through only with love. Children are our light of love, a radiant hope. May we always encourage that light to shine more brightly. Today we did the Terry Fox Run at my school. Too bad it was pouring down rain, but the assembly was a blast. My heart swelled with pride as my students sang the national anthem filled with gusto and love. Grade 6 students shared the story of Terry Fox's life. What an inspiration. A teacher told us how much money had been raised during the coin collecting the week before. $500! It may seem small, but I felt the heart of God so moved by these children so desiring to make a difference for good in the world. But I have to be honest, I think my favourite part was the final song- YMCA complete with actions (of course). There is nothing like being in a room filled with joy and excitement and people being completely free to be over the top gooooooofy.