checking out...

I have just done the end of the year checkouts for school. My grades are done, my things are packed, and I am free to go. But at the same time, I look around me and wonder... where did this year go? I have had a great year. I have enjoyed my classes, we covered more than I thought we would and the students were great. But I am at a point that I can hardly believe it is May... well practically June. Where did this year go? I feel like it was just August and I was looking at the year to come. Now, it has come and gone.

It is kind of nice to have new beginnings... in August, I will start this all over again. I will have new students, and we will start this educational-process-thing all over again. Even now, I look forward to next year. I look forward to the group of seniors I will have, and the junior class that I will work with, and I wonder what my 7th graders will be like. I only teach one group of 7th graders, and each year they are a very neat group.

But, for now... I am on summer vacation... this does sound really nice, but teachers have to work really hard to get a summer vacation. I look forward to going home and seeing my friends and family. I think it is time for a break! For now, I'm checking out! See ya soon!

The birds are singing...

There is a bird singing outside my classroom this morning. It has been singing as my students have been taking tests.

It made me wonder about how many times there is a bird singing it's sweet song and I miss it. How many times has my life been too noisy to hear the bird sing it's heart out? How many times am I too busy to stop and listen?

I have watched my students this morning as they take their tests. I can see some of them thinking about what to do next, and some going through a process in their heads; some smile; some frown, some tilt their head one way, others another way, and some think the answers are on the ceiling. And then there are those that are distracted by the bird outside the window. Some just listen to the bird sing, while others are frustrated with its interruption and would like to make it stop.

I have enjoyed the bird outside my classroom this morning. I have enjoyed the song it has song, but I am thankful that I had the time to listen to it this morning.

It also makes me think... how happy the birds (there are more now) sound to be singing. Part of their lives is to sing, to make a joyful noise. These birds make me want to sing, they make my heart happy to hear them, and they have made me smile on what started out as a stressful morning.

So, as I write about these birds, it has made me think about God. The fact that He made these birds to sing so sweetly, and how much He cares for those little birds that are so loud and sing so joyfully. To see how the students have reacted to these birds reminds me of how people react to hearing God: some are too busy to listen, some hear them but decide to ignore them, others just find it annoying and would like for them to stop, and others take the time to enjoy it.

I definitely fall into all of these categories, it just happens that today, on this quiet morning of tests, I was able to hear the birds sing their hearts out, just because that is what they live to do.

Several times throughout the morning I have thought the birds had stopped singing, but just as I paused to listen and waited just a moment - they started to sing again. I think there is a lesson there too - how many times do we not wait to hear God? We pause for a short time, but since we couldn't hear anything right then, we assume He isn't there.

But I wonder, how many times have I missed the beautiful singing, just because I was "too busy"? Why don't I "sing my heart out" more often, because that is what I was made to do? Who knew birds could inspire so many different thoughts and questions... amazing.


***By the way, 3 hours later - the birds are still singing.