sometimes peace comes from not knowing why

WoW!!! Isn't it beautiful? The Sandias in the background and the beautiful sunset. God is truly divine.

I am sitting at work on this Tuesday afternoon. The kids have already gone home to begin their Thanksgiving break. Teachers are required to stay until regular dismissal time. While I am supposed to be working on lesson plans, my mind keeps wandering to thoughts of how much I have been through over the past couple of months, and what role the Lord has played in helping me find my way.

From getting my apartment broken into, my car accident, starting a new job and a new position, a pay cut and a breakup, I have to say that life lately has not been a regualr walk in the park. I have spent hours and shed endless amounts of tears over trying to understand the lessons God wants me to take from the trials I have been dealt. Mostly, I still do not understand; but I finally feel at peace.

I visited the temple last Thursday, and it was suddenly so clear that in spite of a lack of understanding, God is preparing me for something better. As I stay near to the Lord, and strive to live my life in compliance with God's plan, then I will be led down the right path.

I am so grateful for my family and friends who never let me doubt my worth as a woman and as a daughter of God. Most importantly, I am thankful for the men in my life who will never let me down or break my heart- My Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ.

I think they are starting to care!

After several months of struggling with my second graders, I am finally beginning to see progress…albeit small, I can still call it progress. My heart is starting to get that warm tingly feeling again. It is that same tingly feeling I felt when Jose understood how to compare fractions, or the first time Ana spoke English last year. I really miss my 4th graders from last year, and I miss the grade level all together. But now that I have my class in order and a better handle on where I would like to see them…I have hope. And a warm tingly feeling in my heart. :0)

My Top Three Warmest and Fuzziest Moments

• The tiniest and cutest girl in the entire world only knew six of her High Frequency Words when I tested her on October 30. I tested her again last week, and she knows 40!!! After speaking with her mother at Parent Teacher Conference, my little girl and her family have become more invested in her education. I was so proud of her so I gave her a Tinkerbell pencil on Friday. She was beaming.
• One of my little boys who drives me nuts because he cannot seem to get his homework done, learned how to add and subtract with regrouping. I don’t know if you remember learning this when you were a kid, but man, this concept presents itself as a major feat for many of my kids. Today I had the opportunity to work with him during tutorials and I saw the light bulb come on! He took off and completed two pages of word problems and got every single one of them right!
• Finally, in my more difficult class, I can see that the kids are finally starting to care. They WANT to do well and they WANT to learn. On Friday, I had several who did not pass their assessment, and then the most misbehaved child broke down and cried. While this was not a moment where my heart felt all warm and fuzzy, it was still a small indication that he is starting to care. I came over and had to kinda hold him for a minute and told him we were going to try harder next week. Poor thing.